Joined Sep 2015
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Alex Márquez out of the GP with a double rib fracture. Sprint soon and the pavement still half-wet.
2023 IndiaOil Grand Prix of India
- Thread starter mylexicon
- Start date
Joined Mar 2023
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Australia
Even now when they're running half decently it's crazy to see how much movement there is in the Honda.
Loads of debris in turn 1. Mir looks like he crashed due to mechanical reasons.
Loads of debris in turn 1. Mir looks like he crashed due to mechanical reasons.
Joined Sep 2015
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Office cubicle
Bezz rode like a demon! incredible comeback from being punted by Marini. Jorge rode a peerless race but even this version of him will have a very hard time containing Bezz tomorrow. Pecco did well limiting damage and Marc back on the podium. I don't want to be in Mir's shoes right now, everything he does is hopeless.
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
It is hard to say. Jorge didn't have to push. He had a comfortable lead from lap one. He definitely had more pace if needed.
Joined May 2009
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I saw he had already dropped back to around 10th when he crashed so I assumed there were technical issues. Apparently he just ran wide into turn one though.
Joined May 2009
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The announcers were saying over and over Luca will be penalized for first corner incident. I say ......... Luca did nothing wrong. He was in the space when Bez turned into him. He had a rider to his inside he couldn't go anywhere. Bez would have had no idea Luca was there. It was the epitome of a racing incident.
He rode like a demon to get back to 5th but ride of the day goes to Marc for keeping that .... bike upright. I was certain he would eventually get chucked down the road. No one else on that grid could have ridden that bike to a podium.
He rode like a demon to get back to 5th but ride of the day goes to Marc for keeping that .... bike upright. I was certain he would eventually get chucked down the road. No one else on that grid could have ridden that bike to a podium.
Joined Sep 2015
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I thought the same but after seeing replays I got the impression that Luca missed his brake marker slightly and was going wide, otherwise he could've turned better and avoid Marco.
Joined May 2009
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Someone was right there on his inside. I don't think he could have turned in any harder. I thought his rear lifted after the oh .... Bez is turning tight. It happened quickly I don't think anything could have been done. Unlike Bradl. That was pretty obvious.
Joined Feb 2020
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Bendigo Vic
No but I was very surprised to see him out qualify MM even if it was by a nanosecond.
He looked pretty strong at the start on fresh tyres but that didn't last.
Joined Feb 2020
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Bendigo Vic
Bez was lapping quicker than anyone. Looking forward to seeing if he can do the same tomorrow.
Jubilation for Martin. Disappointment for Bezzechi. Bagnaia is playing the long game, but he can't allow Martin too much momentum if he's going to hoist the rider's WC trophy for Ducati again. Marquez put on another riding clinic today, though I can't determine the reason for HRC's improved form, though I suppose they did win a race at COTA this year. Joan Mir was going well until he made a mistake, and then he grabbed the exhaust pipe when he tried to lift the bike. My hand hurts just thinking about it.
Regarding the Bezzechi/Marini clash, I also don't see too much fault with Marini. It looked as though he could see the traffic jam on the inside and he was planning to stay in his lane and ride the long way around the outside. Bezzechi had a dream that he could cut to the apex or somewhere close to it, and he closed Marini's line. Marini grabbed extra brake and the rear tire came off the ground, but I didn't see anything too egregious. Plus, half of the riders ran wide once or twice during the sprint, and people were airmailing apexes routinely during practice. It's not like they are racing at Jerez or someplace they've done a half million miles. If a guy is two feet wide at the first turn on the first lap of the first ever race, it's a racing incident, imo, particularly if his line is being closed.
Regarding the Bezzechi/Marini clash, I also don't see too much fault with Marini. It looked as though he could see the traffic jam on the inside and he was planning to stay in his lane and ride the long way around the outside. Bezzechi had a dream that he could cut to the apex or somewhere close to it, and he closed Marini's line. Marini grabbed extra brake and the rear tire came off the ground, but I didn't see anything too egregious. Plus, half of the riders ran wide once or twice during the sprint, and people were airmailing apexes routinely during practice. It's not like they are racing at Jerez or someplace they've done a half million miles. If a guy is two feet wide at the first turn on the first lap of the first ever race, it's a racing incident, imo, particularly if his line is being closed.
Joined May 2009
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Shovel's Club
I have to give Mir some credit. He hasn't given up and he hasn't complained much(to my knowledge) in the media. He went for it today. Not sure if it was rider error or the bike being incapable of what he wanted it to do. The fact that he crashes every weekend tells me he is always going for it. His ambition is there thats for sure.
Joined Sep 2015
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Office cubicle
The tire pressure regulation isn't helping either.
In other news, Marini joins the infirmary with a collarbone fracture. That's Enea, Alex and Luca out. I suppose that's the way to balance having 8 bikes on the grid.
Pedrosa on Spanish TV had a theory that the harder rear tire compound for this round is mitigating Honda's rear grip issues, obviously not by helping Honda in that regard but by making the field more equal with all other bikes struggling for rear grip too, thus 'masking' Honda's woes here.
Joined May 2009
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Shovel's Club
Marc said,
"It's always the same bike, in my opinion Joan is a very talented rider and when you arrive at a new circuit talented riders make the difference." -was his opinion
"This morning , especially, we were very competitive, in the afternoon we were further back and both Mir and I did the time behind Bezzecchi because we needed to follow someone. We're in Q2. but so is Quartararo, as I said, talent makes the difference on a new track."
I worked in IT for more than 30 years, doing software development and support, when outsourcing to India became the rage I was forced to start working with various Indian IT companies on various projects for a major auto manufacturer. I quickly came to realize (at that time, not sure about now) that for every competent person you dealt with one-on-one there were many back in the shop who didn't have a clue and were focused on getting their next job before they got found out. Eventually after many painful years most of the development and support was brought back inhouse.
I agree with Dani that it seems related to the rear tire and rear grip. I thought maybe with the new circuit they might have thrown the tire pressure regs in the bin and told the teams to do whatever it takes to safely reach the checkered flag, but different compounds is perhaps more plausible for now.
