Yet another massive injury for Pedrosa. His "luck" is incredible.

I've seen a wannabe use the inside leg at a track day - hilarious to see that in action. Probably just frustrating at this point at Rossi's level though.

Ahead of Lorenzo, yes, but I've been holding out hope that he can Marquez it like he used to. Oh...I mean dice through the field with impunity and dominate.

Wow, 9 MotoGP winners in one season!

^^^^^

Courtesy of the new 2016 MotoGP rule that calls for a spec Magnetti Marelli ECU and software package.

^ that and Michelin tires are more of a equalizer this season over Bridgestone from last year. Also the change from 16.5" wheels to 17" also had a small impact.

Some nutty weather on the race weekends added a bit to the mix as well. Still, it is nice to see a more interesting mix at the front. Hopefully the KTM will add some more spice to the mix next year, but I am guessing they will be struggling a bit in their first year.

Crazy solution from Ducati with the winglets now banned.

Ugly? Definitely. Functional? We shall see!

Yeah, doesn't look that great, but not exactly ugly.

Beauty is certainly in the eye of the beholder. If I didn't know better I would think that was a mini Formula 1 nose piece. Maybe it looks better painted.

That's pretty ugly, sometimes ugly = functional

Great race by Vinales. What happend to Lorenzo? He's up to his disappearing tricks again.

Looks like that Ducati aero system is hidden under the fairing.

Great race, PERIOD!! I hope the rest of the season goes like this. Torpedo Joe still can't keep the rubber side down, but if he could he would be a podium regular...and his GF is a smoke show.

Lorentho who?

HA!! I was thinking the exact same thing. Not aero after all - must be structural.

I think it is still an aero device. I think that how it works is that the air goes into the front hole of the fairing, and some of it is diverted to this inner structure which provides some downforce.

Not how those things work.

MotoGP News - MotoGP Qatar: Ducati yet to homologate 'F1' fairing

I missed this bit of news. The radical fairing was not homogulated by Ducati. They might bring it out later this year though.

That was a good race, esspecially in the first 1/2 with Zarco leading away in his 1st MotoGP for a 2nd tier team.
The last 1/2 of the race was good with the battle Andrea and Maverick.

Wow, simply shocked on poor in performance the Honda RC213V's are this season compared to the Yamaha's and Ducatti.
Also surprised how far back the Honda factory team is as well.
Really impressed with Maverick

Maverick is the next big thing and will give Marquez a run for his money.

I don't think I would blame the RC213V for the results. Rider, rider, rider. Pedrosa hasn't been a contender for a few years and Marquez seems to be trying waaay to hard for results and making rookie mistakes in the process.

Oops, missed the last race.

USGP this week!

Pedrosa has placed in the top 4 MotoGP ranking since 2007 except for last year when he was 6th. I doubt he'll ever be World Champ, but he's always be a consistent rider and a contender by his results.
2016 several crashes which required a few surgeries and he suffered his worst season since his debut season in 2006. He's had a slow start in 2017, but today in Austin he was on the podium and Marquez wins his first race of 2017!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dani_Pedrosa#By_Seasons

I haven't wished good things for Pedrosa since he wedged Hayden off the track when he was a World Champ contender and my dislike is showing through in my comments. I still stand by my statement about Maverick though Are you still blaming the RC213? Seems like that bike did quite alright in Austin.

Have you been to a MotoGP race? A buddy of mine went to Austin last year and said the best seat in the house was at his house.

Pedrosa has changed a lot since those days. I gained a ton of respect for him when he was the only one of the Honda / Yamaha factory riders that had the sense to keep his mouth shut about the Marquez vs. Rossi punting off the track episode. JLo should have done likewise.

Thoughts on Zarco v Rossi incident?

Rossi had virtually no choice, but he also gained an advantage. I am sure they looked at the sector data and noticed he was 0.3 faster through that sector that lap than typical and penalized him that amount. So not really a penalty, just moving him back to where he would have been had he not cut the track.

If he would have cut the course and gained 0.3 seconds for no reason, then I would have expected a real penalty to be applied. Something bigger than just the time advantage gained.

I thought the penalty was fair. The contact by itself was a racing incident, as Rossi had no idea that Zarko would show up at that corner. However, going straight ahead and tagging to the back of Marquez was a no-no.

Race ended up where I expected. Marquez is almost unbeatable at COTA.

While watching the race, I was thinking that Maverick needed to DNF to make this season more interesting, and a second later, he crashed.

the RC213V still has some issues with the single software/ECU that teams are required to use since last season (?).

MotoGP News - Repsol Honda officially launches 2017 RC213V

Honda has changed the crank to more big bang style (close cylinder firings) to do the dynamic/static friction slide that most riders prefer at the expense of more imbalance and heavier engine (stronger internals to offset the inbalance).

The factory team did very well in Austin, even Dani lead for a little.

Never been to a MotoGP, only a WSB in Monza Italy in 1996. Only other motorcycle races were local amatuer/club at Summit Point raceway in WV.
A friend in Austin has almost gone to the MotoGP race there, ever time something happens in life that interrupts it.
I'm OK with TV, the HDTV really shows how hard the rider/bikes are working.

Towards the end of the race, Marquez's pit board read "MAGNET", anyone know what that meant? Kind of an odd message.

I saw that too. I found this online, "Guy on official feed said that last year "Magnet" meant that the team could tell his front tire was fucked based on video footage or photos or whatever. Pit reporter didn't know if it meant the same this year or not though."

I thought it meant go to cruise mode and don't fall. He was so far ahead at that point.

The Honda riders are still struggling with acceleration. Solving the software issues might help?

Crutchlow and Marquez make up time by braking later and harder, which is why they're destroying the front tire. The harder option front tire is their only choice, whereas the Yamaha riders are able to use the medium front if they want. I think the Honda riders and riders from other manufacturers asked Michelin to create an even harder front tire for future testing.

MotoGP News - MotoGP Qatar: Crutchlow crashes twice, laments front tyre choice

Impressive performance by Dani holding off Marc in the last handful of laps to take his first win since last fall.
Also their riding styles are very different when watching in HDTV, their lines on turn entry, apex and exit.

^ Yeah, Jorge acted almost as if he won the race in the paddock afterward, he definitely likes Jerez.

Given Ducati's poor performance at this track in the past, I would say a 3rd place is pretty much like a win. He was riding the wheels off that thing. He definitely is adapting his riding style to suit the Duc. Look for more strong finishes for Jorge in the future. Not every round, but a good number of them.

What happened with the Yamaha factory riders? Did they just get the setups completely wrong? Excited that the championship is essentially tied up front.

Vinales blamed front tire issues for his problems in Jerez and Austin. Zarco is doing well. Maybe he could move to the factory team if Rossi retires in a couple of years.

Agreed. If the satellite Yamaha rider is doing better than the factory rider,...make the move?

I think Marquez will win the championship again this year, as long as he stays consistent and don't crash.

This has been the best season since last season. Last season was the best season in years. Hopefully the days of whomever peeling off at the front leaving the real racing for 2nd through 4th are gone. The current crop of riders is what the series needed most.

For some reason I'm still holding a candle for Rossi, but it's burning my fingers.

Haha. I jumped off the Rossi ship years ago, after he became a jerk.