MotoGP

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Going on Rossi's later pace (once he was able to get past Jack, who is always difficult to pass) he was up there with the front runners, again. Really did himself a dis-service with his qualifying, which was his primary complaint about the weekend. I think he has found some breakthrough. Testing - I'm not putting much stock into that as they may not have been looking for all out speed, maybe something else. I dunno. But his performance this last race was excellent. 

 

He was running a much slower pace in the first half of the race, so had more tyre left once he got by Jack. Same reason why Dovi and Petrucci could gain so much in the 2nd half of their race once clearing Crutchlow and Morbidelli.

 

I believe there are a few guys who would benefit from better qualifying. Rins blasted from 9th to 2nd. Dovi would have been a big threat if he qualified on the front row.

The new tyres are hard to get switched on so if you are struggling behind other riders it affects their performance a lot.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

He was running a much slower pace in the first half of the race, so had more tyre left once he got by Jack. Same reason why Dovi and Petrucci could gain so much in the 2nd half of their race once clearing Crutchlow and Morbidelli.

 

I believe there are a few guys who would benefit from better qualifying. Rins blasted from 9th to 2nd. Dovi would have been a big threat if he qualified on the front row.

The new tyres are hard to get switched on so if you are struggling behind other riders it affects their performance a lot.

 

Rossi's Jerez race was very Vinales-like where he seemed to struggle in the beginning but come good later on. Vinales was again different in that he got a great start and kept consistent pace through the race.

 

I do believe Honda is making good strides off of the work Bradl is doing. Test riders make a huge difference. Suzuki has Guintoli who has also been praised for his work.

Yamah has a couple of Japanese Superbike racers.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

No MotoGP related but good to see Rea win at Imola, maybe now he can stop whinging........

They should have run race 2, yes it was was wet, but it was the same for everyone.

[Chris_]

Race 1 was the business! That battle for 3rd was awesome.

[forkie]

the races are becoming so boring and predictable that nobody even bothers to comment any more.....

[Patchelicious]

the races are becoming so boring and predictable that nobody even bothers to comment any more.....

Was there MotoGP this weekend?

[Wannabe]

The MM93 show.

 

At least the fight for positions 2 to 5 is fairly exciting.

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

The MM93 show.

 

At least the fight for positions 2 to 5 is fairly exciting.

I honestly think the Honda is not that much better than the other bikes. Marc is the difference. When he gels with a bike its just magic to watch.

The Dukes are fighting too much with each other. They were perfectly poised but then fought with each other instead of taking the fight to Marc.

Awesome result for KTM, hope they pick up from here. Rins was disappointing.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

I honestly think the Honda is not that much better than the other bikes. Marc is the difference. When he gels with a bike its just magic to watch.

The Dukes are fighting too much with each other. They were perfectly poised but then fought with each other instead of taking the fight to Marc.

Awesome result for KTM, hope they pick up from here. Rins was disappointing.

A very, VERY interesting article. 

 

Honda has made significant strides in teh last 2 years. Up till now, it's been Marc's utter talent and ability to ride the front end like a prize rodeo champ that's been the bridge. Now, they're closer, and MM doesn't have to push the limit on the braking nearly as much as before. 

 

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/opinion/motogp/how-do-you-beat-m-rquez

Edited May 21, 2019 by Captain Fatbastard Mayhem

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

MotoGP Mutterings, part 1: Marc Márquez made another impossible save during 2019 French MotoGP Grand Prix practice, then left his rivals trailing to take Honda’s 300thpremier-class victory

Photo: Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose

During Friday morning practice at Le Mans, Jorge Lorenzo ran slightly wide at the Garage Vert double-righthander, ran onto the slippery rumble strip and crashed. Minutes later Marc Márquez made the same mistake. As he ran onto the kerb the front end of his RC213V tucked and snapped onto full lock, while the rear end bounced across the corrugations. Both tyres were scrubbing and bouncing, so Márquez dug his right knee and elbow into the asphalt, while his left leg was akimbo. But surely the situation was too far gone – he had crashed. Except he hadn’t.

Inevitably it is these incidents that make the headlines. Fans and rivals marvel at the five-time MotoGP champion’s ability to make possible the impossible. No one else, literally no one else, has ever been able to do the same, at least on a regular basis.

But these spectacular saves are only the tip of Márquez’s iceberg of talent – they are the signs of his unique skills that bystanders like you and me can actually see. What we don’t get to see is the real secret to Márquez’s day-in-day-out speed, which is how his superhuman reactions allow him to play games with the front tyre when he attacks a corner.

 

The relationship between the front tyre, the fingers of your right hand, your brain and every other part of your body and every part of the motorcycle is complex in the extreme.

