MotoGP

[LowRyter]

2 hours ago, p6x said:

MM93 is on a crusade to great VR46's legacy. He probably understands that he will never surpass him in terms of sheer popularity, notoriety, and most importantly, charisma; but the records will show that he won more on track. That's what Marc wants!

It is a real pity to have those two once in a millennium people not talking to each other. Both of them have marked the sport, and will continue to be remembered.

It is no secret that Marc wants to topple Valentino's achievements.

I am certain he will do 10 this year, and 11 the next.

It is strange that it seems that his brother is the only one currently capable to challenge him.

Since he sabotaged Vale's '15 run for the championship, there's no way his legacy will ever match Vale's. 

It's a real shame for both of them.  But MM made his own bed. 

[p6x]

1 hour ago, LowRyter said:

Since he sabotaged Vale's '15 run for the championship, there's no way his legacy will ever match Vale's. 

It's a real shame for both of them.  But MM made his own bed. 

We will never cease to be irritated about this situation.

I recently had a long discussion with someone who support that Marc Marquez was only doing his race, not try to help Jorge Lorenzo, fighting VR46 for the position and nothing else. Even if VR46 felt it was inappropriate to put so much effort in slowing him down, there was nothing unruly until the time when VR46 got his boot into it. Was the crash intentional too?

I think Valentino should have never made that antagonistic kick. His only chance was to fight on the track. He paid dearly for losing his cold.

As for us, this will remain a subject of contention. But we need to let it go.

[p6x]

Going back to the British GP at Silverstone this weekend, the Friday practice did not disappoint, with a few surprises.

It's only Friday, I know. Nothing to get our panties twisted in a wad.

But I like the top of the roster. I am hopeful that tomorrow, we will see even more surprises...

On a side note, the KTM seem to have a hard time, and the promising Brad Binder is becoming anonymous.

Edited May 23 by p6x

[LowRyter]

21 hours ago, p6x said:

We will never cease to be irritated about this situation.

I recently had a long discussion with someone who support that Marc Marquez was only doing his race, not try to help Jorge Lorenzo, fighting VR46 for the position and nothing else. Even if VR46 felt it was inappropriate to put so much effort in slowing him down, there was nothing unruly until the time when VR46 got his boot into it. Was the crash intentional too?

I think Valentino should have never made that antagonistic kick. His only chance was to fight on the track. He paid dearly for losing his cold.

As for us, this will remain a subject of contention. But we need to let it go.

MM got what he deserved.  MM was clearly faster, he passed and repassed Rossi for several laps rather than race for the win.  This is what Rossi was saying MM would do before the race.   It's apparent that MM did it out of spite and was determined to prevent Rossi from contesting the championship.  Rather than warn MM before the race or give him the "meatball" during the race, the officials allowed him to do it and penalized Rossi.   The big losers were the fans who were cheated out of a competitive championship by handing Lorenzo the title.  

My only point writing about it is that the subject came up comparing their respective legacies.  

I was an MM fan until that point and saw him win his first GP at COTA.  I'm usually a fan of all the riders and like to see a good race.  I'm glad to see MM fight through injury and come back on top.  There's no question about his talent and competitiveness.   But his "legacy" is forever sullied by his own actions.  In my book, the same is true for F1 stars Senna and Schumacher.  

Edited May 24 by LowRyter

[p6x]

Another atypical race today, atypical being an understatement.

Luck always play a part in everything we do. Some people get lucky, others, not so much.

 

[Lucky Phil]

On 5/24/2025 at 11:59 PM, LowRyter said:

MM got what he deserved.  MM was clearly faster, he passed and repassed Rossi for several laps rather than race for the win.  This is what Rossi was saying MM would do before the race.   It's apparent that MM did it out of spite and was determined to prevent Rossi from contesting the championship.  Rather than warn MM before the race or give him the "meatball" during the race, the officials allowed him to do it and penalized Rossi.   The big losers were the fans who were cheated out of a competitive championship by handing Lorenzo the title.  

My only point writing about it is that the subject came up comparing their respective legacies.  

I was an MM fan until that point and saw him win his first GP at COTA.  I'm usually a fan of all the riders and like to see a good race.  I'm glad to see MM fight through injury and come back on top.  There's no question about his talent and competitiveness.   But his "legacy" is forever sullied by his own actions.  In my book, the same is true for F1 stars Senna and Schumacher.  

Rossi dished it out to many, many riders in his career in the guise of phycological warfare and questionable on track "moves" so no love lost there for me in that regard. He tried the same thing with MM but came upon a rider that was much better at it than him and he paid the price. Live by the sword and all that.

