MotoGP 2015 Season

[Tiny]

What a race, I'll let the experts from MotoGP.com tell the story.

A dominant Jorge Lorenzo works his magic to match Mike Hailwood’s record of 37 premier class victories at the Catalan GP.

Movistar Yamaha’s Lorenzo has been simply unstoppable in the last four races. After an awful start to the season that saw him plagued by issues for the first three races, no one has had an answer to the Spaniards pace since.
At the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, local hero Lorenzo made it four consecutive race wins and equalled Mike Hailwood’s record of 37 premier class victories in front of 97,000 partisan fans.
This is the first time Lorenzo has managed to win four races in a row, and in achieving this feat he also broke Casey Stoner's record for the most laps led consecutively in a race (83), with Lorenzo having now managed to lead the last 103 laps across the line.
Although Lorenzo appeared to be in complete control, he revealed afterwards that was not the case: “To be honest, the last ten laps of today‘s race were probably one of the most hard and intense laps of my career. Valentino was very fast and knowing that the track was really hot and there was less grip than yesterday, I‘m happy with the results.”
The only person who could get anywhere near Lorenzo during the race was his teammate Rossi. Lorenzo must have experienced Déjà vu when his pit board told him Rossi was closing on him during the latter stages in a scene reminiscent of the 2009 race, when the Italian beat him at the very last corner: “When he reduced the gap from 2.0s to 1.4s I was really worried that I would lose this race. I needed to push and risk more while the bike was already moving a lot, which is what I did in the last ten laps.”
Rossi himself admitted he had, once again, given Lorenzo too much of a head start: “I was good in the beginning of the race when I was overtaking and I was fast, but it was not enough, because when I arrived to the second position Jorge already had a 1.5s gap. It‘s a great shame because I had the pace to fight with him and I could have been very strong in a battle, because I was very strong in braking.
Rossi, however, does appear to be getting closer to his teammate’s pace: “I am happy as I had a good pace, good setting, my speed is equal in the race today to Jorge, that is a good target. After seven races, we have one point difference and a similar pace, so it will be interesting I think!”
Lorenzo now trails Rossi by just one point in the Championship standings, in what appears to be turning into a two horse race. The problem is, unless Rossi can find a solution to his Qualifying woes, he will find it hard to catch Lorenzo come race day.
Someone who felt the full effect of Lorenzo’s race-pace was Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. Marquez was the one rider who had looked like he might be able to stick with Lorenzo during the race. The Spanish rider, however, crashed out on just the third lap as he tried to keep up: “I tried to give 100% at my home race but I made a mistake trying to push too much, as I wanted to do well – at all costs – and these things can happen.”
The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion’s hopes of a third consecutive title now seem in tatters, as he is currently fifth in the standings, 69 points behind Rossi with just 11 races remaining.
To emphasise the apparent gulf in class between the Factory Yamaha’s and the rest of the field, Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa crossed the line in third over 18.5s behind the duo. Pedrosa took his first podium of the season, matching Mick Doohan’s record of 95 premier podiums in the process, as he continues his comeback from arm pump surgery: “I am very happy because it has been a very long process, we struggle a lot, suffer a lot in the last months, everything looked against me. I followed my heart and this was the right thing to do. I have made positive progress with each round. But finally some good results, especially in front of the home crowd was great.”
Although the former 125cc and 250cc World Champion is under no illusions about the task at hand: “It was impossible to follow Jorge and Valentino, because they were far ahead in terms of performance. We will try to pull back the gap a little for the coming races and see if in testing tomorrow we can find something positive – and understand the situation better.”
The rest of the paddock will have a chance to try to close the gap on the Factory Yamaha team at the official test on Monday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.


Maverick Viñales on the second GSX-RR recovered from way down outside of the top 10 after a disastrous start from the front row to finish in a career best sixth position.

Scott Redding (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) equalled the best result of his MotoGP™ career in seventh, with Stefan Bradl (Athina Forward Racing) taking the Open class win in eighth.

