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

[blaircsf]

Finally got around to watching the race... Congratulations to JL99, but the commentary was getting a bit over the top. You would think he won a world championship with as much as they were talking him up. We'll see what happens on tracks that don't favor the Ducati so heavily.

[madvlad]

Finally got around to watching the race... Congratulations to JL99, but the commentary was getting a bit over the top. You would think he won a world championship with as much as they were talking him up. We'll see what happens on tracks that don't favor the Ducati so heavily.

Yeah that’s the issue with it is that everyone is like omg he’s back, blah blah blah. One race doesn’t mean squat, I’m sure he will choke again.

[blaircsf]

Not sure why that deleted, was trying to edit.

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2018/0...of-2018/261595
https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/ne...-2019-1044566/
Pedrosa will be likely be the most successful rider to never win a MotoGP world title.

[blaircsf]

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/ne...drosa-1044691/

[madvlad]

Yeah sad to see him go and I foresee Lorenzo signing with HRC and taking that seat. Yamaha confirmed no seats for 2019 so that’s the only logical move

[Mother Goose]

Yeah sad to see him go and I foresee Lorenzo signing with HRC and taking that seat. Yamaha confirmed no seats for 2019 so that’s the only logical move

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/ne...drosa-1044691/

^^^

[salsashark]

Petrucci it is... "Petrucci to replace Lorenzo at factory Ducati team"

[Mother Goose]

Petrucci it is... "Petrucci to replace Lorenzo at factory Ducati team"

Awesome

[madvlad]

Happy for Petrucci, well deserved ride for him. That HRC combination of Puig/MM/Lorenzo is going to be a ticking time bomb egos are going to clash and man this is going to be a disaster sooner or later

[blaircsf]

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2018/0...nd-2020/261628
Lorenzo to Honda confirmed. I agree about egos though. We will also have to see how Lorenzo adapts to the Honda.

[madvlad]

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2018/0...nd-2020/261628
Lorenzo to Honda confirmed. I agree about egos though. We will also have to see how Lorenzo adapts to the Honda.

what I’m really curious about is the 2019 electronics rule change which will cripple the software even further, that may be some riders demise including Lorenzo trying to adapt to it as the Honda is a pretty aggressive bike as well, not as severe as the Ducati but definitely not as easy as the Yamaha. I knew Lorenzo wasn’t about to go to a satellite team and with the agreement that Rossi and Yamaha have for their satellite team past 2020 that whole Petronas thing sounded like a bunch of moot for 2019 lol

[The Black Knight]

what I’m really curious about is the 2019 electronics rule change which will cripple the software even further, that may be some riders demise including Lorenzo trying to adapt to it as the Honda is a pretty aggressive bike as well, not as severe as the Ducati but definitely not as easy as the Yamaha. I knew Lorenzo wasn’t about to go to a satellite team and with the agreement that Rossi and Yamaha have for their satellite team past 2020 that whole Petronas thing sounded like a bunch of moot for 2019 lol

I think Lorenzo will do well on the Honda. Look if Crutchlow can manage to grab some wins with it, I think Lorenzo is more than capable of being in the hunt for race wins every race weekend. Do I think he will share the same dominance on the Honda that Marquez has?? No, I think he will have to wrap his head around the bike same as he did with Ducati. But I think Lorenzo will get a much better package and also a manufacture that will actually help develop the bike the way he will want it. Don't get me wrong, Honda is still building their bike around Marquez and that will always be the case as long as he's there. But I think Lorenzo will get the parts he asks for.

Dani has been able to win with the bike as well, so I think Lorenzo will win on it.

What I honestly see happening is that if Honda continue their current trend and have competitive machines and Marquez maintains his level. It will make a very potent team and a very hard to be duo. Lorenzo will take wins and Marquez isn't slowing down anytime soon. Way I see it, is Honda is making a power play to stack the deck in their favor. They now have the only two riders that have taken all the world championships since 2009.

