No, "Guantanamo" is too irregular and too emotional: his mood goes up and down all the time. Zarco may not be so fast, but he is a more steady rider. Incidently, did you know that Quartararo is of Sicilian origin and the name Zarco is Spanish.
He was world champion with an inferior bike. Not by chance. Where are the others Yamaha right now ? Nowhere. Quartararo and Zarco are fully French as you perfectly know.. Don’t let me believe you are not aware of what being French really means beyond origins ?
Some also claim that Frédéric Chopin was a French composer, but the Poles don't seem to agree. I am just kidding.
I have all the season review DVDs of MotoGP, and re-watch them a lot. Back in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, I thought Zarco was going to be the next big thing.
May 14 2023, France...Lemons. 1000th motorcycle GP. Well I enjoyed it. Biggest surprize; the crashing of so many top riders....no spoilers LOL. I also admire the save on the elbow from the VR Mooney rider, until.... Even free practice 2 was exciting because of the closeness of the top ten in time. M Marquez, hats off to the elder, but whether it is the Honda chassis or he is overriding one could say he is now like Mad Max, in the beginning of Max's carreer. His bike sure did move around and shake a lot. No spoilers. I still have a soft spot for Quatararro (sp). I did not follow his work championship season, but gosh, no luck this season.
There are rumours that Yamaha may pull out at the end of this year, denied by Jarvis. Same story at Honda though, with Marc Marquez sidelined once more.
Bagnaia is the benchmark at MotoGP now. Current champion does not disappoint. Double win at Mugello. But watching another moto series, I can say that Bautista in WSBK is just incredible(!)
... and both with Ducati, seems the Bolognese manufacturer has finally found back its performance in the last few years (they had a very long absence after the 2007 win of Casey Stoner ln motogp and the 2010 of Carlos Checa in sbk)
For now Motogp is a Ducati cup.. Kudos to them. Looks like the Japanese brands are less and less interested in it ..
KTM is coming strong too, and there is Aprilia too. I am not too displeased that the Japanese manufacturers are taking a back seat. I think they invest less in MotoGP, and don't make good offers to private teams.
For now KTM and Aprilia are far from being a real threat for Ducati.. Too inconsistent to mount a real championship contender.
KTM is not so far behind: they won 2 sprint races this year, so the speed is there. The KTM boss (forgot his name), is in the mould of Lawrence Stroll: he wants to make KTM an household name.
Another entertaining race today... but we're lucky that Ducati riders fight together, it seems other manufacturers are completely outperformed (KTM is trying to resist, but Aprilia is vanishing, not to mention the Japanese who are nowhere). As teams, we have Lenovo Ducati works team against Pramac Ducati against VR46 Ducati... and, if that's not enough, there's also Gresini Ducati. They could just make moto gp a one-make racing championship (at least Quartararo would have a chance to finish in the top ten) ... I don't care because I support Ducati Maybe Ferrari could investigate how an Italian manufacturer that had been struggling in competitions for a long time became such a successful machinery.
Very entertaining GP once more. Martin wins by a whisker from Bagniaa, and Zarco: a Ducati triplet ! I like Ducati too, and I'm very happy to see them win. The Japanese had their days, and I think they are less motivated now, after decades of constant success. What about Marc Marquez? Surely his time is up now. He will finish crippled with injuries if he isn't careful: 3* crashes this week end again, and another broken bone. *I am told Marc Marquez fell 5 times from his bike in fact !
Good race. Television focused on the race for 1st. At least watch the last 5 laps, if not the last 11 laps. Winner by 1/2 bike length.....Spoiler above from William (post 44). I also enjoyed the insight that, like F1 cars, following too close will heat the follower's front tire affecting grip. Yes, the Ducati's are dominant, I just "love" that the factory 2022 bike is so equal to the factory 2023 bike. So sad for Marc Marquez; yes I also heard 5 crashes and a broken finger, he was not in the Gran Prix race. From watching the season, Marc's Honda seems to "move around" a lot, and I just don't know if Marc is aging out or if it is the bike. For Father's Day I celebrated by riding my Harley on the Marin County Sunday Morning Ride; didn't seem to get over 3rd gear. Yes, I certainly have aged out. LOL.
MM93 crashes were brutal to watch. The low side that took Zarco out was scary, too. Zarco was not on the racing line and Marquez tried to blame him for the crash which was bull. The Pramac Ducati was destroyed. Marquez was beat up mentally and physically. He has won 11 races at Sachsenring with 9 in the top class. I don't care for MM but it is not his skills. It is the bike with only 1 out of 4 Hondas starting the race and Nakagami finishing in 14th. The Japanese brands are struggling. I think the racing is great and don't really care that the Duc is dominant. KTM is pushing hard and Aprilia will improve when everyone gets healthy. In the sprint race, Martin lost the front on his pass to take the lead. It was amazing to see that he did not crash. Zarco had an amazing save on the last lap while it 3rd.
I worry with Marc that he is approaching a point at which "the spirit is willing, but the fresh is weak". 2019 was his last injury-free year. At some point the mental and physical wear and tear - not just the weekend's 5 falls - will get to be too much. I feel that point may be rapidly approaching, especially as the RC213V continues to have teething problems.
Would be happy to see him gone. He was dangerous even in his prime. Now, with him out there like this, it's just a tragedy waiting to happen.
I don't think MM will be a championship challenger anymore; his era is over. He has become very erratic lately, not composed like a champion with his experience should be.
Like giving the middle finger to the camera on his bike for all spectators to see?? Classless and unhinged.
