MotoGP 2016 News & Chat

Fabio

Loving the Paddock Pass Podcast Frostie, keep up the good work

Looking forward to Argentina this weekend, and Aragon as well. Should be two cracking races.

Grim.

EUGENE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

DaveD

Well that was an exciting finish!

CJhaughey

Great race, and an even better result.
The track looked treacherous though, one small deviation off line and they were gone.

roroliam

Great result for Eugene. ��

frostie500

Fantastic for Eugene! Great to see his hard work paying off

Magown3

No discussion on Lorenzo to Ducati for 2017. According to pretty good moto gp sources, the deal has already been signed.

Is he moving to Ducati just at the right time? Could be as it seems to be a pretty decent package now. Would have had 2 on the podium only for an Italian Brain-fart!

frostie500

Magown3 wrote: »

No discussion on Lorenzo to Ducati for 2017. According to pretty good moto gp sources, the deal has already been signed.

Is he moving to Ducati just at the right time? Could be as it seems to be a pretty decent package now. Would have had 2 on the podium only for an Italian Brain-fart!

Few bits of info guys. Obviously I'm not in the GP paddock on a full time basis any longer but I did get a few messages from people that I trust saying that it's a done deal with Lorenzo to Ducati
It makes a lot of sense on many levels. The Ducati is a very good bike and looks to only need a top rider to help them make the step. Jorge will get a lot of money for it too and he can also cement his legacy. Good move for all

PopePalpatine

Yeah, I really can't see him sticking in the same team with Rossi past this year, and I'd hazard a guess that if he didn't have a contract for this season he would have walked away from Yamaha before the podium at Valencia was dried of champagne.

h3000

Will Maverick Vinales take his place at Yamaha?

funkey_monkey

Vinales? Are Yamaha not interested in winning championships? He's a good rider, but with MM on the Honda and Jorge on a Ducati where is their challenge coming from?
Lorenzo will do what Rossi couldn't do. He's going at the right time. That bike is not far off 100% at this stage.

h3000

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Vinales? Are Yamaha not interested in winning championships? He's a good rider, but with MM on the Honda and Jorge on a Ducati where is their challenge coming from?
Lorenzo will do what Rossi couldn't do. He's going at the right time. That bike is not far off 100% at this stage.

I think Vinales is well good enough for the Yamaha seat. Who's quicker than him? Maybe Ianonne but I really think Maverick could get the seat.

Infoanon

Maverick Vinales is regularly beating the highly rated Aleix Espagaro.

Other potential stand out talent would be imho Daniel Petrucci

Cal/Redding/Baz have shown occasional signs of brilliance but like Pol Espagaro and Jack Miller their progress has been stagnant.

CJhaughey

Vinales to me has a lot more potential to become a top tier rider than Baz(too big) Crutchlow( no consistent speed), Redding is also too big but probably faster than the other two.
I think of all the tier two riders he stands the best chance of moving up to a factory ride.

h3000

Well COTA really is a bit boring. Bring back Laguna Seca.

Moto3 was incredibly dull when you consider what Moto3 normally does on the entertainment scale.

Moto2 I had a little nap though from what I did see the two boys out front rode very well.

MotoGP interesting first few laps but then a bit processionally (if that's a real word). Dovi is really lucky not to have a broken leg. Pedrosa is lucky not to have a broken jaw. Dovi did seem to take it very well, both of them seem to be among the most down to earth honest guys in the paddock.

CJhaughey

h3000 wrote: »

Well COTA really is a bit boring.

In all honesty all the US tracks are pretty boring, one line affairs.
Yes, Laguna is included in that as well.
Michelin fronts don't seem to be all that good compared to the Bridgestones.
Maybe its the cold temps?

h3000

CJhaughey wrote: »

In all honesty all the US tracks are pretty boring, one line affairs.
Yes, Laguna is included in that as well.
Michelin fronts don't seem to be all that good compared to the Bridgestones.
Maybe its the cold temps?

I agree that Laguna isn't the best track either but it's better than Indy and COTA. I'm not really familiar with the AMA Superbikes but do they have any decent bike tracks?

It's still early days for Michelin and I think they will sort it out. The main problem with the front is that there seems to be very little progression between having grip and not any grip. I think a few riders have said that you have crashed before you even realise you've lost grip. With the Bridgestones they used to have time to dig their knee and elbow into the ground to try and save the front.

CJhaughey

h3000 wrote: »

I agree that Laguna isn't the best track either but it's better than Indy and COTA. I'm not really familiar with the AMA Superbikes but do they have any decent bike tracks?

It's still early days for Michelin and I think they will sort it out. The main problem with the front is that there seems to be very little progression between having grip and not any grip. I think a few riders have said that you have crashed before you even realise you've lost grip. With the Bridgestones they used to have time to dig their knee and elbow into the ground to try and save the front.

Miller motorsports in Utah was pretty good, I think the biggest issue is that most of them are designed for cars. The tracks seem to be either huge like CoTA or smaller and nadgery in the MotoAmerica series.
There are a few OK tracks with some nice elevation changes Road Atlanta is pretty good, Road America is nice and 4 miles long and Barber and VIR are probably the top 4 tracks in that series.

h3000

Spotted this and taught it was interesting

https://twitter.com/MatthieuEberlin/status/720608846608261123

Max Headroom

h3000 wrote: »

Spotted this and taught it was interesting

https://twitter.com/MatthieuEberlin/status/720608846608261123

I'm getting that Michael Jackson feeling again,....;)

Frank Bullitt

Lorenzo to Ducati confirmed then. Interesting.

Infoanon

So Dovi or Iannone as team mate ? Jorge might prefer Dovi....

Vinales to Yamaha seems a dead cert as well from all reports

Max Headroom

Gintonious wrote: »

Lorenzo to Ducati confirmed then. Interesting.

Stoner will get him sorted..

funkey_monkey

Is Stoner just mucking about or will he be racing again?

Can't see Yamaha being serious title challengers with that lineup. They'll be in the mix for a few race wins though.

Rossi will be livid when Lorenzo wins the title on the Ducati even though the bike is totally different to what he rode.

Marquez for the title next year though.

tommyboy26

will be interesting to see who gets the second bike for ducati. my money is on dovi.

do you think dani will keep his ride with honda?

h3000

tommyboy26 wrote: »

will be interesting to see who gets the second bike for ducati. my money is on dovi.

do you think dani will keep his ride with honda?

I think Ianonne will get the Ducati seat myself. He has more to give than Dovi in the long run. Don't get me wrong now I think Dove is one of the best riders in the paddock and a very underrated rider. But I think he is closer to the end of his game while Ianonne is only starting. I could see Dovi partnering Smith at KTM.

I don't know what will happen with Dani. He is a great number 2 rider. He has scored wins in every single MotoGP season he has raced in. If he is not at Honda maybe Suzuki or Aprilia will pick him up.

tommyboy26

Rossi
Lorenzo
Bradley smith

Who else has signed for 2017?

frostie500

tommyboy26 wrote: »

Rossi
Lorenzo
Bradley smith

Who else has signed for 2017?

Add your reply here.
Lowes is signed to aprilia too. Reading and Petrucci have contracts too

tommyboy26

frostie500 wrote: »

Add your reply here.
Lowes is signed to aprilia too. Reading and Petrucci have contracts too

reading and petrucci staying put?

frostie500

tommyboy26 wrote: »

reading and petrucci staying put?

Redding for sure but Petrucci is a question mark