2018 MOTOGP Season ****SPOILER ALERT*** *****WARNING - SPOILER *******

[madvlad]

Well from what I understand in how they explained it, is that because of a technicality in the way that the rule has been written for this season in which has been rewritten for next season to avoid this, teams are technically cheating to achieve the results they have now and while it may not help Yamaha per se but it may hinder other teams because they won’t have the same flexibility to alter it unlike this season. Guess we will see at the end of the day but Honda and Ducati seem to be a step ahead so they may have figured it out by now so they’re ready for next season.

[The Black Knight]

I don't think the spec IMU is going to make as big of a difference as some people think. The Yamaha MotoGP project leader has said he doesn't think so either http://www.bikesportnews.com/news/ne...ort-says-tsuya .

So for Marquez to lock up the championship he can't lose more than 2 points to Dovi or 24 to Rossi. If he wins the race or finishes in front of both it's championship #7, If Dovi wins it moves on. For Marquez to finish behind Dovi and still win it, they have to be 4th or lower. I guess we will see...

I think it's a Yes and No. Yes, in that I believe it will finally level things for everyone and no one will be able to bend the rule the way they have this year. No, in that I don't think it's giving huge gains to everyone. If you take into consideration that Yamaha's performance isn't that bad(they really are just a few tenths away at most tracks) but it is enough to keep them off the podium. They are close but they don't have that consistent podium or racing winning pace.

I also don't think Yamaha would ever reveal if it actually is a big deal for them or not. That's publicly telling your rivals you're struggling, you know why and still can't fix it. They won't ever do that. But you can tell Yamaha are giving their all. I think the guy from WSBK that they have recruited over from their Superbike team may have found something. And sometimes that's all it takes. A fresh set of eyes or a new way of thinking to come up with solutions to the problems. Apparently the guy is somewhat of a guru with ECU stuff, so I'm sure he was enlisted to help figure this out.

Which is why I agree with MadVlad also. I believe it was a technicality for bending the rules. The big two figured it out and bent the rule to the point of breaking it off. Yamaha, I believe tried to take the high road and just develop the bike with what they were given or allowed to have.

I agree, I believe Ducati and Honda are ahead. But I also believe that this may take away that little advantage they are having at the moment. Which would be good, it would help bring Yamaha back into the thick of things and with as close as Suzuki is, it will bring them even closer. We also want to see KTM and Aprilia at some point fighting for podiums. So if it helps to bring them in as well, then it's only a good thing.

I also think that's what manufactures do. Is they figure out ways around stuff. They hire people to do just that, figure out ways around things. With the IMU being locked up, we may see some competitive teams for a year or two. Then we'll start to see a couple manufactures start to pull away again, as they will have figured out ways around things again.

Happens all the time in Formula 1. They slam F1 will all kinds of restraints and sure as the world, the teams actually go faster. The adage, if there's a will, there's a way... always applies in racing...

[madvlad]

Man what a nasty crash for Alex Marquez in FP1, man that looked bad. Hope he’s alright

[blaircsf]

Man what a nasty crash for Alex Marquez in FP1, man that looked bad. Hope he’s alright

I saw a MotoGP facebook post reporting rider ok. The bike might need a little work though...

[madvlad]

Glad he’s good, he put up a good fight in moto2 but yeah that bike was beyond toast.... yeah called his brother would wrap it up today for sure, Dovi crumbles just like last year at Valencia. Yamaha’s woes continue

[The Black Knight]

There it is, Marc Marquez is 2018 World Champion.

Congrats to him, he earned it.

As for everyone else, they need to step it up(ahem... Yamaha) if they want to put a stop to this kind of domination. I figured Marquez would seal the deal this weekend, but didn't think Dovi would throw it down the road the way he did. Bummer for Dovi, he just pushed the front a bit too much.

I will say, a good salvage job for Rossi today. Didn't think the Thailand results would mean much. But he did put in a good effort and was only six seconds off of Marquez. So Yamaha are making some progress. Everyone expected Rossi to be the last Yamaha and he was leading them once again.

[blaircsf]

Looked like Dovi was running out of pace trying to stay with Marquez, hard to say but I think Marc would of won either way. Still some close positions outside of #1, so the rest of the season should still be good racing.

[madvlad]

Oh yeah the battles won’t end for sure as Yamaha will try to push for 2nd and 3rd in the championship if possible regardless to finish as high as possible and also you know MM and Dovi battles will rage as long as the opportunity arises lol

[Ted]

I am just sad I won't get to see what Jorge could do with that Ducati at P.I. Oh well, Next season can't come fast enough...

[madvlad]

I knew he wasn’t going to quit altogether lol

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2018/1...er-deal/276171

[The Black Knight]

I knew he wasn’t going to quit altogether lol

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2018/1...er-deal/276171

I'm a little surprised. Figured Dani was just going to hang it up altogether and just enjoy the good life. He's got nothing really to prove, still very fast and I'm sure is setup financially.

But it's in his blood so he's still gotta go fast..

[madvlad]

He’s gotta ease into retirement I guess, when you’ve done this for so long it’s hard to just stop I’m sure. Hell even Casey Stoner had to do a few years of testing before he could just hang it altogether and Dani has been riding since he saw daylight

[madvlad]

Fuckin A man, moto3 never disappoints

[blaircsf]

Good race, too bad for Bezzecchi.

