Friday, 15 May 2020
Going to really miss Mugello this year =[
Can somebody summarize the closest thing we have to a tentative "plan" for MotoGP this year?
I know that's kind of unanswerable, and subject to change, but I think some things are in the works... Something like 10-12 races, mostly in Europe, starting in June or July?
Thursday, 14 May 2020
How did the opening round of 1993 go?
During the past couple of weeks I've been writing about the insane 1982 F1 season since most races were on YouTube and other sites. Now I have decided to do the same except for the 1993 "MotoGp" (500cc GP) season! I have been watching the championship, all 3 classes, since 1997 so I thought it would be fun to watch a season from before my time.
PRE-RACE = The 1992/93 off-season had quite a few notable moves. John Kocinski got angry at Kenny Roberts and found himself without a team and is now racing for Suzuki on the 250cc class, Luca Cadalora (1992 GP250 champion) now has his ride. Wayne Gardner's retirement has allowed Daryl Beattie to move up and get his Honda NSR500. Alex Barros and Doug Chandler have swapped their 1992 rides with each other. Cagiva has replaced Eddie Lawson, who now plans to become an Indycar driver, with Mat Mladin (1992 AusSBK champion). Joan Garriga has left to ride a factory Ducati in WSBK. It is also notable that Freddie Spencer is trying to make his comeback after a handful of years racing the AMA SBK series. Thankfully, the Big 3 (Rainey, Doohan & Schwantz) have all kept their 1992 rides.
QUALIFYING = Schwantz got the fastest lap around Eastern Creek Raceway ahead of Rainey, Beattie, Chandler and Crivillé. Mick Doohan was surprisingly slow (8th) and Freddie Spencer had a surprisingly solid pace (11th) after a few years far from GP500 machinery.
RACE = Doug Chandler (Cagiva) took the race's holeshot right ahead of Daryl Beattie (Honda). Polesitter Kevin Schwantz (Suzuki) had a dreadful jump, barely making it into the top10 on the first few corners. After 2 of 30 laps, it was Beattie, Chandler, Crivillé, Doohan, Rainey, Barros and Schwantz with the top2 having opened a minimal gap to 3rd place.
Things took a bit of time before becoming stable. Wayne Rainey (Yamaha) needed a bunch of laps to get to 3rd and #34 needed a couple more before leaving behind Álex Crivillé and Mick Doohan (both in Hondas). After lap 6, it was clear the race win would be decided among the top4 guys and nobody else.
Beattie seemed unsure of his own pace, looking behind several times before being caught by the chasing trio and, shortly after, passed by Schwantz on lap 9. The clouds over Eastern Creek Raceway dropped very little water but it was still enough of a threat to have either a 2-part race or a shortened one if the rain did not really come until after lap 20.
A bunch of lapped riders affected the race halfway through the race with Doug Chandler using the chance to be 2nd behind Kevin Schwantz. A few laps later, Doohan's NSR500 gave up and Freddie Spencer had a massive crash on the very fast T1 while chasing Luca Cadalora (he was inside the top10). The medical Toyota LandCruiser stayed right outside T1 for quite a while. With Beattie losing more and more speed every lap, it was time for Wayne Rainey to charge ahead and easily go from 3rd to 1st in 2 laps but his lead was shortlived as Schwantz used the slipstream and some risky braking points to pass him back on T1.
ENDING = The umpteenth Schwantz-Rainey battle was cancelled by a group of lappers (I identified Sean Emmett, Mella and Colleoni) that completely ignored the leaders and gave Schwantz a lead of around 1,5 seconds with less than 8 laps to go. Things were only made worse when an even bigger group of lappers gave Schwantz even a bigger lead with 2 to go.
RESULTS = Kevin Schwantz (RGV500 #34) got his 20th career win over Wayne Rainey (YZR500 #1) and Doug Chandler (C593 #5) with Daryl Beattie (NSR500 #4) in 4th and Alex Barros (RGV500 #9) narrowly beating Álex Crivillé (NSR500 #8) for 5th. The top10 was completed by Shinichi Itoh, Luca Cadalora, Mat Mladin and Niall Mackenzie.
NOTES from THE FUTURE = Fuck them lappers and fuck the TV crew only showing the top4 for the whole race, only showing the lap counter like 4 times in 30 laps (there was a 1982 F1 race with a lap counter all race long so there is no excuse) and only showing the top4 running order WHEN IT WAS ALL THEY WERE SHOWING ON THE SCREEN. I can imagine the hate riders like Emmett, Colleoni and Mella would get nowadays on Twitter. Whether it was a lack of luck or riding over his head, it's such a shame that Freddie Spencer destroyed himself on the 1st race of the season. I don't understand Daryl's race strategy for this race: he pushed at the start but then started looking back like he didn't want to lead the race, PICK A LANE FFS! BTW, something tells me that the fight for 5th between Barros, Crivillé and Itoh was probably decent to say the least but, yeah, fuck the TV crew.
Aerodynamic helmets and wings on leathers
Post your favorite livery winners!
First place (reddit gold) with 10 votes is u/RCD876 and the 2018 Pramac Ducati Lamborghini
Second and Third tied at 5 votes, both get reddit silver
/u/ButteLeg with http://www.motorbikestoday.com/news/Images/motogp_11_assen_4_lge.jpg
u/GT--44 with https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/crash.net/visordown.com/field/image/116997.jpg
Tuesday, 12 May 2020
Why MotoGP shouldn't fear a repeat of Suzuki's shock 2011 exit
I drew a picture of Guy Martin
Mean Mick.
Monday, 11 May 2020
Rossi might have rode his last race for Yamaha and we didn't see it coming
Sunday, 10 May 2020
Quartararo hopes Italians don't 'hate' him for replacing Rossi
Randy Mamola and his Impressive Helmet Collection.
Saturday, 9 May 2020
2010 Laguna Seca Podium
This was the first MotoGP race I attended. Four world champions on the podium. Rossi got a little too excited, threw his crutches into the crowd and had to sit down. Haha
Dovi to KTM, Pol to Honda?
TIL Valentino Rossi has a secret museum and you can see it in this 4 part docu on Dainese's youtube channel
Friday, 8 May 2020
2013 sepang test. Rossi's return to yamaha.
Aprilia dont want to freeze development until the first race of the year while all the other manufacturers have agreed to freeze development. Aprilia and KTM have concessions, which means development is not frozen at the start of the season
Jean Michel Bayle, in the mid hi-side position. / 1995.
Thursday, 7 May 2020
Custom MotoGP print of Rossi and Pedrosa. All made by r/ u/ Dieselrainbow46
Trying to distract myself
Has a MotoGP championship ever been decided on the last LAP? If so, what year. (Please don’t spoil it by naming the winner).
If not last lap, how about last race?
I’m taking about two guys, either of whom had a shot to win the championship, not “Dovi could win if Marquez finishes 12th or lower” in the last race.
Two guys going at it, last lap, winner takes the championship.
Any pro player of moto gp 19? There is a prise of 200$
Text me for more details