If it were a little earlier in the race, with a crowd of bikes, it would be the same as Super Sic...
2023 SHARK Grand Prix de France
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How many times has Alex been taken out through no fault of his own this year? That's too bad. I thought Marc running the hard front tire was going to work for him in the end but nope. I didn't see Bez performing the way he did. Freakn' awesome and I hope he keeps it up. Same with Martin.
Somewhat depressingly, the current issues with the fanbase and the state of the sport were forecast decades ago when MotoGP switched to 4-stroke. At the time of MotoGP's transition, I remember reading a few articles by people at Cycle World and elsewhere that cast doubt on the new 4-stroke formula, specifically the engine displacement and the nature of 4-stroke racing. The gist was that 4-stroke racing will spiral out of control, and the spectacle of racing will be lost if the elegant simplicity (aka primitiveness) of 2-stroke engines was not maintained. There criticisms were largely dismissed as old-fashioned thinking, and whining from American pundits who could sense their waning influence over the sport.
Regardless of the authors' motivations, the criticism did seem misplaced at the time. The Japanese had managed to keep most of the cost overrun and superfluous technology (rider aids) out of 500cc grand prix, including a decision to ditch active ride height in the early 90s. The players weren't changing so why would the sport spiral out of control?
Pains me to say it, but they have been proven mostly correct, at this point. Something about 4-stroke technology attracts some sort of miscreant class of engineers who cannot resist their impulse to assume control over the competitive landscape by introducing a panoply of electronic solutions and control modules. I have faith that sanity will prevail, but as the Japanese pull away from MotoGP, I wonder if the sporting aspects of MotoGP can be saved. Obviously, the Japanese way of things has its own perils, but for whatever reason, they are more fascinated with the idea of building something, and then traveling the globe trying to find people who can ride what they've made. They are build around the 80/20 paradigm, imo, and it's sad that 80/20 has fallen so suddenly out of fashion.
Perhaps KTM could be a positive influence on the sport, since they are backed primarily by a branding and entertainment empire, not by a technology company, but their ties to Chinese manufacturing is somewhat perilous. MotoGP is already suffering from elitist spending and development. Adopting the absolutism of low-cost and environmental pillage might make things worse, but maybe I'm not giving CF Moto a fair shake.
We'll see what happens. Hopefully, you'll stick around to see it. For all of its ills, technology does have the ability to improve things, even MotoGP. Maybe the GPC will get it right in 2027, by using technology to restrict the implementation of pernicious electronic systems that undermine the sport.
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People commend Fabio for pushing so hard he crashes. People condemn Marc for pushing so hard he crashes.
There is some validity here. Fabio would be the current world champion if he had settled for a couple of third places instead of binning trying to win it like he did last year.
I think this criticism of Marc is mostly due to the fact that sympathetic observers have watched him crash a lot for years now and wish that he would take it back a notch so we can selfishly enjoy him longer. Fabio may catch up eventually. I think he is riding to the limit on the Yamaha, just like Marc is on the Honda.
For sure, it’s like what is the correct torque for this bolt? Tight, but not too tight.
The biggest question of the year is, if Marc and Fabio, arguably the two best riders on the grid, were on competitive equipment, would they be beating the likes of Bagnaia, Martin, etc.?
Not entirely sure that would be so evident. The young guns have had a couple of seasons on the learning curve and may be up to snuff.
Interesting question. Some of those young Ducati guys are very fast as well as being on good bikes. I still regard Bagnaia as a little flaky, as I do FQ. Hard to call MM flaky given his approach/attitude has produced all those titles but he still makes poor decisions sometimes, and like FQ could have at least one more title if he had settled for position in several races in 2015.
Binder increasingly impresses me, races robustly but fairly, resilient in adversity, doing better than a team mate of reasonable quality etc.
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For every mistake Marc has made I could point out twice as many amazing saves or changing condition masterpieces. This is who Marc has always been and will be until he retires. His amazing talent and ability comes partially from his desire to be on the limit constantly. This is who he is and I love him for it. I don't want to see him change. I just want to see him on a better bike. The honda is so bad. He was the third Honda rider to crash while riding at an incredibly higher pace than the others. His biggest flaw is his loyalty to honda. With that said, I can't stand when riders quit on a team mid contract but Mir should and so should Marc. The honda isn't giving them a bike worth riding. It is endangering their careers. I feel it has already ruined Marcs do to the shoulder injury. Mir should just quit.
As for Fabio, I am happy to see him pushing the way he is this year. I had the opinion that he was a little soft. But he has the win it or bin it mentality this season and if he can find himself on a better bike next season he will be better for it.
I also tend to think that MM on a Ducati, or even an Aprilia or KTM, would still be mostly giving the field a view of his tailpipe. On a dominant bike he won 14 races on the bounce as I recall, and in most of his title winning years mostly kept the bike on the tarmac until the title was clinched.
