Seemed like Honda was really struggling with the tires. MM crashed 3 times but had many "moments" where he lost the front or rear but didn't crash. Pol had a few as well. Taka and Alex Marquez didn't get much camera time during practice.
Seemed like Honda was really struggling with the tires. MM crashed 3 times but had many "moments" where he lost the front or rear but didn't crash. Pol had a few as well. Taka and Alex Marquez didn't get much camera time during practice.
Joined Feb 2020
979 Posts | 1K+
Bendigo Vic
Just watched an onboard lap with Fabio.
The start/finish appeared the only reasonable length straight on a MotoGP bike.
Looked like a very fast go-cart track from onboard.
It should suit the Yamaha strengths, at least with a rider the calibre of Fab riding it.
The start/finish appeared the only reasonable length straight on a MotoGP bike.
Looked like a very fast go-cart track from onboard.
It should suit the Yamaha strengths, at least with a rider the calibre of Fab riding it.
Joined Aug 2008
6K Posts | 748+
Thailand
Awesome race today by Somkiat Chandra! Led the race from start to finish. Wilairot had a couple of podiums, but this is the first ever WIN by a Thai rider in a championship race! Looking forward to seeing if he can live up to this win and his strong pre-season performance.
Not surprising, that was not big, that was HUGE and as called by commentary, that is one of the biggest I have seen
Good call there for the medical team
Link to incident - https://wwos.nine.com.au/motorsport...and-prix/41e36cea-776a-4325-9163-c9b06567895b
This link has a little more - in that is shows MM walking away which is sensational given that which occurred (scroll down for the video)- https://www.foxsports.com.au/motors...o/news-story/8d6053034df3ab6e021317ee35dd298a
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Joined Oct 2015
985 Posts | 634+
Siebenbürgen süße Heimat!
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
It's going to be interesting to see what direction he goes in. This is not sustainable and it appears this might be another Honda that needs to be overridden to get anything out of it.
I'd prefer to see him hang it up rather than rack up these kinds of crashes.
The race itself wasn't much I thought. Miguel did a fantastic job of getting into the lead and never looking back. Well deserved victory. Hope we get a dry race here next year.
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
MM’s highside gave me the willies. Good race by Olivera, more impressive race by Fabs. Happy that Zarco didn’t throw it away. D-Binder seriously impressive. Interesting - commentators mentioned that Mandalika is known for exceptional grip in the rain. There was less crashing in the wet than there was in any of the practice or quali sessions.
Joined Sep 2015
734 Posts | 1K+
Office cubicle
Michelin reverted the carcass to that of a few years ago for this circuit for some reason and the new Honda is designed with the new tyres in mind. Pol complained that the bike doesn't work with old tyres. Let's wait some more rounds to affirm it's unrideable.
Well, all things considered that was a great race. Congrats to Oliveira and KTM.
Fabs showing that he is maturing into a wet weather rider. If he had stayed off the curb he might have had a shot at the win.
Speaking of ifs, this was the kind of race MM could have won as well. My wife watches racing with me quite often. When she saw MM’s highside, she made the following statement: “he’s done, he’ll never be the same rider he was in the past.” I was somewhat surprised, she is not usually given to making emphatic statements like that. We’ll see. Before the season started I had doubts about his ability to be conservative. This weekend has confirmed them. He will be made to be more conservative by events, not himself.
Interesting to see the shuffling with the usual wet specialists and pretty good performance by D Binder, in my opinion proving himself to be worthy of the ride he has.
Going to be an interesting season.
Fabs showing that he is maturing into a wet weather rider. If he had stayed off the curb he might have had a shot at the win.
Speaking of ifs, this was the kind of race MM could have won as well. My wife watches racing with me quite often. When she saw MM’s highside, she made the following statement: “he’s done, he’ll never be the same rider he was in the past.” I was somewhat surprised, she is not usually given to making emphatic statements like that. We’ll see. Before the season started I had doubts about his ability to be conservative. This weekend has confirmed them. He will be made to be more conservative by events, not himself.
Interesting to see the shuffling with the usual wet specialists and pretty good performance by D Binder, in my opinion proving himself to be worthy of the ride he has.
Going to be an interesting season.
I knew that, and he may well have won in the wet on a tire other than that one which was brought by Michelin for dry conditions.
My point was just in general, how many more crashes can MM’s body take or is he prepared to contemplate ?.
Joined Feb 2020
979 Posts | 1K+
Bendigo Vic
I think he still believes in his ability.
Get the bike sorted and I tend to agree with him.
Hopefully they dont use that rear tyre again.
He isn't ever going to have the margin he once had however.
The bikes are all very good and there is so much talent in there now.
Yeah that was a good race.
Oliveira was very good, as was Fabio once he settled in and stayed off the paint. Zarco did well too.
Serious speed in the wet from all of them [emoji44][emoji41]
Get the bike sorted and I tend to agree with him.
Hopefully they dont use that rear tyre again.
He isn't ever going to have the margin he once had however.
The bikes are all very good and there is so much talent in there now.
Yeah that was a good race.
Oliveira was very good, as was Fabio once he settled in and stayed off the paint. Zarco did well too.
Serious speed in the wet from all of them [emoji44][emoji41]
Everybody had access to the same tires.
I get your point about how much more of this MM can take.
The point I would raise again is that, as talented as MM is as a rider, his talent for communicating to Honda and its’ engineers what he needs from the bike seems to be lacking.
To waste the once in a generation talent MM has in a perpetual crash fest instead of figuring out how to make the bike more rideable, no matter the iteration or year, seems to be a huge mistake that both Marquez and Honda share the responsibility for.
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
Like most civilized folk in my part of the hemisphere, I watched the race on replay, fast-forwarding to the warm-up lap, with tea and buttered toast. So apparently I missed the part (according to Kropo) where they had an Indonesian sorceress come out on the track to do an anti-rain conjuring. LOL.
Joined May 2019
607 Posts | 459+
Where I am.
This is what I was thinking when I saw that absolutely horrific high-side with him staggering in the aftermath. I fear for him now.... really.
Good race overall though. Great win there for Oliveira and a great recovery to second from Fabio. Good to see Zarco back on the podium. Tense from start to finish.