It’s easiest to ask yourself this question: can you lock the front tyre at high speed, maintain control and still enter a corner at the very limit? Probably not. That’s what makes the difference for Márquez: he gets that Michelin front slick smearing across the asphalt as he hauls on the brakes, perhaps one-thousandth of a per cent from exceeding the tyre’s traction limit. And then he continues to modulate that situation all the way into the corner, using brake pressure, body position and everything else.

Most MotoGP riders have had the scary experience of locking Michelin’s front slick, even at 200mph, so it’s no coincidence that Márquez has won every MotoGP title since Michelin control tyres arrived in 2016. Inside his head he has the world’s greatest ABS system, which allows him to breakdance on the edge of chaos.

More: Marquez’s greatest escape

Fellow HRC rider Cal Crutchlow has full access to Márquez’s data, so he knows better than just about anyone what goes on. And he’s as flummoxed as the rest of us.

“I can see on the data how Marc does it, but nobody else can do it; it’s as simple as that,” says Crutchlow, who has won three MotoGP races on RC213V machinery. “On the exit of corners he’s not normally that strong, but through the entry and the middle, the lean angle he puts into the bike and the way he controls it with the front and rear brakes is pretty special. How he locks the front and gets away with it I don’t know. He does lose it way more than me but he saves it. How does he do that? I’ve no idea! He just shoves himself into the ground and picks it back up! At the moment he’s unbeatable, he makes the difference.”

The entire MotoGP community shares Crutchlow’s opinion, including 2007 and 2011 MotoGP king Casey Stoner, who won Honda’s last world title before Márquez turned up.

“Marc is fantastic,” says the Australian. “He’s incredibly fast and his reaction times are second to none – no one can get close to his reaction times.”

And that, beyond his riding talent, is what it’s all about.

Honda’s RC213V isn’t always an easy machine to master. HRC builds the bike to make the lap time and relies on its riders to extract the maximum from the machine. However, in recent seasons HRC’s engineers have been working to make the bike more friendly. Step by step they are getting there.

It’s significant that Márquez was able to choose Michelin’s soft-option front in Sunday’s cool conditions, because earlier iterations of the RC213V would have demanded a harder front compound, which would’ve offered sketchier grip and therefore required Márquez to take more risks. It is always easier to skid a softer tyre than a harder tyre.

More: MotoGP's roulette wheel

But the biggest improvement HRC has made this year is squeezing more power from the RC213V engine.

During 2016 and 2017 engineers were busy adapting the engine – reversing crankshaft rotation and switching to a big-bang firing configuration – so only since last season have they been able to focus on increasing torque and horsepower. And this is absolutely the best way to reduce stress on the front tyre, because the rider doesn’t have to brake so late or enter the corner so aggressively if he’s not desperately trying to make up time lost on the straights. This is vital, because whatever Márquez’s talent for surviving front-end lock-ups, it allows him to take fewer risks.

“This year we have a much stronger engine, so I can manage things in a different way,” explained Márquez after his 47th MotoGP win, which equals Lorenzo's premier-class tally. “With more power I am able to ride in two or three ways to find the lap time in a different way to what I did last year. This is important because I can use different tyres and different riding styles. Today I was able to ride in a good way – very smooth – and in the final section I was strongest because there are no brake points, so I just took risks in the corners and not at the brake points, because that’s where it’s more dangerous.

“Now that we are able to use the soft front, like Yamaha and Ducati, our bike turns better. Last year we tried to find the lap time at the brake point. This year maybe we lose a little in braking but we gain in other areas and this is the right way because using the brake point to make time means taking risks and taking risks means it’s difficult to be consistent. Now we are able play in a different way in the brake point and find the lap time in a different way.”

Márquez isn’t the first rider to obsess about getting 99.9 per cent out of the front tyre to gain an edge over his rivals.

“When I was racing we were already pushing the front quite a bit,” recalls Mick Doohan, who won 54 premier-class races and five consecutive world titles during the 1990s. “I used to go out on a scooter and ride around with the front tyre locking, so I could get used to the feeling of the bike falling over. But I’m not dreaming that I was doing anything like what Marc does!”

More: Making Márquez faster

Márquez’s success goes beyond his mastery of the front-tyre slide. He understands that racing isn’t only about Sundays. During his 113 premier-class GPs he has only qualified off the first two rows a handful of times.

“The race starts on Friday and Saturday,” he said at Le Mans. “Because if you start at the front you can manage the tyres and the risk in a better way.”

Of course, we all know that Márquez makes mistakes. And HRC too. His crash at COTA was a combination of both, but rider and engineers have learned from that. As paddock people often opine: losing makes you stronger.

