2022 banter & Silly season thread for MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3

[Vassago]

Bottom post of the previous page:

@Everso Biggyballies Did they show Binder's crash during TV coverage? I didn't see it as it basically happened at the same time when Morbidelli crashed?

MotoGP kinda needed a Quartararo DNF but it may only suit the Ducati loyalists

Overall some good results, Sasaki takes maiden Moto3 victory and Bezzecchi on MotoGP podium.

MotoE Race 2 was shambles, twice delayed due to moisture in the air more than rain and then red-flagged after 3 laps after Miquel Pons fell and was hit by Marc Alcoba. Eric Granado won; Maria Herrera finished 8th.

[SBan83]

@Vassago Yes they did show Binder's crash replay just once.

[Everso Biggyballies]

@Everso Biggyballies Did they show Binder's crash during TV coverage? I didn't see it as it basically happened at the same time when Morbidelli crashed?

MotoGP kinda needed a Quartararo DNF but it may only suit the Ducati loyalists

Overall some good results, Sasaki takes maiden Moto3 victory and Bezzecchi on MotoGP podium.

MotoE Race 2 was shambles, twice delayed due to moisture in the air more than rain and then red-flagged after 3 laps after Miquel Pons fell and was hit by Marc Alcoba. Eric Granado won; Maria Herrera finished 8th.

All I got to see was bits of motorcycle and nothing that really resembled a motorbike as a quick aftermath shot. Didnt see any replay of the incident itself beyond him already on his backside sliding into the gravel at T8 and the bike cartwheeling. Did see Binder get up and walk away unscathed. Rather looked like he did it on his own. It was maybe a lap after the Morbidelli crash but the cameras were following Quartar circulating slowly about to return to the pits the first time. As the camera followed him it just came up as a small caption on screen saying Darryn Binder crash then a few seconds later showing aftermath. Then they showed a replay of him tumbling and the bike cartwheeling in the gravel. From what I could tell and saw it looked like he might have just lowsided into T8 on his own.

I didnt realise the Moto E race was on until I switched back in time to see the restart. I wasnt really watching it tbh. I was getting myself something asnack with it on in the background and as I returned a couple of minutes later just as the crash happened and it was flagged. I switched to Goodwood FOS at that point.

[Vassago]

Yeah, now that you mention it I remember seeing the replay of Binder's crash. Guess I'm getting too old myself...

[Everso Biggyballies]

I see Quartararo was pinged post race for his part in (taking himself out and) compromising Espargaro's race at Assen, and will carry forward a long lap penalty for Silverstone. Stewards deemed Quartararo had been “overly ambitious” and “severely impacted” Espargaro’s race, which is a fair call, and one Fabio accepted and referred to as a rookie mistake.

Yamaha on the other hand have cracked the shits.... Monster Energy Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli had this to say:

“We view the first crash of Fabio as a race incident and feel that Race Direction’s decision to give him a sanction for the next race is not only harsh considering he took nobody down with him and Aleix still scored points, but it’s also not consistent with race incidents we’ve seen in earlier GPs that were left unpunished,”

Suck it up Princess... Fabs might not have taken him out or even down, but he did escort him into the gravel and cost Aleix his 2nd position, not to mention a reasonable shot at the win given his pace during his comeback from the 15th place he dropped to on rejoining the track.

Overall not a good day for Yamaha with nil points from 4 bikes that started, Fabs, Morbi and Binder crashing out with Dovi their only finisher, albeit out of the points.


Fab's championship lead now don to less than one race, 21 points.

Pos Rider Points
1 Fabio Quartararo 172
2 Aleix Espargaro 151
3 Johann Zarco 114
4 Francesco Bagnaia 106
5. Enea Bastianini. 105


As far as the teams go Aprilia now lead the title chase with Ducati's 35 point Assen haul now putting them now tied with Yamaha in 2nd and Pramac 13 points back, and KTM a further 20 back..

1. Aprilia Racing Team 213
2. Yamaha Factory Racing 197
3 Ducati Team 197
4 Pramac Racing 184
5 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 164

[Everso Biggyballies]

Just thought I would quote this part of Mat Oxley's Assen account. Why? Because I love the way he writes and I happen to like what he says. And he throws in a bit of relevant history whilst doing it.

