20' MotoGP/WSBK/MotoAmerica discussion thread **SPOILER ALERT**

[madvlad]

That time of the year to renew our only recurring thread in this wasteland of a forum haha. With that said, let's begin!!!

WSBK went testing at Jerez in rainy conditions and man HRC hit the ground running with that new Honda, already at the top of the timesheets but guess we'll see how they do in dry conditions. I honestly thought Honda was going to deliver another joke of a SP bike but they are proving me and many wrong this time around which is nice cause that means another manufacturer to enter the fight and make that paddock a lot more exciting to watch. Can't wait for Gerloff to show Yamaha what he's capable of in that R1 and hopefully they'll offer him a factory seat in the future, he's already showed great potential.

MotoGP has team presentations ongoing and I believe testing at Sepang next month, guess we'll see what Yamaha/Aprilia have to offer now updates wise since the rumor is that both will be testing new and more powerful engines there. We'll see if any of the teams will have anything for Marquez and Honda and sure hope things stir up a bit. Another rumor is that Marquez is having difficulty/problems healing quickly from his shoulder surgery so who knows if the winds of difficulty in his career are set to begin (no, not wishing bad upon the guy, just as we all know all the greats went through bad spells with injuries and such that hindered their seasons, that's all so don't take that comment in a bad way). Bummer to hear about Iannone and the whole substance abuse ordeal but we'll see how that one evolves as these next couple months go on in court hearings and such before the season begins in March given that if he's found guilty, he will face a long suspension and it may mark the end of his riding career. As of right now it looks like they may bring in Abraham for a testing role meanwhile that whole ordeal resolves.

Yoshimura and Graves decided to pull out of their AMA effort, which led Factory Yamaha to partner up with Attack Performance for the 2020 season and M4 Ecstar took over the factory Suzuki efforts along with bringing Tony Elias with them but leaving Josh Herrin without a seat for the season as of right now. Garrett Gerloff is replaced at Yamaha by none other than Jake Gagne and they kept Cameron Beaubier.

[madvlad]

A wise move by Yamaha after rumors that Ducati were thinking about signing him. I also foresee Yamaha bringing in Quartararo to replace Rossi after this season as I just don't see Yamaha being invested in Rossi any longer in a Factory seat capacity. Rossi in a few interviews during the winter break did mention that he wouldn't mind stepping down to Petronas to finish his riding days as well which honestly I found rather shocking but well if he can ride, why not?

Yamaha signs Maverick Viñales through 2022

https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2020/...21-2022/322630

[madvlad]

As expected Yamaha moved quick on Quartararo and sealed him in as well for the 21-22 seasons.

[blaircsf]

As expected Yamaha moved quick on Quartararo and sealed him in as well for the 21-22 seasons.

Which then begs the question if Rossi wants to keep racing, factory bike on satellite team?

[madvlad]

Which then begs the question if Rossi wants to keep racing, factory bike on satellite team?

Yeah, while we all know that even at his age he has performed well but I personally don't see him continuing on and foresee him calling for retirement half way through the season if not earlier. I am sure he's done a bit of soul searching in the off season and perhaps has had talks with his closest friends and colleagues who are also in the game as we know about it and how I see it is that he wants to ease his mind into retirement mainly after being in the paddock for over half his life. It's kind of like you leaving a job or something you know of many many years and the routine that you're used to and then venturing into other pastures all of the sudden, it's a scary feeling so that's about the closest that I can equate that to in our world but like with everything, time always has the last word. He also has his team he can focus on moving forward and eventually be a GP team owner which I'm sure it has been in the works with Yamaha for some time now so they can bring it into fruition in the near future. Times change, eras come and go and he had beyond a hell of a run getting to live the life that many wish they could and best of all, being able to walk away with a legacy and unscathed. Sad to see him go don't get me wrong and it'll take some getting used to not seeing him line up anymore but again, what else does he have to prove? Nothing. It is time for the new generation of riders to write their stories and leave their mark in the sport just like he did during his tenure.

[madvlad]

Lorenzo joins Yamaha as a test rider as well for the 2020 season

https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2020/...-yamaha/322679

Also NBC takes over broadcasting rights for MotoGP for 2020. Let's just hope they won't do what FS1 did back when and only showed like 20% of the race and the rest of the broadcast time was nothing but ads. I personally was happy with how BeIn showed the races with no ads or stoppages at all but with only one carrier having them, hard for Dorna to stay with them. Nothing is said about WSBK leaving BeIn so who knows and I hope they don't cause I don't want to pay extra for another pass and definitely am planning on following WSBK much closer cause of Garrett Gerloff this season

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news...to-nbc-sports/

[blaircsf]

Lorenzo joins Yamaha as a test rider as well for the 2020 season

https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2020/...-yamaha/322679
...

