2023 MotoGP Season! (Who's watching? )

[6]

Season started this weekend.. This new sprint race format is cool. Over all i like it, couple of down sides.

I absolutly love that we have two GP races to watch per weekend, its fantastic. I did think having seen the riders and bikes on track racing saturday took a littl ebit of the excitment off of sunday. Especially where saturday was so exciting and sunday got a little squishy around the middle.

Marc. Marc, Marc, Marc... Whats the deal yo?

I KNOW the honda sucks, and i know he has always been a win it or bin it rider, but dude... Seeing him in another arm sling. Not good.
Kristen is convinced if he didn't race Saturday, exert himself, get the adrenaline build up and then dump, he wouldnt have done that Sunday. MAybe, maybe not. But honda needs to do better here. THats a 10-15th place bike and Marc is not the rider he was at 25 years old. He cant win on anything you put him on anymore. HE is 30 now and his body and mind have taken a beating.

Peco on the other hand looked unstopable.

Stocked to see Miller has a chance on that KTM.... . Thats fun. And to see MAv up front (until he brain wanders off and leaves the chat, and he plummets back into obscurity.)

[Henway]

I rewatched the crash several times and he flubbed enough to make it really, really bad. I don't think he was in way too hot but he misjudged his brake strength.

I have yet to really care about who wins--same as last year. Without Rossi and some of the other legacy people around, I just haven't been able to care about any of the riders yet. The failing is me, but I cannot get too excited with these races. I used to love rooting against Gibernau or Capirossi and I don't even have a person I dislike intensely yet.
What am I not seeing that others are?

[Tripleman]

Most gutted for Olivera home race and all, but good to see his pace on the Aprillia.Also Vinales taking it to them. Miller showed he is a race man not a qualifying expert.

[lamelylounges]

I'm definitely in for watching Sundays. Not sure I want to also watch the sprints on Saturday. I guess I need to read up on that to understand how that works.
We'd been watching the F1 series on Netflix, which was great to learn about the back stories behind the racers and the teams.
And, low and behold, we have a similar series on Amazon called MotoGP Unlimited. Check it out!
It does a pretty fantastic job telling Rossi's story and showing him retire. I did not know about the Rossi Race Academy (Pecco B, Franky M, etc).
Rossi is such a legend.

[jspeed53]

I have yet to really care about who wins--same as last year. Without Rossi and some of the other legacy people around, I just haven't been able to care about any of the riders yet. The failing is me, but I cannot get too excited with these races.
What am I not seeing that others are?

Henway - Much of what you posted, I agree. However, try watching Moto2 ... Pedro Acosta appears to be the emerging “next Rossi” … if he keeps performing, MotoGP may see him on the grid next season. Another reason I watch this class ... Americans Joe Roberts and Sean Kelly.

Marc crashed out home town Hero, Olivero, and that’s a shame. But I put much of the blame on Honda providing an underpowered machine that placed Marc under pressure to get it on the podium with late-braking as the only tool he could use.

[flyinelvis]

I enjoyed the Sprint race, but I can definitely feel for the riders who are seemingly not into it. They're used to packing in a lot of effort to get setup for Sunday, then they drop in the Sprints. Has to be difficult in many ways for the riders to get up for two events on a weekend. No rest for the weary. And the Sprint is all or nothing, you've gotta make hay getting to the front early.

Re: Marc. One of the best but he's just had too many mistakes as of late. Overly aggressive. Races aren't won on the second lap. Miguel was more than lucky, that could have ended miserably for him. Bad enough he's out for the coming weekend. He looked very comfortable on the Aprilia and as the hometown favorite, getting his clock cleaned so early was a travesty. Both riders out for Argentina this weekend. Add Pol and Enea to the list and the field is shrinking fast. Pol's crash was especially frightening, a rider hitting a fence and then his bike piling in on top of him. Double whammy. Coulda been lights out, thank God for the air suits. That would have been the end just a few short years back. Bastianini out with a broken shoulder blade. I was so looking forward to him challenging Pecco, two aggressive, young riders on the best machinery out there, it would have been really exciting. Now he's on the sideline for who knows how long.

Jack riding strong on the KTM was so good to see. An injured Binder following him through, makes you think KTM podiums are on the horizon. Maverick looking really sporty, finally got the good start necessary to be competitive. I think following the recent past, Honda is going to continue to struggle with a bike that really no one can be competitive on. Yamaha and Fabio, much the same way. I feel for Franco as he's a very competitive rider on the only I4 machine left in the series (following Suzuki's unfortunate departure). And he can't even break into the top 10, no less consider a podium.

Still the most exciting form of racing for my dollar. Nice to be able to enjoy action packed racing in a relatively short amount of time. Better than a never ending crash fest like last wknd at COTA. The riders truly have balls of steel.

[jspeed53]

I enjoyed the Sprint race, but I can definitely feel for the riders who are seemingly not into it. They're used to packing in a lot of effort to get setup for Sunday, then they drop in the Sprints. Has to be difficult in many ways for the riders to get up for two events on a weekend. No rest for the weary. And the Sprint is all or nothing, you've gotta make hay getting to the front early.

flyinelvis - You’re right on it! Hopefully this will all settle down after another couple of races. Otherwise the high attrition will see a new crew of riders at mid-season ... or was that planned? Sprint races every event, may not have been the best decision for teams and riders but with 770 championship points available this season, that may be too much pressure.

I’ll watch anyway.

[6]

I have yet to really care about who wins--same as last year. Without Rossi and some of the other legacy people around, I just haven't been able to care about any of the riders yet. The failing is me, but I cannot get too excited with these races. I used to love rooting against Gibernau or Capirossi and I don't even have a person I dislike intensely yet.
What am I not seeing that others are?

