MotoGP 2021 News/Misc.

donthaveanickname

donthaveanickname

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Every team in every class has now announced their riders for 2021.
Marini, Savadori, Bastianini and Martin are this year's MotoGP rookie class.
Marc Marquez had his third surgery in December. He is making progress but it's not clear when he can return.
Joe Roberts (Italtrans) and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) will be the only Americans in the World Championship, both will race in Moto2.
www.motogp.com

2021 provisional entry lists revealed

MotoGP™, Moto2™ and Moto3™ provisional entry lists for next season have been announced
www.motogp.com www.motogp.com
Fausto Gresini was in a medical-induced coma with Covid, he is still being treated in the hospital.
www.corsedimoto.com

Fausto Gresini migliora, ma le condizioni restano critiche

Ultimo aggiornamento sulle condizioni di Fausto Gresini, in terapia intensiva da quasi un mese. Progressivo miglioramento, ma le condizioni restano critiche.
www.corsedimoto.com www.corsedimoto.com
 
The schedule seems to be a work in progress at this point. The provisional schedule included the same 20 Grands Prix that were planned for 2020 but the races at COTA and Termas de Rio Hondo have already been postponed due to travel restrictions. Phillip Island is likely to be canceled for the same reason.
The will be no Czech GP because the Dorna is demanding a repave which the track owner can't afford.
The season will start with two races at Qatar, where pre-season testing will also take place (initially scheduled at Sepang)
Portimao is going to replace Argentina, the Czech GP could be replaced by a race at the Igora Drive near St. Petersburg. The Mandalika Street Circuit (Indonesia) could replace the Australian GP.

Portimao reinstated onto 2021 MotoGP calendar as USA, Argentina, Brno dropped

Portimao and a second Qatar race is added to the 2021 MotoGP schedule as Brno dropped and the USA and Argentina rounds are postponed
www.visordown.com www.visordown.com
 
MotoGP keeps delivering.
4 Ducatis got out front early but struggled later in the race, Maverick Vinales did a great job working himself to the lead.
Moto2 and Moto3 were fun as well, Sam Lowes is looking to bounce back after he missed out on the world championship last year.
Cameron Beaubier got a points finish in his first GP race since 2009 and Joe Roberts finished 6th. Roberts was offered a MotoGP ride with Aprilia before the season but he preferred to stay in Moto2. Probably a smart move considering how Savadori was running.
 
donthaveanickname said:
MotoGP keeps delivering.
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Indeed. When MotoGP and F1 race on the same weekend, it just underscores the stark difference of which one always delivers great racing and which one rarely does. Even on this weekend, which actually had an interesting F1 race with a cliffhanger finish.

This was a classic MotoGP race. I was hoping Bagnaia could hold on for the win, but it wasn't to be. Great ride by Vinales and also by Zarco for 2nd place.
 
The Wheeliemania at Portimao has to be right up there with Laguna Seca and Phillip Island as one of the best tracks for motorcycles in the world.

Marc Marquez chose one of the most physically demanding tracks for his return. He still had a pretty good run, things may already look different at Jerez. Quatararo is the man to beat at this point.

Moto2 was even better than MotoGP with lots of comers and goers during the race. For most of the time it looked like Joe Roberts was gonna become the first American to win a GP race since Ben Spies but he faded a bit at the end.
 
Marquez had the pace to win yesterday, unfortunately he seemed to be a little too aggressive out there and crashed twice.
Last Friday it was announced the contract for the German GP at Sachsenring has been extended through 2026 :bounce:This year's race will be held without fans in attendance though.

The Finnish GP has been cancelled and will be replaced by the Styrian GP.
 
Marc’s returning to form, and the KTM’s are bouncing back. Not to mention, Zarco has been rider of the year up to this point. Who saw him becoming a title contender? Quartararo isn’t having it all to himself.
 
Quartararo took a dominant victory at Assen today, he's well ahead in the championship but you never know what's gonna happen in MotoGP.
This was the last race before the 6 week summer break.

The 2022 Silly Season is already well underway. Gresini Racing will no longer run the Aprilia factory team and run as an independent team instead, fielding Ducatis for Enea Bastianini and Fabio DiGiannantonio.
Spanish sports website As reported earlier that Vinales was looking to leave Yamaha and become teammate to Aleix Espargaro at Aprilia. Remy Gardner who is currently leading the Moto2 championship has been signed to drive for Tech3 KTM in MotoGP.
Valentino Rossi will take over the Esponsorama Avintia team. Rossi's half-brother Luca Marini will continue to ride for them.

Rossi crashed today, the whole season has been bad for him and I think this season is likely to be his last.

There has also been another scheduled change, Motegi has been cancelled, Austin will take its place on the schedule.
 
donthaveanickname said:
Vinales has been suspended by Yamaha, apparently he tried to intentionally kill his engine during the last race.
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The petulant, irresponsible behavior of Maverick Vinales regarding Yamaha over this entire year is completely disgusting. But sadly, it is nothing new for Vinales. He was displaying these same inexplicable character flaws from his earliest Moto 3 days, signing contracts and then repudiating them, etc. Seriously, Yamaha should only blame themselves for bringing a total head case like Vinales into the team.

As for the rumors that Aprilia intends to sign Vinales, I hope they don't do that. Aprilia certainly needs another fast rider, but not this one... IMO.
 
LewTheShoe said:
The petulant, irresponsible behavior of Maverick Vinales regarding Yamaha over this entire year is completely disgusting. But sadly, it is nothing new for Vinales. He was displaying these same inexplicable character flaws from his earliest Moto 3 days, signing contracts and then repudiating them, etc. Seriously, Yamaha should only blame themselves for bringing a total head case like Vinales into the team.

