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Post by René on Oct 19, 2023 16:39:21 GMT
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Post by chrisb on Oct 20, 2023 9:52:13 GMT
a brilliant circuit and Australia has a few excellent circuits, this one for us motorbike fans is near the top of the tree,
talking of which with this dreadful weather battering the North-East at the moment it is also apparently going to hit Phillip Island Sunday, so the main race has been moved to Saturday and the sprint to Sunday, pity the poor Moto2 and 3 riders come Sunday.
After two practices we have two KTM's sitting proudly at the top Brad and then Jack, followed by an enthusiastic Maverick who has kindly informed Honda he is not interested in Marc Marquez's seat, mainly as all contacts with Honda are for a year early, which is interesting as to who will be riding for Honda in 2025. Marquez senior managed a couple of spills and Pecco has slipped again to need to pre-qualify again, whereas his main rivals Jorge is 4th and Bezz is 6th,
Yamaha were dreadful 17, and last, I bet Franco can't wait to get himself on the Ducati next year,
a quick mention to Josh Whatley in Moto3 who finished a fine 9th after the two practices, a phenomenal achievement
Whereas Moto2 saw Fermin Aldeguer pip Aron Canet and Jake Dixon to be quickest
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Post by René on Oct 21, 2023 8:47:07 GMT
Finally..... Johann Zarco has won his first MotoGP race!  John Charles would have been very happy as he was a big fan of the Frenchman but was afraid that Zarco would turn into the Chris Amon of bike racing. Well, he hasn't with this win. Hopefully more to follow.   |
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Post by chrisb on Oct 22, 2023 10:20:05 GMT
it was a well won race, notwithstanding the surprise decision by Martini and several others to use the soft rear which imploded on them all, Marquez and Aleix also suffering at the end of the race and dropping likes stones, in saying that Johan rode an excellent clever and wise race and phew that awful monkey on his shoulder and we were treated by several somersaults some better than ever, Pecco also rode well from 13th to finish 2nd and surely the rider of the day must have been Di Giannantonio who finished 3rd and is without a seat for next year, as a certain Spanish champion has signed a one year deal, lots of conspiracy tales circulating. The race was noticeable as there were a lot of poor results for many of the riders
As the weather forecast was pretty awful for the Sunday it was decided to use the Saturday as the main race and Sunday for the sprint race, also moving the timetable an hour forward, sadly to no avail, Moto3 was 'interesting' with a very spread out field and a special mention goes to Josh Whateley who scored his highest finish ever, Moto2 was a no hope for crash fest with riders falling about all and sundry and the race being stopped after a few laps and then the MotoGP sprint race was cancelled, wisely in my humble opinion we really have had far too many injuries this year and the rain and worse the wind was just far too dangerous, in writing this I go back to Spa and a clip of bikes racing in torrential rain in the 60's with little or no protection from anything they really were something extremely special in those days.
after the freezing of Australia onward to Thailand for this crazy schedule, my word the mechanics etc will be so knackered when this season eventually ends, let alone the riders, it really is far too much
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Post by René on Oct 27, 2023 9:24:10 GMT
Thailand Grand Prix - Chang International Circuit After the exciting and surprising race in Australia, we continue in Thailand this weekend. Jorge Martin wastes no time and is fastest in FP1. Championship leader Bagnaia only 10th... 
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Post by chrisb on Oct 27, 2023 18:54:28 GMT
Jorge really is flying and there has never been any question of his speed just his ability to keep the bike sunny side up
the Aprilla’s are looking good as are the Yamaha’s but like F1 anyone betting against Martin is taking a very long shot
the fallout from Marc Marquez continues and whilst some people reckon it will be like Casey Stoner when he left Ducati for the then dominant Honda and swept all asunder I am not so sure
the track is another Tilke drone and not one of his best
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Post by chrisb on Oct 29, 2023 12:45:28 GMT
oh my word, what an incredible race, phew, one of the tightest finishes for a long time, Jorge wins but not quite sure how he won it, a brilliant and scary battle with Pecco and Brad - the three of them the class of the field, so much happened it's difficult to encapsulate all that happened, a lot of paint swopping, some very dubious overtakes,
thanks to a last lap penalty Brad was demoted to 3rd but at least he was someone who is taking the fight to the dominant Ducati's - so the title fight continues
special mentions go to Fabio Quartararo who finished a fabulous 5th and Marc Marquez 6th, whereas Aprilla had a nightmare and the less said
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Post by René on Nov 11, 2023 9:28:39 GMT
Malaysian Grand Prix - Sepang Lots of thrilling action in Sepang. Points leader Francesco Bagnaia snatched pole postion for the Grand Prix from title rival Jorge Martin but it was Martin who finished ahead of Bagnaia in the sprint race that was won by Alex Márquez. 