I'm easy . I saw Enea Bastianini come out last year on fire on that Grasini bike and give it a solid go. And I'm always one for an under dog.. now I'm a fan. Love cheering for Miller.

Honestly Marc has some so poorly lately I can't even root against him. I used to love hating him after 2015, now I feel like a bully.

And my absolute favorite is Aleix Espargaró. Just love his positive attitude on that bike. He has been Aprilia chear leaded through this whole deas. Zarco out of cheering for the old guys..

Always up for hating maverick , he is my new Lorenzo...

There is no more Rossi, but I'm still able to stay mostly invested.

flyinelvis I agree . It sounds like Honda just handed him an epic turd. The two or three years he wasn't on the bike no one developed it... The bike didn't get any better. It was like they were just biting their time waiting for Marc to come back on and superhero his way to win.

I read one place that he said he had a lock up in that breaking zone and that's what happened. Possible...


If anyone's feeling nostalgic, and wants some of the older Moto GP riders, just go watch World Superbike it reads like a 2014 MotoGP grid.

[Zanderk]

So after just one round, we have Olivera, Espargo (Pol), Marquez and Bastianini (sp) out for the next round in Argentina this weekend. That’s quite a rate of attrition.

Personally I loved the sprint race but maybe it was just because it was the first race of the season, it was nuts. Great to see European manufacturers dominating with Ducati and Aprilia, a step ahead of the rest. KTM and Miller, the surprise package. Would never have guessed it after winter testing. Bring on round 2 and 3 but I wonder how many men standing they’ll be after Austin ?

[lamelylounges]

i'm changing my tune. The sprint races are action packed, bring it on! They are like the TikTok of motorsports.

But I do hope they figure out how to stop crashing all over each other. Dang me.

[Zanderk]

I think only 1 rider crashed in yesterdays sprint race and geez it is so exciting to watch. Mainly I think because the riders don’t have to worry about tyre management. Don’t know about you but any car or bike race these days is dotted with monotonous comments regarding tyre compound and longevity. I know it’s an important part of racing but it does make life a bit tedious. Yesterday’s sprint race was something else. Even my Mrs won’t let me watch it until she can too because it’s so exciting !

[squirrelman]

i'm watching motogp and wsbk and moto america, all on youtube cuz i'm too poor to afford pay tv.

[flyinelvis]

Interesting weekend. Really enjoyed the Saturday Sprint race, good to see Binder have a solid ride to the victory, but Honda continues to struggle w/M.Marquez out, Mir crashing on the first lap on Saturday, his resulting injuries preventing him from the Sunday race. It was tough to watch the privateer LCR Hondas running poorly as the lone Honda reps. Good to see Marco Bezzecchi lead the Duc charge of privateer Ducs to the podiums. Funny that the prime factory Duc team not scoring a point. Pecco had major points in his hip pocket, but lost the front end and the day was over. A.Marquez surprised me as he adapts to the Ducati. I felt he was there for name only, but maybe he is a competitive rider. Pole and third place in Sunday's wet race shows a lot of skill. The sidelined Olivera could have done well as wet conditions are his specialty. But we'll never know (thanks Marc).

I feel for Franco as he's a very competitive rider on the only I4 machine left in the series (following Suzuki's unfortunate departure). And he can't even break into the top 10, no less consider a podium.

So good to see Franky have a solid race, much better than his teammate, Quatararo could muster.

Hoping most riders are healed and ready to race at COTA in a few weeks. A 17-bike field is not optimal.

[6]

Interesting weekend. Really enjoyed the Saturday Sprint race, good to see Binder have a solid ride to the victory, but Honda continues to struggle w/M.Marquez out, Mir crashing on the first lap on Saturday, his resulting injuries preventing him from the Sunday race. It was tough to watch the privateer LCR Hondas running poorly as the lone Honda reps. Good to see Marco Bezzecchi lead the Duc charge of privateer Ducs to the podiums. Funny that the prime factory Duc team not scoring a point. Pecco had major points in his hip pocket, but lost the front end and the day was over. A.Marquez surprised me as he adapts to the Ducati. I felt he was there for name only, but maybe he is a competitive rider. Pole and third place in Sunday's wet race shows a lot of skill. The sidelined Olivera could have done well as wet conditions are his specialty. But we'll never know (thanks Marc).

So good to see Franky have a solid race, much better than his teammate, Quatararo could muster.

Hoping most riders are healed and ready to race at COTA in a few weeks. A 17-bike field is not optimal.

It was GREAT to see binder up there. There goes the theory that ou have to qualify well to win the sprints! I guess when you dont have to worry about tire life you can get from 15th to 1st in a few laps. What a legend! Wish we could have seen what he had on Sunday.

I was concerned the whole race Marco was pushing too hard. I kept yelling "SLOW DOWN!! IF YOU SLOW A SECOND A LAP YOU STILL WIN!!" I was nervouse he was going to use up the bike or crash. HE showed me... Some days, you are just on it.

I feel like Honda may have troubles beyond not having Marc. Im not sure even he can ride that bike to the front. THey missed YEARS of development waitin on him to come back. That's why you don't want all your ducks on one bread bowl.

If alex does much better on the Duc, we will see marc on it next year haha.

Franco... Where did that come from? Luck? Good rain rider on a good rain bike? Dont know. But it was cool... Definitely good to see.

I never look forward to COTA. ITs usualy a good time for a nap. but the sprints may be fun there

[bezier_kid]

Where is Marc going next year? I'm betting 2 factory KTM teams.