It's on So the battle seems to be between Ducati and Honda... but the reigning champion in on a Yamaha, therefore eventually everything is open...
Will be yet another great season and super excited!! I roadraced (poorly) locally/regionally with AMA/MRA- have the pins and screws to prove it- Ha! These guys and the recent/current bikes are just mind-boggling. With F1 and MotoGP starting I can come out of winter hibernation
Can't wait. I have all the Duke Video DVD seasons from 1983 until 2019, which are my winter viewing. Looks like it is on CNBC here in the States.
Ducati must thank Bastianini and the Gresini team... Honda has been there, but Lenovo Ducati and Pramac Ducati have been below expectations. KTM and Aprilia were stronger than anticipated. As usually Moto GP shows true racing.
Congratulations Fabio Quartararo! Which amazed me is that he was not impressive in Moto3 and Moto 2 and immediately a beast in Motogp. Rossi level according to Spanish and Italians journalists.
Another impressive ride from Quartararo today - allegedly he does not have the best bike, but he manages to make the best of it... Solid race by Zarco too, then good recovery from Miller and a pity for Bagnaia after his record braking laps the days before.
Winning with an inferior bike is as amazing achievement. Start to believe Fabio is a generational talent.
Another great race today - in spite of the (relatively) poor result Fabio still has a chance for the championship, Ducati seems to be far stronger than Yamaha but although Bagnaia achieved an all time first of 4 wins in a row, the issue for him is that he's still behind and also under constant pressure of other Ducati riders.
I can see the Japanese manufacturers pulling out of MotoGP before long. Suzuki has already started, Yamaha lost its satelite team, that switched to KTM! Honda waits to see how Marquez recover from his injuries before reviewing its future strategy. Compared to that, the European manufacturers are expanding their effort and slowly take over the grid. Aprilia is near the top, Ducati fields 8 bikes (factory + 3 private teams), same for KTM with its 2 teams. Neither Yamaha nor Honda seem to put a lot of money in MotoGP anymore. Quarteraro is still leading the championship, but complains Yamaha don't give enough resources to develop his bike. Honda is now using a consultant (Kalex) to develop the suspension on Marquez bike, the factory in Japan is too slow to react.
True, Japanese bikes brand looks like Honda when they were partners with BAR in late 2007-2008. Not so much involved with a lot of inertia. But I have any doubts they can quickly change and be competitive again as Honda is demonstrating this since 2019 in Formula One.
Exciting day today. Race at Aragon. Who remembers 2021 race and amazing 1st MotoGP win of 'Pecco' Bagnaia? YES, that was it! This year, although 'Pecco' said that he will be looking mostly to bring home the championship's points and he will not risk a crazy drive if rivals (mostly Bastianini) will challenge him for the win, I wish him the win! For the last 4 races he was doing amazing job. What a race in Misano it was! Fabio Quartararo, on the other hand, looked like struggling even in Qualifying, and almost fall from the bike in turn 2. But the most astounding thing I see on replays how those guys are stopping their bikes, massively diving to the front wheelie before the turn 1. Tons of respect to all the guys on the grid on their amazingly fast machines!
The win decided on the last lap again Bastianini on the last lap has proven that he's fast and won the GP - congrats. 'Pecco' Bagnaia looking not worried, (being one of the two riders comfortably faster than others) collected 20pts for the championship. Winning a race is nice , but winning a championship title is even nicer. Waiting for F.Bagnaia to make it happen. Meanwhile Ducati already secured the constructor's championship title. M.Marquez and Fabio Quartararo's fate was decided on the first lap of the race when FQ made contact with the rear of MM bike, and crashed. MM retired from the race not much later. The F1 compared to MotoGP is soo boring and the riders of MotoGP shall deserve even bigger acclaim. MotoGP is a truly 'man and a machine' sport completely on another level compared to races in F1.
Todays race: 2 Ducatis, 1 Aprilia, 1 KTM, followed by 4 Ducatis. The first Japanese bike was 9th; a Suzuki (they pull out of MotoGP soon). First Honda 12th, first Yamaha 17th !!! The Jap factories are really on the ropes now. Most riders dream to have a Ducati !!
Quartararo and Marquez (Yamaha & Honda) unfortunately ended up on the 1st lap, so it was quite crappy experience for both Japanese manufacturers. But even if not, the ending of the race would look the same - Enea and Pecco going for the win today. And who would have thought about such exciting ending again, both on Ducati's (Bastia on older 2021 spec), next year team mates - and both playing fair and square , pure racecraft, no tricky moves, no team orders. Overall I'm rooting for Ducati since post- Casey Stoner era, so every Ducati's win is very welcomed. Also happy that Aprilia is quick. Sympathise also with Yamaha, Suzuki and Honda Also hoping for the Ducati's rider title in WSBK.
If Quartararo win the championship with the bike he rides, it would be one of the biggest exploit of the modern era!
Quartararo may well manage that, since there is no discipline in the Ducati camp and their riders keep stealing points from each other. The usual dilemma: should we let the rider fight, or should we give team orders. In Ducati's case, some of their bikes are in private teams too, which adds to the problem, IMO.
The most impressive fact of today is Marc Marquez's comeback - it seems he's back at the top... Bagnaia was close to make the best of Quartararo's crash, but he lost two places in the last lap; he had a difficult race anyway, and did never seem to have a real advantage. He is however in a very good position for the championship, with only two races left and his closest rival struggling with his bike.
As Lorenzo said Pecco is riding the best Ducati ever against a very weak Yamaha. This is a miracle Fabio is always second in the championship..
That doesn't excuse the mistakes! Quartararo was leading the championship by quite a margin, but consecutive DNFs saw him falling behind. The guy can't keep up a reasonable pace to accumulate points; he has to try all the time and ends up crashing.
Enjoy the racing live or streaming. Duke Video said no more MotoGP season review DVDs ever again. 2019 was the last one.
If Yamaha was such weak, Quartararo wouldn't have had a chance to be the championship leader for most of the year. Honda was weak, for sure. Ducati had big problems with 2022 spec bike for quite a few races at the start of the season. 2021 was a much better bike. (Look at Bastianini for example on 2021-spec Ducati) Jack Miller was literally swearing about 2022 bike, that whole paddock could hear him When problems with 2022 engine and engine electronics got a bit better, 'Pecco' and Miller started to gather more confidence with the brutal bike, and collect points and wins. The Ducati bike looks ballistic on the straights, but it does not ride itself . And if you accelerate the thing more, then you have to know that braking before the turn requires then also more from the rider . And not every track suits every bike, be it Ducati or Honda or Yamaha. Very good race to the last lap, congrats to the top riders, also 3 different bikes on podium - that means something how good fight it was . Very sorry for Jack being taken off the bike by A.Marquez on his home race.
Someone could say (in fact many said) the same about 'Pecco' after crashing on the last lap in wet Motegi race, while trying to overtake Quartararo, to grab just a few more points. I'm hoping for Bagnaia to reach the title. After unfortunate start of the season on 2022 machine, he has been challenged for wins even by other fast Ducati riders, and that kept even more pressure on him. He already did amazing things this year, and proved to be fast and be a worthy leader of Ducati factory team.
