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I got YTTV specifically for ESPN coverage, for F1.
When they had the brief lapse in contract with Disney, I told my wife we'd be cancelling YTTV if ESPN drops off & I'd get F1TV.
All got resolved & we're still trucking along with it.
If F1 ever releases an F1TV app for Samsung TVs, that'll make it tough to keep YTTV.
Great race. Will be interesting to see how Ducati goes from here. Do they abandon the 2022 bike and go back to 2021? But then Honda's new bike has more long term potential at this point.
The FIM has announced a complete ban on riders and teams with Russian and Belarusian licenses from competing in events sanctioned by the federation, including MotoGP and its supporting classes.
Further, the motorcycle governing body will cancel any events in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and try to relocate them to other countries.
These decisions were taken in an extraordinary meeting by the FIM on the eve of the MotoGP season opener in Qatar and follows Russia’s invasion of neighbouring country Ukraine, formerly a part of the USSR, for which it has received worldwide condemnation.
The FIM said it took into consideration the recommendations of the Olympic Committee and condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prompting it to take immediate effect.
It added that the following measures will remain in force until further notice
- To suspend, for the Motorcycle Federation of Russia (MFR) and the Belarusian Federation of Motorcycle Sport (BFMS), the issuance of FIM licences and the FIM licences already distributed. To suspend the functions of persons from MFR and BFMS acting as FIM Officials and as Commissions members/experts/agents of the FIM. As a result, no Russian and Belarusian riders, teams and officials can take part in any FIM Events and activities.
- To suspend the registration of and to cancel all FIM Events such as FIM International Meetings, FIM World Championships and FIM Prize Events taking place in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and, if applicable, to relocate these FIM Events to another country.
- To interrupt any other FIM activities including but not limited to seminars, commissions meetings, training camps taking place in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
The Igora Drive track near St Petersburg in Russia was a reserve circuit for MotoGP last year, but Saturday’s announcement effectively confirms that it won’t keep the same role in 2022.
“We stand in sympathy and solidarity with all those suffering, as a result of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, and remain in close contact with our affiliate member in Ukraine (FMU)," said FIM president Jorge Viegas.
"I would like to thank the FIM Board of Directors members in deciding these measures in the interests of sport and peace. The FIM, together with its promoters and organisers, already acted on this matter and cancelled the FIM competitions scheduled in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.
"The decisions announced today are in line with the recommendations and statements made by the International Olympic Committee, adapted to suit our sport. The FIM family is watching the developments in Ukraine with great sadness and hope for a prompt and peaceful resolution.”
The FIM’s strong stance against Russian license holders contrasts strongly with that of the FIA, the governing body for four-wheel motorsport, which recently allowed all Russian and Belarusian drivers to continue to race provided they switched to a neutral license and followed certain guidelines.
However, several national motorsport bodies, including the Motorsport UK in Britain and the DMSB in Germany, have elected to outlaw Russian and Belarusian drivers, teams and officials from competing in four-wheel championships on their home ground.
Earlier this week, Honda MotoGP star Marc Marquez said that the support sporting championships and leagues around the world were offering to people in Ukraine was not enough as “there are people much more important than us who must stop this.”
Part of my job at work is related to onboarding.
We briefly had a Michael Schumacher employed with us.
Just got an onboarding ticket for a Mark Marquez.
The next race at Mandalika in Indonesia should be interesting. Hopefully safe.
There were issues with the Mandalika circuit when Moto GP tested there back in February. The track was dirty with mud and dust, so the riders were forced to make laps to create a clean racing line. The surface was wearing very rapidly in some areas, probably those with hard braking and acceleration. Bagnaia had a big welt on his arm from being hit by loose stone. Alex Marquez had a bruise on his neck. Quartararo also complained that loose stone was hitting him. Part of the track is being resurfaced to fix the loose aggregate issue and they're supposed to ensure that the track will be clean.
Circuit owner ITDC has agreed with the FIM’s assessment and requests, demonstrating their high level of support and commitment to the sport. All parties have reacted quickly and work towards these improvements is already underway, including the resurfacing of part of the track. The circuit will be resurfaced from the section before Turn 17 [final corner] until after Turn 5. The venue will also prepare for the Grand Prix by employing world leading technology to ensure the entirety of the surface meets MotoGP standards.
Reigning Moto2 world champion Gardner battled hard with RNF Racing Yamaha rider Binder, who steps up to MotoGP directly from Moto3 in 2022.
Gardner got the better of the South African, beating him to the final point in 15th by just 0.012 seconds.
However, the Australian was unhappy with Binder’s riding style, which he felt was “like he was on a Moto3 bike”.
“It’s nice to get a point, definitely not where we want to be,” Gardner said. “Honestly, the first half of the race I felt quite good and felt quite fast.
“Definitely struggled to pass guys here, was expecting a bit more speed out of the bike to be honest in the race compared to some other manufacturers.
