The MotoGP championship has become the Marc Marquez (Ducati) show. Marc set a record for Ducati at Brno this weekend by winning his 5th consecutive GP race on Sunday, after also winning Saturday’s Sprint race.
On Saturday, Marc was followed home by Pedro Acosta (KTM) in second and Enea Bastianini (KTM) in third.
In Sunday’s full-length race, the podium was filled out by Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) in second place and Acosta in third. Bezzecchi lead the first half of the race before being passed by Marquez, and he stayed close to Marquez through the checkered flag.
Of note, Brno was the first race back for Jorge Martin (Aprilia) after missing several months of riding due to very serious injuries. Martin was rusty, of course, but impressed by finishing 11th in Saturday’s Sprint race and 7th in Sunday’s full-length GP. His finish on Sunday saw him beat several excellent riders who have been healthy all season.
Marc Marquez pads his already huge points lead in the championship. For full results and points for Saturday’s Sprint race, visit the MotoGP site here. For full results and points for Sunday’s MotoGP race, visit the MotoGP site here.
“I read an interview with Bagnaia. In it he said that his brakes have been a frustration all season. What? I know these bikes have super brakes. But if my team couldn’t supply me with brakes that I could trust I would absolutely be either be shopping for a brake sponsor or supplying and setting up my own and have my team keep their filthy hands off of them.” unquote. other websites have speculated its not “just the brakes”. the frame has been strengthened, this can change how the brakes feel, and how the front tire feels, and might indeed be the issue since Pecco has no front feeling. of course, i dont know, few know. some might ask “well just put him on the old frame”, well anyone in racing knows its not just that easy. Marc, on the other hand, who came from Honda who had a bike with little front feeling, and a bike that had previously been made to have a frame that favored hard end of straight braking, has found “an old shoe”, so to say. Mick, i really dont know, no one knows other than all those at Ducati. maybe even Pecco doesnt know?
why would acosta take the lead in the sprint? he can’t ride away from mm93 and marquez will incur an 8 second penalty from leading too many laps w/ low tire pressure. the whole pack shoulda just checked up. they can’t outride him, and it also appears that they cannot outthink him as well…
If he thought he had the pace, why not pull? It’s what’s best for front tire cooling from what the riders say. If his pace pulls himself and Marquez away, then he’s got a gap on the others, regardless of what Marquez does. Better to fight Marquez for a win, or secure 2nd than get stuck in the swarm.
I read an interview with Bagnaia. In it he said that his brakes have been a frustration all season. What? I know these bikes have super brakes. But if my team couldn’t supply me with brakes that I could trust I would absolutely be either be shopping for a brake sponsor or supplying and setting up my own and have my team keep their filthy hands off of them.
But then I know more than a few racers who have never done anything more than clean a motorcycle. Coddled from birth. So I wonder about these guys. Take Martin for instance. I have seen way too much drama about him wanting to leave Aprilia because he’s not happy with his results. Don’t look now Jorge, but you can’t get any results at all from races that you don’t ride. And how about that moto press? Cover the drama. But never ask the guy how he comes up with such a crazy idea? Now he’s back. He’s not doing all that bad for a guy that has missed out on a ton of practice and development. Maybe his bike isn’t all that bad eh? Last year he won the racing championship. This year he’s way out ahead of Bagnaia, who’s in second, in the Needs A Dope Slap championship.
It’s probably not the brakes themselves. I believe all of the teams use the same Brembo brakes. There might be a Honda or two running something else but Brembo is for practical purposes, the sole MotoGP brake supplier. The calipers last 4 seasons (rotors/pads last 1 race + the next race’s practice) and generally the teams will use a set for that long before retiring them. Maybe his are new and something has changed.
“Setting up your own”? Don’t make us laugh, Mick. this isn’t woods biking. These guys sit up out of the bubble to brake traveling at 100m/s. We couldn’t even pretend to understand what braking means to a motoGP rider.
You’ll never get me to think that way. I never liked any of the tracks enough to have road raced. But I have raced woods events, dirt track, observed trials internationally, ice, supermoto, motocross and some weird events dreamed up by some beer swilling host at parties. Along the way I learned that if you don’t like how your brakes work, change them. I run a supermoto setup on the ice for instance. I tended to overheat my brakes at some tracks. So i got a front brake off of a Ducati S model. I won two championships. I must have done something right. Like beat people on the brakes.
I know you like to hero worship the MotoGP guys and their equipment. But you’ll never sell me on that. There are guys road racing all over the world who ride nearly as fast on bikes that weigh quite a bit more because they had to start with some street bike. Back when the Hayabusa was new I spoke with some guys who were racing one. They said they put the thing on a diet and it lost 100 pounds. Was it running the stock brakes? No. Stock tune? Of course not. Was the guy who rode it fast? Well, he didn’t get the greatest results. But it wasn’t for lack of trying. What sort of brakes do you suppose those weirdos racing the daggers are running
Darn, set my tablet down and posted by accident. Baggers. Spellcheck will start a war some day.
Hero worship? C’mon Mick. Your Dunning-Krueger (unaware of what you don’t know) is showing.
Brembo makes the MotoGP brakes. If they’re not working like a rider wants, there’s nothing to change to, other than working with Brembo to improve. If two guys are using the same brakes and one is having a problem with them, then it may be more complicated than “change the brakes”.
“There are guys road racing all over the world who ride nearly as fast..”. No, there really aren’t. At this level, a couple of seconds per lap is not “nearly as fast”. MotoGP riders are more rare than astronauts.
The baggers are running the best brakes they can fit under the rules. Probably Brembos.
Come on Dave. I’ve done enough hot laps around the sun to know that the biggest fans of most sports never dipped their toe on that particular water. You certainly qualify as a big fan of road racing. So I can’t help, due to your content, feel that you have zero or near zero motorcycle racing experience. So you might not want to stand on a Dunning-Krueger soap box pointing fingers at me about how racing works. Just sayin’. You listening Joe? You guys have probably never done so much as change you own tire in your whole lives. It would be fun to watch you guys ride around Paris and get smoked by cute little pixies on scooters. I never want to go back there. But I would for that.
What I have noticed this year is that here in the year of brotherly love we suddenly don’t see Ducati top fives anymore. That report I read also stated that Bagnaia was turning down his nannies all race. So wow! Suddenly a guy who traditionally does really well has a tire pressure warning errantly tell him that his tire pressure is low and his nannies are set to eleven all in one race by the team that is supposed to be supporting him. Oh yeah, he has been struggling with grip and brakes all year too. Nice team you got there Pecco. Are they sleeping with your girlfriend?
That team has gone rotten. He should go to Aprilia. They want to win and they don’t seem bent on guys named Marquez doing the winning. This from a guy who has been riding Ducati since 1992. Motorcycles are equipment. Racers are people.
I don’t know what to tell you, Mick. Your assumptions about what people do and don’t know, and how your own experience does or doesn’t relate to what you’re asserting only further support my Dunning-Krueger comment. I hope you have enough trips around the sun left in you to learn, but by now I doubt it.