It's RACE WEEK! Grand Prix of Qatar..

Is MM getting the hate that Barbra used to get back in the day? I understand its part of the strategy but still lame.

Hes still hurting imo.

Start of the race will be very interesting with MM surrounded by Ducs. If Marc gets the holeshot I'm not sure Martin, Basti & Miller can stay with him for long.

MM for sure is and has been sandbagging.

Suzuki also have an I4. It seems to be going a pretty well down the straight

Mrpurple said:

Is MM getting the hate that Barbra used to get back in the day? I understand its part of the strategy but still lame.

Hes still hurting imo.

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He has more or less said himself he is still not physically the old MM yet nor has he completely gelled with the new bike, which I take it to mean he is still not up to the insane banzai qualifying laps or last laps of the race he frequently pulled out in days of yore. Probably a good thing if he doesn’t go back to them, although he seldom seemed to crash on such laps, that was more when he over rode early in races with a high fuel load, or finding the limits in practice laps.

He didn’t even really try a late charge as time expired as far as I could tell half asleep, and I believe was happy with a front row start, so I am agreeing with you. He won races in worse physical condition on what appeared to be a far more fractious bike last year, although this is not a favourite track for him, and at least Martin and Bagnaia are no joke as competition.

Interesting how it has turned around, Stoner was pilloried for objecting to riders seeking tows, and he actually iirc never sought them himself.

warthog1 said:

Suzuki also have an I4. It seems to be going a pretty well down the straight

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It was going pretty well on Friday.

It doesn’t seem to have been up to the task of taking on the Ducatis in qualifying.

michaelm said:

He has more or less said himself he is still not physically the old MM yet nor has he completely gelled with the new bike,

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He may be saying that, but it doesn’t mean it’s true. In my opinion.

He is a master at the psych out and pretty much everything he says, whether true or not, is geared to cultivate a mental advantage with respect to other riders.

Bern1 said:

He may be saying that, but it doesn’t mean it’s true. In my opinion.

He is a master at the psych out and pretty much everything he says, whether true or not, is geared to cultivate a mental advantage with respect to other riders.

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Sure, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he dominated the race, if he gets clear I am sure he can maintain a better pace than anyone else, and probably won’t have the problem he had last year of not being able to stay in front of a Ducati after a pass.

I think even he is chastened by his recent travails, particularly the eye problem, though. I saw a direct quote from him about how he was concerned with living the rest of his life let alone returning to gp bike racing when he had persistent double vision, so maybe he has given up the banzai single laps for good, but wants to purport he could eventually still manage them if he so desires. I certainly don’t think he is interested in dominating testing or every practice session as he did when he was younger, as I said before this race week-end. I trust he is also not going to try anything like he tried 2 years ago at Qatar ie try to intimidate FQ with his pace when he had no chance of catching him.

Bern1 said:

It was going pretty well on Friday.



It doesn’t seem to have been up to the task of taking on the Ducatis in qualifying.

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Mir was 0.396 behind P1 and 346kmh down the straight.
They are riding them and are saying they are alot better speed wise.
We will see in the race.
Fabio otoh is not happy about the Yamaha's pace in a straight line.

Bern1 said:

He may be saying that, but it doesn’t mean it’s true. In my opinion.



He is a master at the psych out and pretty much everything he says, whether true or not, is geared to cultivate a mental advantage with respect to other riders.

Click to expand...

If you look at his recent history and time off the bike it is very believable that he is not fully fit.

Screwed the arm and shoulder pretty good and then the vision problem meant no bike time.

New bike he hasn't spent alot of time on also so not as familiar with.

Yeah he is good at the mental aspect too though.
I still see a pretty big element of truth however.

....... awesome Mignon! Winning moto3 from the front is no easy task.

Holy ...., the last lap and Moto 2 was phenomenal.

Oh… and umbrella girls are back!

Espargaro to take the hole shot from second row inside line.

Two questions.

Why is it now Lusail, not losail? And all of a sudden it seems there is a crowd? Unless that is really selective footage of spectators. I see it's not massive, but better than my memory tells me.




Anyway, it's race day boys and girls. Enjoy.

A third question.

Did they not avoid races at dusk to avoid the dew that comes after sundown? Hopefully it's not an issue.

Peco LOL!!! Poor Martin.

Dayammm…. Incredible start to the season.

Polly was really impressive. Soft tires maybe not the best choice. Still sorting out the new bike.

Binder - so impressive, faultless. All that Red Bull money earning results as expected.

Batty - a lot of heart. 2021 bike still kicking .... Big big congrats to the Gresini team.
Predict their change from Honda/Aprilia to Ducati will bring a lot of smiles to those guys. Lot of love for Nadia.:1a:
BTW - "The Beast" is a stupid-... unimaginative nickname. Should be revised to "The Blaster".

Marquez - still healing and learning to work w the new bike.

Aleix looking impressive on the Aprilia.

Yamaha - .......

Remy - made it into the points - beating a bunch of more experienced riders.

Suzuki prediction: better at other tracks no doubt.

Olivera - continues to be an accident looking for a place to happen.

Miller - bad luck does seem to follow him around.

Ciao fausto. You should have been able to witness this. All of your work has culminated right now. Thank you.

That last lap must have been hard on Enea's heart

LoL to Ducati

They thrown away their perfect bike trying to reinvent all over again. wtf... why not just resume from where they ended last year?

D'alligna focus a lot on innovations so much so sometimes seems he forget turning things upside down can upset the basics of the bike. 1 year developing a ....... ride height device that upset their bike, to be thrown away in 2024 LOL...

The moment Gigi joined Ducati I told you here in this forum he would do a good job, a good bike at maximum but would never be world champion. Ok maybe I had exaggerated a bit, but it's each time clearer and clearer he doesn't know how to be efficient on drivers championship and how to capitalize over what has been already done. He put his main rider to develop the bike until the last minute of Qatar race day, wtf man, why not use the satelite riders? there are 6 now!! It's so true what I'm talking here that Suzuki rejoined motogp and in a few years got the riders world championship being super efficient with a lean team, focusing on their riders. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Gigi but I feel he has not what it takes to get the drivers title. He get to go from top maximum performance to complete .... in just a few weeks time. It's incredible how Ducati has the power to destroy itself infinity times.

Every year they commit the same mistakes over and over again. I think it's time to remove a bit of decision power from the hands of Dalligna and bring a new, fresh leader to the team more focused on the factory riders and less obsessed with the bike.

Cracking race! Hats off to Bastianini and the Gresini team. A year old bike wins the race. Pecco apparently prefers last year’s engine as well. Pol close but not good enough with the tire wear. Whoever was in charge of Yamaha development will have their head handed to them? Good ride from Fabs all things considered. Suzuki boys?
Good start to the year and will get only more interesting as MM comes back to fitness.
Bring it on!