Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but paid users have great benefits. Paid member benefits:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2024 SX, MX, and SMX series (regularly $30).
The team is funded by some rich dude. And he has a history of getting serious into major motorsports and then things falling apart in disastrous fashion. He did it in auto racing.
But as far as the staff is concerned, it's top notch. MVDS has a ton of former HRC & Suzuki factory techs. I think you get Jorge on a Yamaha again and he'd find his grove in short time. Especially on a team where he was the clear #1 rider.
The Shop
To put it in perspective, he'd just come through the speed trap at 355km/h and crashed at turn one.
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/line-forms-behind-maverick-zarco-iannone…
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/suzukis-iannone-quickest-in-first-motogp…
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/suzukis-iannone-fastest-in-second-motogp…
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/a-record-gets-broken-and-an-italian-tops…
Somebody got motivated.
He also had a front row seat to the Pirro crash.
Miller is getting more impressive every passing week. That’s not my patriotism, that’s a fact. The Ducati suits him and he is maturing. He sat third for most of the session, before everyone started throwing in the soft tyre for a quick “get into quali 2” insurance lap.
I always knew he got a raw deal with Honda. One minute they thought he was too good for moto2 and then the next minute they gave up on him. HRC nearly ruined his career by hanging him out to dry.
Honda seems to be good at missing on talented Aussies.
Suzuki’s track record of halfass efforts since the start of the MotoGP era are not in doubt.
And Im supposed to believe it is Iannone that wasn’t trying last year? Iannone fought his way from Pramac hand-me-downs up to factory contracts.
Meanwhile Suzuki claims to be too broke to field satellite bikes, passed on Zarco, let Vinales go, and wont pay Lorenzo.
Uh huh.
Iannone didnt just start trying. I think it was Suzuki that rested on their laurels after 2016. Wound up behind the development curve in 2017. And once they listened to Iannone the results started coming in.
Suzuki is the most amateur of all the manufacturers. Been that way for 15 years.
https://www.news.com.au/sport/motorsport/moto-gp/motogp-rider-michele-p…
I look at it like this, any time fandom meets an international sport, all the insanity is amplified. There’s something toxic about matters once nationalism, cultures, races, and religion collide. Too much history for it not to be.
Just look at soccer. The fans are nuts.
Hockey? Constant brawling.
In MX they can barely handle a black rider. Bubba drew out all sortsa insanity. And then it hits a fever pitch come MXdN time or if there is a foreign rider that seems to make waves.
MotoGP is basically Vital x MXdN (RC vs Everts version) year round ??
The best place to go talk MX is on a MotoGP forum. Just like the best place to go talk MotoGP is on a MX forum. It takes all the emotions out of things.
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/rossi-on-pole-at-mugello-motogp-lorenzo-…
Any body see MM93 crash without going down? The guy is spooky.
Missed 3 ,watch later
Gp up next, track is slick,
Pit Row
You got paid 25m euro in 2 years. They loved you plenty. And you only could deliver on a track the bike was built for. I predict Lorenzo goes back to irrelevance at the very next race.
Especially since he went public on the podium that he is officially out of Ducati mext year.
There will be a new team: Petronas Yamaha
Lorenzo is getting a 3rd Factory Yamaha. And he’s bringing his old crew chief over (Vinales is firing Roncada).
Oh, and in other interesting news... Jack Miller officially turned down a offer from HRC to be Márquez’s teammate.
Imagine that, a rider turning down a FACTORY HONDA contract to be the #3 at Ducati on their junior team. That is incredible for a number of reasons:
1. Nobody says “no” to Honda. Well, except Zarco, Mir, and now Miller
2. Márquez must be extremely difficult to team with, the only guy who wants it is Crutchlow
3. Miller knows he’s in line to get the factory Ducati seat in 2 yrs
4. When the #2 Honda is less desirable than the #1 KTM, #2 Suzuki, and #3 Ducati, I think it is time to fire Alberto Puig
Rea & Cal
And Puig has been vocal about wanting neither rider.
