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This past Saturday Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), while preparing for the Brembo Algarve Grand Prix with one of his standard off-road training sessions, suffered a fall that caused a slight head concussion.
After a few days of rest at home and seeing that he was still unwell, today Marquez has been assessed by doctors in a medical check-up to evaluate his current status. As a precautionary measure, this coming weekend Marquez will not contest the Algarve Grand Prix in Portimao.
Honda MotoGP test rider Stefan Bradl will once again return to MotoGP action this weekend at the Algarve Grand Prix, stepping into the Repsol Honda team to repeat his now regular role as the replacement for the injured Marc Marquez.
However, it’s now been made official that Bradl, who has tested extensively of late for the Japanese manufacturer, will park his microphone from his normal weekend role as a TV pundit for German broadcaster Servus and will instead replace Marquez.
“First of all I hope Marc is recovering well and he can be back on track soon,” the 31-year-old said in a team press release.
“I am looking forward to riding again as Portimao is an enjoyable circuit where we had a good result towards the end of 2020. It’s never easy to jump on the bike, but we have had a lot of good bike time this year between the races and testing.”
Bradl’s return to the team is a familiar one considering it marks his fifth appearance of the season for Honda after first deputising for Marquez at the opening two races of the year in Qatar (pictured below) before going on to make two wildcard appearances in his role as test rider.
It also means that he will have lined up for 17 of the last 27 races after spending most of the 2020 season deputising for Marquez as he recovered from a badly broken arm suffered at the opening round of the season, with the Spaniard only actually riding in 14 of those 27 rounds.
Bradl enjoyed his best result of the season last year at Portimao, finally released from what was essentially a racing test rider role in the final round of the year as a thank-you for his work both replacing Marquez and developing the 2021 RC213V.
Using previous track knowledge from his time in the World Superbike championship at a track that was then new to MotoGP, he ended the weekend in seventh.
When HRC said that Marquez wouldn't race this past weekend I was hoping that it really was just a mild concussion and not they eye issue that almost ended his career back in Moto 2.
Marc Marquez' terrible run of injury problems continues. Today, the Repsol Honda team announced that it wasn't just a concussion which Marquez suffered in a training crash before Portimão, but that he also appears to have damaged a nerve in his right eye. As a result, Marquez is having problems with diplopia, or double vision.
Those problems are a recurrence of the issue Marquez suffered back in 2011, when he crashed during practice at Sepang on a patch of water after marshals failed to wave the yellow flag. That crash cost Marc Marquez the 2011 Moto2 title, and a long period of uncertainty. The Spaniard required surgery on his right eye, a weakening of the muscle to try to correct the problem...
Honda MotoGP test rider Stefan Bradl will not deputise for the injured Marc Marquez at this weekend’s final round of the 2021 MotoGP season.
The Japanese manufacturer instead has hinted at just how important next week’s post-season test at Jerez is by sitting out the German at Valencia in favour of sending him to it fully fit.
Bradl has been Honda’s go-to replacement for Marquez throughout all his injuries over the previous two seasons. Most recently riding at the opening two races of the year in Qatar as Marquez continued the rehab on his badly broken arm, he then jumped in again last weekend at Portimao after Marquez suffered a concussion while training.
With news emerging this week that Marquez’s injuries were more serious than first believed, it was expected that Bradl would once again join the field at the Valencian Grand Prix.
However a statement from the team today said: “On Tuesday it was announced that Marc Marquez will miss both the Valencia Grand Prix and the Jerez Test due to diplopia after a training crash.
“The Repsol Honda Team have elected not to field a replacement for the Valencia GP weekend.”
That hints at the importance of next week’s one and only post-season test at Jerez, which will kick off on Thursday and run for two days at the Andalucian circuit.
Honda will continue to develop a significantly revised RC213V at that test, a bike which first appeared at the post-race Misano test last month and which surprised many by appearing to incorporate a substantial amount of changes from the current model – a bike which has regularly been derided as among the most difficult and least rider-friendly machine on the grid.
