2024 Round 13: Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini San Marino - Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli

Clearly Pol should of not lost his seat [OK shouldn't read so much into an FP1]

michaelm said:

That may well be the case, but I am very sanguine about his prospects on an equal bike in 2025.

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So if Bagnaia beats M. Marquez to the title on the same bike can we go ahead and call him Simba?

Bez and Morbidelli can be Timon and Pumbaa…

synn said:

So if Bagnaia beats M. Marquez to the title on the same bike can we go ahead and call him Simba?

Bez and Morbidelli can be Timon and Pumbaa…

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I'd say its more like Rossi is Scar and Pecco, Bez, and Morbidelli are the hyenas.

synn said:

I know it’s only FP1 and they tested here extensively a couple of weeks ago, but what is this Yamaha sorcery?

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I was expecting both Yamahas to be up there when I saw that It looks as if Quartararo is taking the role that Zarco played last race - doing well in practice on a Japanese bike. Next Japanese bike is Zarco in 14th.

On the other hand, I would ask 'What is this lack of VR46 sorcery?'

But, as you say, it's only FP1.

MdubSTYLIE said:

I'd say its more like Rossi is Scar and Pecco, Bez, and Morbidelli are the hyenas.

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That’s turning the story on its head which is… oddly appropriate coming from you

synn said:

That’s turning the story on its head which is… oddly appropriate coming from you

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I'll take that as a compliment.

Segfault said:

I'm not questioning this. But wondering what Gigi meant when he said before the season begun. He said Marc will get upgrades if he is showing his worthiness. This seems to contradict this all-or-none contractual agreement.

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As someone else said, Ducati Corse work in mysterious ways.

synn said:

Who do I have to bribe to get this thing back on the grid?

I don’t care if it finishes 24th out of 22. LISTEN TO IT.

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I miss the screamer so bad, especially the GP9!

MdubSTYLIE said:

"I'll be arrested."

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He got a lot worse than that, sadly.

synn said:

I know it’s only FP1 and they tested here extensively a couple of weeks ago, but what is this Yamaha sorcery?

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Not just a few weeks ago, Misano is where they have basically completed virtually ALL their testing.

mikesbytes said:

Clearly Pol should of not lost his seat [OK shouldn't read so much into an FP1]

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As above, he's ridden more laps here on the KTM this yr than his entire career previously.

synn said:

So if Bagnaia beats M. Marquez to the title on the same bike can we go ahead and call him Simba?

Bez and Morbidelli can be Timon and Pumbaa…

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He is king of the jungle now, he can’t do much more than he is doing. And If he wins 4 in a row he is way up there on the all time list, although perhaps not better than MM ever was.

Losing to Martin this year is what would bring his status into question.

Not the first time Yamaha has a promising practice session just to disappear in the race. I wouldn't get too excited yet.

michaelm said:

Perhaps you have failed to notice, but MM is a little more talented and has achieved rather more than Chris Vermeulen. As a latter day MM fan it is rather amusing to hear/see even his foremost detractors say that sheer riding talent, which is what won him the Aragon race imo and apparently theirs, won't avail him against Pecco and JM on superior GP 24 bikes in more usual conditions. That may well be the case, but I am very sanguine about his prospects on an equal bike in 2025. I can see him matching Martin who probably won't get much in the way of updates going forward this season. Even Pecco would be wise to restrict his number of DNFs over the remainder of this season imo.

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Hardly. Never thought Vermulen was much of a rider. Always found it trying when commentators gushed over some small increase in his performance. Same for any of the British or Irish premiere class riders post Sheene and Haslam. My point, as you have failed to discern, was the condition of the track was one of those "A rising tide lifts all boats" situations that leveled the playing field, and that come this weekend, most likely the paradigm will revert to business as usual. I will be happy to be proved wrong. But the fact that Alex was right up at the pointy end and other riders normally back in mid-field were unusually competitive that weekend.

The shark, the beast, the ant, and the frog looking good in fp2.

I noticed Marc is no longer going out there following any of the other Ducati's and he is going even faster than he was in the first half of the season.

Anyone have any theories as to why he stopped following? Or was he just following to try and help the adaptation process along quickly?

For a bit I was wondering if he was having vision problems because he did take a big hit at Valencia.

Might just be overthinking it a tad bit.

JPSLotus said:

I noticed Marc is no longer going out there following any of the other Ducati's and he is going even faster than he was in the first half of the season.

Anyone have any theories as to why he stopped following? Or was he just following to try and help the adaptation process along quickly?

For a bit I was wondering if he was having vision problems because he did take a big hit at Valencia.

Might just be overthinking it a tad bit.

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This is the likeliest reason IMO.
If he has done in his own direction setup wise, then maybe that is another reason?

That’s the most airtime Quartararo got since he flew long haul from Paris to Sydney.

Keshav said:

Hardly. Never thought Vermulen was much of a rider. Always found it trying when commentators gushed over some small increase in his performance. Same for any of the British or Irish premiere class riders post Sheene and Haslam. My point, as you have failed to discern, was the condition of the track was one of those "A rising tide lifts all boats" situations that leveled the playing field, and that come this weekend, most likely the paradigm will revert to business as usual. I will be happy to be proved wrong. But the fact that Alex was right up at the pointy end and other riders normally back in mid-field were unusually competitive that weekend.

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I found comparing a good result for Vermeulen to a good result for MM, one of the greatest riders of all time, odd, which you have pretty much acknowledged. MM is also hardly a mid pack rider even on a GP23, he is currently 3rd in the standings. So I see it differently, that if conditions equalise a bike advantage he still may have it even in comparison with those ahead of him in the title race. My prediction that he might be on par with Martin for the rest of the season isn’t looking too bad just now. Sure, whether he can match Bagnaia even on the same equipment remains in question, Bagnaia is the master of the current paradigm, and it might not be possible for even MM to ride a current model Ducati with aero etc as well as Pecco does in usual conditions.

A lot has certainly changed between FP1 and FP2.

Things that stay the same:

MM93 is in second.

FQ is in the top 10.

The VR46s are significantly underperforming. I wonder if either of them will get out of Q1.

MM Seems to be in the fight more than just before the summer break. Whether this is down to him finding a new setting/direction/confidence on the bike or both Pecco and Martin being injured (Martin has a stomach bug), is yet to be seen. Likely a combination of the two I'm guessing.

FQ is riding the wheels off that bike, so much so that parts started falling off in FP2!

#22 said:

FQ is riding the wheels off that bike, so much so that parts started falling off in FP2!

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Haha glad I’m not the only one who noticed this!

I don't know if anyone noticed this during FP1.

They showed Gigi in the garage touching the tail fins of the GP24, and there is some flex in those fins; they move when you touch them so they are not completely rigid parts which I assumed they were for the longest time.

I immediately thought of F1's consistently ongoing drama for the last...oh maybe 15 years regarding flexi-front wings that load and unload due to aerodynamics. So it has me wondering now about what exactly are those tail fins doing when the bike is tipped over. I don't believe in spite of all of the super slow motion footage that Dorna shoots, there has been any true focus on what those wings are doing on lean. If I had to guess --I am not an expert so take this with a grain of salt-- when the bike leans, the fins become smaller wings that load through the corner driving the rear tire into the tarmac. It would explain why the Ducati is so exceptional with the rear grip of the bike, and the need to use the rear tire to get through corners quickly.

Of course doing this doesn't mean every other manufacturer can suddenly copy it, because if that were the case, it wouldn't be a Ducati Cup. It's just part of a larger overall cohesive aerodynamic package that works from front to back.