2021 MotoGP Discussion (Spoilers)

[Philkinson]

Maybe, and Pol is top Honda by a whisker. Nakagami only one point down and finished ahead of him three times this season already.

Pol’s got excuses, but if MM were healthy and winning is the bike still to blame? Sounds like the bike probably IS difficult to ride, but Pol got a seat on the top team and so far he sucks.

Besides Dani in 2017 (?) there hasn't been a Honda even close to Marc. The guy has that Stoner effect with the bike, I wouldn't even call him a reference if he were doing well on the bike.
Dani, Lorenzo, Bradl, Cal, Nakagami, all extremely talented but can't get close to Marc on that setup.

Also, I was on the Virtual Fan wall today 😬

[union]

Thoughts so far after todays race:

We are looking at the ‘21 champion in FQ20.
Suzuki needs to replace Rins.
Pol sucks, bad.

I am still not convinced on FQ. He certainly shows moments of brilliance but other days it looks like I'm out there racing on the bike. I wouldn't be sad if he took the top spot this year but I need to see him there on a regular basis.

That was a horrible crash. I feel bad for the other rider who hit him.

It was terrible. I knew it was over when I saw the way he was laying on the track. Brought back the terrible memory of seeing Simoncelli go down.

Besides Dani in 2017 (?) there hasn't been a Honda even close to Marc. The guy has that Stoner effect with the bike, I wouldn't even call him a reference if he were doing well on the bike.
Dani, Lorenzo, Bradl, Cal, Nakagami, all extremely talented but can't get close to Marc on that setup.

Also, I was on the Virtual Fan wall today 

The Honda has been a pile for a while now. It has just been Marc's ability that has kept it up front these past few years. I really do hope he can get back to 100%. It's pretty fucking sweet you made the fan wall.

[Philkinson]

It's pretty fucking sweet you made the fan wall.

It was weird. I checked my spam folder and found an email from motogp saying "Sign up, first 200 to sign up will have a chance to get on the virtual fan wall" Don't know how old it was, minutes, hours, days?
I thought, wow.. 200 people, I'm sure this won't work.
Signed up.
Day later, "Congratulations, you're in!"

Now, trying to actually get a clear view of anyone on that fan wall to prove it was me? Ha, it's so grainy when I zoom in on the screenshot

[JettaJayGLS]

RIP to the moto3 rider. Sucks. I didn't see it, don't want to.

MotoGP race - if you didn't listen to FP4, you should. Because of the delays, Simon got some amazing interviews. The one with Doohan was excellent. Mick believes the Honda is just not a good bike. Simon agrees with him. Without Marc the past year, they have not had any feedback from the one guy that could actually ride it, so it has gone the wrong direction even for Marc. Now a not fully fit Marc is playing catch-up on a bike that isn't the same as when he left it.

I'm eating my words on Marc. I thought he would be winning races.

I'm also glad Marc did not finish the race. It was almost as sweet as when he high-sided onto his face in 2019 playing the same game with Fabio. I get it, do what you gotta do to qualify well, but to follow him into pit lane is poor sport. I don't feel bad for him at all. It put Maverick out of podium contention.
What is the rule in Moto3/2? Don't they all get grid penalties every week for this?

Rins is lucky he already has a deal for 2022.

I'm praising Jack for his smart ride - best result he really could have had and he didn't push it. He is thinking championship and I HOPE he gets it. He got 2 wins, a bundle of points. If he just keeps it on 2 wheels the rest of the season it is entirely possible.

I would love to see Fabio keep it together, but after what happened last year I know it can go any minute.

[Philkinson]

RIP to the moto3 rider. Sucks. I didn't see it, don't want to.

I don't feel bad for him at all. It put Maverick out of podium contention.

You eh, you aren't familiar with Mavericks results, huh?

[JettaJayGLS]

You eh, you aren't familiar with Mavericks results, huh?

Very familiar. I'd say he has plenty of historical results that suggest he's capable of a podium.
Key word in my post was "contention." Considering his race pace, the spread out nature of racing at Mugello, and Yamaha's new holeshot device...I'd say he had a very good shot at the podium.

IMO, although within the rules, what Marc did was poor sport. Following into pit lane put it over the top.

[Philkinson]

I don't have the time to invest in the research buuuut from what I've observed, Mavericks qualifying position has no correlation to where he finishes a race. Generally he drops back to 12th by the end of the first lap and fights his way back anyways. Beene doing this since his moto2 days fwiw.

Excited for this weekend, looks like we'll be having a rain race

[Philkinson]

Clever move by Miller today, giving Marc a tow.

Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking?

[Paul_E_D]

Clever move by Miller today, giving Marc a tow.

Is anyone thinking what I'm thinking?

I wasn't, but Marc to Ducati would be epic. I think he's signed for three more years though???

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[gixxer72]

Gnarly crash for Miller, leathers were wrecked! Good to see he was ok.

Five in a row for FQ! Hoping for a battle tomorrow...

[MUZ720]

Quartararo was the only rider who was doing consistent 39's on old tires... don't see anyone matching him during the race.

[Philkinson]

I wasn't, but Marc to Ducati would be epic. I think he's signed for three more years though???

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Ah, I wasn't going that route!
I was thinking it was a strategic move from Jack... Marc isn't fighting for the championship. He can give Marc a tow, get him into Q2 and hopefully put a gap between Miller and another championship contender.