As an aside I sort of agreed with the Yamaha team getting shitty because of the lack of steward consistency. Yes it was a dick move by Quartar. No question. But it was no more a dick move than others of recent weeks that the stewards ignored and deemed as 'racing incidents'. Oxley hit the nail on the head in a couple of lines.

First though I love this photo. The angle of lean they achieve now. Pecco Bagnaia with knee down, elbow down, shoulder down, cornering at Assen

Bagnaia was a sight to behold at Assen, using his super lean-off technique to devastating effect

Assen MotoGP: when the going gets weird

Quartararo crashes and Bagnaia wins to reignite the MotoGP title fight, rookie Bezzecchi and Espargaro amaze and the Japanese factories are nowhere. Somehow Assen never disappoints

Weird stuff often happens at Assen.

Perhaps it’s something to do with what drifts in on the breeze from the coffee shops of the nearby town.

Or maybe it’s the circuit itself – one of MotoGP’s weirdest and most wonderful layouts.

The most cataclysmic Dutch TT of all time happened exactly 30 years ago last weekend and changed the face of Grand Prix racing.

In qualifying Australians Wayne Gardner and championship leader Mick Doohan crashed. Those two accidents ended one career and very nearly another.

Gardner was knocked out. “At hospital they put me into one of those body scanner things and I was still blacking out. I was really scared, I thought I was dying. After that I told myself, ‘You know what? I’m not enjoying this any more’. Assen finished me off.”

“Whatever those guys are smoking, I want some”
The 1987 500cc world champ retired at the end of that year.

Doohan’s crash nearly finished him off too. Local surgeons botched the operation on his right leg and were on the verge of amputating the limb when Dr Claudio Costa arrived in a Lear jet ambulance and kidnapped him. It took multiple surgeries and 13 months before Doohan started winning again.

The following day Eddie Lawson and Kevin Schwantz collided while battling for the lead and both crashed. They’ve barely spoken since. A young Spaniard called Alex Crivillé won the race and the American/Australian domination of 500cc racing was finally over.

Yesterday wasn’t quite as chaotic but it was certainly dramatic.

World championship leader Fabio Quartararo crashed and barged closest title-rival Aleix Espargaró into the gravel, then crashed again, flicked over the handlebars in old-school 500cc style. His Yamaha’s traction control wasn’t working because a TC sensor cable had been severed in the first fall. The Frenchman, who had hardly put a wheel wrong all year, had crashed twice during the previous ten weekends and then doubled his crash tally in a few laps.

A few hours later MotoGP’s stewards hit Quartararo with a long-lap penalty for his indiscretion, to be served at the next race; never mind the fact that they had considered Takaaki Nakagami’s Turn 1 crash at Barcelona three weeks earlier, which wiped out two other riders, a racing incident and unworthy of punishment.

And weeks before that the stewards had considered Bagnaia taking out Jorge Martin in Qatar and Jack Miller knocking down Joan Mir in Portugal as racing incidents. Either they were all racing incidents, or they weren’t because they were all basically the same accident.

As Schwantz once said of those in charge, “Whatever those guys are smoking, I want some”.

Quartararo’s first DNF in 18 months changed everything. His 34-point lead was reduced to 21 by Espargaró, who fought back from his gravel-trap excursion like a man possessed, from 15th to fourth.

And Pecco Bagnaia’s third peerless victory of 2022 shrunk his title deficit from an apparently hopeless 91 points to a game-on 66.

If you want to read his full account of the weekend.... https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arti ... gets-weird

[SBan83]

Hit the nail on the head. Seems like the stewards chose to penalize Quartararo in an attempt to spice up the title race.

[Vassago]

Don't get me with this game-on 66 points for Bagnaia. There's a bigger chance he throws it away again before Quartararo does.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Don't get me with this game-on 66 points for Bagnaia. There's a bigger chance he throws it away again before Quartararo does.

Totally agree. Many races since Fabs had a race DNF (Just 1 last year and a total of 8 DNF's in his career, 50% of them in his first year). Bagnaia.... just look at this year. Win or bin near enough.

[Everso Biggyballies]

I see Quartararo is today toeing the company line re his penalty, and whilst he accepts it was a rookie mistake he made he is now voicing his displeasure at the fact he got a penalty given other rookie mistakes in recent weeks avoided penalty. I guess I have to agree that without doubt others have got away with a penalty for their similar errors. Although I initially thought the penalty justified Yamaha and Fabio do have a very valid point re the lack of consistency. The thought of levelling the (championship) playing field for the show as I think @Vassago hinted cant be discounted and is disappointing..