I also see Ducati maintaining their current level. They will grab a few wins here and there. The big loser in all this is Yamaha. If they can't get that bike back to a competitive level, and even Rossi has said he's out of the championship. He just wants to actually win some races before he can think of the championship. Then Yamaha are screwed and they will continue to be screwed until they figure out the problem.

on a side note, I've read some comments from fans that have been at the last few races and they have noted that Rossi has been short shifting in some of the corners where the other riders are balls out wide open. But one of the commenters noted that especially at Le Mans, that his short shifting technique see to help him go faster and lose less during the race. Then Rossi himself has mentioned that some of the things they've found to help the Yamaha are what he calls "old" ideas. Maybe he's reverting back to riding around the problem and let Yamaha fix the problem at some point, versus trying to fix it in the here and now. IF that really is the case, than Rossi is showing he's still got motivation to try and achieve the best possible result. It shows as he completely destroyed the rest of the Yamaha riders.

It's funny all we heard was how awesome Zarco is and he's showing up the Yamaha boys, then he ends up 11 seconds behind Rossi and we don't hear a peep about him.

Which goes back to what I've always thought about the over-hype of Zarco. He's got a great package in what he's riding with it being dialed in and polished. But he's not in the factory rider's shoes of having to develop a bike throughout the season. Zarco doesn't test the new parts, work on settings, work on trying to make the bike turn around. Sure he works on the things he works on, but in no way, shape or form is Zarco even in the same league as the factory riders. I think it's starting to show, the factory guys are finally starting to turn things around a bit. Even Vinales smoked Zarco and Vinales was all of nowhere in Mugello. I think we are starting to see the typical movement of the factory riders away from the satellite bikes. Which usually by six or seven races in we start to see new parts from the manufactures, we start to see them sorting their KIT out and finding directions to move in.

I have to say, I was extremely proud of Rossi's performance in Mugello given the heat they experienced and the fact that the other teams are crushing Yamaha at the moment. I think he could have went with Dovi, but that's neither here, nor there. One more lap and he may have passed Dovi. It is, what it is. I still think that if Yamaha get their sh*t together and really come out with a great bike in 2019. A bike that both Rossi and Vinales are fast, competitive and can win on. IF all that happened, we would see a huge shift in dominance to team blue. But that is yet to be seen...

[madvlad]

MV joins Moto2 for next season too, interesting

[madvlad]

Yeah that whole Zarco and Lorenzo bandwagons have been hilarious to be honest but whatever, Zarco will show his true colors at KTM and Lorenzo did at Ducati showing that Yamaha is what made them look great. At least Rossi works through the issues and delivers results even if he’s 1000 years old, that’s what separates him from the likes of Lorenzo and MV. I’m sure he will be far more competitive at HRC than Ducati obviously but oh man once one thing goes wrong he will not hesitate to start playing he blame game as usual.

its being rumored that Pedrosa will announce his retirement by next round at the Catalan GP, that would suck.

[The Black Knight]

Yeah that whole Zarco and Lorenzo bandwagons have been hilarious to be honest but whatever, Zarco will show his true colors at KTM and Lorenzo did at Ducati showing that Yamaha is what made them look great. At least Rossi works through the issues and delivers results even if he’s 1000 years old, that’s what separates him from the likes of Lorenzo and MV. I’m sure he will be far more competitive at HRC than Ducati obviously but oh man once one thing goes wrong he will not hesitate to start playing he blame game as usual.

its being rumored that Pedrosa will announce his retirement by next round at the Catalan GP, that would suck.

Now that's something I didn't expect to happen. Figured Pedrosa would secure a ride elsewhere and ride for at least another couple seasons. But I can see him wanting to call it a day. He's had injury after injury. That poor guy can't catch a break when it comes to riding healthy.

Always thought that when he has his day, Pedrosa is wicked fast and usually unbeatable.

I think Lorenzo will be a lot happier with Honda. It won't be the beast that is the Ducati and he will find it easier to ride.

Well, I can see why people would jump on the Lorenzo bandwagon. He's got three premier class championships. So he at least has the credentials at the highest level to warrant the bandwagon. What I can't fathom is the Zarco bandwagon. He's won jack squat in the premier class. Leading laps and getting the random podium is nice, but if you can't get those "W's", then they're all just stats. Stats no one cares about.

[salsashark]

Anybody else read Rossi's interview regarding silly season being even more sillier than ever? Thought it was interesting, but also kind of easy to make those statements having signed his contract before the season even started.

