MotoGP 2023

[Gerard C]

Can't find Martin's post race itw in proper forum language ATM, but he says that his rear tyre was rock-hard. Assuming this is true, which I tend to think, he could do nothing with his right hand and electronics were probably jammed. If tyre allocation is randomly done, he's not been targetted by the official supplier. Bad luck then. https://www.ouest-france.fr/sport/mo...1-92c86d4d078f

[Gerard C]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEZ7mPHq6Ec

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

Can't find Martin's post race itw in proper forum language ATM, but he says that his rear tyre was rock-hard. Assuming this is true, which I tend to think, he could do nothing with his right hand and electronics were probably jammed. If tyre allocation is randomly done, he's not been targetted by the official supplier. Bad luck then.

Mat Oxley in Motorspor Mag explains what happened quite well. Bagnaia got a random dud rear tyre on Saturday and Martin got one on Sunday. Link follows:

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/a...in-the-desert/


This is how the riders explained it.

After the sprint Bagnaia told us he’d had a dud tyre without telling us he’d had a dud tyre.

“As soon as I opened the throttle I was sliding a lot, spinning a lot – it was different to the rest of the weekend,” he said. “It can happen, we were unlucky it happened in a race.”

Martin was much less diplomatic after the grand prix. And understandably, because while Bagnaia lost a potential extra seven points in the sprint, Martin lost a potential extra 17 in the GP.

“You saw at the start I had a big spin, so you can understand what happened – the rear tyre wasn’t working OK,” said the former Moto3 world champion, who got so sideways when he dumped the clutch that he nearly lost control. “I’m really disappointed the championship is being decided by a bad tyre. I struggled a lot: I couldn’t stop the bike, I couldn’t turn, I couldn’t open the throttle, it was like riding in wet conditions.”

[Gerard C]

Thanks for the input Chris. It was obvious Martin could do nothing with his rear tyre. Less diplomatic? Yes, sure!

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

It "aint" over "till" it's over ! It's Pecco's to lose

It's Martin to lose now…

[justracing]

Rumours abound that Fabio Di Giannantonio could join VR46 to replace Marini who heads to the Repsol Honda crash dummy team Bagnaia surely has the championship in Valencia today after that tyre issue for Martin in Qatar.

[GORDON STREETER]

Watching it live on TPD Spain with Bezzecchi who has just posted fastest lap in qually 2, Quartararo had an off finishing in the kittylitter and immediately got up and ran back to the pits. I did think about going to it but it's over 4 hrs for me and I like an easier life at my age

[justracing]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I did think about going to it but it's over 4 hrs for me and I like an easier life at my age

Can't say I blame you! Solid sprint win for Martin, Pecco just falling away at the start and showing no pace throughout which gives us a grandstand finale tomorrow. MM showing real grit as usual with a podium finish. Loved the way that MM laughed off the tyre marks on Martin shoulder! Bagnaia still holds 14 point advantage but if the Pramac boys start getting overly aggressive anything could happen.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by justracing

Can't say I blame you! Solid sprint win for Martin, Pecco just falling away at the start and showing no pace throughout which gives us a grandstand finale tomorrow. MM showing real grit as usual with a podium finish. Loved the way that MM laughed off the tyre marks on Martin shoulder! Bagnaia still holds 14 point advantage but if the Pramac boys start getting overly aggressive anything could happen.

Yes it's "very interesting" to say the least ! Although I am going out in the morning I will miss Moto3 and Moto2 live but will catch up later after the MotoGP that is live on RTVE in Spain. You need to be connected to a Spanish server with a VPN if you want access to RTVE in the UK or have TNT sport that I have, but I to to have to use a VPN as well as I am down here.
I also tend to use the Spanish channel on my TV for the visual as it's HD quality and use the commentary on the TNT (old BT sport) via the laptop as although I can understand most of the lingo, I can't after they talk at a hundred miles an hour when they get excited !!!

[N Martin]

Quite an eventful race to end the season. Turned into a race of attrition in the end. Could it be because its so late in the year? Possibly. Congrats to Bagnaia I was rooting for Martin but he made too many mistakes mind you Pecco hasn't exactly had a faultless season either. A sad way for Martins challenge to end and also a sad way for Marcs repsol honda career to end. Really looking forward to seeing what he can do on the Ducati next year. Also looking forward to Pedro Acosta debuting in Motogp. Its definitely been the year of Ducati all across bike racing the last couple of years. Hope another manufacturer can step up next year and properly challenge.

On a different note now we've had a full season of sprint races I'm interested in seeing what poeple think of them. Me? I think they were entertaining to start with. Once that honeymoon period wore off and riders got more used to them I think they went off the boil a bit and I don't think they lived up to the hype overall. The biggest question of course is have they improved viewing figures which was the whole point of them after all. Overall they were entertaining I liked them but if Dorna suddenly announced they will be scrapped for next year I wouldn't be disappointed. If we don't speak before have a good christmas folks and a happy new year. Cya in the new season.

[justracing]

Deserved 2nd championship for Bagnaia and Ducati, you can't blame a manufacturer for being so dominant but we really need some other teams to step up. For mu money I thought Martin was more than a bit ambitious in the final race, he nearly took Pecco and himself off outbreaking himself and that move which took MM and himself off was not just desperate, it was downright dangerous. For a horrible moment I thought MM was heading for the hospital again. Fabio Di Giannantonio showed real race craft once again, it will be interesting to see his progress with VR46.