Danilo Petrucci (Octo Pramac Racing) and Alvaro Bautista (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) completed the top ten, as a number of riders crashed out on the slippery track surface.


Yonny Hernandez, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Dovizioso, and both of the Espargaro brothers all crashed, as only 16 riders completed the race.

Barcelona, Sunday, June 14, 2015

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	99		SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	165.3	42'53.208
2	20	46		ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	165.2	+0.885
3	16	26		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	164.0	+19.455
4	13	29		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	163.7	+24.925
5	11	38		GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	163.5	+27.782
6	10	25		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	163.4	+29.559
7	9	45		GBR	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	163.0	+36.424
8	8	6		GER	Athinà Forward Racing	Yamaha Forward	162.6	+42.103
9	7	9		ITA	Octo Pramac Racing	Ducati	162.2	+49.350
10	6	19		SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	162.0	+52.569
11	5	43		AUS	CWM LCR Honda	Honda	161.9	+53.666
12	4	50		IRL	Aspar MotoGP Team	Honda	161.8	+55.765
13	3	76		FRA	Athinà Forward Racing	Yamaha Forward	161.8	+55.832
14	2	63		FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	161.0	+1'09.037
15	1	15		RSM	E-Motion IodaRacing Team	ART	160.0	+1'25.263
16		8		SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	156.1	1 Lap
Not Classified
		41		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	163.8	5 Laps
		69		USA	Aspar MotoGP Team	Honda	157.9	12 Laps
		33		ITA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	155.1	19 Laps
		4		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	145.9	19 Laps
		44		SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	162.9	21 Laps
		93		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	143.4	22 Laps
		35		GBR	CWM LCR Honda	Honda	118.0	22 Laps
		68		COL	Octo Pramac Racing	Ducati	161.3	23 Laps

MotoGP World Standing 2015

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1		Yamaha	ITA	138
2		Yamaha	SPA	137
3		Ducati	ITA	94
4		Ducati	ITA	83
5		Honda	SPA	69
6		Yamaha	GBR	68
7		Honda	GBR	47
8		Suzuki	SPA	46
9		Yamaha	SPA	45
10		Honda	SPA	39
11		Ducati	ITA	39
12		Suzuki	SPA	31
13		Honda	GBR	27
14		Ducati	COL	26
15		Ducati	SPA	16
16		Yamaha Forward	FRA	13
17		Aprilia	SPA	11
18		Honda	AUS	11
19		Yamaha Forward	GER	9
20		Ducati	ITA	8
21		Honda	USA	8
22		Honda	IRL	7
23		Honda	JPN	5
24		Ducati	FRA	2
25		ART	RSM	1

[ol' boy]

Honda HRC need to install a lift kit to MM's bike, i swear he is going to do a back injury soon

[ol' boy]

I see Daryl Beattie has changed his tune on Rossi after watching RPM, where Daryl said "Rossi was the most recognisable Motorcycle rider in the world" and "Never under estimate Rossi, he has won from the 3rd row before"

Well Daryl, for someone that stated he will never win another MotoGP race (18months ago), Rossi is currently leading the 2015 MotoGP session
I hope RPM pull out the old footage of him saying it before the years out.

[ol' boy]

A bit before time, but Grandstand Tickets for the Sepang MotoGP $16.80ea.
Its no wonder so many Aussie's make the flight over, especially if you live in Perth! $99 Flights, $16.80 Grandstand Tickets, 5 Star Accom $100 a night!
Seriously, why would you ever bother with freezing cold Philip Island and $360 Grandstand tickets and $20 parking, and you still need to get there and pay ridiculous accom prices.

[Tiny]

I find that going to every race via satellite is a great deal; I can watch it live or record & watch later, add free, best seat in the house, beer is cold & cheap, food is exactly what I like, no crowds, accommodation cost is zero, travel is zero.

[LeroyPatrol]

I find that going to every race via satellite is a great deal; I can watch it live or record & watch later, add free, best seat in the house, beer is cold & cheap, food is exactly what I like, no crowds, accommodation cost is zero, travel is zero.

