2016 MotoGP Season.

[ol' boy]

Qatar Q1 and Q2

Great to see the bikes out and as my Missus pointed out, with clear visors so you can see thier facial expressions.
But what is going on with that first corner in Qatar!?!?! I've seen motorcross tracks with less bumps!

[Tiny]

Qatar Q1 and Q2

Great to see the bikes out and as my Missus pointed out, with clear visors so you can see thier facial expressions.
But what is going on with that first corner in Qatar!?!?! I've seen motorcross tracks with less bumps!

Yeah awesome pics eh!

Agree I was watching FP4 & qualy this afternoon before the F1 & thought that they had chatter in the front suspension & then realised it was the track surface.
Found the same surface probs at Symmons Plains, unfortunately, cars under brakes push the track up into a corrugation over time.
The quickest line is to go around it which widens the line & lengthens the rack. Compromise.

Looking forward to a great race.

Have a look at how close the times are, going to be interesting in the first few laps.

COMMERCIAL BANK GRAND PRIX OF QATARMotoGP Qualifying Nr. 2 Classification 2016


Doha, Saturday, March 19, 2016

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	99		SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	333.1	1'54.543
2	93		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	330.1	1'54.634	0.091 / 0.091
3	25		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	333.8	1'54.638	0.095 / 0.004
4	29		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	349.7	1'54.693	0.150 / 0.055
5	46		ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	334.0	1'54.815	0.272 / 0.122
6	4		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	344.0	1'54.963	0.420 / 0.148
7	26		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	334.9	1'55.078	0.535 / 0.115
8	8		SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	337.9	1'55.165	0.622 / 0.087
9	44		SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	337.5	1'55.302	0.759 / 0.137
10	35		GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	334.4	1'55.352	0.809 / 0.050
11	38		GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	332.5	1'55.414	0.871 / 0.062
12	45		GBR	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	336.6	1'55.508	0.965 / 0.094

Weather Conditions:

| Track Condition: Dry| Air: 21º| Humidity: 60%| Ground: 21ºRecords:

Fastest Lap:	Lap: 2		1'54.543	169.0 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap:	2008		1'55.153	168.1 Km/h
Best Lap:	2008		1'53.927	170.0 Km/h

[ol' boy]

What an awesome race.
Great to see the Ducati's putting pressure on the factory bikes of Honda and Yamaha
Well measured ride by all the top riders, looks like MM has matured and learnt to bag points instead of going for the win at all costs.

But Jorge... A Master Class in racing MotoGP, not a foot wrong.

Great to see Casey Stoner in the Ducati Garage
Cal Crutchlow should change his name to Cal Crashlow

And Miller..... Mmmmm Miller, pls put him back in Moto3, he was fun there.

And anyone that hasn't seen the Moto3 race, go watch the last lap!
I think that is the smallest winning margin i have seen.

[LeroyPatrol]

Ah Ianonne......don't know why he was challenging his partner so early in the race. They (Ducatis) could have made a nice buffer to Mr Chuppa Chup.

Leroy

[ol' boy]

I'd be interested to know how much sand was blown onto the track
It was said in the telecast pre the race, that airborn sand from nearby dunes was a problem when it lands on the track surface.
There were a few Slow Mo camera shots that showed a lot of stuff that looked like sand on the inside (off race line) of some corners.
Looking at some of the front end tucks, you have to wonder

[Tiny]

Yeah the sand may be a part of it, however Lorenzo still broke the lap record & the 3 closely following were below the old lap record at times as well. Most race tracks have dust & debris off line unless they have been swept down.
Riders running off & re-entering the track bring loads of crap onto race tracks.
The Michelin front tyres currently seem to have a lack of feel according to all the riders.

Great race though, the Ducatis were extremely fast down the straight & managed to get the handling & tyre conservation spot on as well.
Going to be an excellent season.


COMMERCIAL BANK GRAND PRIX OF QATARMotoGP Race Classification 2016


Doha, Sunday, March 20, 2016

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	99		SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	167.1	42'28.452
2	20	4		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	167.0	+2.019
3	16	93		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	167.0	+2.287
4	13	46		ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	167.0	+2.387
5	11	26		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	166.2	+14.083
6	10	25		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	166.1	+15.423
7	9	44		SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	165.9	+18.629
8	8	38		GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	165.9	+18.652
9	7	8		SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	165.8	+21.160
10	6	45		GBR	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	165.6	+24.435
11	5	41		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	164.8	+35.847
12	4	50		IRL	Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	164.5	+41.756
13	3	19		SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	164.4	+41.932
14	2	43		AUS	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	164.4	+41.982
15	1	53		SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	163.6	+54.953
Not Classified
		6		GER	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	163.5	11 Laps
		76		FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	164.0	14 Laps
		35		GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	165.0	16 Laps
		29		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	165.7	17 Laps
		68		COL	Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	156.8	21 Laps

Weather Conditions:

| Track Condition: Dry| Air: 21º| Humidity: 71%| Ground: 23ºRecords:

Pole Lap:			1'54.543	169.0 Km/h
Fastest Lap:	Lap: 20		1'54.927	168.5 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap:	2016		1'54.927	168.5 Km/h
Best Lap:	2008		1'53.927	170.0 Km/h

[Tiny]

MotoGP round 2 from Argentina on this weekend, Qualifying late tonight (actually early tomorrow morning), FP1 & 2 were on last night, replays available.

[ol' boy]

Yonny Hernandez is fun to watch, sometimes a swear he thinks he is back on a Supermotard bike.
Comes in sliding like a Home Run in baseball.

Jack Miller, welcome to the pointy end.
Great to see he found some speed.

[Tiny]

Yeah, the track was really dusty, Jack was riding like Garry McCoy, sideways everywhere.
Great to watch, however the lap times were low compared to lap records due to the dust.

