MotoGP, Superbikes and Road Racing 2021

h3000

Great race and great rides from the top three. Sam was heroic.

David6330

My money is on Jack Millar to win today's race.

Infoanon

Last race of the year - hopefully not the last Moto GP race at Portimao (still miss Estoril) .

10th different winner ? Honda to finally win or Morbidelli to cement a deserved second place in the championship.

h3000

I’d love a Miller win too today but I’d have to say with Cal’s pace it would be awesome for him to win too. I’d like to see Lorenzo’s reaction to that.

Of course a Franky win is always good too.

David6330

Last day for some of the VR46 crew such as Alex Briggs. He was an ex-Mick Doohan mechanic

h3000

David6330 wrote: »

Last day for some of the VR46 crew such as Alex Briggs. He was an ex-Mick Doohan mechanic

Alex Briggs is awesome. Well worth a follow on Twitter https://twitter.com/alex__briggs?s=21

Last race for Brent Stephens who’s been there for a long time too.

David6330

h3000 wrote: »

Alex Briggs is awesome. Well worth a follow on Twitter https://twitter.com/alex__briggs?s=21

Last race for Brent Stephens who’s been there for a long time too.

Very interesting guy. I've been following his twitter account a few years now.

Wasn't sure what the story was with Brent. Sad to see him gone too.

David6330

Oliveira destroying the competition! On a different planet

Infoanon

Rossi beating Fabio , Fabio dropping to 8th in the championship -:going to be a long off season.

Miguel Olivera - most dominant ride of the season and no factory bike on the podium !!

Going to miss Dovi and Cal , there is a changing of the guard in progress with Olivera , Franky and Mir set to be the future.

Infoanon

Savadori or Smith to be confirmed at Aprilla in 2021.Decision will be made after this week's private testing.

A few stats to ponder :
14 Moto GP races:
9 Different winners
5 New winners who won 10 of the 14 races !
8 Wins by Satellite teams - 3 on a 2019 bike !

Scotty #

Infoanon wrote: »

Rossi beating Fabio , Fabio dropping to 8th in the championship -:going to be a long off season.

Franky has two 2019 bikes... I wonder could Rossi and Franky use one each and each have the 2020 bike as their 2nd bike? :D:P

Infoanon wrote: »

Olivera , Franky and Mir set to be the future.

Not sure if I'd include Mir in that list. Yea he's consistent but he's consistently average. More the turtle than the hare.

Looking forward to seeing Miller on full factory next year. By next March it'll be nearly five years since he's won a race so must be due a few wins.

Useless fact, all three 2020 World Champions are 23 years old and that pretty lady that was congratulating Mir after he became champion that Hodgy was guessing was either his sister or girlfriend, was actually his mother!

Infoanon

Scotty # wrote: »

Not sure if I'd include Mir in that list. Yea he's consistent but he's consistently average. More the turtle than the hare.

Mir is a class act - a worthy Moto 3 and Moto GP champion.

Qualifying is his issue but his race craft and consistentcy is second to none.
He should have had two wins but that aside he was a consistent fixture on the podium.

Miller has improved as the year has gone in - polar opposite to Bagnia... - but I am still not sure if Jack is championship material.

Olivera on the other hand - that was dominance yesterday - only other time this season that I have seen that was Franky.

Looking forward to 2021 already - No Valencia test so no unveilings - apart from the podium I think Petrucci is probably the happiest rider at the moment. ..

legrand

That time of year again with Dorna's VideoPass about to auto-renew. 'special' offer of 'free' TimingPass - any idea what that is?

@ 139.99 for sub.

Scotty #

The Timing Pass is access to the live timing app. It's the same one the teams/commentators use. It gives GPS location of each bike on track and it gives live split and lap times and speeds through speed trap etc. Very useful if you watch Free Practice sessions.

Scotty #

Keith Huewen has left BT Sport.

Wonder who'll replace him? Julian maybe?

h3000

Laverty will be around again next year.
https://twitter.com/eugenelaverty/status/1332271594924806145

funkey_monkey

Can't really say I've overly enthusiastic about that.
In saying thought, I hope he manages to claw his way back up - just seems like a busted flush now.

Max Headroom

Back page headline in tomorrow's Mirror..
WSBK'S Eugene wins Euro millions...:P

CJhaughey

Unfortunately the Pandemic has cancelled the 2021 TT, shame and a terrible shame for many of the older riders, McPint Rutter and Anstey will be over 50 in 2022.
Damn.