I can't disagree with you there but I have enjoyed going to the wsbk at Phillip island the last couple of years. Crowds are small compared to Motogp. You can see so much of the track from various vantage points.

Leroy

[Tiny]

I can't disagree with you there but I have enjoyed going to the wsbk at Phillip island the last couple of years. Crowds are small compared to Motogp. You can see so much of the track from various vantage points.

Leroy

yeah me & the missus rode from Sydney to Phillip Island & camped over for a few WC 500cc (now MotoGP), got to see Wayne Gardner win both times, went to a couple of the early SBK as well, all back in the late 80's - early 90's.

Had a ball camping in the mud, bikes & people making noise all night, porta-loos & showers, paying ridiculous price for food & beer, etc.

Did enjoy getting around the track & as I was a racer at the time (had some contacts) had access to the pits during the day for a couple of the events.

I don't miss it though.

[ol' boy]

Not much of a video, but its better than nothing.... Seems a bit scripted
Especially at the price tag.

[Tiny]

Reminder MotoGp this weekend on Saturday night.

Qualifying tonight.

Free practice 1 & 2 been on already, Rossi quick.

Valentino Rossi enjoyed a much better start to a Grand Prix weekend at the Motul TT Assen, ending the day in third.

Eager to the hit the ground running, Valentino Rossi began his Assen challenge with finding a solid basis set-up before closing the session with a time attack. His first attempt to a hot lap immediately moved him to the top spot in the ranking order. Knowing he had more in him, he continued to further improve his leading time over the next two laps and signed off FP1 with a 1‘34.357.
The afternoon saw more of the same from Rossi. He spent most of 45 minutes focusing on improving his setting before putting it to the test in the final stages of the session. Clearly feeling at home at one of his favorite tracks, he wrapped up the first day with a third fastest time of 1‘33.652, 0.202s from the front.

Valentino Rossi: “It has been a good Thursday. I‘m happy because we worked well during the sessions and we found some interesting solutions. The first priority today was to find out which chassis we prefer, the new one or the standard one. I feel good with the new one. My pace and my lap times were especially good this morning when I was in front, but also in the afternoon. Securing third position is a very good performance, because the first five to seven riders are really close in times. It‘s a good way to start the weekend, but we still have a lot to do. It‘s very important to use this bit of dry track time in Assen well, because we hope the weather will stay like this, but you never know. Now we will wait for tomorrow. Both the harder and soft tyres are not so bad for the race, it will depend on the conditions. If it‘s hot, like it was today, you can decide to try the harder rear tyre.”

[ol' boy]

Free practice 1 & 2 been on already, Rossi quick.

Ah crap!!! When was that on Tiny?

EDIT: I just read that MM crashed on his outlap of FP1... I seriously hope HRC have fitted lift straps on his bike, he needs them.

[ol' boy]

Watching Dani Pedrosa using the thumb rear brake was awesome!

[Tiny]

Ah crap!!! When was that on Tiny?

EDIT: I just read that MM crashed on his outlap of FP1... I seriously hope HRC have fitted lift straps on his bike, he needs them.

FP1 & 2 on last night, we forgot too.
Caught FP2 replay today.

FP3 on at 5:45PM today.

Didn't know about MM decking it again, crap.
Did hear he has gone back to last years frame to solve his front end tuck.

Watching Dani Pedrosa using the thumb rear brake was awesome!

Yeah awesome, just as Mick Doohan did.

Must be hard to change the foot brake habit to thumb brake after all these years of repetitive muscle memory.

[ol' boy]

I'd be a lot better at wheelies if i had a thumb rear brake
FP3... ROSSI!!!!

Eat that Beatie

EDIT: Rossi Gets Pole!

Valentino Rossi sets the fastest ever time on a bike around the TT Circuit Assen to claim his first pole position since Valencia in 2014.

Movistar Yamaha’s Rossi silenced the doubters by smashing Casey Stoner’s previous pole record from 2012 by over a second to claim his 61st career pole position. The nine-time World Champion set a 1’32.627, the fastest ever time on a motorbike around the 4.5km track

Not only did Rossi smash the lap record by over a second, and put it on pole, he topped off Q2 with a one handed wheelie down the main straight while waving at the crowd!
Talk about legend status, at 36 years old, its like he's just warming up... lovin the sport.
Can only hope he gets a great start and then fights the rest off with pure ability.

