MotoGP Portimao - contains spoilers
Discussion
NuvolAscaRina said:
3rd race in and I finally found the highlights prog .
Does anyone know who the 2 new commentators are on ITV4 ?
they both seem to be commentators too , rather than previously with wotsisname and Hodgson as a pundit .
no Gavin Emmett on ITV4 either , liked him , been around the paddock for donkeys years and knowledgable and multi lingual too
The commentators are on the MotoGP feed, not sure of their names but they've been at it for years.Does anyone know who the 2 new commentators are on ITV4 ?
they both seem to be commentators too , rather than previously with wotsisname and Hodgson as a pundit .
no Gavin Emmett on ITV4 either , liked him , been around the paddock for donkeys years and knowledgable and multi lingual too
Acosta definitely a name to watch for the future, he's definitely the real deal, yes these may be tracks he knows but so does every bugger else... It will be interesting to see how his career pans out over the next few years, but the feeling so far is he's the next alien for sure.
Yamaha factory team have clearly made a big step forward with this years bike. The speed that they (mainly Fabio) were carrying onto the back straight, knowing it's probably one of the least powerful motors out there and the sector times were simply mind blowing.
I have to say, my hunch from testing about Fabio on the new bike seems to be coming true.
Yamaha surely have a massive issue incoming, with power AND engine longevity if they've not been able to change the components that were causing the failures last year. I may have missed something though (not able to follow as keenly this year due to work), so stand to be corrected.
Suzuki seems to have moved on a step too from what I've seen.
I'm not writing Jack off at this stage either, not sure why he's been criticised so early in the season. I'm quite looking forward to the first All Ducati podium coming up at some of the Power tracks!
I thought it was great to see Vale running further up the order, until the crash, but clearly he's also found something and was happier at that track than last year.
Not sure what happened at KTM so far though, I'm puzzled how they seem to have stalled or fallen off a little, which maybe indicates their chassis and this years tyres might be less compatible (from a much smaller range of options apparently) than before?
What I've also been chuffed to see though is that all of the field seems to have closed up a lot so far this year, so P1-P10 has had some pretty low gaps, therefore the competition has clearly stepped up.
MM did an amazing job as far as I could see, not crashing, but getting so bloody close on so many occasions, sticking it near the pointy end of the grid, then bringing it home too, just WOW. Wonder how he'll cope though, when eventually, the horrible nasty RCV takes another bite out of his confidence and body?
Final observation from me for now is OMG, how totally nasty is that Honda? Can't keep it's wheels in line at all it seems to offer very little feel/feedback from the front end. They seem to have the most evil handling and unforgiving beast on the grid this year by some margin. It's almost like they should now go fit a V4 2 stroke and some shonky old Michelins, as the only possible ways to make it more evil!
I have to say, my hunch from testing about Fabio on the new bike seems to be coming true.
Yamaha surely have a massive issue incoming, with power AND engine longevity if they've not been able to change the components that were causing the failures last year. I may have missed something though (not able to follow as keenly this year due to work), so stand to be corrected.
Suzuki seems to have moved on a step too from what I've seen.
I'm not writing Jack off at this stage either, not sure why he's been criticised so early in the season. I'm quite looking forward to the first All Ducati podium coming up at some of the Power tracks!
I thought it was great to see Vale running further up the order, until the crash, but clearly he's also found something and was happier at that track than last year.
Not sure what happened at KTM so far though, I'm puzzled how they seem to have stalled or fallen off a little, which maybe indicates their chassis and this years tyres might be less compatible (from a much smaller range of options apparently) than before?
What I've also been chuffed to see though is that all of the field seems to have closed up a lot so far this year, so P1-P10 has had some pretty low gaps, therefore the competition has clearly stepped up.
MM did an amazing job as far as I could see, not crashing, but getting so bloody close on so many occasions, sticking it near the pointy end of the grid, then bringing it home too, just WOW. Wonder how he'll cope though, when eventually, the horrible nasty RCV takes another bite out of his confidence and body?
Final observation from me for now is OMG, how totally nasty is that Honda? Can't keep it's wheels in line at all it seems to offer very little feel/feedback from the front end. They seem to have the most evil handling and unforgiving beast on the grid this year by some margin. It's almost like they should now go fit a V4 2 stroke and some shonky old Michelins, as the only possible ways to make it more evil!
Yamaha had a problem with an incorrectly manufactured batch of valves last year, their engines lasted a ridiculous amount of hours; this year with correctly produced valves we're seeing a better indication of their engine performance, along with improved electronics and revised chassis parts.
tight fart said:
I thought the ITV4 highlights show was the worst race coverage and commentary I’ve ever come across.
What happened to Rossi, he seemed to be moving forward then disappeared, crash or just retired?
That coverage is an improvement on the first week.What happened to Rossi, he seemed to be moving forward then disappeared, crash or just retired?
Rossi crashed, I had to look it up after the highlights.
StuB said:
MM did an amazing job as far as I could see, not crashing, but getting so bloody close on so many occasions, sticking it near the pointy end of the grid, then bringing it home too, just WOW. Wonder how he'll cope though, when eventually, the horrible nasty RCV takes another bite out of his confidence and body?