However, right now, it’s difficult to see anyone matching Márquez this season, even if he won’t have everything his way. Andrea Dovizioso stands only eight points behind, with Mugello and Catalunya next, where the Ducati will be a more powerful force. Then there’s team-mate Lorenzo who takes small steps forward with the RC213V at every race. And there’s that young rookie, who’s already taken over from Márquez as the youngest premier-class polesitter...

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

 

MotoGP Mutterings, part 1: Marc Márquez made another impossible save during 2019 French MotoGP Grand Prix practice, then left his rivals trailing to take Honda’s 300thpremier-class victory

Photo: Motorsport Images/Gold and Goose

During Friday morning practice at Le Mans, Jorge Lorenzo ran slightly wide at the Garage Vert double-righthander, ran onto the slippery rumble strip and crashed. Minutes later Marc Márquez made the same mistake. As he ran onto the kerb the front end of his RC213V tucked and snapped onto full lock, while the rear end bounced across the corrugations. Both tyres were scrubbing and bouncing, so Márquez dug his right knee and elbow into the asphalt, while his left leg was akimbo. But surely the situation was too far gone – he had crashed. Except he hadn’t.

Inevitably it is these incidents that make the headlines. Fans and rivals marvel at the five-time MotoGP champion’s ability to make possible the impossible. No one else, literally no one else, has ever been able to do the same, at least on a regular basis.

But these spectacular saves are only the tip of Márquez’s iceberg of talent – they are the signs of his unique skills that bystanders like you and me can actually see. What we don’t get to see is the real secret to Márquez’s day-in-day-out speed, which is how his superhuman reactions allow him to play games with the front tyre when he attacks a corner.

 

The relationship between the front tyre, the fingers of your right hand, your brain and every other part of your body and every part of the motorcycle is complex in the extreme.

It’s easiest to ask yourself this question: can you lock the front tyre at high speed, maintain control and still enter a corner at the very limit? Probably not. That’s what makes the difference for Márquez: he gets that Michelin front slick smearing across the asphalt as he hauls on the brakes, perhaps one-thousandth of a per cent from exceeding the tyre’s traction limit. And then he continues to modulate that situation all the way into the corner, using brake pressure, body position and everything else.

Most MotoGP riders have had the scary experience of locking Michelin’s front slick, even at 200mph, so it’s no coincidence that Márquez has won every MotoGP title since Michelin control tyres arrived in 2016. Inside his head he has the world’s greatest ABS system, which allows him to breakdance on the edge of chaos.

More: Marquez’s greatest escape

Fellow HRC rider Cal Crutchlow has full access to Márquez’s data, so he knows better than just about anyone what goes on. And he’s as flummoxed as the rest of us.

“I can see on the data how Marc does it, but nobody else can do it; it’s as simple as that,” says Crutchlow, who has won three MotoGP races on RC213V machinery. “On the exit of corners he’s not normally that strong, but through the entry and the middle, the lean angle he puts into the bike and the way he controls it with the front and rear brakes is pretty special. How he locks the front and gets away with it I don’t know. He does lose it way more than me but he saves it. How does he do that? I’ve no idea! He just shoves himself into the ground and picks it back up! At the moment he’s unbeatable, he makes the difference.”

The entire MotoGP community shares Crutchlow’s opinion, including 2007 and 2011 MotoGP king Casey Stoner, who won Honda’s last world title before Márquez turned up.

“Marc is fantastic,” says the Australian. “He’s incredibly fast and his reaction times are second to none – no one can get close to his reaction times.”

And that, beyond his riding talent, is what it’s all about.

Honda’s RC213V isn’t always an easy machine to master. HRC builds the bike to make the lap time and relies on its riders to extract the maximum from the machine. However, in recent seasons HRC’s engineers have been working to make the bike more friendly. Step by step they are getting there.

It’s significant that Márquez was able to choose Michelin’s soft-option front in Sunday’s cool conditions, because earlier iterations of the RC213V would have demanded a harder front compound, which would’ve offered sketchier grip and therefore required Márquez to take more risks. It is always easier to skid a softer tyre than a harder tyre.

More: MotoGP's roulette wheel

But the biggest improvement HRC has made this year is squeezing more power from the RC213V engine.

During 2016 and 2017 engineers were busy adapting the engine – reversing crankshaft rotation and switching to a big-bang firing configuration – so only since last season have they been able to focus on increasing torque and horsepower. And this is absolutely the best way to reduce stress on the front tyre, because the rider doesn’t have to brake so late or enter the corner so aggressively if he’s not desperately trying to make up time lost on the straights. This is vital, because whatever Márquez’s talent for surviving front-end lock-ups, it allows him to take fewer risks.

