2019 MotoGP/WSBK/Motorcycle Racing Thread

Had to sign up for the Dorna season pass on MotoGP.com to watch here in the states (of get BeIN sports, which I don't have cable anymore). I missed out watching last year and am not missing another season. Can't remember which track it was at, but there were more passes in that one (shorter) MotoGP race than the entire season in F1 (and I'm an F1 fan) !!
 
Ryanswannell
MotoGP is back today! :D

Theres so many potential race winners on the grid it's almost impossible to predict a victor for this weekend.

Can Marquez get yet another win under his belt? Will Lorenzo set a good first impression at Honda? Maybe Dovi and Petrucci will ride their Ducatis to 1st and 2nd? Or could Alex Rins continue his impressive form from the end of last season.

That's before mentioning the factory Yamaha riders, Rossi and Vinales, or Pramac Ducatis Jack Miller and GP newcomer Jack Miller.

Predictions for race 1 anyone?

I'm going to say:
1st - Dovisioso
2nd - Petrucci
3rd - Marquez

I think there'll be a standout performance from Zarco too. The KTM during testing hasn't looked too fast, however Zarco looked to be head and shoulders above the other riders on several time sheets, not to mention Zarco can set a blistering pace around Qatar as we saw last year. I reckon he'll finish 5th at the end of race one.
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barryf1fan
Had to sign up for the Dorna season pass on MotoGP.com to watch here in the states (of get BeIN sports, which I don't have cable anymore). I missed out watching last year and am not missing another season. Can't remember which track it was at, but there were more passes in that one (shorter) MotoGP race than the entire season in F1 (and I'm an F1 fan) !!
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That probably goes for nearly every race in motogp nowadays. :D
 
Lorenzo just isn't fit, I would be surprised if he's in the top 10 after 22 laps... He can, I just think it will be tough not being 100% and still dealing with a very sore wrist. I'm hoping Crutchlow and Miller can be a thorn.

I love the MotoGP pass so far (wife wasn't happy about, but tough :lol: ) can watch every single session, the pressers, and other tid-bits and what not. For me, not having been able to enjoy any moto FIM racing in about 4 years, it is worth every penny so far. Plus it has a boat load of camera, I can turn commentary off and go ambient which is trackside (BIKE!!) sound. Love it. If you don't have access to BeIN and want to try it this out, they have a 3 day free trial. Just throwing it out there. So far been impressed with the coverage, wish F1 was as good.

Anyway, Pulling for Petrucci and Bagnaia (followed him the last couple of years, plus all the other new rookies in the premiere class - ready for the race, already!! [going to play some MotoGP 18, after dinner anyway...]
 
Some intriguing stuff from Ducati, though not necessarily a new idea to the world of motorcycle racing. It first appeared during testing earlier this year, but this is the first time it’s been seen in action during a race weekend.

 
0.023 between Dovi and Marquez at the finish!

0.026 for Baldassarri and Luthi in Moto2!

Interesting how Quartararo stalled at the start of the MotoGP race and made it seem like a total disaster starting from the put lane, but still eventually made up a few places to avoid finishing dead last. Also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 3, so truly the whole field have a lot of speed in them, although some definitely more consistent than others.
 
Spot the difference. ;)

53748238_10157614654620769_5267434624383975424_o.middle.jpg


It’s stunning that the gaps between the top two in all three classes, when added together, equals only one tenth of a second! :boggled:

Whodoyouthink
Interesting how Quartararo stalled at the start of the MotoGP race and made it seem like a total disaster starting from the put lane, but still eventually made up a few places to avoid finishing dead last. Also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 3, so truly the whole field have a lot of speed in them, although some definitely more consistent than others.
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It’s indicative of a trend that made itself apparent in the second half of last year: once the lead group of riders establishes itself they start lapping within a few hundredths of each other, with no one really showing their hand too early. Then with 3/4 laps remaining, pull the pin and hope that the work done over the last 15 or so laps leaves them with enough performance in the tyres to win the race.

The difference this time was that the Suzuki’s seemingly weren’t prepared to play that game – any chance either Mir or (especially) Rins could take, they took it, even if ultimately their tyres were not at the same level performance-wise as the rest of the pack come the finish.

Quartararo’s pace was no less impressive, but as he’d pushed so hard to catch the pack, the tyres were shot by the time he’d passed Lorenzo.
 
Sounds like a protest has been lodged against Ducati from all the factories bar Yamaha, concerning a pair of aero parts that appeared on Dovizioso, Petrucci and Miller’s GP19s at the bottom of the front forks and the bottom area of the swing arm. The belief is that the parts help in cooling down the tyres, prolonging their race performance.

9f72a5f2d5f1e11e1fdb39e242b7e660.jpg


Most technical insiders believe in fact that they are designed to work together, with the front tyre “plates” working to minimise the turbulence generated by the wheel spokes when rotating. The cleaner airflow then travels the length of the bike underneath the fairing, creating less drag, and when it hits the swing arm spoiler, pushes the rear tyre into the ground more effectively, providing more initial stability when braking from high speed.

