MotoGP 2023 silly season.

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evo9 said:
Miguel Oliveira: Agree with Gresini-Ducati for 2023?
https://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/193283/Miguel-Oliveira-Fuer-2023-mit-Gresini-Ducati-einig.html

Pol Espargaró: Relief after returning to KTM
https://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/193287/Pol-Espargaro-Erleichterung-nach-Rueckkehr-zu-KTM.html
Click to expand...

Read the article. Pol going back to KTM with the satellite team. That guy is just plain unlucky it seems. He finally gets his big break with a top factory team and the bike is .....

On the other hand, it is said you make your own luck.

Marc wanted front end feel and Pol the rear. Guess which way they went.

His destiny is to be a B rider.
 
Bern1 said:
Read the article. Pol going back to KTM with the satellite team. That guy is just plain unlucky it seems. He finally gets his big break with a top factory team and the bike is .....

On the other hand, it is said you make your own luck.

Marc wanted front end feel and Pol the rear. Guess which way they went.

His destiny is to be a B rider.
Click to expand...


Just my opinion but I don't care what bike you put Pol on, he's not championship material. I know his dream was to ride for Repsol but to be Marc's teammate? He was top dog at KTM.
 
Bern1 said:
Read the article. Pol going back to KTM with the satellite team. That guy is just plain unlucky it seems. He finally gets his big break with a top factory team and the bike is .....

On the other hand, it is said you make your own luck.

Marc wanted front end feel and Pol the rear. Guess which way they went.

His destiny is to be a B rider.
Click to expand...

I don't see it so much as Pol being unlucky, which may be partly true, but also Pol just not being that good. His Moto2 title could be considered lucky due to Reddings injuries during that season.
IIRC in his last year at KTM everyone but him managed to win a race on the bike. I always thought Aleix was the more talented brother tbh but didn't have the same opportunities.
 
PRS717 said:
Just my opinion but I don't care what bike you put Pol on, he's not championship material. I know his dream was to ride for Repsol but to be Marc's teammate? He was top dog at KTM.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was being charitable. He has shown this year that he is not championship material. His tantrums vis a vis HRC did him in. He looked visibly confused with no resolve whenever he was asked a question this year.

Has he even ever won a MotoGP race? I honestly thought he was going to give it a good go at Honda.

Probably too much to expect as it is the House of Marquez. I think in retrospect, I really respect Zarco for not going to HRC. It is not where you want to be if you aspire to win these days. You will be condemned to be the top second banana.

This will be Mir’s lot next year if he goes there, the role fits him perfectly.

I’m still hoping for a first Zarco win. I love to hear him talk about the bike and what it is doing with different things they try. He has an analytical mind and seems like an honest bloke.
 
p4p1 said:
I don't see it so much as Pol being unlucky, which may be partly true, but also Pol just not being that good. His Moto2 title could be considered lucky due to Reddings injuries during that season.
IIRC in his last year at KTM everyone but him managed to win a race on the bike. I always thought Aleix was the more talented brother tbh but didn't have the same opportunities.
Click to expand...

Yeah it’s only partly true that he is unlucky. I have come around to the opinion that he is simply not that good a rider. As mentioned, I was willing to give him credit if he did something at Honda. He had a golden opportunity with Marc being not 100%. If he was was really worth his salt he would have grabbed development and turned the bike around and won on it. Perhaps a tall order with Puig around and Marquez’s shadow looming.

Falling off after leading and then getting passed for second was the moment when HRC decided he wouldn’t be staying, imo.
 
Bern1 said:
Marc wanted front end feel and Pol the rear. Guess which way they went.

His destiny is to be a B rider.
Click to expand...

That's the point. They gave the bike more rear grip like Pol asked for. He was telling everyone who would listen how, in preseason, Honda had given him the bik he asked for and it was up to him to deliver now.

4 races into the season he was saying the bike has 'serious problems'.

He dug his own grave. I just hope Honda's change of concept hasn't forever handicapped Marc.

p4p1 said:
I don't see it so much as Pol being unlucky, which may be partly true, but also Pol just not being that good. His Moto2 title could be considered lucky due to Reddings injuries during that season.
IIRC in his last year at KTM everyone but him managed to win a race on the bike. I always thought Aleix was the more talented brother tbh but didn't have the same opportunities.
Click to expand...

Bern1 said:
Yeah, I was being charitable. He has shown this year that he is not championship material. His tantrums vis a vis HRC did him in. He looked visibly confused with no resolve whenever he was asked a question this year.
Click to expand...

He choked at Brno 2020 when he had a chance to win KTM's first race, and the same at Austria that year. Also like you say look at his reaction to the 2022 bike compared to Marc. Marc has never bad mouthed it, saying we need to understand it but it has potential. Pol threw his toys out of the pram after round 2 when he couldn't turn up and win.

This will be Mir’s lot next year if he goes there, the role fits him perfectly.
Click to expand...

I like Mir, and he has a point and shoot style that in theory should suit the Honda. However, Simon Crafar was saying in Le Mans and Spain that his current issues with the Suzuki were a 'lack of front end feel'.....boy is he in for a shock on the Honda.

