Shark Gran Prix de France - Le Mans 2022

mylexicon · May 12, 2022

Guess I'll start the thread. Round 7 underway tomorrow. Looks like rain, on Saturday and Sunday. Could mix up the championship for sure.

MotoGP Schedule (Local Time)

Friday:
FP1 -- 11:45 - 13:00
FP2 -- 14:10 - 14:55

Saturday:
FP3 -- 9:55 - 10:40
FP4 -- 13:30 - 14:00
QP1 -- 14:10 - 14:25
QP2 -- 14:35 - 14:50

Sunday:
WUP -- 9:40 - 10:00
RAC -- 14:00

Bern1 · May 12, 2022

Always interesting at that race.

I went to Le Mans for the MotoGP race in 2003.

It rained.

The track does have one of the most majestic high speed corners in racing.

mylexicon · May 14, 2022

Ducati looking strong in QP. No surprise since they are the only manufacturer with enough machinery to throw every possible setup at the track. Miller looks fast again this year. Not sure it will matter since rain is on the way.

Gardener seems to be in a bad state. Claims the best outcome would be if the weather is so horrific that he doesn’t have to ride. Venting I’m sure, but KTM look horrendous in the dry. We will be lucky if MoroGP doesn’t loose another manufacturer in the coming years.

Bern1 · May 14, 2022

Looks like another Bags and Fabs show. Unless it rains. In that case it will be Rins and Zarco.

mylexicon · May 14, 2022

Looks like the forecast calls for rain as the rainy starts. Could be interesting. Fabs is not bad in the rain. Maybe Oliviera can do something from his lowly starting position.

Bern1 · May 14, 2022

The cool thing about rain is that it hands the finesse riders a little advantage. That needs to be judiciously managed……or not!

mylexicon · May 14, 2022

Zarco Demoted Three Places On Starting Grid

warthog1 · May 14, 2022

Bern1 said:
Looks like another Bags and Fabs show. Unless it rains. In that case it will be Rins and Zarco.

Don't forget MM and Jack if it rains. Yeah Bags looking very hard to beat if it's dry. He is going to be too hard to pass again I reckon and the Duc starts off the line so well

mylexicon · May 14, 2022

Aleix is throwing his toys from the pram regarding contract negotiations. Sucks because he has a family, a short remaining shelf life, and he’s carrying the team on his back, but Aprilia are going to be spending next years budget on overcoming the loss of concessions.

Aleix is stuck in a no-win. Now maybe he understands why so many people turned Aprilia down. Only way out is to steal the title this year somehow.

warthog1 · May 14, 2022

He is looking good though given Mav's performance on the bike thus far.
Mav has shown real speed in the past on the Yam and Zuk.
Not much to speak of on the Aprilia to date.
That should be worth something and you'd hope they'd recognise it.
They'd be nowhere without Aleix, but they would still have their concessions.

warthog1 · May 15, 2022

Good race.
Ducati seems head and shoulders over the rest, as they did at the end of last season.
Impressive ride by the winner and caused a crack in the previously uncrackable.

michaelm · May 15, 2022

warthog1 said:
Good race.
Ducati seems head and shoulders over the rest, as they did at the end of last season.
Impressive ride by the winner and caused a crack in the previously uncrackable.

I still think their man/rider management is horrible though. Bagnaia doesn’t seem to me to be coping with being the anointed lead rider in charge of bike decisions etc overly well, and I suspect Miller could have 16 or 20 points more as could Mir if he hadn’t already been reputedly three quarters of the way out of the door. Even Ducati’s record with previous successful lead riders is hardly stellar, their two previously most successful riders having left on less than cordial terms, and a fairly iconic Ducati WSBK rider unimpressed with the GP team, although a long time ago now.

If they want to win the riders’ title imo they may have to settle on a single rider to back, and the best choice could well be Bastianini rather than Bagnaia.

Bern1 · May 15, 2022

It seems a fairly new development or possible trend to have just a single rider be the sole focus of a team. It has always been important to secure a manufacturer’s title but now not so much. The rider’s title seems to be all important. Obviously, that is what is in the public’s mind and therefore in the mind of sponsors.

The thing is, if there is a lead rider, it has to be because he is indeed stronger than the other one, not because the team is giving him special status, equipment or other advantages.

Thoughts from the race: Bastianini awesome. He’s the real deal and a logical choice for a factory ride. Good damage control from Fabio. Impressive ride by Aleix. Miller kept his cool but just doesn’t seem to be able to run at the pointy end on worn tires. Rins once again overcooks it and Mir probably got tired of me saying he’s just an average rider, binning it trying to get out of average territory. Pol not really helping his tenure at Honda, he seems lost. So far behind their teammates, Mav and Morbidelli should focus on whatever their next careers are going to be, this ain’t the right job for either of them.

mylexicon · May 15, 2022

Entertaining race with dramatic impact on the championship. Glad the rain stayed away.

