MotoGP: 2024 Round 1 Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar

I am so tired of people saying ktm need a top rider. I am not sure any rider on the grid could have taken 2nd on that bike. They have the rider consistently in the mix with the ducati's and the next great hope.

Interesting interview here. Lorenzo noted, like many of us, that Marc seemed to be losing a lot of time under acceleration, especially on Sunday. He explains here that it is not that his bike is down on power compared to the GP24, but that it's the way it is set up and he is riding it.
They made a change from Saturday to Sunday, that made him feel less comfortable too.

MdubSTYLIE said:

I am so tired of people saying ktm need a top rider. I am not sure any rider on the grid could have taken 2nd on that bike. They have the rider consistently in the mix with the ducati's and the next great hope.

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Preach it!!!
I'm astonished at the disrespect toward BB.

MdubSTYLIE said:

I am so tired of people saying ktm need a top rider. I am not sure any rider on the grid could have taken 2nd on that bike. They have the rider consistently in the mix with the ducati's and the next great hope.

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Fair call after this race, him and 6 Ducatis in the top 7, and Miller who won races on a Ducati uncompetitive. Aside from this race he constantly shines in the rain when talent tends to come to the fore with equalisation of the bikes.

He probably needs a better bike.

Aprilia could do with some better riders though.

Saffa said:

Preach it!!!
I'm astonished at the disrespect toward BB.

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Fair call particularly after this race, the quality of the KTM bike and premier class operation in general probably should be what is more in question. Maybe you might take Martin ahead of him, even MM having to learn a third bike heading into his mid 30s might not be a good bet to surpass him.

michaelm said:

Fair call after this race, him and 6 Ducatis in the top 7, and Miller who won races on a Ducati uncompetitive. Aside from this race he constantly shines in the rain when talent tends to come to the fore with equalisation of the bikes.

He probably needs a better bike.

Aprilia could do with some better riders though.

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Exactly. Mind you I don't think the ktm is a bad bike. It looked good this weekend under him and Pedro. Miller is exactly my point. Put any of the Ducati riders on that bike and they aren't going to do better. Especially the guys on the gp24. Maybe Marc maybe Fabio but Binder is top notch. He consistently preforms in the races better than anyone else on a ktm. If he could qualify better he could definitely be a title contender. The only one not on a ducati.

michaelm said:

Fair call particularly after this race, the quality of the KTM bike and premier class operation in general probably should be what is more in question. Maybe you might take Martin ahead of him, even MM having to learn a third bike heading into his mid 30s might not be a good bet to surpass him.

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Martin has been on the factory Ducati battling with Binda. I doubt he could compete with Brad on the ktm. Like you I will use Miller as the reference. I rate Martin higher than Jack but that still doesn't put him fighting for podiums on the ktm.

#22 said:

Not sure I get what you are saying here? Ducati have no concessions, so that can't lose any. Did you mean customer (team)? VR46 may go to Yamaha, but at the moment, their preference is to stay with Ducati.

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Yeah sorry, I meant "concession" of a customer team!! I was pumped and got confused.

michaelm said:

Aprilia could do with some better riders though.

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I have been saying this for the last 2 yrs.

gui22a said:

Yeah sorry, I meant "concession" of a customer team!! I was pumped and got confused.

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Hey we're all pumped after finally getting racing yesterday!

MdubSTYLIE said:

Exactly. Mind you I don't think the ktm is a bad bike. It looked good this weekend under him and Pedro. Miller is exactly my point. Put any of the Ducati riders on that bike and they aren't going to do better. Especially the guys on the gp24. Maybe Marc maybe Fabio but Binder is top notch. He consistently preforms in the races better than anyone else on a ktm. If he could qualify better he could definitely be a title contender. The only one not on a ducati.