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Post by chrisb on Nov 11, 2023 11:04:00 GMT
the grid consisted of places 1-6 full of Ducati's, as Mat Oxley pointed out this is not healthy for motorbike racing, it is interesting just how different riding styles get the most of these Bolognese bullets, thanks to the two KTM's who at least put up a bit of a fight with Jack at last showing his talents and staying with Brad, the Aprilla's weren't good but at least managed to stay sunny side up with Maverick finishing ahead of the multiple practice crasher Aleix, as for the Japanese, another day to forget, with Frankie being the highest finisher at 11th ahead of Aleix, Fabio had a good position at the start but was forced wide on the first lap and ended up finishing 16th.
Honda was just, well, awful, both Joan and Marc dropped their bikes but rejoined and the highest Honda finisher? Nakagami in 19th position.
what was interesting was that everyone finished - a rather unique statistic
another racer who didn't cover themselves with any glory was the WSB champion Alvaro Bautista who finished 19th on yet another Ducati
what will happen for the proper race is anyone's guess apart from the fact it is more than likely to be a Ducati taking the spoils.
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Post by René on Nov 18, 2023 10:20:36 GMT
Qatar Grand Prix - Losail International Two races to go and the points difference between Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin is only 14. A second MotoGP world title for Bagnaia or a first for Martin? It could still go either way. Martin fastest in FP1 and Fernandez in FP2. 
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Post by chrisb on Nov 18, 2023 14:49:43 GMT
oh the shenanigans! the Marquez brothers robbing faster riders of their rightful places on the grids, one could amost hear our dear John screaming out in anger with their tactics of following faster riders to get better times than either their abilities or bikes capacity deserve thus depriving us of a real contest, I do wish the Ducati's or Yamaha's would lodge a protest or something, in saying that we saw Aleix's P temper get the better of him with a slap over the helmet of Frankie's crash helmet for allegedly blocking him, a six place grid punishment and a hefty fine. Oh that was not good,
But for supposedly Honda bound Luca Marino he with the reluctant support of Maverick gained pole,
the sprint race which thus far has been dominated by Jorge may prove a bit more interesting and certainly nerve wracking, both the leading protaganists are doing their onw thing, one looking super cool and the other who has really struggled quite the opposite and is the vision of nervous and tense energy, just hoping for a good race with no injuried!
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Post by chrisb on Nov 22, 2023 16:10:29 GMT
Astonishing all three races controversial in their own way,
moto3 was just plainly dishonest and disgusting and if there was a less deserving champion I can’t remember who,
moto2 aldeguer is just sheer class, in my opinion much better than the vaunted Alcoba and there is a real battle for 3rd with the brilliant Jake Dixon currently holding the position but Aldegeur is catching him very quickly
and then there’s MotoGP and more controversy with an extremely poor rear tyre with Martin having a dreadful race, and all kinds of conspiracy theories circulating it’s heaven for those who enjoy such things and then the future unemployed DiGi winning his first Gp and that is something else
oh and to finish there was the lovely spat between the highly emotional Aleix and the ultra cool Frankie which cost Aleix 10,000 euros and a 6 grid penalty, but by comparison to what happened in M3 it seemed strange and almost another step towards F1 and their stupidity
so onto Valencia
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Post by chrisb on Nov 22, 2023 18:10:55 GMT
Just as an afterthought KTM own Gas Gas and given just how much motorcycles are popular in Spain and how many gp’s are held in Spain and how they control the series as well as WSB are KTM thinking at some stage moving on from M2 and 3 to MotoGp with that brand as maybe a 3rd team therefore bypassing Dorma’s reluctance for them to have another team?
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Post by Carl on Nov 22, 2023 21:05:59 GMT
Just as an afterthought KTM own Gas Gas and given just how much motorcycles are popular in Spain and how many gp’s are held in Spain and how they control the series as well as WSB are KTM thinking at some stage moving on from M2 and 3 to MotoGp with that brand as maybe a 3rd team therefore bypassing Dorma’s reluctance for them to have another team? Chris, As a precaution, you and Triumph must move fast to preempt KTM dominance. I can remember the glory days of Triumph, Norton, BSA and Royal Enfield and would enjoy a British resurgence! Cheers, Carl |
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Post by mikael on Nov 24, 2023 7:34:39 GMT
Just as an afterthought KTM own Gas Gas and given just how much motorcycles are popular in Spain and how many gp’s are held in Spain and how they control the series as well as WSB are KTM thinking at some stage moving on from M2 and 3 to MotoGp with that brand as maybe a 3rd team therefore bypassing Dorma’s reluctance for them to have another team?
I remember KTM from my "motocross time" in the beginning of the 1980s. At that time KTM was wholly Austrian-owned; and - as far as I know - they concentrated fully on motocross.
Some riders had just zero confidence in Japanese motorcycles; accordingly they became customers of KTM or Husqvarna (of Sweden). (Nice that both companies are still in business.) Maico bikes (of Germany) were also not rare. They are now out of business (as is another, smaller, German marque: Kramer).
There was also quite a number of Italian marques: Aprilia, Beta, Cagiva, Gilera, SWM, Villa - so actually more Italian marques than Japanese (Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha).
As to Spanish motorcycles there was - as far as I know - just one marque: Montesa. They were quite rare indeed ...
KTM 125cc, 1980
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