And with Marquez also set to sit out that key test too, thanks to the eye injury he first suffered in 2011 and which has reappeared this week following the concussion he suffered in an enduro training crash, it seems like Bradl’s role there is now more important than a race appearance.
Dorna needs to make a rule where full season teams must field all bikes at all races, unless someone gets injured during the race weekend itself. This is very unprofessional. Why have reserve riders if you don't use them?
As a result, Marquez is having problems with diplopia, or double vision.
That's terrible, hopefully Marc can recover. I suffer from slight diplopia (last ~5 years old age) which makes it more difficult to ride and good depth perception
Today didn't go well for HRC. Pol Espargaro had a nasty high side crash during free practice. He had to be taken to the hospital for check-up and missed qualifying.
Following a heavy highside at Turn 13, Repsol Honda Team’s Pol Espargaro missed Saturday action in Valencia after scans and checks in hospital.
During MotoGP Free Practice 3, Pol Espargaro suffered a highside on the exit of Turn 12 heading into Turn 13. The Repsol Honda Team rider was taken to the circuit medical centre before being transported to 9 de Octubre Hospital in Valencia for further checks. Scans revealed heavy bruising, especially around the right thorax and abdomen. Espargaro will rest tonight before assessing his condition and continued participation on Sunday morning.
^ woulda been better if Rossi would retired in 2018 or '19 when he was more competitive. 2020/21 were pretty dismal years in #46's record.
None the less, Rossi had a absolutely stunning career. One of the all time greats, IMO only 2nd to Ago.
FIM Grand Prix Safety Director Franco Uncini said that COTA has agreed to resurface turns 2 to 10 this winter. He said that FIM/Moto GP preferred to have the whole track resurfaced, but COTA said that would not be possible. Hopefully, the Moto GP riders will be satisfied as they have threatened not to race at COTA next year if the bump issues aren't fixed.
I don't remember riders commenting on t he latter half of the track, the esses being one of the major complaints, along with the bump at hard lean around T9-10.
It was making the F1 cars dance a bit as well through the esses.
Next season, the MotoGP calendar will be the biggest ever with a total of 21 rounds in just one year. Dorna’s willingness to reach a greater number of countries and candidates to receive other races has been noted, is something that has not been lacking. Although most drivers are of the opinion that 20 races per year is the limit, there is an intention to go up to 25 races per season.
It turns out that one of these cases could be Laguna Seca. The american track, which has been the scene of great and historic battles, and which will forever remain in the memory of millions of fans, could once again host international competitions after having lost MotoGP and WSBK – in different years – for safety reasons.
According to Motosan, the circuit management has created a ‘Program’ which consists of a five-year project where the focus will be on intervening in different areas of the circuit. The ultimate goal is to increase security levels. In this sense, this program advocates a new asphalt to the irregular layout. This action proves to be necessary, bearing in mind that the last time this happened was in 2007. The bridge over the finish line and the ‘Paddock Pavilion’ area – at turn three – will also be the focus of attention while the conditions are created for the circulation of small electric vehicles.
Although championships such as MotoAmérica and IndyCar are loyal to Laguna Seca, this program intends to attract more renowned competitions again. Work is expected to start in November next year and be completed by April 2023, which could at best result in world motorcycling returning to Laguna Seca within a year and a half.
Marquez probably would too if he is able to return healthy. They call him King of COTA, but it should be King of America. He won the Indianapolis race 5 years in a row, twice in Moto 2 and three times in Moto GP before they stopped racing there. He won his one and only Moto GP race at Laguna Seca in 2013. After that they added Argentina to the calendar and Laguna Seca was dropped. The only downside to Laguna Seca is that Moto GP doesn't let the lower classes, Moto 3 and 2, race there due to safety concerns.
