2024 MotoGP Round 8: Motul TT Assen - TT Circuit Assen

PRS717 said:

I was led to believe he left because Aleix is leaving and Mav still has to play second fiddle to a guy who has not turned one lap on the Aprilia. I was also led to believe he (Mav) was expected to take a pay cut. He's butt hurt and perhaps rightfully so. Is KTM / Tech 3 paying him more than he would have made staying with Aprilia? If not then yea, there is a bit of moronic decision making IMO. Even though Bez and Jorge have no experience on the Aprilia, I still think Aprilia wins in this deal.

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Hopefully Aprilia won’t make the same mistake that Suzuki made with the engine when they got 2 new riders.

The speed that Vinales got that contract suggests there was negotiations happening before Martin was signed

VR46, you know your having a bad day when Morbidelli is in front of you

PRS717 said:

I was led to believe he left because Aleix is leaving and Mav still has to play second fiddle to a guy who has not turned one lap on the Aprilia. I was also led to believe he (Mav) was expected to take a pay cut. He's butt hurt and perhaps rightfully so. Is KTM / Tech 3 paying him more than he would have made staying with Aprilia? If not then yea, there is a bit of moronic decision making IMO. Even though Bez and Jorge have no experience on the Aprilia, I still think Aprilia wins in this deal.

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The Aprillia has fallen back this year, and is a fair way behind where it was when Espargaro was challenging for the championship. Perhaps Mav doesn't have confidence that the Aprillia will step forward in the future, and has more confidence in the KTM project.

AnnoyingTwit said:

The Aprillia has fallen back this year, and is a fair way behind where it was when Espargaro was challenging for the championship. Perhaps Mav doesn't have confidence that the Aprillia will step forward in the future, and has more confidence in the KTM project.

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I don’t see that the Aprilia is less of a bike than the last couple of years. What’s different now are the riders mindsets. One is retiring after a long career and knowing he won’t pull up any trees so is understandably riding his contract out. The second rider semi retired the day he joined the team and is now semi coherent as well.
Rather than Mav having little confidence in Aprilia I suspect it’s the other way round and they just want to get this season over with and put the effort into next season.

Faz said:

I don’t see that the Aprilia is less of a bike than the last couple of years. What’s different now are the riders mindsets. One is retiring after a long career and knowing he won’t pull up any trees so is understandably riding his contract out. The second rider semi retired the day he joined the team and is now semi coherent as well.
Rather than Mav having little confidence in Aprilia I suspect it’s the other way round and they just want to get this season over with and put the effort into next season.

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Quite possible. Especially giving performance on Friday. We'll see next year. One thing I'm confident of: Martin will be very hungry next year if he doesn't win the championship this year.

AnnoyingTwit said:

Quite possible. Especially giving performance on Friday. We'll see next year. One thing I'm confident of: Martin will be very hungry next year if he doesn't win the championship this year.

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Yes next year will truly show what the bike can do consistently.

Haven't watched anything yet. 1 and 2 on points are 2 and 1 on the grid. Marquez lost the front and is 7.

That move by Marquez in Q2 seemed so uncharacteristic of him. Really dumb-ass. And what with Vinales looking so good today, I can't help but wonder if he won't go to bed tonight regretting his jumping ship. Lastly, been speculating that the Yamaha/Pramac join-up was much more of a done deal than anyone realized, and that, more than anything, was why MM wasn't interested in a Pramac contract.

Watching todays proceedings live.

Pity Quartararo couldn’t get through to Q2. He was **This** close. However , the Yamaha does seem to flick from side to side MUCH quicker than in recent times. They’re not there yet, but getting there.

The Honda still looks like the front end is made of chicken bones. I really hope they sort it out in the coming weeks.

Pecco is still on a different level. Ending his Q2 early and sitting back was a statement move, if not a bit of mind games with current and future rivals.

Expected Márquez to do better than he did, but that torpedo move basically undid his progress. Still expecting a rocket ship start in both races.

Binder seems to be getting his confidence back, which is always a good thing. Acosta seems a bit off his top game, but still expecting good things.

Viñales is still a wild card for this race, but I expect him to Viñales this race in classic Viñales fashion. A. Espargaro could have been a podium contender, but landing on one’s tailbone after a high side is one of the most painful situations one can be in (Been there), so I don’t expect more than P7-8 from him today. A pity.

Expecting both races to be a Ducati 1-2-3, take your pick between Pecco, Martin, Marquez, with a slight edge to Pecco.

Keshav said:

That move by Marquez in Q2 seemed so uncharacteristic of him. Really dumb-.... And what with Vinales looking so good today, I can't help but wonder if he won't go to bed tonight regretting his jumping ship. Lastly, been speculating that the Yamaha/Pramac join-up was much more of a done deal than anyone realized, and that, more than anything, was why MM wasn't interested in a Pramac contract.

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I agree it was a dumb move by Marc. Suspect he was trying to put his next years team mate in his place and failed miserably. Sometimes it’s just not possible so you suck it up and wait your turn.

Keshav said:

Lastly, been speculating that the Yamaha/Pramac join-up was much more of a done deal than anyone realized, and that, more than anything, was why MM wasn't interested in a Pramac contract.

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As per GPOne, Campinoti was willing to give Ducati another shot *IF* Márquez joined them. But he said no, and that was that.

Also explains Gigi’s enigmatic comment from a few weeks ago on how he hopes Pramac will stay, but that it’s not in his control.

AnnoyingTwit said:

The Aprillia has fallen back this year, and is a fair way behind where it was when Espargaro was challenging for the championship. Perhaps Mav doesn't have confidence that the Aprillia will step forward in the future, and has more confidence in the KTM project.

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The KTMs have fallen further back than the Aprilias though but next year it might be different, especially if the GP25 is more like the GP23.

Yeah I think this is the weekend where the championship will swing into Frantisek's favor. Jörg is fighting the good fight but I'm highly doubtful it'll pay off.

Marini’s engine went pop.
When was the last time we saw an HRC engine go pop?

Marini done blowed up

Holy fcukballs that Espargaro crash…

Gosh, Aleix hardcore bins it on the final lap.

Moody sprint race, with an untouchable Pecco, Marc binning it early and finding it hard to find himself in this track, Aleix's weird hard crash in the last lap, and all the action contained in the battle for the 4th and 5th spots. Quartararo did a commendable race and showing signs of improvement for Yamaha. Jorge with the best damage limitation performance he could do. The only man who can beat Pecco tomorrow is himself.

Bagnaia on another level
Martin is the only one on the same galaxy
Viñales did live up to the wildcard status

Not the best of days for brothers Márquez, but not for the lack of trying

Beautiful day at Assen. Pecco impeccable, impressive. Nothing Martin could do after the very slight bobble on the first lap but damage control and stay in second. Pecco making inexorable points inroads on him. Going to be an awesome race tomorrow.