I’m still hoping for a first Zarco win. I love to hear him talk about the bike and what it is doing with different things they try. He has an analytical mind and seems like an honest bloke.
Click to expand...

That's why I don't think Zarco is going anywhere, he is the perfect race/test mule for Ducati.
 
mylexicon said:
Andrea May Not Finish The MotoGP Season

Hearsay, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's true. Dovizioso is not having fun.
Click to expand...

He isn't doing the job Yamaha paid him to do, which is to help with development. Instead he is saying he cannot ride the bike.

This is why I have no time for him. People lambasted Lorenzo when they were team mates at Ducati but Lorenzo rarely complained and admitted he had to adapt to the bike, not the other way around. And eventually he got it.

As I've said before, aside from 2 seasons where he was a challenger on a good bike and rivals were handicapped, he's done nothing in GP's.

Time to give a youngblood a chance, but not sure who could take up the seat mid season.
 
#22 said:
Time to give a youngblood a chance, but not sure who could take up the seat mid season.
Click to expand...

Not sure about that either but hope that Toprak gets that slot next year. I’d rather see him than Morbidelli in the factory team but M has a contract? Though I’m sure the contract doesn’t specify that he’s not to score points, qualify last or close to it or not have any shadow of a chance to contest a podium finish.
 
I’d like to see Cam Beaubier on the bike for the rest of the season. He was devastating on a superbike in AMA, making teammate Jake Gagne and the rest of the field look distinctly sub par.
He’s showed flashes of his potential in moto2 but it could just be the bigger bike suits him better, like it did Fabio, look at him now…
 
Bern1 said:
Not sure about that either but hope that Toprak gets that slot next year. I’d rather see him than Morbidelli in the factory team but M has a contract? Though I’m sure the contract doesn’t specify that he’s not to score points, qualify last or close to it or not have any shadow of a chance to contest a podium finish.
Click to expand...

Apparenlty Lin Jarvis said to David Emmet in an interview that they are committed to Franco and not considering replacing him for 2023.

The problem with that, is if he doesnt perform next year, they will have virtually NO choice of riders and most, if not all the decent riders will be contracted through the end of 2024.

I'd personally take a punt on someone else while they can grab someone like Rins. He can't do any worse than Franco is doing now.
 
Bern1 said:
Not sure about that either but hope that Toprak gets that slot next year. I’d rather see him than Morbidelli in the factory team but M has a contract? Though I’m sure the contract doesn’t specify that he’s not to score points, qualify last or close to it or not have any shadow of a chance to contest a podium finish.
Click to expand...

Toprak deserves a shot at MotoGP, especially if his main competition for a Yamaha ride are Morbidelli, Dovizioso, and D Binder. Unfortunately, Raz is fighting through intense headwinds. RNF have abandoned their relationship with Yamaha, and due to the timing of satellite-factory agreements, Yamaha will probably not have a satellite operation for the 2023 or 2024, unless another shakeup occurs.

Yamaha will only have two bikes for the foreseeable future. When the second factory seat is free in 2024, would Yamaha rather have Toprak, who will probably still be holding their banner high in WSBK, or would they rather try to woo Acosta away from KTM? Or maybe Yam would prefer to go for a US marketing homerun by signing Joe Roberts?

Even before RNF bailed, Sofuoglu seemed to understand Toprak's situation. He's almost better off pretending like he must be in MotoGP (or else), and then signing WSBK contracts with significant pay increases to keep the Yam at the front in WSBK.
 
Last edited:
Keshav said:
Talk about your ringing endorsements.
Click to expand...

And what is yours?

I honestly don't see Franco suddenly transforming his performance or finding something prior to summer 2023. Name a rider who in 18 months went from being a backmarker on a bike that's leading the championship to running consistently at the front. Morbidelli is barely even able to crack the points at present. Gaps to Quartararo:

QAT - 6 seconds
IND - 19 seconds
USA - 23 seconds
POR - 33 seconds
JER - 27 seconds
FRA - 24 seconds
ITA - 20 seconds
SPA - 33 seconds

You don't make up that time by making a few adjustments. I like Franco but I stand by my statement that he is going to be in a similar position next year. By which time Yamaha won't have any decent riders (except maybe Toprak) to replace him with.

What do Yamaha have to lose? They held onto Vinales for 5 years, trying to pander to his every request and Fabio came in and won the championship at his first try on the factory bike.
 
From everything I've read, Toprak will not make the jump unless it's with the factory team and since RNF is ditching Yamaha, that's the only seat. I am also a bit miffed at Frankie. He did so well on the A spec / older bike and now he's nowhere. Did his injury really mess with his head this much?
 
PRS717 said:
From everything I've read, Toprak will not make the jump unless it's with the factory team and since RNF is ditching Yamaha, that's the only seat. I am also a bit miffed at Frankie. He did so well on the A spec / older bike and now he's nowhere. Did his injury really mess with his head this much?
Click to expand...

It must have. What else is there? Girl problems?
 

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