Personally, I agree with him. I would love to see team move negotiations be relegated to the end of the season... perhaps after the championship has been decided (since we know that doesn't usually take the entire season). Just like politics, we never seem to get out of campaign mode anymore. I'd love to see racers and teams dedicate themselves to the season, and not just the first 5'sh races. Jorge's a perfect example. Why would Ducati do anything for him now that he's signed with Honda?! "Look, we built you the tank you've been wanting! Oh, and now you're gone..."

[MarkT]

Hey guys! Forever since I posted...

Anyways wish Honda would have signed Johnny Rea, would loved to have seen what he could do in Motogp on a competitive bike. Instead we have to endure the whiny bitch and all his excuses for two more years as he fails to achieve the expected results.

[madvlad]

Well judging from the live feed just now I think Yamaha may have just talked this dude out of retirement thoughts cause he didn’t announce anything yet even though it was his intention to do so.

[The Black Knight]

Well judging from the live feed just now I think Yamaha may have just talked this dude out of retirement thoughts cause he didn’t announce anything yet even though it was his intention to do so.

Yeah, that was rather lame. Was expecting some big news. With all the hype and even having his own media debrief, thought for sure we'd get some news. Pedrosa just pulled off and epic troll job of everyone in the MotoGP world..

[blaircsf]

My guess is either he thought they would have paperwork signed so he could announce but it isn't finalized, or he actually was planning on retirement but is being wooed by someone.

[The Black Knight]

My guess is either he thought they would have paperwork signed so he could announce but it isn't finalized, or he actually was planning on retirement but is being wooed by someone.

That's the rumor I've been reading. He was all set to announce his retirement, hence the large press conference. But from what I gather, DORNA stepped in and asked him to wait until things are worked out with the Yamaha Petronas team. So it could be a joint effort between DORNA and Yamaha to try and retain his services for the next two years at least. Help to develop another team.

I can't imagine him wanting to stay for the money. He's not going to get anywhere near what he was getting at Repsol. But then again, Dani was never a super high paid racer. So, he may be thinking of staying two more years and the pay could be similar. Especially if it all does fall into place and Petronas is a sponsor. They are huge in Formula 1, so I'm sure they could throw some money in sponsorship with a MotoGP team.

Saw an interview with Nick Harris on BeIN sports on YouTube. And he even mentioned briefly that a Pedrosa and Yamaha Petronas team may be the only place for Pedrosa to go. He said, Pramac might be a place but that would be a rather large step backwards. Whereas with Petronas, it's a new team and he would be leading the effort there. And he may get a very competitive bike from Yamaha being that it will be Pedrosa.

I can't imagine Yamaha offering up a turd for a new satellite team and for Pedrosa. But what a minute!! They have been offering up turds to their Factory Team for the last two seasons, what was I be thinking. A turd of a bike going to Pedrosa from Yamaha is definitely feasible. All joking aside, he may get a very good bike for 2019 from Yamaha. Considering, the IMU ruling set to take place for 2019 and the fact that Yamaha are starting to make some headway with their current bike. Rossi and Vinales looked to have some decent pace today in both FP's.

[madvlad]

Marquez and his insane saves man, this dude must have knees of steel because how the fuck did he not break his leg on that one

[madvlad]

Man how fucking stupid is Yamaha to send that message to Rossi and fuck him out of a front row start... Jesus man, these guys need to get their shit together

[The Black Knight]

Man how fucking stupid is Yamaha to send that message to Rossi and fuck him out of a front row start... Jesus man, these guys need to get their shit together

It's just the way Marquez rides. His position on the bike makes it easy for him to have those saves. But I agree with you he does make some crazy saves and I'm surprised it didn't just rip him off the bike doing that save.

Yeah, Rossi really got screwed by his team today. He had a red sector, but they just had to let him know #93 was following him. Who gives a sh*t!! It's Q2, everyone is going to be around or near someone else. Especially with lap times in the 1:40's(meaning a small track), there is only a finite amount of track that can be occupied by everyone.

I think Rossi would have been on the front row with that aborted lap. But I also think, with the laps fired in late by everyone else. He would be back on Row 2. I think he was shooting for P5 next to his teammate, and would have been there close.

Just when Yamaha seem to get things together, and make a some progress. They go and do something like this and totally redeem themselves. They don't want us to forget that their team management can go south at the drop of a hat. Bunch of rookies....