The rules specify that the aerodynamic body (as the aero package is formally known) consists of two parts: the fairing and the fender (the carbon shrouds that cover the top of the tyres). Once they’ve been changed from their original spec, they can’t be changed again. What the rule makers forgot is that there were parts of the bike still left uncovered and therefore could be changed more than once: the area below the front forks and the bottom area of the swing arm... :rolleyes:

Sounds like there’s no case to answer if you ask me.
 
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The multi-team protest against Ducati has been thrown out by the stewards, but they've deferred said protest to the Court of Appeal, with the result of the hearing to be given presumably before the next round in Argentina.

Still sounds to me like there's no case for Ducati to answer. It's a shame that most of the teams who seemingly don't prioritise the time to understand and think about what opportunities the rules offer them, then complain when someone else who has done just that comes along with something "outside of the box".


Some "mutterings" from Mat Oxley from the weekend if anyone fancies a read.

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/news/motogp/motogp-mutterings-2019-qatar-grand-prix?utm_campaign=865777_Mat Oxley - 110319 - Mutterings Qatar19&utm_medium=email&utm_source=emailCampaign&dm_i=4DIP,IK1D,3D6G8X,258O6,1
 
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JockeP22
I completely forgot the opening round was this past weekend.
Watched a replay of the race tonight and what a race it was.
This looks like it'll be another great and compelling season.
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What did you think of that heroic effort of a ride by Crutchlow?? And Rins, challenging for so much of the race. I know he used up his tires, but he was still right there in the pack at the end - which is great for the Sport and the Suzuki's (I'm not a super Zook fanboy or anything, just like to have all the manufacturer's be competitive, would love to see KTM, Aprilia, etc up there too)

And Joan Mir running in the top 5 for about half the race, too!!

Agreed, this will be a fun season to watch - if you didn't watch the Moto3 & Moto2 races, they were just as good.
 
The Ducati aero situation is a tricky one I think.

While Motogp is a prototype series, any advancements and boundary pushing should be applauded.

However I can see an argument against advancement in aerodynamics, especially from less well-funded teams such as Aprilia and KTM.
Starting an aero arms race could turn out to be incredibly expensive as we can see in F1, which could cause a large gap in the Motogp field.
I for one love the close nature of Motogp at the moment, and I would hate to see a situation like we have in F1 where only two or three teams standing a chance of getting on the podium.

However as the rules stand at the moment, it looks like Ducatis aero/tyre cooling device is fair game.
 
adamp93
You sure about that? It must have taken a load of dosh to get Tech 3 and with Red Bull on their side there's plenty more where that came from.
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Sure, they'll have a fair amount of money. Motogp isn't a cheap game to get into.

But KTM is a minuscule brand when compared to the likes of Yamaha, Honda and Ducati and Suzuki, so it'd make sense that their budgets are also minuscule compared to other manufacturers.
 
I don't have BT Sports, is there a highlight program, like there was last season. Least it was better than not watch anything, haven't seen anything listed.
 
Whodoyouthink
I didn't know MotoE was a thing yet. I only remember seeing electric bikes at 1-2 Isle Of Man TT broadcasts, and they only did 1-2 laps. Sounds like arson to me, seems to perfect for an accident to burn all the bikes! I imagine there must be spares though?
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It's not surprising all 18 bike went up in flames, considering they're normally stored together in the on-site charging station between sessions – according to official statements, none of the bikes were charging at the time. No doubt Energica are working behind the scenes to resupply the teams with the necessary parts.

It's also been confirmed since the fire that, perhaps unsurprisingly, the first race at Jerez in May has been cancelled, with what would've been round 2 at Le Mans now likely to be the season opener. The rest of the calendar will seemingly be unaffected, but an extra slot is more than likely to be added to return the calendar to its original 5-race schedule.
 
While I knew the IndyCar Series opener was this past weekend, I didn't know it was the MotoGP opener this past weekend also. I only saw this highlight package on YouTube as far as the MotoGP action from Qatar.

I guess if I want to further follow the series, I may need to watch YouTube highlights or maybe follow the series in GTPlanet posts.
 
Another triple for Bautista at the Thai round of World Superbikes, even after seeing off an assault from Rea in both Race 1 and the Superpole race. He aced Race 2, winning by just over 10 seconds.

The last person to win the opening six races of a season was Neil Hodgson in 2003 – also on a Ducati.

Amazingly, the top seven finishers across all three races was the same:

Bautista
Rea
Lowes
van der Mark
Haslam
Melandri
Cortese
 
Carbon_6
The multi-team protest against Ducati has been thrown out by the stewards, but they've deferred said protest to the Court of Appeal, with the result of the hearing to be given presumably before the next round in Argentina.
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The notice of appeal is here. I presume this works like F1... the teams protest Device X while developing their own as quickly as possible. If it's illegal then they were right - they said so, didn't they? If it's legal then they bolt it on :)
 

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