Winners:
Bastianini - 3 wins in 2022. Outside chance for a title
Miller - Hanging in there and breaking the Bolognese MK Ultra
Aleix - Scoring points on Fabs. Maybe Aleix is actually a contender

Losers:
Quartararo - bogged the start and lost points to Aleix
Rins - back to his old ways and out of the title picture
Mir - No excuse for that one
Suzuki - Sepuku on worldwide TV was the opposite of what people wanted
Bagnaia - Tardozzi will have him in a padded cell if he does that again
M Marquez - Best potential 5th. He finished 6th with 3 spots gifted to him
Honda - lol
Jorge Martin - who? Is that guy in the premier class?
KTM/RedBull - Shoulda done more rain dances
Honda/Rins/Mir - a job interview where all parties failed

Biggest loser:
Aerodynamics/Michelin - many bikes headshaking into Dunlop and flying off track. MotoGP releases a video to remind everyone that it’s okay because it happened in the past to future champions like Stoner 2006 and Lorenzo 2008. Everyone makes mistakes! Problem: they were both rookies and both riding on Michelin fronts they didn’t like. Also, during the 2022 race riders losing the front in right handers on the warm side of the tire.

Aero downforce needs to be banned. Michelin make decent tires, but the grip imbalance is unnecessary. They need to admit defeat and balance the grip, even if the bikes lose a half second a lap

Keshav · May 15, 2022

I just realized I’ve been misspelling Qartararo’s name these last three years.

michaelm · May 15, 2022

Bern1 said:
It seems a fairly new development or possible trend to have just a single rider be the sole focus of a team. It has always been important to secure a manufacturer’s title but now not so much. The rider’s title seems to be all important. Obviously, that is what is in the public’s mind and therefore in the mind of sponsors.

The thing is, if there is a lead rider, it has to be because he is indeed stronger than the other one, not because the team is giving him special status, equipment or other advantages.

Thoughts from the race: Bastianini awesome. He’s the real deal and a logical choice for a factory ride. Good damage control from Fabio. Impressive ride by Aleix. Miller kept his cool but just doesn’t seem to be able to run at the pointy end on worn tires. Rins once again overcooks it and Mir probably got tired of me saying he’s just an average rider, binning it trying to get out of average territory. Pol not really helping his tenure at Honda, he seems lost. So far behind their teammates, Mav and Morbidelli should focus on whatever their next careers are going to be, this ain’t the right job for either of them.

I agree with what you say having like you followed the sport for several decades now, but I don't think having so many riders helps the chances of a Ducati rider winning the title, particularly given they seem to like setting them against each other and even their most successful riders have proven not to have job security. At least Gigi's bike is good so they can't blame bike problems on their riders. I would be nervous if I was Bagnaia, as was said Ducati might perceive a need for psychological/psychiatric intervention with not many more DNFs.

mylexicon · May 15, 2022

michaelm said:
I still think their man/rider management is horrible though. Bagnaia doesn’t seem to me to be coping with being the anointed lead rider in charge of bike decisions etc overly well, and I suspect Miller could have 16 or 20 points more as could Mir if he hadn’t already been reputedly three quarters of the way out of the door. Even Ducati’s record with previous successful lead riders is hardly stellar, their two previously most successful riders having left on less than cordial terms, and a fairly iconic Ducati WSBK rider unimpressed with the GP team, although a long time ago now.

If they want to win the riders’ title imo they may have to settle on a single rider to back, and the best choice could well be Bastianini rather than Bagnaia.

My first thoughts as well regarding Ducati. Bagnaia had a pretty epic meltdown when Bastianini came through. Maybe it’s unfair, but Ducati are creating a legacy for themselves of giving riders psychological problems.

Makes me appreciate Jack’s attitude. Never thought laid back was bad, but now I see it can be a defense against stress tactics.

Bern1 · May 15, 2022

Gotta love how Jack almost always looks to be having fun and refuses to take everything too seriously. It’s a good attitude to have for life in general. Prevents epic meltdowns as a bonus…..

michaelm · May 15, 2022

mylexicon said:
My first thoughts as well regarding Ducati. Bagnaia had a pretty epic meltdown when Bastianini came through. Maybe it’s unfair, but Ducati are creating a legacy for themselves of giving riders psychological problems.

Makes me appreciate Jack’s attitude. Never thought laid back was bad, but now I see it can be a defense against stress tactics.

Bagnaia more than likely thinks Bastianini has the better bike, whether or not he does.

Bern1 · May 15, 2022

michaelm said:
Bagnaia more than likely thinks Bastianini has the better bike, whether or not he does.

Of such things are mind games made, won and lost.

I think Enea even said that he passed Pecco just to f with him. I forgot the exact words but that was the gist of it.

Best defense is to shut up. Pecco take note. Fabio had this problem a couple of years ago. He has brilliantly deflected most unwanted attention since. Although proclaiming pre proceedings he had great race pace for this one may not have been the best approach.

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