Personally I like Rossi more than MM so it's just an observation to me. Not that I'm particularly enamoured with either of them in reality, lol.

Phil 

Edited May 27 by Lucky Phil

[Lucky Phil]

On 5/26/2025 at 1:09 AM, p6x said:

Another atypical race today, atypical being an understatement.

Luck always play a part in everything we do. Some people get lucky, others, not so much.

 

Not much luck involved in Sundays race. Stopping it for oil on the track was a joke and the Marquez brothers won the lottery in that regard. You don't red flag a race because 1 rider falls at a corner esp in those conditions. The rest of the field followed MM through that corner on the exact same line and had zero issues at all so the lack of adhesion was a panic call.

The problem with MotoGP is the whole thing is a multi million dollar enterprise these days with volunteers as marshals. It's about time they dug into their pockets and started paying professionally trained and certified marshals and have at least 1 at every station/corner directing what happens at the very minimum.  

Edited May 27 by Lucky Phil

[p6x]

5 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

Not much luck involved in Sundays race.

Fabio Quartararo losing on winning the race because his ride height device locked up, was unlucky.

[GuzziMoto]

On 5/22/2025 at 9:55 PM, Steve Swan said:

@GuzziMoto, indeed, we all have our opinions.  Stoner was EXTREMELY talented, albeit his 7 year career was short lived, so we have no way of knowing had he might have accomplished had he raced 13 seasons as has MM.  Altho Rossi introduced a riding style prior unseen, he did not win his rookie year like MM.  Nor did he win as many back to back championships as has MM, altho Marquez has another 13 seasons to catch Vali's 21.  (13 & 21 being in the premier class). At age 40, MM will match Vali's 21. Other than Vali's 2015, loss, he didn't win another championship after 2009, when he was 30 years old.  MM is on track to win the championship this year at age 32. And still has, at minimum, another 3 years before he enters his decline.  Time will tell.

When Rossi went to MotoGP the rules did not allow him to ride a factory bike as I recall. Honda got that rule changed later to allow Marc Marquez to move up to MotoGP directly into the factory team. Marc was the first racer in recent times to move up directly on to a factory bike in MotoGP thanks to Honda getting a rule change. Also, the 500cc two strokes that Rossi rode when he went to to top class were a much harder bike to ride then anything Marc Marquez has raced. The differences in what they raced and when makes a direct comparison somewhat meaningless.

It is impossible to directly compare the two, Rossi and Marquez. Marc Marquez may eventually beat Rossi's records, some he already has. But he will never be Rossi. Marc Marquez has a fair number of fans, but Rossi has substantially more. Even in retirement Rossi is still the more popular racer. I think that eats at Marc.  I am also of the opinion that Marc Marquez forever tainted his accomplishments with the way he rode not to win races but to prevent Rossi from winning the title. That was about the worst thing I have ever seen a racer do.

Both racers have great records, lots of fans, and are clearly very talented. Rossi elevated the game when he came along, and Marc has since elevated it even higher. But that is the nature of history, the next gen of people to elevate things stand on the shoulders of those that came before. Records are almost always beaten at some point. Agostini is an anomaly since he raced at a time when the competition was perhaps not what is was before or since. But even his records will no doubt fall some day.

Edited May 27 by GuzziMoto

[Joe]

44 minutes ago, p6x said:

Fabio Quartararo losing on winning the race because his ride height device locked up, was unlucky.

Red flag 🚩 saved it for the Marquez bros, Aprilia! Zarco on the LRC Honda podiums again, plus Marc got needed points to win championship, Trifecta.

 

[GuzziMoto]

Marc and Alex were truly lucky with that red flag. I didn't see any signs of it being a legit red flag, but I wasn't there. I just saw what they showed on TV, and on TV the cleanup looked really limited in size. That said, having been a corner worker, they do the best the can do.  And currently race control is likely to err on the side of caution. That said, I don't understand how a racer starting the restart on a different bike they originally started the race on was allowed to start from their original grid position and didn't have to do a drive through penalty. Didn't they just issue some new rules stating that racers that switch bikes have to do a drive through penalty?

Like many, I was bummed to see Fabio have bike issues. Not sure he was going to win, he was loosing pace while Bezz was gaining pace. But it would have surely been a top three finish. I do hate those ride height devices.

I really liked Aprilia's message to Jorge Martin, pointing out that their bike can win races. And if Bezz can win on it, I would think Jorge could do better. Can he? Time for him to step up, or step aside.