Marquez probably would too if he is able to return healthy. They call him King of COTA, but it should be King of America. He won the Indianapolis race 5 years in a row, twice in Moto 2 and three times in Moto GP before they stopped racing there. He won his one and only Moto GP race at Laguna Seca in 2013. After that they added Argentina to the calendar and Laguna Seca was dropped. The only downside to Laguna Seca is that Moto GP doesn't let the lower classes, Moto 3 and 2, race there due to safety concerns.
Is it really safety concerns? If MotoGP, Superbike, Supersport, etc able to race at LS, it can't be a safety issue. I always thought the reason was because of not enough paddock space.
Is it really safety concerns? If MotoGP, Superbike, Supersport, etc able to race at LS, it can't be a safety issue. I always thought the reason was because of not enough paddock space.
I have heard commentators in the past mention the corkscrew and make-up of some corners being a safety concern for younger riders in Moto 2 and Moto 3. Especially for Moto 3, as they tend to bunch up in groups.
I am pretty sure that sometimes there was a Moto GP race and AMA race on the same weekend. In those cases, there likely wouldn't be enough time or space for Moto 2 and Moto 3 to race too.
Also, didn't California ban 2-stroke engines at some point?
The all-electric MotoE series has been running three years strong now, supporting the top MotoGP championship at a handful of races per year. It’s a spec series where all teams use the same bike — the Energica Ego Corsa — that offers about 160 horsepower and has clocked as much as 160 mph at some tracks on the calendar. That’s quite a ways off from the 220 mph that the premier-class rockets hit on Mugello’s mega-long straight, but then MotoE is still in its infancy, and the racing is nevertheless fun to watch.
Energica, an Italian brand, will end its involvement as the series’ lone supplier after the end of the 2022 season. From 2023 on, Ducati will take over. Its prototype for the 2023 campaign — tentatively dubbed the V21L — has recently been trialed around the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli with test rider Michele Pirro at the handlebars. The company released the first images of the machine in action on Monday.
It’s too early to tell if the V21L will pose any marked performance advantage over Energica’s bike, but it certainly looks like it belongs at the track. Many electric bikes are almost visually identical to their gas-powered counterparts — save, of course, for the lack of an engine and exhaust pipes. But on a racing bike with fairings covering a sizable portion of the profile, you don’t get to see in quite as much, and the differences are harder to suss out.
In building the V21L and partnering with FIM, the governing body overseeing MotoE, Ducati isn’t trying to distract from the fact that battery-electric bikes still have a very long way to go. The number one priority to its engineers is mitigating the weight of the pack while extending capability. To do that, Ducati’s paid special attention to one particular area of the package: cooling.
Ducati’s goal is to make electric motorcycles that are high-performance and characterized by their lightness available to all FIM Enel MotoE World Cup participants. The focus of the project are, in addition to better performance, the containment of weight and the consistency of power delivery during the race, obtained thanks to the attention in the development of a cooling system suitable for the objective.
Ducati, of course, has yet to produce an electric motorcycle available to consumers, even as its parent company has gone all-in with electrification for its road cars. A venture like this could help set the brand on the right path for the future, and teach it some things about building battery-powered two-wheelers along the way. As for MotoE, getting an established brand on board with its mission will probably draw at least a few more eyeballs to the show every weekend.
The Grand Prix Commission updated some rules. In light of the deaths of younger riders this past season, they formalized new age requirements which will mostly impact Moto 3 and somewhat Moto 2. Starting in 2023 all riders will have to be age 18 or older, regardless of class. There will also be stricter rules regarding medical assessment of riders returning from injury.
The Commission ratified the previously announced changes to minimum ages for participation. Licences for riders are issued only when the minimum age has been attained as below:
Moto3: 16 years (18 years in 2023)
Moto2: 16 years (18 years in 2023)
MotoGP: 18 years
In the Moto3 class, an exemption applies to the winner of the FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship or the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup to compete in the Moto3 class of the FIM World Championship Grand Prix as a contracted, wild card or substitute/replacement rider even if the rider has not reached the minimum age for the class (however a minimum age of 15 years in 2022, 16 years in 2023, then 17 years in 2024 will apply). In order to ensure a smooth transition, an exception will be granted to the riders who started in the 2022 Moto3 World Championship at the age of 16 so that they can continue with the 2023 Moto3 World Championship. For Moto2 and Moto3 substitute or wild card riders in 2022, the minimum age is 17 years.
