MotoGP - Catalunya

[Freakuk]

It's the eve of the Catalunya GP, who's your money on?

News just in Alex Rins has bust his wrist on a pushbike around the track, so he's not racing this weekend - that guy cannot get a break (no pun intended) this year. I'm guessing Guintoli may sub for him?

[Zarco]

Rins can lose the front on anything.

[The Road Crew]

I'll go with Vinales this week. About time he got his head sorted out!

[Freakuk]

Fabio has to be the guy to beat, plus he won here last year.

I'd love to see Peco or Zarco win though.

[snagzie]

Zarco said:

Rins can lose the front on anything.

Username checks out

[egor110]

I'm going mir for the win .

I'd love suzuki to see if toprak in wsbk fancies a go .

[crankedup5]

Fabio showing great form with a brilliant bike underneath him.
But as I rarely post in here I have to ask, what is going on with Rossi, he hasn’t forgotten how to ride so why is he so relatively slow to the rest of the grid?

[NuvolAscaRina]

crankedup5 said:

Fabio showing great form with a brilliant bike underneath him.
But as I rarely post in here I have to ask, what is going on with Rossi, he hasn’t forgotten how to ride so why is he so relatively slow to the rest of the grid?

He's about 20 years older than some of them .
Age has caught up with him , possibly .

[FourWheelDrift]

Freakuk said:

I'm guessing Guintoli may sub for him?

Only if BT Sport can get him mic'd up for the race

[Turn7]

The Road Crew said:

I'll go with Vinales this week. About time he got his head sorted out!

Maverick has just sacked his Crew Chief and is bringing in Galbusera from the Test team...That kid is so mentally fragile its not true.

Edited by Turn7 on Thursday 3rd June 18:14

[LukeBrown66]

He is clutching at straws when the issue is all in his head, it is sad to see, as on his day he is almost unstoppable, he reminds of a Barros or Kocinski or even Biaggi, who could be sublime, but if they got out of bed the wrong way 10th

[crankedup5]

NuvolAscaRina said:

crankedup5 said:

Fabio showing great form with a brilliant bike underneath him.
But as I rarely post in here I have to ask, what is going on with Rossi, he hasn’t forgotten how to ride so why is he so relatively slow to the rest of the grid?

He's about 20 years older than some of them .
Age has caught up with him , possibly .

Yup, old enough to be the dad of some of his competitors. Years ago the front of grid to back of grid could be five / six seven seconds, now it’s more like one second. For Rossi to still be on the grid is
something special, but as you mention his age, perhaps retirement looms large. What a racer though

[five50]

Agree re Rossi - yes the situation is quite far from his prime, when he seemed pretty much omnipotent.
As above - lap time diversity has narrowed significantly front to back of the grid (quali last weekend, top 5 riders separated by 0.4 of a sec, top 10 separated by less than 0.9 of a sec) and pace is up - some of his race times are apparently at a level that would have been on the podium last year. But the game has moved on.
Age has to be a factor.
Also, his last truly competitive year was really 2015, when he came 2nd in the championship to Lorenzo by 5 points - needing to beat Lorenzo (pole sitter by 0.5 sec) in the last race starting from last place on the grid as a punishment for the shenanigans with Marquez in the previous round (Rossi got up to 4th, Lorenzo won).
In 2016 MotoGP switched from Bridgestones to Michelin - there is also a view that he has struggled to get the Michelin’s to work for him in the same way - his riding style working best with a competitive hard tyre.
I have been following various pundits / podcasts this year - the starting position seemed to be that he might still challenge for podiums - but the faith seems to be softening with each race…

[Freakuk]

FP1 done

POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME/DIFF
1 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1'40.378s
2 Franco Morbidelli ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.024s
3 Pol Espargaro SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.373s
4 Maverick Viñales SPA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.375s
5 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP21) +0.389s
6 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.475s
7 Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.549s
8 Joan Mir SPA Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.582s
9 Jack Miller AUS Ducati Team (GP21) +0.613s
10 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Team (GP21) +0.707s
11 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +0.756s
12 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP21)* +0.807s
13 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.830s
14 Danilo Petrucci ITA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +0.876s
15 Valentino Rossi ITA Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.889s
16 Iker Lecuona SPA KTM Tech3 (RC16) +0.979s
17 Enea Bastianini ITA Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +0.985s
18 Alex Marquez SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +1.059s
19 Luca Marini ITA Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* +1.086s
20 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.134s
21 Lorenzo Savadori ITA Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* +1.366s

Rumours bouncing around that Jake Dixon to moved up to MotoGP next year to replace Valentino

No replacement for Rins this weekend, which is odd as Suzuki are testing on Monday there so they could have put Guintoli on the bike this weekend to have an extended 4 day test in essence

[Turn7]

I believe Guintoli is testing for Le Mans 24hr this weekend....

[Freakuk]

Turn7 said:

I believe Guintoli is testing for Le Mans 24hr this weekend....

He's at Cataluyna, he's a presenter for BT Sport, been on the TV this morning

[egor110]

Freakuk said:

Turn7 said:

I believe Guintoli is testing for Le Mans 24hr this weekend....

He's at Cataluyna, he's a presenter for BT Sport, been on the TV this morning

Have Suzuki sorted another rider ?

[FourWheelDrift]

Moto2, the animals went in two by two hurrah. https://www.crash.net/motogp/results/979636/1/cata...

Almost. 3 sets of doubles in the top 10.

[Freakuk]

egor110 said:

Have Suzuki sorted another rider ?

No, rules state you don't have to replace a rider for 1 round I think, so the next one he'll hopefully be back or I suspect Guintoli will sub. Seems crazy when Guintoli is at the circuit already though?!?!? Possibly an engine thing I guess, keep the mileage down which may pay dividends later in the season.

[the cueball]

five50 said:

Agree re Rossi - yes the situation is quite far from his prime, when he seemed pretty much omnipotent.
As above - lap time diversity has narrowed significantly front to back of the grid (quali last weekend, top 5 riders separated by 0.4 of a sec, top 10 separated by less than 0.9 of a sec) and pace is up - some of his race times are apparently at a level that would have been on the podium last year. But the game has moved on.
Age has to be a factor.
Also, his last truly competitive year was really 2015, when he came 2nd in the championship to Lorenzo by 5 points - needing to beat Lorenzo (pole sitter by 0.5 sec) in the last race starting from last place on the grid as a punishment for the shenanigans with Marquez in the previous round (Rossi got up to 4th, Lorenzo won).
In 2016 MotoGP switched from Bridgestones to Michelin - there is also a view that he has struggled to get the Michelin’s to work for him in the same way - his riding style working best with a competitive hard tyre.
I have been following various pundits / podcasts this year - the starting position seemed to be that he might still challenge for podiums - but the faith seems to be softening with each race…

Rossi hasn't even slowed down which is the strange thing!


Looking at this track, since we are live.. and going back to the epic (Best race ever to some) race of 2009, which Rossi won.

The fastest lap of the race was 1:42:8 (had that wasn't even his, it was Stoner)

Then, In 2015, his FP2 lap was 1:42.3

His FP2 lap today was...1:40:8

He's faster than he's ever been, it's just that there are others that are now much faster!