I'm still not convinced this will be the greatest thing ever as some people seem to think. Lorenzo is definitely a talented / fast rider, but the past couple seasons point to him really struggling if the bike isn't ideal for him. With the same bike, same team, etc, Marquez and Dovi were getting much better results. Could MM and Dovi benefit from the Lorenzo changes, maybe but also maybe not? Yamaha doesn't need to design a bike Lorenzo can ride fast currently, they need a bike that Vinales/Quatararo/Rossi can win races on. I guess we will have to wait and see...

[madvlad]

I'm still not convinced this will be the greatest thing ever as some people seem to think. Lorenzo is definitely a talented / fast rider, but the past couple seasons point to him really struggling if the bike isn't ideal for him. With the same bike, same team, etc, Marquez and Dovi were getting much better results. Could MM and Dovi benefit from the Lorenzo changes, maybe but also maybe not? Yamaha doesn't need to design a bike Lorenzo can ride fast currently, they need a bike that Vinales/Quatararo/Rossi can win races on. I guess we will have to wait and see...

Yeah I honestly don't see this benefiting Yamaha much to be honest. Like you said the conditions have to be perfect for him to ride the piss out of that thing and he's said it in the past that he's not the most mechanically inclined rider also reason why when the bike isn't perfect for him, he's always struggled. He likes smooth style and well who doesn't you know? He can't figure it out on the go. He also left Yamaha before the changes that created the issues so he doesn't even know what he's getting himself into. The last Yamaha he had was a very well rounded bike and they didn't have the tire wear and spin issues unlike the last 2 bikes and possible 3 including this one cause the last two tests really didn't conclude anything better for them so who knows what the Sepang test will tell them. Guess we'll see as time goes on and see if he can indeed deliver the answers that Yamaha needs although I doubt it

[Mr2GQ]

Also NBC takes over broadcasting rights for MotoGP for 2020. Let's just hope they won't do what FS1 did back when and only showed like 20% of the race and the rest of the broadcast time was nothing but ads. I personally was happy with how BeIn showed the races with no ads or stoppages at all but with only one carrier having them, hard for Dorna to stay with them. Nothing is said about WSBK leaving BeIn so who knows and I hope they don't cause I don't want to pay extra for another pass and definitely am planning on following WSBK much closer cause of Garrett Gerloff this season

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news...to-nbc-sports/

Best news of the day... Hopefully NBC kicks it up offline content, so I don't HAVE to pay for the video pass. I didn't mind watching it off the DVR a few hours late. Plus with the racing the last few seasons, wasn't sure i was going to justify the yearly cost again.

[madvlad]

Best news of the day... Hopefully NBC kicks it up offline content, so I don't HAVE to pay for the video pass. I didn't mind watching it off the DVR a few hours late. Plus with the racing the last few seasons, wasn't sure i was going to justify the yearly cost again.

Yeah I just hope it won't be as bad as FS1 was cause good lord their coverage was horrendous. The MotoGP pass is getting way too expensive for what it is and honestly the features aren't that great and the off season coverage is pretty much non-existent anymore. I remember they used to air the tests a lot before but not anymore. Only plus of the pass is that you get to access old races and such but about it. Yeah with the Marquez domination it has been hard to cough up for the pass but besides last year, the last few before that were pretty good and at least the championship was much closer and races were also much closer but man this last year it was just the Marquez parade really, it was getting rather boring and I started to watch them later and not live which hasn't happened ever before cause I saw all races live. Not his fault he's that good and the other teams are lacking something to take it to him but hope Fabio can make it a bit more exciting this season and the next two at Factory Yamaha with a much better bike. He outperformed all the other 3 riders on the lowest spec of all Yamahas on the grid. He definitely deserved a shot at a Factory ride to hopefully close the gap to Ducati and HRC

[madvlad]

In MotoAmerica news, M4 Ecstar Suzuki team confirms Bobby Fong alongside Toni Elias for their 2020 Superbike campaign (will add link later, neither motoamerica and roadracing world sites are working properly at the moment and won't load the story page). This leaves Josh Herrin out of a ride at the moment, believe the only Superbike seat available is the BMW that Jake Gagne was riding last season. Hope he finds a seat cause he's talented and deserves to be out there dicing it with those guys.

[madvlad]

Been keeping an eye on the tests and stuff and this season is looking super promising. Both Yamaha and Aprilia have made a really good leap to close the gap to the front. Quartararo already on a flier with the 2020 spec M1 of course and all riders have confirmed that there is more power and more top end speed delivered from the new spec engine. Who knows if the shoulder injury is going to hinder MM this season so that could be a curveball in his program. Even KTM made some decent strides as well. Suzuki right up there as well as both Mir and Rins looking pretty comfortable on the RR. That new Suzuki Livery is pretty nice too imo.