As for the rumors that Aprilia intends to sign Vinales, I hope they don't do that. Aprilia certainly needs another fast rider, but not this one... IMO.
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Aprilia has confirmed Vinales will race full-time for them next year so there's that.
I still remember when he left his Moto3 team in 2012 while he still had a chance to become World Champion. Unfortunately he hasn't matured a lot in the 9 years since that happened.
Several sources say it's unlikely that Vinales will ride a Yamaha again this year.
Crutchlow could replace him for the rest of the year and Jake Dixon could be on Morbidelli's bike until Franco returns.
If Dixon does well it could lead to a full-time MotoGP ride next year as the Dorna would like to see a British full-time rider again.
Garrett Gerloff, Marcel Schrötter, Iker Lecuona, Augusto Fernandez and Darryn Binder are also said to be in contention for the Speang Yamaha team in 2022.
 
Aprilia got their first ever MotoGP podium today!
Quartararo continues to dominate and it looks more and more unlikely that Marc will ever get back to that level again. He crashes at least three times a weekend and took out Martin and himself today.
Tire conservation was extremely important today. Rossi, Bagnaia and Mir all dropped like a rock at the end while the KTMs and Alex Marquez were able to make up a lot of ground.

We also got some major silly season implications as Dovizioso will return and join the Yamaha customer team. Darryn Binder is likely to be his teammate in 2022, it's possible that Dovizioso will join the team as soon as Misano this year.
 
donthaveanickname said:
... it looks more and more unlikely that Marc will ever get back to that level again. He crashes at least three times a weekend and took out Martin and himself today.
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Well, forever is a long time. If Marquez gets his head straightened out, he might well return to being a major force in MotoGP. But it must be said that his assault upon Jorge Martin yesterday was flat out inexcusable. I doubt that he will be sanctioned for it, but he deserves to be IMO.

As for crashing 3X per weekend, he has *always* done that... it's just that he often catches it before he ever hits the ground. He has a cat-like ability to save the bike that I've never seen before. Nobody has seen this before. And he relies upon this skill, constantly riding over his head, believing that no matter what happens, he can save the bike and not crash. When he loses a nanosecond of reaction time, he is often in the gravel as is happening this year.

The Marquez riding style is very much a product of the electronics era. There is no way this style would work in an earlier era. And now he is calling upon Honda's engineers to fix the electronics to prevent the crashes. No Marc, *you* need to fix the problem.

I want to be very clear about my comment that MM93 couldn't ride this way in the era before sophisticated electronic rider aids. He would have to ride more conservatively, but he would still be at or near the front. He is an exceptional rider that could have been successful in a non-electronics style, I believe. And he showed that in Moto 2, which had very little electronic assisst when he was there.
 
LewTheShoe said:
Well, forever is a long time. If Marquez gets his head straightened out, he might well return to being a major force in MotoGP. But it must be said that his assault upon Jorge Martin yesterday was flat out inexcusable. I doubt that he will be sanctioned for it, but he deserves to be IMO.

As for crashing 3X per weekend, he has *always* done that... it's just that he often catches it before he ever hits the ground. He has a cat-like ability to save the bike that I've never seen before. Nobody has seen this before. And he relies upon this skill, constantly riding over his head, believing that no matter what happens, he can save the bike and not crash. When he loses a nanosecond of reaction time, he is often in the gravel as is happening this year.
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Marc has already won a race this season and I don't have any doubt he's going to contend for wins again, perhaps even on a regular basis. What I meant by "that level" is I would be very surprised if he could pull off another year like 2019, eleven wins, six 2nd-place finishes and one crash from the lead in 18 races.
Marquez has admitted he's not at 100% with his right arm which is probably the reason why he can't make those insane saves right now, reaction time doesn't seem to be the main issue.

LewTheShoe said:
The Marquez riding style is very much a product of the electronics era. There is no way this style would work in an earlier era. And now he is calling upon Honda's engineers to fix the electronics to prevent the crashes. No Marc, *you* need to fix the problem.
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I'm not sure about that. Pol Espargaro and Alex Marquez are also among the riders with the most crashes. Honda have struggled with traction control issues this year.


What sticks out to me about the guy currently dominating the sport is that the trajectory of Quatararos career has been somewhat similar to the ones of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. In four years of Moto3 and Moto2 his best world championship finishes were two 10th-places.
 
donthaveanickname said:
Quite the battle between Bagnaia and Marc today.
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Indeed. It was a phenomenal race between those two, and for once the TV cameras and announcers can be forgiven for almost ignoring everyone else. In the last two laps, Marquez passed Bagnaia SEVEN times... and seven times Bagnaia responded to pass back again. It was Pecco's maiden win at the top level, and what a memorable one.

motogp-aragon-gp-2021-francesc-2.jpg
 
LewTheShoe said:
for once the TV cameras and announcers can be forgiven for almost ignoring everyone else.
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I also noticed that. During most of the races in all classes, the cameras will focus entirely on the leading riders with the rest of the field being completely ignored even if they're battling each other while the leaders are not.
I've seen races where the guy who finished 10th was never shown after lap one.
 
Unfortunately, the MotoGP race was a clunker, probably the worst race of the year... although Marc Marquez fans would have enjoyed the result. And Fabio Quartararo fans could be forgiven for celebrating the world championship prematurely, as it is "all over but the shouting," as they say.

Nice to see all the tributes to Nicky Hayden from the MotoGP community.
 
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