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It doesn’t seem to be an all round bike but rather appears to be fairly track dependent to me. I have my doubts about how well run they are in the premier class, particularly Tech 3. They have burnt through quite a lot of riders who looked good in the junior classes, although the opposite applies there, the Ajo teams are very well run,

michaelm said:

It doesn’t seem to be an all round bike but rather appears to be fairly track dependent to me. I have my doubts about how well run they are in the premier class, particularly Tech 3. They have burnt through quite a lot of riders who looked good in the junior classes, although the opposite applies there, the Ajo teams are very well run,

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And Binder has shown he can ride the bike when conditions are not good. Making him the best fit for ktm.

MdubSTYLIE said:

And Binder has shown he can ride the bike when conditions are not good. Making him the best fit for ktm.

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Like slicks in the rain

Interesting article with some numbers on Marquez' performance:

How Qatar MotoGP debut proved Marquez's Ducati switch is already paying off

Finally got around to watching the races. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Ducati dominant. Martin fast in the sprints, and Bagnaia fast in the GP. KTM and Aprilia intermittently breaking up the Ducati parade, depending on whether the bike and rider are meshing with the track and conditions. Honda still circulating in the midpack, while Fabio outperforms his teammate by a country mile and complains bitterly about the Yamaha M1.

Acosta did reasonable well in his debut. GasGas is not an outfit that will be winning races, imo, so scoring podiums will be as good as it gets, with top-10s being the standard result. The only downside of his ascendancy is listening to the announcers trying to keep it in their pants whenever Pedro goes quickly. Bastianini still can't find his 2022 form, though he's looking better than last year, and, crucially, he stayed healthy through Round 1. I feel badly for Binder. I'm doing the math, and he's going to be a 32 year old senior citizen when 2027 arrives, not sure if KTM will make a championship contending bike before then.

What surprised me about Qatar was the relatively awful performances of Marini, Morbidelli, and Rins. Frankie is still recovering, but you'd think one of those guys would have a decent points-paying weekend. Marini particularly had a terrible showing.

Regarding Marc, it seems like he has an outside chance to win a race or two. As others have pointed out, he still likes the fast and loose style, and it's costing him drive in the aero-ride-height era. Maybe COTA is his best bet for a win? We'll see.

I've had a stab at trying to work out where M Marquez would of come if he was still on the Honda and there isn't really an answer to that but here's the stab

A Marquez/Digi on the GP23's averaged about 8 seconds behind the winner, Zarco/Mir averaged about 18.25 seconds behind the winner. Add 10 seconds to M Marquez's time and that put's MM in 11th, just in front of Quartararo. Knowing MM's ability on the Honda and allowing for that he's still adapting to the GP23, he could of come as high as 8th. Assuming he didn't DNF....

Bastianini did just enough. But nothing extra. He should not be getting smoked by Martin , Digi ,the Gresini's or a KTM.

He's on the factory Ducati FFs. How this guy doesn't get more flack for under achieving , I'll never know.

Keshav said:

If he has indeed matured, and is taking more measured, non-banzai approach to winning - it’s a sign of his being smarter, wanting to have an injury free season.

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Marc obviously pushed the Honda beyond the limit in the last two years but I'd argue he was quite a mature rider during his championship years.
Between 2016-2018 the Honda wasn't the best bike. There were days where he couldn't win and decided he'd rather take home the points than wreck.

Saffa said:

Preach it!!!
I'm astonished at the disrespect toward BB.

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Brad is legitimately one of the top riders in the sport. He's constantly been the top non-Ducati for over a year.

MdubSTYLIE said:

Martin has been on the factory Ducati battling with Binda. I doubt he could compete with Brad on the ktm. Like you I will use Miller as the reference. I rate Martin higher than Jack but that still doesn't put him fighting for podiums on the ktm.

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Martin gives every appearance of being intrinsically fast, and has far more dominant pace than Miller ever had on a factory Ducati, and is significantly younger than Binder, the main reason you might consider him ahead of. Binder particularly for the longer term. I agree it is absolutely not a given he could match Binder on a KTM however.