Scotty #

Marquez has had an 11 HOUR operation to fix the arm. 6 month recovery.

Infoanon

Scotty # wrote: »

Marquez has had an 11 HOUR operation to fix the arm. 6 month recovery.

Scotty well done on that scoop - nothing on the official channels at the moment.

Operation was rumoured for this week but it was just that a rumour.
The seriousness of the original injury is still shrouded in secrecy but the blame game has been in full swing for the last two weeks.
If the other rumours are true then Dovi will be MM replacement for the first half of the season.

Infoanon

Honda have now released a statement that Marc had an 8 hour operation describing it as "uneventful ".

A new plate has been fitted and a iliac crest bone graft.

It looks like there was a media embargo in place until midnight EET ie 10pm Irish time.

CJhaughey

I'd like to see Michael Laverty get a chance in the commentary booth alongside Neil Spalding. I wonder if that pairing would be a bit flat though?
I always liked Julian Ryder, but he has stepped back as well, that said I enjoyed him covering the WEC stuff, he is great for stats.
I do think its great to have a technical expert like Neil Spalding on the panel. It would be great if you had a mix of Ryder, Huewen, Spalding and Laverty all commentating on different races.

Magown3

CJhaughey wrote: »

I'd like to see Michael Laverty get a chance in the commentary booth alongside Neil Spalding. I wonder if that pairing would be a bit flat though?
I always liked Julian Ryder, but he has stepped back as well, that said I enjoyed him covering the WEC stuff, he is great for stats.
I do think its great to have a technical expert like Neil Spalding on the panel. It would be great if you had a mix of Ryder, Huewen, Spalding and Laverty all commentating on different races.

Is Spalding a new addition to the BT coverage? I watch the races on the Videopass but I do like Spalding's explanations of everything technical within MotoGP.

For me, the best coverage of MotoGP that there ever was was on Eurosport, Toby and Julian on the mic's, Randy in the pit lane getting all the juice and Spalding explaining anything technical... Dream team right there.

Scotty #

Magown3 wrote: »

Is Spalding a new addition to the BT coverage?

For me, the best coverage of MotoGP that there ever was was on Eurosport, Toby and Julian on the mic's, Randy in the pit lane getting all the juice and Spalding explaining anything technical... Dream team right there.

Keith Huewen has left BT Sport but I don't think they've said who'll replace him yet.

Michael Laverty has been excellent on BT Sport. He's really really good at explaining the more technical stuff - much better than Colin Edwards.

Infoanon

Marquez has appeared on Spanish television and has admitted that returning at Jerez was a mistake BUT was with the Doctors saying that he was fit to ride.

Marc went on to say that if he knew there was a risk of the plate breaking he would not have rode,specifically saying the break happened at home as a result of riding in Jerez.

Honda have also come out and said that they did not want Marc to ride.

No further news on Marcs recovery is expected for at least 3 weeks.

h3000

Infoanon wrote: »

Marquez has appeared on Spanish television and has admitted that returning at Jerez was a mistake BUT was with the Doctors saying that he was fit to ride.

Marc went on to say that if he knew there was a risk of the plate breaking he would not have rode,specifically saying the break happened at home as a result of riding in Jerez.

Honda have also come out and said that they did not want Marc to ride.

No further news on Marcs recovery is expected for at least 3 weeks.

I was reading someone’s tweet the other day (I can’t remember who) but they said that the MotoGP doctors pass riders fit or not on how the riders condition will affect other riders and if they can handle the bike safely. They do not pass them fit or not on the basis of how it will affect their recovery times and or prospects.

I wonder who actually did pass him fit? Should Honda have stopped him? Yes, I think so. I wonder is he taking any personal responsibility on this?

Infoanon

And who encouraged him to do press ups and lift weights for a video that was then uploaded....

Think we all hope that Marc makes a full recovery and returns later in 2021 or at the start of 2022 fully race fit.

Pasteur.

Surely he's going to be risk averse if and when he gets back

The risk of reinjuring his arm

CJhaughey

Pasteur. wrote: »

Surely he's going to be risk averse if and when he gets back

The risk of reinjuring his arm

I don't think Marc Marquez has Risk Averse programming in him.
If he did he wouldn't be where he is now.