Injury assessment
Perhaps the most significant part of the rule changes announced by the GPC concerns the changes to the way in which injury is assessed. Once again engendered by Marc Marquez, perhaps, the assessment of riders returning from injury will be far stricter. Though the details were not included in the press release, it explicitly named head injuries, concussion, abdominal and chest injuries, and fractures and breaks of a more complex character than just simple breaks...
MotoGP rookie Remy Gardner has required surgery after he cracked his wrist in a training incident weeks before pre-season is due to begin.
The Tech3 KTM rider broke his right wrist while riding motocross on Saturday, suffering a ‘small crack’ according to his French team.
On Tuesday he was operated on by Doctor Xavier Mir, MotoGP’s surgeon of choice, who installed two screws to stabilise the break.
The news means Gardner is now very much in a race against time to be ready for the start of the MotoGP season.
Starting on February 5 proper with the first full test of the year at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit, the Australian doesn’t even have until then to return to fitness, however.
Instead, as a rookie rider he’ll be one of the four racers on the 2022 grid who’ll be allowed to join the three-day shakedown test at Sepang ahead of the two-day official outing, with MotoGP’s factory test riders joining the debutants on track.
Beyond Sepang, there isn’t much time for the Australian to heal up, either, with the paddock heading directly from Malaysia to Indonesia for the first visit to the new Mandalika Bay race, where three days of testing will commence on February 11.
Qatar hosts the first race of the season on March 6.
Fixing Texas
After the Grand Prix of the Americas at Austin, Texas last year, the riders were unanimous. Unless the track was fixed, especially the sections from Turn 2 through Turn 10, MotoGP could not return. The bumps were too bad. The good news came last November, in the form of a promise to fix at least the sections in that first half of the track.
Turns 2 through 10 – the long series of turns starting from the bottom of the hill after Turn 1 to the hairpin at the start of the back straight - are being resurfaced, along with Turns 12 through 16 – the stadium section after the back straight.
In addition, work is being undertaken to tackle the substrate, which is prone to subsidence. A reinforced concrete slab has been laid underneath the section from Turns 2 to 10, in the hope of staving off a return of the bumps for as long as possible.
The work should make a huge improvement to the track, as well as make it much safer. It should also ensure that the US round of MotoGP remains at the Circuit of the Americas for the foreseeable future.
The six-time MotoGP world champion missed the final two rounds of 2021 and remained off a motorcycle for three months over the winter due to a double vision issue resulting from a training crash in November.
With surgery not needed, Marquez spent the winter gradually recovering from his vision issues – which he also suffered back in 2011 – and was able to return to bike training earlier this month.
Last week he completed a day of testing at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal on an RC213V-S Honda, which proved positive as he suffered no further problems with his vision.
He continued his bike training on a CBR600 Honda at Valencia and will return to his Honda MotoGP bike for the first time since winning October’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix next month.
The Sepang test gets underway on 5 February for two days, followed by a three-day test at the new Mandalika track in Indonesia the following week.
A short statement from Honda read: “Marc Marquez has been cleared to make his on-track return with the new Honda RC213V and the Repsol Honda Team at the Sepang Test on February 05, 2022.
“Throughout the winter Marquez has had continual medical checks and consultations to monitor his diplopia.
“In recent weeks the improvements in his condition saw his medical team deem his recovery sufficient to return to training on two wheels.
“The #93 first returned to the motocross track before trying the Honda RC213V-S in Portimao and a Honda CBR600RR in Aragon.
“Last Monday, January 24, Marquez underwent another medical check which reconfirmed that the treatment has been a complete success and the eight-time World Champion is in a suitable condition to ride a MotoGP bike.
“Therefore, it has been decided that Marquez will start his 2022 campaign at the first official MotoGP Test in Sepang before heading to Mandalika, Indonesia the following week.