[blaircsf]

Top 18 riders all within 0.8 seconds after Sepang test, all 6 factories represented within the top .3. It's always a bit hard to equate test data to actual race season information but looking like a competitive season theoretically.

[madvlad]

Top 18 riders all within 0.8 seconds after Sepang test, all 6 factories represented within the top .3. It's always a bit hard to equate test data to actual race season information but looking like a competitive season theoretically.

And that's all I meant, most teams did work on race pace as well and you see Aprilia and KTM getting up there too. Suzuki look even more threatening as well. Just overall looks like the teams are a bit more rounded this season to bring it to HRC. MM is looking like he may have an off season with his shoulder issues but as usual never count him out, that dudes will to win is damn good haha. Can't wait for March already that's for sure!

[madvlad]

Marquez signs 4 year extension with HRC Honda

https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2020/...of-2024/324803

[blaircsf]

Marquez signs 4 year extension with HRC Honda

https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2020/...of-2024/324803

All the "he has to win on another manufacturer" people are going to love that news...

[madvlad]

All the "he has to win on another manufacturer" people are going to love that news...

Yeah it'll definitely start some polemic talks without a doubt within the sport and the media. Honda probably thought about it in the same way that Yamaha handled early contracts with Quartararo/Viñales given they know Ducati is on the prowl for another top rider that can bring them a championship given that Petrucci has been a flop and Dovi isn't getting any younger. HRC knows that MM is the only option at them remaining competitive so they locked him down.

[madvlad]

So NBCSN seems to be off to a very bad start with this whole motorcycling broadcast thing already. They won't be airing ANY races live this season and no qualifiers either and also no guarantees of all races being aired either what a joke. Looks like I'll be kicking my GP/WSBK passes back into gear. I knew they would be just as bad as FS since all they care about is nascrap coverage...

[madvlad]

I will say that Simon Crafar has grown on me ever since he took over Dylan Gray's position. Him being a former rider and during interviews and all he definitely has a great way to connect the viewer to the rider with the questions he asks and his overall technical input, he's been a pretty good addition to the media team for sure.

[longrider]

So NBCSN seems to be off to a very bad start with this whole motorcycling broadcast thing already. They won't be airing ANY races live this season and no qualifiers either and also no guarantees of all races being aired either what a joke. Looks like I'll be kicking my GP/WSBK passes back into gear. I knew they would be just as bad as FS since all they care about is nascrap coverage...

Where are you hearing this? What I am seeing is all the MotoGP races will be shown and some will be live. The live races are the ones that happen at a reasonable time in the US (7:30 am eastern for 3 European races and afternoon for Austin and Argentina) WSBK is admittedly weak with only 5 racers scheduled. If they do get streaming rights which I doubt Dorna will give up it should be good. Watching AMA motocross when the broadcast goes to commercial the stream goes right back to the race action. You only miss a few seconds on the transition

[madvlad]

Where are you hearing this? What I am seeing is all the MotoGP races will be shown and some will be live. The live races are the ones that happen at a reasonable time in the US (7:30 am eastern for 3 European races and afternoon for Austin and Argentina) WSBK is admittedly weak with only 5 racers scheduled. If they do get streaming rights which I doubt Dorna will give up it should be good. Watching AMA motocross when the broadcast goes to commercial the stream goes right back to the race action. You only miss a few seconds on the transition

I'm looking at the schedule, the first WSBK race won't even be aired during the weekend of but until tuesday so that goes to show you that GP won't be much better, I still foresee a lot of FS crap broadcasting happening. I already kicked both the passes up cause I do watch all races live anyways, guess for someone that doesn't follow that much and doesn't mind getting it broadcasted later on it's a win for them.

[madvlad]

Guess the injury isn't the only thing hindering Honda, they must have gone way wrong with the 2020 bike and guess perhaps MM had to see where it was given he rode Nakagamis bike...

https://www.motogp.com/en/videos/202...-s-bike/325778

[madvlad]

Also in MotoAmerica news, Josh Herrin will be riding at Steve Scheibe BMW for the 2020 season

[madvlad]

All I gotta say is holy shit WSBK is off to an amazing start, what a race that was!!! Great start by Gerloff from 17th to 8th and eventually getting into 7th for a bit but I'm sure tire wear got the best of him but all in all amazing debut for him and got a taste of battling with the big dogs. This race season on both GP and WSBK are going to be amazing, can't wait for the 2nd race tomorrow and then also GP at Qatar next weekend.