MotoGP COTA/Austin 2025

[oldironnow]

[Fatfatboy]

A little wet in FP1 but the track slowly dried to allow slicks and some good times on the boards.
Great Sprint race with a barnstormer of a first lap. It was nice to see Quartararo giving it a go. He just can’t manage the top speed of the Ducati’s.
If Yamaha could get a powerful motor equal to the Ducati’s we just might see some blue and red battles.

[motogrady]

Fatfatboy wrote

A little wet in FP1 but the track slowly dried to allow slicks and some good times on the boards.
Great Sprint race with a barnstormer of a first lap. It was nice to see Quartararo giving it a go. He just can’t manage the top speed of the Ducati’s.
If Yamaha could get a powerful motor equal to the Ducati’s we just might see some blue and red battles.

And Ducati is using the 2024 motor.

I think I read Yamaha are building a v4,
but still are running the inline 4.
If so, maybe engineers are a bit overwhelmed right now?

[oldironnow]

IMO, you guys are both right on point. ^ ^

I hope something/someone comes forward to throw a spanner into the MM&AM show, otherwise it’ll be a long season.




.

[Fatfatboy]

Yamaha has been working on a V4. At least they said they were in 2024. I would have thought they would have started sooner.
When Quartararo was asked about the V4 he mentioned that he was staying focused on the M1. He mentioned that Honda has the V4 and is struggling like they are.
Makes me wonder if the V4 is Yamies savior. If it isn’t, what is?

[Fatfatboy]

oldironnow wrote

I hope something/someone comes forward to throw a spanner into the MM&AM show, otherwise it’ll be a long season.

.

I hope Martin is the something/someone.
Aprilia seems to have the best chance,just not with the tamed Beast.
What happened with him? In 2023 he was making decent endings.

[Fatfatboy]

Uh, oh. Spots on the camera during the National Anthem.

[Fatfatboy]

WHAT!!!!!! Total BS start. The riders that went back for slicks should start from the pits.

[motogrady]

If they just left the line, without race approval, they should have just started the race without them.

[Fatfatboy]

I found out that the rules state that if more than 10 leave the grid the race becomes a restart.

I get it. It’s not safe for all the bikes to be pulling out from the pits.

IMO the riders that gambled with slicks to begin with should have been moved to the front of the grid with the bike swappers placed behind them or a long lap penalty should have been given to the swappers.  

[Fatfatboy]

MM;
 “I asked Rigamonti, my chief mechanic, if the second bike was ready. He told me yes. So, I decided to leave the grid. I knew that if more than 10 riders followed me, the start would be delayed, and everyone would start from the same point.”

What a crafty one, he is.

[oldironnow]

Fatfatboy wrote

MM;
 “I asked Rigamonti, my chief mechanic, if the second bike was ready. He told me yes. So, I decided to leave the grid. I knew that if more than 10 riders followed me, the start would be delayed, and everyone would start from the same point.”

What a crafty one, he is.

I went through a bit of an anger cycle over this, with the same initial reaction as did Brivio and you...
And then eventually came around to having respect for MM93's racecraft - knows the rules.

[oldironnow]

Fatfatboy wrote

IMO the riders that gambled with slicks to begin with should have been moved to the front of the grid with the bike swappers placed behind them or a long lap penalty should have been given to the swappers.

Fully agree ^

There needs to be a bonus for having the balls to make the call, and a penalty for choosing to delay the start.

[motogrady]

oldironnow wrote

Fatfatboy wrote

IMO the riders that gambled with slicks to begin with should have been moved to the front of the grid with the bike swappers placed behind them or a long lap penalty should have been given to the swappers.

Fully agree ^

There needs to be a bonus for having the balls to make the call, and a penalty for choosing to delay the start.

Well, yes, to a degree.
If, only 8 guys followed MM,
which was a gamble on his part…..
all 9 of them would have seen the hammer of Dorna.

[Fatfatboy]

Marc’s ooops. The frame by frame of hero to zero.

https://www.reddit.com/r/motogp/s/Aqy8Gn4JiB

He had it right in other laps. Did he overestimate the moisture in the paint?

[oldironnow]

motogrady wrote

Well, yes, to a degree.
If, only 8 guys followed MM,
which was a gamble on his part…..
all 9 of them would have seen the hammer of Dorna.

A very good point.
I hadn’t considered the consequences of the in-between scenario.

But the traditionalist in me still feels something is amiss.
I have more respect for the sanctity of The Process…
The race is literally scheduled to flag off at noon.
One is supposed to be at the line, in whatever condition of readiness possible. Very much like our daily lives. There are hard deadlines. If 11 riders want to strike, or jack around with the other opponents for whatever reason, there should be a consequence for this.