I found some extracts of what Beattie said;

Three-time Grand Prix winner Daryl Beattie says the title-winning days of Valentino Rossi are over as the Italian great struggles to keep up with the next generation of riders.

and

but Beattie told the Australian Grand Prix ‘Keeping Track’ podcast that the 34-year-old Rossi simply can’t keep pace with the likes of championship leader Marc Marquez, who is 14 years his junior.

Beattie also went on to say this about Casey Stoner

Double world champion Casey Stoner will never go down as one of MotoGP's icons, according to fellow Australian and former grand prix winner Daryl Beattie

Mmmmmm maybe some sour grapes from a guy that doesn't even have a world title to his name?

[Tiny]

Yeah good ride for pole.
Very close.

Eat that Beatie

Exactly what I said last night when it was done.

Looking forward to the race, hope they all make it to the end for a good battle.

Valentino Rossi knows how important his pole position at the Motul TT Assen is for his title hopes.

Topping the combined free practice times after FP4, Rossi was determined to drop a hot lap during the 15 minute long time attack. He was the first man to leave pit lane and momentarily took pole before dropping down the order to eighth place. His second attempt didn‘t gain him any places, but his third hot lap moved him up to fifth.
He hastened back to his pit box for some fresh tyres with seven minutes left on the clock. After a minute he was ready to hit the track once more. The Italian was unable to improve on his next lap, dropping down to eighth in the ranking order, but this only seemed to motivate him even more. Completely focused on getting that all important front row start, he gave it his all on his final push and delivered a brilliant 1'32.627 lap to claim pole. Rossi’s stunning pole is 0.835s quicker than the previous circuit best lap record set by Marc Marquez last year.

Valentino Rossi: “Assen is always special for me, because I have great memories here. I have won here in the past and a lot of important races in my career took place at this circuit. I love this track, because it‘s fantastic. There‘s already a lot of crowd assembled here today and this is a good moment, because it gives you a special feeling when you get the pole position, especially for me, because it doesn‘t happen that often. Getting pole position is vital for tomorrow. It was very important that I started the weekend well, beginning with yesterday‘s first practice session. I felt good with the bike and started with a good basic setting. Today’s result is important because I wanted to start more in front, because we always struggle a lot when qualifying on the second and third row.”

Assen, Friday, June 26, 2015

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time	Gap 1st/Prev.
1	46		ITA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	313.0	1'32.627
2	41		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	300.5	1'32.858	0.231 / 0.231
3	93		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	314.5	1'32.886	0.259 / 0.028
4	26		SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	314.2	1'32.987	0.360 / 0.101
5	44		SPA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	311.2	1'33.013	0.386 / 0.026
6	29		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	315.8	1'33.016	0.389 / 0.003
7	35		GBR	CWM LCR Honda	Honda	311.8	1'33.028	0.401 / 0.012
8	99		SPA	Movistar Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	308.3	1'33.042	0.415 / 0.014
9	25		SPA	Team SUZUKI ECSTAR	Suzuki	304.4	1'33.076	0.449 / 0.034
10	4		ITA	Ducati Team	Ducati	317.9	1'33.112	0.485 / 0.036
11	9		ITA	Octo Pramac Racing	Ducati	308.9	1'33.126	0.499 / 0.014
12	38		GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	311.8	1'33.236	0.609 / 0.110

Weather Conditions:

| Track Condition: Dry| Air: 23º| Humidity: 53%| Ground: 37ºRecords:

Fastest Lap:	Lap: 8		1'32.627	176.5 Km/h
Circuit Record Lap:	2012		1'34.548	172.9 Km/h
Best Lap:	2015		1'32.627	176.5 Km/h