“That was kind of a problem for me in the first laps. I was behind Maverick [Vinales] and [Andrea] Dovizioso at one point and I think I had Darryn just in front.
“I didn’t feel bad and felt I could probably go with them. But I had Darryn in between us and I just couldn’t get past him.
“He was kind of riding like he was on a Moto3 bike, just all over the shop and was coming back on line without looking and going wide. He was just a bit of a disaster to get by him. Unfortunately, I lost that group.
“Regarding Darryn, hopefully I can catch up with and have a chat with him. These aren’t Moto3 bikes and we’re not fighting for first, we’re fighting for last. So, we don’t need to be riding like complete monkeys out there.
“It’s his first MotoGP race and he’s jumped straight from Moto3, so hopefully I can have a word with him and it will be better in the future.”
Binder was baffled by Gardner’s comments and says, for his part, he was simply racing hard for a point.
“I don’t know what he’s unhappy about,” Binder said when asked about Gardner’s problems. “Me and Remy battled in the race, we passed each other a load of times.
“And especially in the last lap I gave it a good go, it’s the first race of the year. Sure, we’re only fighting for 15th but at the end of the day I wanted to beat him, I wanted to be the first rookie and I wanted the one point.
“So, I gave it a good lunge up the inside, I didn’t ride into him or anything.
“I don’t know, I have to hear what he has to say, I don’t understand exactly what he is meaning. But from my side I was racing.”
Honda is having a bad weekend so far. I watched some of free practice and qualifying. All 4 Hondas were in Q1 and none made it into Q2. Marc crashed twice during qualifying, but still managed to out qualify the other 3 Hondas. Both Marc and Pol seem to be struggling with grip. They both were having moments exiting corners where the bike was sliding around. Pol said that it is an issue with the tires. I hope the race goes better for them. I thought the new Honda would be better suited to this track than the Ducs, but the Ducs are doing much better so far.
Honda is having a bad weekend so far. I watched some of free practice and qualifying. All 4 Hondas were in Q1 and none made it into Q2. Marc crashed twice during qualifying, but still managed to out qualify the other 3 Hondas. Both Marc and Pol seem to be struggling with grip. They both were having moments exiting corners where the bike was sliding around. Pol said that it is an issue with the tires. I hope the race goes better for them. I thought the new Honda would be better suited to this track than the Ducs, but the Ducs are doing much better so far.
That's a flip of the first race then. I don't think anyone should read too much into this race as a form guide for the rest of the year because of how atypical this track is.
That's a flip of the first race then. I don't think anyone should read too much into this race as a form guide for the rest of the year because of how atypical this track is.
Agreed. I typically don't read much into Qatar either, because of the track and conditions.
Pol did very well when they tested at Mandalika during the winter with newer Michelins. If the press is correct, Michelin reverted to a 4 year old tire for the race. It sounds like Michelin reverted to the older compound due to concerns with track conditions and durability. The track temperatures are probably really high in Indonesia.
Marquez had a horrific high side crash during warm-up. He was unsteady when he got up.
After a massive highside during warm up for the Mandalika MotoGP race, Marc Marquez has been ruled unfit to race. The Repsol Honda rider had the rear of his RC213V come round at him at Turn 7, before spitting him off in the biggest highside seen in MotoGP for a very long time. Marquez was clearly shaken, but got up and walked away. Marquez was taken to a local hospital where no broken bones were found, but it was clear Marquez had taken a bang to the head. After examination by Dr Charte and the circuit doctors, and consultation with the team, Marquez was ruled unfit due to a possible concussion. Marquez will undergo a period of observation of 12 to 24 hours, before being allowed to return home. Whether the crash will have any long-term consequences remains to be seen. Marquez was just starting to emerge from a long period of convalescence from injury, from the arm he broke at Jerez to the double vision he suffered when he banged his head in a training crash at the end of last year. Marquez has two weeks to recover ahead of the next MotoGP round, at Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina.
That was a massive high side crash, reminded me of the many high side Lorenzo had early in his career. I vaguely know Honda's chassis has been suspect the last few years (?), but perhaps they need Daniel Pedrosa or someone like him to fine tune the Honda chassis.
I have to rewatch the Moto GP race video. I watched it yesterday morning, but the video they posted to MotoGP.com was messed up. It was like watching a VR video without a VR headset. I logged in just before lunch today and it looks like they fixed the issue. The video quality of the Moto 2 and 3 races was great. I am not sure what happened to the initial Moto GP race video.
Good race, something about KTM + rain.
Binder pulled it off last year, gambling to stay on drys when the rest came in for wets & Oli this time.
No idea what happened with FQ, just lost pace (tire temp?) for quite a while & made the late surge.
Good to see both Suzukis near the top.
Crazy to see D Binder mixing it up midfield.
MM's highside looked pretty brutal, looked like pretty high speed in that part of the track.
A MotoGP ban on front ride-height adjustment devices has been ratified by the Grand Prix Commission and will kick in from 2023 onwards.
The move marks the result of continued discussion over how to limit the ride-height device development race in the premier class.