[Philkinson]

Alright! Let's go Oliveira! What a ride!

[loudbeard]

It was a great ride by Olivera. It was a better ride by Zarco, I wish he would have pressed the issue getting around Jack earlier, it cost him the win. I’m definitely encouraged by his riding lately, he’s finding good pace late in the race pretty consistently. Certainly a contrast with his Yamaha Tech3 days where he’d start hot and fade.

Honestly this might be the best race so far this year. Lots of good battles and some good drama too.

[JettaJayGLS]

Great race, start to finish.

I’m feeling pretty strongly Fabio should have been black flagged. A crash would have been catastrophic. When he lost the front in turn one I actually looked away.

Paul, question for you: I noticed this on Oliviera, then on others as well. Are MotoGP riders taking the outside foot completely off the peg at this point? Looks like they are just heel hooking the bike to get their body twisted even lower. Double whammy, if you’re abandoning the outside foot peg, you can probably lower the pegs in general and make it even easier on the inside.

[MUZ720]

Olivera Was just awesome got pushed real hard for the second race in a row and held his cool... KTM is fast!
Zarco Been fun watch this guy fast and hungry
Miller Very nice to see him slow down and start finishing races.
Quartararo should have been black flagged! Dropping him three spots was a good penalty overall.. Great race!

[Paul_E_D]

Great race, start to finish.

I’m feeling pretty strongly Fabio should have been black flagged. A crash would have been catastrophic. When he lost the front in turn one I actually looked away.

Paul, question for you: I noticed this on Oliviera, then on others as well. Are MotoGP riders taking the outside foot completely off the peg at this point? Looks like they are just heel hooking the bike to get their body twisted even lower. Double whammy, if you’re abandoning the outside foot peg, you can probably lower the pegs in general and make it even easier on the inside.

I've seen some riders do this, but not all. There was a WSS guy who took both feet off the pegs on corner entry! That was whack. I don't think you can lower the pegs much though as your inside foot would be hamburger by the end of a race.

On a side note, I personally don't know how they do that outside foot thing. I tried last month when my ankle was injured. I had no traction sense with my foot not engaged with the outside peg.

[theducman]

I've seen some riders do this, but not all. There was a WSS guy who took both feet off the pegs on corner entry! That was whack. I don't think you can lower the pegs much though as your inside foot would be hamburger by the end of a race.

On a side note, I personally don't know how they do that outside foot thing. I tried last month when my ankle was injured. I had no traction sense with my foot not engaged with the outside peg.

That rider was Sheridan Morais... That shit was nuts!!

[Paul_E_D]

That rider was Sheridan Morais... That shit was nuts!!

I know. Backing it in like a motherfucker too. Head scratcher for sure.

[Philkinson]

Johnny has been doing the no feet thing for a bit too. Not sure what the deal is with it

[JettaJayGLS]

I've seen some riders do this, but not all. There was a WSS guy who took both feet off the pegs on corner entry! That was whack. I don't think you can lower the pegs much though as your inside foot would be hamburger by the end of a race.

On a side note, I personally don't know how they do that outside foot thing. I tried last month when my ankle was injured. I had no traction sense with my foot not engaged with the outside peg.

I use to be 100% balls of your feet guy, inside and outside leg.

Then I swapped to outside leg on the arch, which really just let me hook in with the bike better than on the balls. I noticed that all top riders did this and just copied. I noticed a difference and it was really natural to do it. Its been a bit too long for me to understand if I still put pressure through the arch of my foot on the peg, or if it was just sort of hanging there with my heel doing all the work. If the latter, I could see myself "letting go" of the peg, but I imagine its the former.

But as I really think of it, the height of the pegs is a limiting factor to how much you can twist yourself around the bike. I'm really thinking measurement from foot to back of the knee. If this distance is shorter than the distance between your foot-peg and seat height, you never will really be able to maximize body position potential. There is also a diminishing benefit to going any higher than this; you can't bend your leg bones. But, if you are comfortable getting your outside foot off of the footpeg, you can run your pegs as low as you want (as long as they don't scrap). I imagine there are potential benefits here regarding weight distribution, aero, and comfort. Just spit-balling.


I'm trying to find footage of this Sheridan guy, but can't. Is he doing a double leg dangle entering the corner? I haven't watched WSBK in awhile, but I remember Rea used to almost fall off the bike on really aggressive corner entry. Not all the time, but some corners it really looked like he was accidentally losing his outside foot while dangling the inside foot. Or maybe it was Sykes when he was on Kawi....

[Philkinson]

I'm trying to find footage of this Sheridan guy, but can't. Is he doing a double leg dangle entering the corner? I haven't watched WSBK in awhile, but I remember Rea used to almost fall off the bike on really aggressive corner entry. Not all the time, but some corners it really looked like he was accidentally losing his outside foot while dangling the inside foot. Or maybe it was Sykes when he was on Kawi....

That would be Jonny, saw him doing it as recent as last year actually. IIRC Sykes is more like Lorenzo... no leg dangle at all.

[Paul_E_D]

Jay, I'm not sure this is really a thing, or just personal preference. These guys are still on the balls...

[Philkinson]

Jay, I'm not sure this is really a thing, or just personal preference. These guys are still on the balls...

Wait, we're talking about doing this at full lean?!

[Paul_E_D]

Wait, we're talking about doing this at full lean?!

Yes. Full lean.

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