[p6x]

27 minutes ago, GuzziMoto said:

I really liked Aprilia's message to Jorge Martin, pointing out that their bike can win races. And if Bezz can win on it, I would think Jorge could do better. Can he? Time for him to step up, or step aside.

Somewhat, the Aprilia was known to be performing well at Silverstone; so does the M1.

JM's spoiled his relationship with Aprilia. It reminds me of Zarco and KTM. Different circumstances, since Zarco established he could not race properly with the KTM.

[Joe]

42 minutes ago, GuzziMoto said:

Marc and Alex were truly lucky with that red flag. I didn't see any signs of it being a legit red flag, but I wasn't there. I just saw what they showed on TV, and on TV the cleanup looked really limited in size. That said, having been a corner worker, they do the best the can do.  And currently race control is likely to err on the side of caution. That said, I don't understand how a racer starting the restart on a different bike they originally started the race on was allowed to start from their original grid position and didn't have to do a drive through penalty. Didn't they just issue some new rules stating that racers that switch bikes have to do a drive through penalty?

Like many, I was bummed to see Fabio have bike issues. Not sure he was going to win, he was loosing pace while Bezz was gaining pace. But it would have surely been a top three finish. I do hate those ride height devices.

I really liked Aprilia's message to Jorge Martin, pointing out that their bike can win races. And if Bezz can win on it, I would think Jorge could do better. Can he? Time for him to step up, or step aside.

Jorge Martin needs to heal up, then race his Aprilia to podiums. I do like the variety of brands on the podiums lately, refreshing. KTM, Honda and definitely Fabio on his Yamaha have a chance to win races this year. The Marquez bros do seem to have elite bikes as even when they screw up they can make it back up the grid, seen repeatedly this season. The chaos of the last three GP races has been very entertaining to watch. Not sure if everyone has the MotoGp video Pass 📺, it has been worth every cent of the $149 to see all the action. Not sure but I think they pro-rate the year as it evolves. Not a plug but honest feedback from someone who should of done it a few years ago…

[Steve Swan]

2 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

When Rossi went to MotoGP the rules did not allow him to ride a factory bike as I recall. Honda got that rule changed later to allow Marc Marquez to move up to MotoGP directly into the factory team. Marc was the first racer in recent times to move up directly on to a factory bike in MotoGP thanks to Honda getting a rule change. Also, the 500cc two strokes that Rossi rode when he went to to top class were a much harder bike to ride then anything Marc Marquez has raced. The differences in what they raced and when makes a direct comparison somewhat meaningless.

It is impossible to directly compare the two, Rossi and Marquez. Marc Marquez may eventually beat Rossi's records, some he already has. But he will never be Rossi. Marc Marquez has a fair number of fans, but Rossi has substantially more. Even in retirement Rossi is still the more popular racer. I think that eats at Marc.  I am also of the opinion that Marc Marquez forever tainted his accomplishments with the way he rode not to win races but to prevent Rossi from winning the title. That was about the worst thing I have ever seen a racer do.

Both racers have great records, lots of fans, and are clearly very talented. Rossi elevated the game when he came along, and Marc has since elevated it even higher. But that is the nature of history, the next gen of people to elevate things stand on the shoulders of those that came before. Records are almost always beaten at some point. Agostini is an anomaly since he raced at a time when the competition was perhaps not what is was before or since. But even his records will no doubt fall some day.

"Who's the best rider" is like the dreaded "best oil" topic... (:

Edited May 27 by Steve Swan

[GuzziMoto]

I get that Jorge Martin is still recovering. But at some point I assume he will be back. When that day comes, Bezz has set a fairly decent bar considering I never rated him as high as Jorge Martin seems to rate himself. If Bezz can win on that bike,  Martin should be able to as he is supposed to be better then Bezz. True, the Ape varies from track to track, but there are other tracks it should be able to win at. For example, the Catalan GP at Barcelona or Assen. Martin really should not have done what he has done. First he bailed on Ducati, now he is trying to bail on Aprilia. He is going to run out of options if he keeps burning bridges like this. And he still has a contract to race the bike, but as mentioned he has poisoned the well, he has pissed off the team. The corporate entity that is the team won't care, but the people that make up the team, the people who work on his bike, will certainly not be happy about what he is doing and saying.

Interesting the balance between Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez. I would guess that if they were both on 2024 bikes Marc would be further ahead of his brother on average. But Alex has always done better at Silverstone then Marc relative to their own performance envelopes. Marc is noticeably faster then Alex on average, but the 2025 Ducati is not as good as the 2024 bike. Alex has the better bike this season. But Marc has always been the faster brother.