The front ride-height devices are the latest strand of development coming out of the Ducati-pioneered rear ride-height devices that were first trialled in 2019 as a way to improve starts, but soon evolved into something used throughout the lap to improve acceleration out of corners.
It was again Ducati at the forefront of developing a similar mechanism for the front of the bike, but this went against the desire of other manufacturers not to have a development battle in this area.
The new ban was approved in a March 18 Grand Prix Commission meeting, following a discussion during the meeting at Lusail two weeks prior in which “delegates were asked to consider two alternative proposals on this matter, [which] had the objective of preventing further performance improvements and development cost increases”.
The FIM decision states “the use of any device that modifies or adjusts the motorcycle’s front ride height while it is moving is forbidden”, before indicating that this can still be used in the start phase.
“The decision of the technical director will be final when determining what constitutes a front ride-height device; devices that only operate one-shot at the race start [ie “holeshot” devices] are allowed.”
The Red Bull Ring returned to the MotoGP calendar in 2016 and already came under fire for its safety, with a number of riders not happy with the proximity of barriers to the track and the lack of gravel in some areas.
The latter was rectified for the following year, though the main problematic area of the fast Turn 2 left-hand kink remained.
The safety of this part of the track was thrust into the spotlight in 2020 when Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco collided in a horrifying accident that resulted in both of their bikes hurtling up towards Turn 3 and narrowly missing Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales.
A barrier was placed for the following races in Austria at Turn 3 to stop this from happening again, though the closing speeds at Turn 2 and into Turn 3 remained a point of concern.
Last year Red Bull revealed its plans to alter the Turn 2 layout by adding in a chicane, with work on that now finally complete.
Compared to the original design shown to the press last year, the finished Turn 2 chicane is much tighter.
The original layout remains, with the new chicane only to be used by MotoGP.
Herman Tilke, who carried out the re-design, said: “Reduced speed was needed in MotoGP in this section of the track.
“This was achieved through the compact right-left combination which refrains from impacting the rest of the track.
“The planning was a real challenge due to the topography of the terrain, above all.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MotoGP has staged two races in Austria at the Red Bull Ring in each of the past two years.
However, only the Austrian GP will be run this year, with it being moved from its early August slot to the weekend of 19-21 August.
Last year’s Austrian GP was won by home brand KTM after Brad Binder heroically stayed out on slick tyres on a wet track to claim his second MotoGP victory.
If someone had a crystal ball in 2020 and told me Honda and Yamaha would be in the last two places for the MotoGP championship for constructors I woulda laughed. Amazing how well the 2nd tier manufacturers have to come to the forefront.
^ If someone had a crystal ball in 2020 and told me Honda and Yamaha would be in the last two places for the MotoGP championship for constructors in 2022 early season I woulda laughed. Amazing how well the 2nd tier manufacturers have to come to the forefront.
This is the first time in probably decades that after the first three races, only Italian bikes have won.
The first 3 races have been difficult for some of the factory teams due to the lack of proper winter testing this year. The second day of testing at Sepang was a wash out due to rain. The second test at Mandalika was a total mess due to the poor track conditions. The Honda, Ducati, and Suzuki factory teams haven't had time to figure out their new bikes and establish a base setting. Based on their post-race comments, Ducati and Suzuki seem to be moving in the right direction. Not sure about Honda without 93's feedback.
Bastianini/Gresini Racing are using the 2021 spec Ducati and benefit from last season's experience and data. Aprilia still have their concessions, which means they're allowed to have more testing days, extra engines, and unsealed engine specs. That being said, Aprilia was a good factory team in WSBK before switching to Moto GP. Their improvement isn't surprising.
There are 3 American riders in Moto 2 this season. Not sure if any of them will eventually move up to Moto GP, but it is good to see some American riders in Moto 2.
Too bad Marquez had a technical problem on the grid. He had an impressive ride scything through the field.
Definitely a good weekend for Ducati all around. Former Moto GP rider Alvaro Bautista is back racing for the factory Ducati team in World Superbike. He won 2 out of 3 races this past weekend at Aragon.
I didn't know MotoAmerica raced at COTA this past weekend too. Petrucci is on a Ducati in the Superbike class and won both races.
Great race, watched last night.
MM put on a show working up from last after the start.
Some good scraps along the way & an impressive result for Suzuki.
The Ducs are still just untouchable on the straights, the way they pass/pull away on the COTA back stretch is crazy.
The weather was sketchy all weekend. Rain and wet track conditions most of Friday and Saturday. Bagnaia had a nasty crash during Q1 and landed hard on his arm/shoulder.
The Moto 2 race started dry but rain fell around lap 9 and made the second corner dangerous. Most of the front runners crashed and were unable to join the shortened restart. If you go to 2:03 in the YouTube video it looks like one bike slams into another creating a fire. Thankfully, none of the riders were hurt. American Joe Roberts won the shortened follow-up race.
03-07-2022, 08:17 AM