[LeroyPatrol]

Iannone needs to settle down. That's all I have to say.

...........Leroy

[ol' boy]

Yes, i woke at 4.30am to watch the race.
I was upset to hear it was going to be a "Flag to Flag" race (what ever that evens means, silly term if you ask me)

Miller showed great pace and even passed JL, for a few corners at least
MM and Rossi were in a great battle, until the race rules came into play, that was a real shame.
Plenty of other interesting moments, but all in all, ruined by the trip to the pits

And i really didn't see that last corner incident coming!!!!
What a F#$k up....

Well, MotoGP is alive and well with entertainment, thats for sure.
Well done MM, he showed good restraint to not loose a front end or get too involved in battles, then rode out of sight.

That Ducati Garage would have been running hot post race....mamma mia!

EDIT: I see the same damp patch on the exit of a particular corner took out riders in Moto2 and MotoGP.
A real game of picking your line, what a hard race to get right.

[Tiny]

yes very interesting race, rare crash for Lorenzo, another silly incident for Ducati team.


The pit stop rule was deemed necessary due to tyre problems in practice.
After a rear tyre de-laminated on Scott Redding's bike Michelin withdrew both of their rear tyres & substituted a new construction & compound for the race.

Not good for the Michelin image.
Kind of ruined a good battle between MM & Rossi after the bike change.

Results.

Termas de Río Hondo, Sunday, April 03, 2016

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	93		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	168.4	34'13.628
2	20	46		ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	167.8	+7.679
3	16	26		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	166.2	+28.100
4	13	50		IRL	Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	165.5	+36.542
5	11	8		SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	165.5	+36.711
6	10	44		SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	165.4	+37.245
7	9	6		GER	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	165.1	+41.353
8	8	38		GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	164.4	+50.709
9	7	53		SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	164.4	+50.983
10	6	19		SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	163.6	+1'01.388
11	5	41		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	163.0	+1'08.868
12	4	51		ITA	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	162.2	+1'18.987
13	3	4		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	161.1	+1'33.419
Not Classified
		29		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	167.8	1 Lap
		35		GBR	LCR Honda	Honda	164.2	1 Lap
		25		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	167.5	3 Laps
		45		GBR	OCTO Pramac Yakhnich	Ducati	165.2	5 Laps
		76		FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	161.7	8 Laps
		99		SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	167.9	15 Laps
		43		AUS	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	166.8	17 Laps
		68		COL	Aspar Team MotoGP	Ducati	164.1	18 Laps

Weather Conditions:

| Track Condition: Dry| Air: 25º| Humidity: 89%| Ground: 30ºRecords:

Pole Lap:			1'39.411	174.0 Km/h
Fastest Lap:	Lap: 12		1'40.243	172.5 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap:	2015		1'39.019	174.7 Km/h
Best Lap:	2014		1'37.683	177.1 Km/h

World Championship Standings after race 2.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1		Honda	SPA	41
2		Yamaha	ITA	33
3		Honda	SPA	27
4		Yamaha	SPA	25
5		Ducati	ITA	23
6		Yamaha	SPA	19
7		Ducati	SPA	18
8		Ducati	IRL	17
9		Yamaha	GBR	16
10		Suzuki	SPA	10
11		Suzuki	SPA	10
12		Aprilia	SPA	9
13		Aprilia	GER	9
14		Honda	SPA	8
15		Ducati	GBR	6
16		Ducati	ITA	4
17		Honda	AUS	2
18			ITA
19			GBR
20			FRA
21			COL

[ol' boy]

And what about Cal Crashlow?

How can you fall off twice in 1 race and DNF 1 lap from the finish, thats some kind of talent
His Twitter feed is pretty funny


Anyone here good at Italian?




Where were you last year Iannone?
That is the perfect MM final corner tactic to let Rossie through to the World Title.

EDIT: Penalty Awarded to Iannone

Andrea Iannone has been handed a three-place grid penalty for next weekend's Austin round, plus a penalty point, for colliding with team-mate Andrea Dovizioso at the end of Sunday's MotoGP race in Argentina

As if the situation wasn't bad enough for Team Ducati, i bet they can't even appeal there own penalty.

Statement from Race Control

"On 3rd April 2016 during the last lap of MotoGP race of the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina, you overtook rider nr.4, in a way much too optimistic, you lost
control of your machine resulting in contact and crash of this rider," declared a Race Direction statement.

For anyone that has seen the footage of the crash from another angle, you see HOW close both bikes are to Rossie's front wheel as they slide passed him.
Could easily have been 3 bikes down and in the kitty litter

[LeroyPatrol]

Teamwork.......Ducati style

[LeroyPatrol]

rumor is €25m.....wow

..............Leroy

[Tiny]

I wonder what Yamaha offered then? as Jarvis said they have offered him (JL) more than they have paid anyone before.

[LeroyPatrol]

I wonder what Yamaha offered then? as Jarvis said they have offered him (JL) more than they have paid anyone before.

A friend was saying €9-10m but I haven't googled to looked to confirm

[ol' boy]

rumor is €25m.....wow

Wow, that has been speculated for almost 2 years now, with Yamaha Boss always denying it.
I wonder if Ducati still keep their mechanical advantages in 2017, because at the current pace of those machines, its a dream combination!
Now.... if Stoner came out of retirement to make a Ducati 1 & 2

25m Euro for 18 races, thats a good pay check
Well Done JL.

On another note, i see Indonesia are trying to secure a MotoGP Race in 2017, that would be a big draw card for Aussies
And every Asian in SE Asia

[ol' boy]

A friend was saying €9-10m but I haven't googled to looked to confirm

This is interesting then

[Tiny]

This is interesting then

That's a big difference from €25M, I don't know how he could afford to live on that.