It’s also telling that HRC are in a contract year with their title sponsor Repsol. There is no guarantee the 25 yr relationship carries on past this season. Maybe that is why Honda put up with Puig as he could be key to keeping Repsol on board. Some speculate that they want to follow Marquez to wherever he goes in 2021 (some speculation is that he will leave Honda.... to Ducati for legacy purposes. My guess is KTM).
Im gonna guess Cal gets the #2 Honda by default.
And then that #3 bike with LCR will be very tempting to a guy like Iannone. Which is probably why he hasn’t signed on with Aprilia yet. I think Iannone would prefer either the LCR or Pramac factory bikes.
Puig doesnt want him in the Repsol garage.
I'd love to see Rea in MotoGP also. He's more than proved himself in WSBK. I find it disturbing that the GP paddock gives so little respect to WSBK champs. But at the moment it seems like Rea isn't going to get his shot.
The LCR bike is a test bike BECAUSE of who rides it. Honda values Cal's feedback. He's ridden for everyone. Has a ton of experience. And his feedback is accurate. The bike has gotten a lot better thanks to him. IMO, he's the best possible teammate for Marquez and if Marc was smart, he'd make sure Cal follows him everywhere he goes in his career.
Cal wants the #2 Repsol Honda because it will mean more engineers at his disposal and he will get full access to Marc's data. For whatever reason, HRC seems reluctant to put Cal in that garage. It took a lot of arm twisting for him to even get a factory bike & contract. And he complains that he still isnt getting parts as fast as the Repsol bikes.
I dunno, I think if you have a current spec bike, that is kept up to date (factory status), and you have some factory techs in your garage, AAANNND your paycheck is coming directly from Honda, then you got it pretty dang good and there is nothing much that can be argued that is holding you back.
Crutchlow may be their best bet. He seems to be able to make the LCR bike work most of the time.
(Stoner’s Ducati wasn’t built for him. It was built on a computer. Like an F1 car. And in true Italian fashion it was expected that the rider 100% adapt to what the bike wants to unlock the full expected potential. Stoner was capable of that. But MOST riders are fastest when the bike, or car, is suited to them. Think Rossi or Schumacher in that regard. That’s why many struggle to work within an Italian garage. Not only is it a pressure cooker, but the demands to adapt are intense. Among many other things I could go into)
That said, the works Honda’s issues started with the switch to Michelin rubber and the new ECU. And it was amplified by the fact hat development came much slower because MM93 just adapted and road around the deficiencies. It’s not that he prefered a bike that relied heavily on the front tire, it’s just that is what the bike demanded so he did it. They were winning and so Honda wasn’t keen on listening to Stoner’s input much. I think development either stalled or went in a very poor direction. A rare Japanese blunder.
It’s no secret that the Honda became the worst bike on the grid at one point. And that was why Cal started to get more input with HRC. And the bike has improved tremendously while under Cal’s direction. But mainly it’s just taken time to figure out the tires & new ECU. As Yamaha is still struggling with.
Marc’s dirt background doesn’t hurt things either. As the Hondas & Ducati’s seem to favor riders with motocross/dirttrack backrounds (Marc, Stoner, Iannone, Jack Miller) and punish guys like Lorenzo who were raised on the tarmac.
The Suzuki & Yamaha’s are identical philosophies and rely on corner speed and smooth riding. Thus why Iannone struggled to adapt.
I think it’s all about matching a rider’s natural skill/style to a bike’s inherent characteristics. No bike is perfect. It’s about knowing it’s flaws and matching certain riders to it. Of which I think most teams do a poor job of. Iannone to Suzuki & Lorenzo to Ducati were both such bad style fits. So doomed from the start that a few people deserve to be fired for the blunders and it aint the riders.
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/motogp/26-days-save-jorge-lo…
Rumor is MVDS is pulling out of the MotoGP class next year. So the Yamaha deal is dead.
Yamaha is open to the Petronas deal but they wanna get paid asap.
Aspar might pull out of their Ducati arrangement to run satellite Yamahas.
And the hot rumor that just hit the internet that Lorenzo has signed with HRC for the #2 Honda. If so, let the fireworks begin.
Post a reply to: MotoGP 2018