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time
13	6		GER	Athinà Forward Racing	Yamaha Forward	305.3	1'33.789
14	68		COL	Octo Pramac Racing	Ducati	304.5	1'33.875
15	76		FRA	Athinà Forward Racing	Yamaha Forward	301.0	1'33.999
16	45		GBR	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Honda	302.6	1'34.071
17	8		SPA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	312.7	1'34.223
18	63		FRA	Avintia Racing	Ducati	306.0	1'34.289
19	50		IRL	Aspar MotoGP Team	Honda	301.5	1'34.428
20	43		AUS	CWM LCR Honda	Honda	302.6	1'34.645
21	19		SPA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	303.3	1'34.736
22	69		USA	Aspar MotoGP Team	Honda	300.7	1'34.972
23	15		RSM	E-Motion IodaRacing Team	ART	293.3	1'35.189
24	33		ITA	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	Aprilia	302.6	1'36.376

Edit: Marquez is tipping Rossi as the man to beat. Me too.

Marc Marquez qualified in third for the Motul TT Assen although he believes there is still room for improvement.

The reigning World Champion took the initiative from the start in the grid-defining session, topping the timesheet with his first attempt. Although he again improved with his second tire, his final lap of 1:32.886 was only bested Rossi and Aleix Espargaro.

Marc Marquez: “Every rider was on the limit in qualifying. I'm happy, because we knew this circuit was going to be tough for us, but still we are close to Valentino and Jorge, who are very fast and smooth here. We are finding things a little tougher as we are still missing a tenth or half a tenth, but we will try to be as close as possible to them tomorrow and see what happens. I think it will be difficult, especially against Valentino.”

[ol' boy]

Yep, looking like another great race with Master and Apprentice

I'm also going to mention Pedrosa as one to watch, he would have to be one of the fastest riders i've watched at the track, no one lays it over like him.
He's going to be my roughy for the race
Then again, Lorenzo is probably playing smart, let them smash into each other in the first few corners and he will run away with it.

Far out, is MotoGP showing F1 what motorsports should be!!!
Never a dull moment in MotoGP, plenty of competition, great battles.... and no egos and whinging!

I guess Moto2's Anthony West is hoping for rain, so he can win another Moto2 race

[Tiny]

Yep, looking like another great race with Master and Apprentice

I'm also going to mention Pedrosa as one to watch, he would have to be one of the fastest riders i've watched at the track, no one lays it over like him.
He's going to be my roughy for the race

Far out, is MotoGP showing F1 what motorsports should be!!!
Never a dull moment in MotoGP, plenty of competition, great battles.... and no egos and whinging!

I guess Moto2's Anthony West is hoping for rain, so he can win another Moto2 race

Yeah bring it on.

Agreed; no whinging & mutual respect is what makes it all very pleasant & exiting to watch.

[ol' boy]

Not that i have looked that hard, but i am surprised by the lack of Asian riders in MotoGP now.
10 years ago, or was that 15 years ago.... It looked like the Asians were going have a big presence in the sport.
God knows their supporters are some of the most passionate and excitable, especially given bikes make up such a huge percentage of Asian motor vehicles on roads.

There is the Asian Cup, but even its getting its fair share of western riders in the series.

Red Bull Rookies session started on May 2nd 2015, with another Red Bull Rookie race at Assen this weekend.
Is it getting any coverage from Foxtel this year?



Australian "Olly Simpson" was in 2nd position after the first round, , he is now 5th after Race 1 in Assen, would be nice to watch him race.
He scored no points in the Race 1 at Assen, be handy to know what happened.

[Tiny]

Red Bull Rookies session started on May 2nd 2015, with another Red Bull Rookie race at Assen this weekend.
Is it getting any coverage from Foxtel this year?



Australian "Olly Simpson" was in 2nd position after the first round, , he is now 5th after Race 1 in Assen, would be nice to watch him race.
He scored no points in the Race 1 at Assen, be handy to know what happened.

Haven't seen or heard anything of the RB rookies on Fox??

[ol' boy]

I'm not even sure if BT Sports has been showing it

[LeroyPatrol]

Hmmm didn't know qualifying was yesterday!!

Leroy