They're Baaaaaaaaaaaak !

[chrisolson]

MotoGp in Qatar
Top 10 combined standings after FP2. 

 

Rins                  Suzuki
Marquez          Honda
Mir                    Suzuki
Martin              Ducati
Morbidelli        Yamaha
Miller                Ducati
A Expargaro    Aprilia
Quatararo       Yamaha
P Espargaro   Honda
Bagnia            Ducati

.5 second covers top 10.

 

Despite results standing, Yamaha still down by 5 to ~10 KPH on top speed.

 

Marquez is looking good and the new Honda is definitely an improvement over last year.

 

Raul Fernandez lead the rookies , but just every so slightly over Bezecchi and Remy Gardner

It should be a fascinating Qualifying and an even more exciting season. 

[Rinkydink]

I like seeing all the different brands. Wish you’d see that in flat track racing. 

[chrisolson]

Suzuki seems to have made a huge move forward ... keeping their handling / corner speed and yet also increasing top speed.  I think they will be a threat to the previous dominance of Ducati hp and if Rins can be consistent it will be interesting.

[walton66]

My non-riding weekend mornings are complete once again.

[Chris K]

Wow, who could have predicted that podium! It is going to be an interesting year. 

[roadscholar]

Heads up for anyone interested, Valentino Rossi is making 4 wheel racing debut at Imola today, on CBSSN now but also again at 3:30 Eastern.

[roadscholar]

Well it was short-lived, after only a few laps it went yellow and nearly everyone pitted, Vale missed his pit and had to go around which is fairly easy to do when the pit lane is full. Regardless, they took him out and put the fast guy back in for the end of the race. His car was 13th out of about 50 before the miscue and finished 17th, not bad considering (actually 14th when he got in and 13th before he pitted so appears he picked up one). The physics and controls are completely different but the mentality isn't, I'd expect him to continually improve with time.  

[Rinkydink]

31 minutes ago, roadscholar said:

Heads up for anyone interested, Valentino Rossi is making 4 wheel racing debut at Imola today, on CBSSN now but also again at 3:30 Eastern.

Rossi is going to try his hand at flat-track and TT racing this season also. The Sacramento Mile and Peoria Illinois TT races. This ought to be interesting. Two of the toughest disciplines of the series. 

[MichiganBob]

Hmmm. I needed a little push to go to Peoria. Rossi flat tracking could be interesting.

[Rinkydink]

1 hour ago, MichiganBob said:

Hmmm. I needed a little push to go to Peoria. Rossi flat tracking could be interesting.

Peoria is a very very serious endeavor.  It is not for beginners. You could say the same for the miles. Probably explains why he picked the Sac mile instead of Springfield. I wish him the best of luck. 

[roadscholar]

4 hours ago, Rinkydink said:

Rossi is going to try his hand at flat-track and TT racing this season also. The Sacramento Mile and Peoria Illinois TT races. This ought to be interesting. Two of the toughest disciplines of the series. 

 

I wish my old buddy Barry Boone could be around to see it, he was announcing on this night.

 

 

 

[Rinkydink]

I was there that night. Two stroke goosebumps. Being a Yamaha factory rider Roberts offered to let Rossi try a few laps. He respectfully declined. Rossi is a great motorcycle rider but he is stepping into a whole different kind of circus. I hope he is prepared. 

[MichiganBob]

It's interesting to ponder. Of all the types of motorcycle competitions , which skills generalize and which require specialized knowledge, feel, experience, muscle memory, etc. Of course one can bang around a motocross track, short track, hillclimb, road race, trials, endurance, but to be competitive in multiple formats .... what's it take?

[Rinkydink]

It takes a Dick Mann. One of the greatest all around racers to ever ride a motorcycle. One used to have to do well in all aspects: short track, half mile, mile, TT, and road racing to get the #1 plate. Mann won at all of them including the Daytona 200 on a Honda 750-4. He won a lot of motocross and enduro races too. Nothing beats a mile dirt track race IMO though. Springfield or DuQuoin

[Hosstage]

Luckily we had the mile race here at Canterbury for a few years, it was fantastic. Got to see Bauman win the title a couple years ago. Springfield is the holy grail of course.

Looking forward to seeing Rossi compete in the different venues, I hope he is competitive. And I really hope he doesn't get hurt.

[Rinkydink]

His safety is my concern also. The last couple of years at Peoria have been brutal. 

[MichiganBob]

Speaking about Dick Mann, here is a link to a great interview.

 

https://www.soloshawn.com/dick-mann.html

[Rinkydink]

Wonderful interview. I have the book Mann of his Time. A great read.