“This year we have a much stronger engine, so I can manage things in a different way,” explained Márquez after his 47th MotoGP win, which equals Lorenzo's premier-class tally. “With more power I am able to ride in two or three ways to find the lap time in a different way to what I did last year. This is important because I can use different tyres and different riding styles. Today I was able to ride in a good way – very smooth – and in the final section I was strongest because there are no brake points, so I just took risks in the corners and not at the brake points, because that’s where it’s more dangerous.

“Now that we are able to use the soft front, like Yamaha and Ducati, our bike turns better. Last year we tried to find the lap time at the brake point. This year maybe we lose a little in braking but we gain in other areas and this is the right way because using the brake point to make time means taking risks and taking risks means it’s difficult to be consistent. Now we are able play in a different way in the brake point and find the lap time in a different way.”

Márquez isn’t the first rider to obsess about getting 99.9 per cent out of the front tyre to gain an edge over his rivals.

“When I was racing we were already pushing the front quite a bit,” recalls Mick Doohan, who won 54 premier-class races and five consecutive world titles during the 1990s. “I used to go out on a scooter and ride around with the front tyre locking, so I could get used to the feeling of the bike falling over. But I’m not dreaming that I was doing anything like what Marc does!”

More: Making Márquez faster

Márquez’s success goes beyond his mastery of the front-tyre slide. He understands that racing isn’t only about Sundays. During his 113 premier-class GPs he has only qualified off the first two rows a handful of times.

“The race starts on Friday and Saturday,” he said at Le Mans. “Because if you start at the front you can manage the tyres and the risk in a better way.”

Of course, we all know that Márquez makes mistakes. And HRC too. His crash at COTA was a combination of both, but rider and engineers have learned from that. As paddock people often opine: losing makes you stronger.

However, right now, it’s difficult to see anyone matching Márquez this season, even if he won’t have everything his way. Andrea Dovizioso stands only eight points behind, with Mugello and Catalunya next, where the Ducati will be a more powerful force. Then there’s team-mate Lorenzo who takes small steps forward with the RC213V at every race. And there’s that young rookie, who’s already taken over from Márquez as the youngest premier-class polesitter...

 

 

But it's bike people say.

He is just THAT good, at the moment......

[Patchelicious]

But it's bike people say.

He is just THAT good, at the moment......

Who says that?

 

Almost nobody has dismissed his talents to that of the bike. Almost everybody has acknowledged he is the fastest rider on the grid.

 

Debating who is this and who is that is lots of fun and banter is part of it. But these self induced pity parties are just lame.

Edited May 24, 2019 by Patchelicious

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

But it's bike people say.

He is just THAT good, at the moment......

Sorry, what? Who has said that? Some of us may not like the fella, but that doesn't mean he's incredibly gifted and most likely the best rider to ever throw a leg over a bike. 

 

Rossi, Agostini etc etc may have been more successful in terms of raw numbers, but IMO MM's talent is above them all. I'd still really, REALLY like to see the Yam get a bit more power so that him and Rossi can smash it out at the front. VR is just wringing that Yam's neck to get to the top 5, but without the visible gap in power being closed slightly, I don't see that happening any time soon, sadly. 

[Patchelicious]

[Steven Knoetze (sk27)]

Who says that?

 

Almost nobody has dismissed his talents to that of the bike. Almost everybody has acknowledged he is the fastest rider on the grid.

 

Debating who is this and who is that is lots of fun and banter is part of it. But these self induced pity parties are just lame.

 

 

Sorry, what? Who has said that? Some of us may not like the fella, but that doesn't mean he's incredibly gifted and most likely the best rider to ever throw a leg over a bike. 

 

Rossi, Agostini etc etc may have been more successful in terms of raw numbers, but IMO MM's talent is above them all. I'd still really, REALLY like to see the Yam get a bit more power so that him and Rossi can smash it out at the front. VR is just wringing that Yam's neck to get to the top 5, but without the visible gap in power being closed slightly, I don't see that happening any time soon, sadly. 

 

Many a debate has been had on Marquez needing to swing his leg over another brand before he can be considered amongst the greats. 

That's the last I will say, some people like to stir too much unfortunately. Ruins a genuine comment.

[mazambaan]

The interesting thing about reaction time is that the spunky chick (Vanessa?) that does MotoGP paddock pass type interviews had a cell phone app that tested reaction time; crudely I guess.  All the riders tested were .219 to say .26 of a second.  Marquez wasn't quickest; can't remember the detail.

 

Sort of ties up with TopGear testing Michael Shumacher - not really better than Clarkson!.

 

Difference may be what they do; Marquez (and Shumacher) do (did) stuff the others cannot; yet.