Fabio has gone as far as to say he’ll avoid overtaking in future out of protest for the penalty. He made no secret about his disdain for the decision, taking to social media – complete with a sarcastic clip for the stewards.

“Well… A long lap for the next race. Now you can not try an overtake because they think you are too ambitious,” Quartararo wrote.

“From the beginning of the year some riders made “RACING INCIDENT” but apparently mine was too dangerous.

“Congratulations to the stewards for the amazing job you are doing [zipper mouth emoji].

“Next time I will don’t [sic] try any overtake to think about not taking a penalty.

[Vassago]

The lack of previous penalties was the wrong decision. Quartararo deserved his. Obviously we shouldn't take seriously what these riders say since they will never hold onto their promise once the flag drops. Reputation goes a long way, few rounds ago Scott Ogden was bitching about Deniz Oncu and said he should have gotten a penalty because it's Oncu. There is a complete mess down there in the paddock.

Nakagami didn't get a penalty in Catalunya but that was widely dismissed as first corner incident. Then again Carlos Tatay got a long lap penalty so there is no consistency. Moreover Izan Guevara exceeded track limits on the last lap and wasn't penalised for it like he was at Mugello when they took the win away from him. So go and figure what is going on.

[Everso Biggyballies]

When Suzuki surprised the MotoGP paddock in Mayannouncing it would pull out of the series at the end of the 2022 campaign, there was likely no alternative to this outcome, despite all the Dorna huffing and puffing about contracts and agreements in place precluding it...... (Suzuki having only earlier in the year having signed up committing them to MotoGP until 2026)

Suzuki and Dorna reach agreement for MotoGP exit at the end of 2022

But following discussions, an agreement has been made for Suzuki to leave MotoGP at the end of the year. No details of any exit payments, clauses or conditions, just confirmation an agreement has been reached between the parties.. Suzuki has also terminated its factory involvement in the Endurance World Championship at the end of this season.

Statement from Suzuki with nothing that I see as other than what we already knew....

“Suzuki has decided to end the participation of MotoGP and EWC in the face of the need to re-allocate resources on other initiatives for sustainability,” Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President, said in a statement.

“Motorcycle racing has always been a challenging place for technological innovation, including sustainability, and human resource development.

“This decision means that we will take on the challenge to build the new motorcycle business operation by redirecting the technological capabilities and human resources we have cultivated through the motorcycle racing activities to investigate other routes for a sustainable society.

“I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all our fans, riders and all stakeholders who joined us and enthusiastically supported us from the development stage since we returned to MotoGP racing.

“I will continue to do my best to support Alex Rins, Joan Mir, Team Suzuki Ecstar and Yoshimura SERT Motul to compete competitively until the end of the season. Thank you for your kind support.”

The decision has as we.have long known also left both Mir and Rins without a ride for 2023, but Honda being their destination is no real secret..... Mir is expected to join Marc Marquez at the factory Honda squad while Rins is set to switch to the LCR Honda team.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Dovizioso set to retire from MotoGP at end of 2022

Andrea Dovizioso is set to retire from MotoGP at the end of 2022 after confirming he will “not race” next year.

He joined Yamaha in mid-2021 after a ‘sabbatical’ from, but is currently 22nd in the championship standings with the RNF team.
Given his age and lack of competitiveness, the three-time premier class runner-up is set to walk away but says he is “completely relaxed” about the prospect.

“For sure, I will not race,”

“I always said if I would not be competitive, I don’t want to be here, because you really don’t enjoy staying there and struggling.

“So, there is no reason, especially after 20 years.

“I never tried to have a place for next year, because you have to be in the middle of the project and have a big push, because everybody is so competitive at the moment.

“I’m completely relaxed about it. I already did half a year out of racing last year, so I already tested [retirement], so I’m okay about that.”

[Everso Biggyballies]

No surprises here, I think we all knew it was coming.....

Alex Rins has secured his spot on the grid, inking a two-year deal with LCR Honda. *Confirmed**

[Vassago]

2023 season will open on March 26th in Algarve! First time since 2006 MotoGP season will open in Europe.

This suggest the F1 Qatar Grand Prix on the newly build track will be held in spring around the Bahrain GP most likely?

[Vassago]

Dovizioso will quit after Misano and Crutchlow will see out the season:

https://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/ ... /10348513/