“This will be Marquez’s first time back on a MotoGP machine since winning the 2021 Emilia Romagna GP ahead of Pol Espargaro.
“The Repsol Honda Team will head to the first test of the new season at full strength with Marquez alongside Pol Espargaro, who enters his second year with the team.”
Marquez’s vision problems marked the fourth off-season in succession where he was forced to recover from injury.
In the winter of 2018 into 2019 he underwent surgery on a recurring shoulder dislocation issue which plagued him during the 2018 season, with a further shoulder operation required in 2019 when he dislocated it again in a crash during qualifying for the Malaysian GP.
Then in the winter of 2020 into 2021, Marquez went through a lengthy recovery from the right arm break which ruled him out of the 2020 campaign and required three operations.
The MotoGP Unlimited series, the behind-the-scenes documentary showing what went on behind closed doors during the 2021 MotoGP season, was launched tonight at a premiere held in Madrid. The series, modeled on F1's Drive To Survive, and originally using Life At Speed as a working title, was shown to an invited audience and a number of MotoGP riders. The series itself will be available worldwide on Amazon Prime, with the first episode due to be aired on March 14th, a week after the season opener at Qatar.
For those following testing, it looks pretty open this year. Honda seems to have found their mojo back as well.
It looks like Honda made major changes to this year's bike. Finally trying to build a bike that someone other than number 93 can win races on. It will be interesting to see how long it takes 93 to adapt his riding style.
If the rumors in the press are true, HRC have been talking to Joan Mir about next season. Some are saying Quartararo is another option for HRC should they decide to pursue a new rider for the factory team. Supposedly, seeking a new rider started towards the end of last season when there were concerns about Marquez's health and Espargaro's potential.
The new campaign begins this weekend in Qatar with the first of a record 21 races, with most of the riders having had just five days of pre-season testing this year.
Ducati is expected to be one of the main players in the championship battle in 2022, with Bagnaia coming into the year having finished last year runner-up in the points to Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo. The Italian marque appeared to make a solid start to the year with its 2022 machine in testing, though its riders noted the power delivery of the new engine was a little bit aggressive.
Motorsport.com understands Bagnaia has decided to discard the 2022 engine in favour of an updated 2021-spec unit on the eve of the 2022 Qatar Grand Prix. Ducati will modify its 2022 bike to fit the previous year’s engine.
Due to the technical regulations in MotoGP, Bagnaia’s choice means team-mate Jack Miller will also have to run last year’s engine.
The engine both riders will now use was tested at the Mandalika test in February, and was brought to Indonesia after the Malaysia test confirmed the 2022-spec motor was not enough of an improvement over its predecessor.
Ducati brought last year's engine, the updated version and the 2022-spec one to Indonesia. With Ducati operating as a non-concession manufacturer, it is not permitted to develop its engines during the season.
This means the engine that will be homologated for the start of the 2022 season – which begins with FP1 on Friday in Qatar – will be frozen and will remain the same specification throughout the year.
Only the factory duo of Miller and Bagnaia will run the now-hybrid 2021/2022 bike this season, with the factory-backed Pramac squad sticking with the 2022-spec engine. VR46’s Luca Marini will also continue with the 2022 engine on his factory bike.
In total Ducati will field eight bikes in 2022 between the factory squad, Pramac, VR46 and Gresini Racing.
PSA: With the demise of NBCSports, MotoGP will be on CNBC this Sunday. For those in the US.
It's not a good way to build an audience in the USA. It seems like MotoGP has changed networks every year for the last 3 years. BeIN->NBCSports->CNBC. Also, who in the right mind would go looking for sports on CNBC?
I watched free practice today and I am guessing Mir will stay with Suzuki. Their updated engine seems to have narrowed the gap to Ducati. Rins and Mir both looked good.
Marquez also looked fast during free practice. It is early, but he appeared a lot less ragged when pushing compared to the past few seasons.
11-02-2021, 12:31 PM