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Marcs best races are wins and his worse not including falls are still top 5's. He never has a track or conditions where he cannot fight for the podium his entire career and that is unreal. Even his race lap times and qualify don't make sense compared to his practice pace. He is a once in a lifetime talent. We will never see another rider like him.
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Don't hold your breath. Even in the smaller classes his dominance was unmatched. He has been the same rider since day one. no one before or since has came close to his level. Casey was an amazing generational talent but in different ways than Marc. Pedro Accosta has imo a chance to be the next dominate champion but still nothing like MM. If there is another MM out there he isn't racing yet.
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I disagree. Right now we have a bike that is absolutely superior to the others yet we don't have a rider dominating the competition. How many riders are on that bike 8 or 9? Yet no of them are dominating. Its not even the ducatis locking out the podium on the regular. I don't think at this moment there are any riders capable of domination other than Marc and possibly Fabio if they were on the Ducati. I'd like to think the beast is capable of that but unfortunately he is injured. I think he would be running away with the championship had he not been taken out by LM.
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Most action packed race of the yr. Gutted for Marc, he really shows again and again how good he is. 3 races out and he is the only Honda rider in Q2, and then the top 10 of the races. He really is wasted on that bike at the moment. If he were on something remotely competitive, he would be simply gone.
Equally relieved that Alex and Marini were ok. Like others here, I knew that could have been a Simoncelli level incident.
Pecco/Maverick. Agree with others here that is was a racing incident, but lay the blame towards Pecco. I don't blame him for going for the gap when Vinales ran wide, but he should have known that gap was always going to close.
It will be criminal if Augusto Fernandez loses his ride next year, he has a stong future. What I don;t get is what is all the fuss about Raul Fernandez? He did .... all on the KTM that Augusto now has last yr, and has done .... ALL on the Aprilia. All he does is moan and moan.
Talking of moaners, who watched the final 2 mins or so of P2? Aleix Espargaro cruising around on the racing line into T2 causing Marquez to stand up and run wide. He didn;t get a penalty for it, but what pisses me off the most is Aleix is the biggest ....... whiner ever if he gets blocked himself.
I read elsewhere that riders that do that get double LLP's
I don't have a reliable source for this, but have heard more than 1 or 2 rumours that another KTM owned brand, Husqvarna, are going to create a new team with 2 more factory KTM's bankrolled by Red Bull for Marquez and Acosta for 2024.
Marc doesn't need the money and if he is serious about winning more titles, I think he needs to switch. Honda are going to take years to fix that bike, just like Ducati did in 2010-2016. That said, I'd love him to stay and win with Honda, but I'm not optimistic that is going to happen.
Key difference. Marc dethroned Rossi....
Has anyone utterly dominated their team mates like Marc has? Maybe Doohan?
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I agree with you. Aside from Austin, when he crashed from the lead and I'm still not convinced was a bike issue, given Lorenzos bike cut out at the same corner later in the race, he finished 1st or second in every. single. race. No one has come even CLOSE to that level of consistency and dominance since.
2019: Marc 18 Podiums, 12 wins
2020: Mir - 5 podiums, 1 win
2021: Fabio - 10 podiums, 5 wins
2022: Pecco - 9 podiums, 7 wins
There may be some good riders out there, many on Ducati's that is the dominant bike. But as Mdub said, no single rider is dominating.
Interesting take on the Beast and I'm inclined to agree. His only doubt was Sprint races, but Binder has proven that Enea would have been fine. I still expect him to best Pecco when he's back to full fitness and speed.
Right now, based on consistency. My money is on Binder for 2023 champ. Had it not been for the sprints, Pecco would have 2 finishes in 5 races.
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Joined Oct 2008
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Would you pose naked with only a Husqvarna badge and post is as your new Avatar if so?
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I will and I'll send you a poster for your wall.Would you pose naked with only a Husqvarna badge and post is as your new Avatar if so?
Agree. My money is on Binder as well.
MM is over-riding an uncompetitive bike this year and was riding a similarly uncompetitive bike with a poorly functioning arm for the 2 years prior to that, but did contribute to the injury which started it all imo. The bike might have been close to good enough that year but he crashed out unnecessarily, trying to prove something to FQ iirc, when whatever he did riding-wise wasn’t going to change a race result.
But he has had seasons of great consistency as you say, including the year he won with the bad shoulder when he was prepared to settle for position more than is his usual wont.
I think Stoner was close to his equal, but only for the 2 title years, and Casey had to wind himself up very tight to perform as he did those years, particularly on the Ducati in 2007 when I don’t think anyone else in the field would have been competitive for the title on the thing. Dovi said he was a different person as a Ducati test rider than he was as an HRC team mate. Stoner also couldn’t cope with the Valeban/Rossi’s off track so-called mind games, which abashed MM not at all.
MM is a natural born shark for whom being ultra competitive is similar to breathing.
As a Stoner tragic I did like what Nakamoto said, admittedly before most of MM’s title wins, that MM had faster reflexes but Stoner was a genius on a bike.
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