[madvlad]

Yeah no doubt, gutted for the kid as he was doing well too before the incident which may have cost him the championship. What a ride by Viñales and Bautista man, Bautista just shut a lot of mouths too after he was being lit up for being the replacement choice to Lorenzo. Not sure what to think of Rossi, is almost like they found some answers for Viñales but nearly like Yamaha is trying to push the old dog out and perhaps move onto the next rider who will take his seat. Even though he signed until 2020 but if things keep going the way they are, wouldn’t surprise me if Rossi will bail from his contract before time. He tries to salvage some type of a performance with all those issues round after round but even the most experienced riders have their limits.

[The Black Knight]

Yeah no doubt, gutted for the kid as he was doing well too before the incident which may have cost him the championship. What a ride by Viñales and Bautista man, Bautista just shut a lot of mouths too after he was being lit up for being the replacement choice to Lorenzo. Not sure what to think of Rossi, is almost like they found some answers for Viñales but nearly like Yamaha is trying to push the old dog out and perhaps move onto the next rider who will take his seat. Even though he signed until 2020 but if things keep going the way they are, wouldn’t surprise me if Rossi will bail from his contract before time. He tries to salvage some type of a performance with all those issues round after round but even the most experienced riders have their limits.

I didn't stay up to watch the GP. Was too tired to stay up(had a long week). Just watched the race and big congrats to Vinales!! Finally broke the winless streak. Bautista did well as did all the front guys. They were dicing it up for positions. Iannone was all over the place though. The contact between Zarco and Marquez was wicked, that could have ended way worse than it did.

Everyone looked good except one rider. Rossi, man he looked terrible this weekend. He gave a barely solid performance and really didn't show any potential. Vinales blew his paint off and basically so did everyone else. Which it's good to see Yamaha snap that winless streak but kind of a let down that it wasn't Rossi to do it. He's been the one to carry the Yamaha flag all season long only to get jived out of the first Yamaha win.

The performance between his bike and Vinales were miles apart. Rossi couldn't get a sniff the whole race. Just seemed completely out of it.

I agree, Rossi may be finally getting the hint that it's time to move on from Yamaha. Like to see him win a few more races and at least beat Ago's all time record but if he keeps riding like he did in Phillip Island, then all he can ask for are top 6's, and that's lame...

[madvlad]

Yeah man that crash was insane, if that bike wouldn’t have hit Marc’s rear tire coming down making it bounce left, Iannone would have gotten the worst of that incident as on first contact and bounce you see it trying to veer towards the race line. Considering the speed of the crash definitely glad nobody got hurt. That could have ended in catastrophe

[blaircsf]

Yeah man that crash was insane, if that bike wouldn’t have hit Marc’s rear tire coming down making it bounce left, Iannone would have gotten the worst of that incident as on first contact and bounce you see it trying to veer towards the race line. Considering the speed of the crash definitely glad nobody got hurt. That could have ended in catastrophe

Yea, the view from Iannone's bike is crazy. Zarco got lucky that he was sliding on the grass, I think going through the gravel at that speed would of turned into a wicked tumble.

[Okrapp]

Best race in awhile. Happy to see the 25 bike working again. Looked like the Suzuki still had more left at the end though. Appeared enough of zarco's bike hit marc to break the rear subframe?

[blaircsf]

Best race in awhile. Happy to see the 25 bike working again. Looked like the Suzuki still had more left at the end though. Appeared enough of zarco's bike hit marc to break the rear subframe?

If you saw when Marquez got to the pit, he wiggled the back of the bike and everything from tank cover back moved when he messed with it. That and the crash by Dani didn't help Honda in their 'triple crown' pursuit.

[madvlad]

I still foresee Yamaha struggling next race as Sepang has never been their forte and even less now with all the grip issues and with the scorching heat, they will run into all kinds of grip issues.

[The Black Knight]

I still foresee Yamaha struggling next race as Sepang has never been their forte and even less now with all the grip issues and with the scorching heat, they will run into all kinds of grip issues.

Rossi likes Sepang though, seems to do well there. Thing about Sepang is it has a little bit of everything. Hard braking, long straights, fast sweepers so it's a track for everyone. But I agree, if it's hot and we know it will be. Yamaha will struggle with it.

[madvlad]

Not looking as horrible as I thought for Yamaha so far on FP1 but we'll see. I will have to say man if I'm very impressed with Miller this season and he's looking to finish super strong, wouldn't surprise me if he takes over the factory seat if he keeps riding this way after the year contract that Petrucci has since Petrux doesn't seem to have much as of late, this kid has come a very long way and has shown why they signed him straight from Moto3. Wouldn't surprise me seeing Lorenzo call it for the weekend and Ducati calling in Pirro to score some points, props for him trying but Ducati can't afford to lose points mainly after HRC didn't score squat last round and they closed the gap real good. Would have been cool to see Bautista on that thing one more time, he rode extremely well at P.I. Guess we'll see how the weekend develops here since we all know weather can change like crazy at this place. Should be a good weekend of racing across all classes yet again but mainly on 3 and 2 given championships are on the line.

[The Black Knight]

Thanks Michelin, your tires f**kin suck!!!