Quote Originally Posted by madvlad View Post
Not the most entertaining of races but man hat off to Folger, what a race by him and to keep up with Marquez that well. Hell of an earned podium spot. This championship is anyone's at this point.
Yeah I missed 2/3's of the race due to sleeping in. Only caught about 7 laps worth of racing. Good to see Folger keeping up with Marquez and he got his first podium. Knew this one was Marc's to lose. Insane how with a race win he leapfrogs everyone and is leading going into the summer break. Good to see Pedrosa back and in contention for the podium.

Not much to say about factory Team Yamaha, can't really congratulate 4th and 5th places for a factory team. And I knew last week's results weren't going to be the norm, just a flash in the pan. Seems to me(again I'll have to rewatch the race since I missed 2/3's of it) that Vinales had the comeback ride from 11th on the grid. Didn't see in the replay's of when he caught Rossi but he did. Yamaha need to get this figured out. When last year's bike is miles ahead of the current bike(with all the upgrades), Team Blue is up sh*t creek if they can't get it figured out.

At the half way point of the year, on paper Yamaha look to have the best bike(with 4 wins) but when you watch the races that's not the case and they more than everyone else seem to be struggling from venue to venue. I honestly don't see them having the upper hand until Misano(which is four races away). I'm betting that either Marquez or Pedrosa will take Brno(which is a classic Honda track), then Austria could go to Dovi(don't see Lorenzo in the mix) or maybe Marquez. Silverstone then maybe the Yamaha's might have a chance but Marquez is strong there as well.

Really the rest of the season is now in Honda's control. We are heading into tracks that suit their bikes well, with a couple that could go to Ducati(Red Bull Ring & Sepang). I think Dovi can do well in Sepang based on how the bike is working for him. Plus with the two big straights will help his bike to stretch it out.

It really is anyone's championship at this point. Top 4 covered by 10 points with shifts to come from the future races. Could have a string of DNF's from people yet, so that always makes a mess of the championship.