Final observation from me for now is OMG, how totally nasty is that Honda? Can't keep it's wheels in line at all it seems to offer very little feel/feedback from the front end. They seem to have the most evil handling and unforgiving beast on the grid this year by some margin. It's almost like they should now go fit a V4 2 stroke and some shonky old Michelins, as the only possible ways to make it more evil!
The Honda is supposedly built for Marquez and a rowdy bike works for him (as it did Casey Stoner). I wonder if they did much in the way of development in 2020 to make it less suited to Marquez (and easier for the other riders to ride) given that it would have been expected that he'd be back. I was expecting that he would get a podium in the last race but it didn't turn out like that - has he regressed that much or has everyone else (and/ore their bikes) developed that much in a year?Final observation from me for now is OMG, how totally nasty is that Honda? Can't keep it's wheels in line at all it seems to offer very little feel/feedback from the front end. They seem to have the most evil handling and unforgiving beast on the grid this year by some margin. It's almost like they should now go fit a V4 2 stroke and some shonky old Michelins, as the only possible ways to make it more evil!
rodericb said:
The Honda is supposedly built for Marquez and a rowdy bike works for him (as it did Casey Stoner). I wonder if they did much in the way of development in 2020 to make it less suited to Marquez (and easier for the other riders to ride) given that it would have been expected that he'd be back. I was expecting that he would get a podium in the last race but it didn't turn out like that - has he regressed that much or has everyone else (and/ore their bikes) developed that much in a year?
For this race I don't think the bike setup was important. He's not 100% fit yet, and isn't as strong in his injured arm. Just getting the bike around the whole race at Portimao was an achievement, finishing 7th and scoring a few points was a bonus. He's only going to get better from now on. I can't see him winning the title this year, but he'll probably be back on form and up at the front by the end of the season.StuB said:
I'm not writing Jack off at this stage either, not sure why he's been criticised so early in the season. I'm quite looking forward to the first All Ducati podium coming up at some of the Power tracks!
Not sure what happened at KTM so far though, I'm puzzled how they seem to have stalled or fallen off a little, which maybe indicates their chassis and this years tyres might be less compatible (from a much smaller range of options apparently)
Re: KTM: their riders are weaker than last year. Not many on here are fans of Pol Espagaro, but he's better than Petrucci who has been nowhere for a year bar a win at Le Mans. Leucona really doesn't look up to it. So it's left to Binder and Oliviera to carry the load. Also the asymmetric front Michelin really didn't work for them, they wanted the standard one. Seems wrong that the sole tyre supplier can dictate results in this way.Not sure what happened at KTM so far though, I'm puzzled how they seem to have stalled or fallen off a little, which maybe indicates their chassis and this years tyres might be less compatible (from a much smaller range of options apparently)
I'm not a Miller fan, don't really see the fuss and haven't since Moto3. Don't get me wrong, he deserves a seat in MotoGP, but he's mostly received disproportionate media coverage and praise largely due to being a gobby Aussie rather than ability. He's a consistent crasher like his pal Crutchlow and shouldn't be in a factory seat ahead of Dovi. Disclaimer: I am a big Dovi fan. I'd really rather not hear Miller's thoughts at length until the results justify it.
Stuart Fordyce said:
StuB said:
I'm not writing Jack off at this stage either, not sure why he's been criticised so early in the season. I'm quite looking forward to the first All Ducati podium coming up at some of the Power tracks!
Not sure what happened at KTM so far though, I'm puzzled how they seem to have stalled or fallen off a little, which maybe indicates their chassis and this years tyres might be less compatible (from a much smaller range of options apparently)
Re: KTM: their riders are weaker than last year. Not many on here are fans of Pol Espagaro, but he's better than Petrucci who has been nowhere for a year bar a win at Le Mans. Leucona really doesn't look up to it. So it's left to Binder and Oliviera to carry the load. Also the asymmetric front Michelin really didn't work for them, they wanted the standard one. Seems wrong that the sole tyre supplier can dictate results in this way.Not sure what happened at KTM so far though, I'm puzzled how they seem to have stalled or fallen off a little, which maybe indicates their chassis and this years tyres might be less compatible (from a much smaller range of options apparently)
I'm not a Miller fan, don't really see the fuss and haven't since Moto3. Don't get me wrong, he deserves a seat in MotoGP, but he's mostly received disproportionate media coverage and praise largely due to being a gobby Aussie rather than ability. He's a consistent crasher like his pal Crutchlow and shouldn't be in a factory seat ahead of Dovi. Disclaimer: I am a big Dovi fan. I'd really rather not hear Miller's thoughts at length until the results justify it.
I had thought the loss of concessions had taken the wind out of their sails a bit too. Brad doesn't agree however:
https://www.autosport.com/motogp/news/binder-losin...
He rode a good race in Portugal. 18th to 5th isn't a bad result.
Zarco said:
KTM definitely don't like the front tyre. The allocation was particularly bad for them at Doha I think.
I had thought the loss of concessions had taken the wind out of their sails a bit too. Brad doesn't agree however:
https://www.autosport.com/motogp/news/binder-losin...
He rode a good race in Portugal. 18th to 5th isn't a bad result.
Binder did well. Alex Marquez also complained about the Michelin front for mortal riders on the Honda (i.e. not his brother...)I had thought the loss of concessions had taken the wind out of their sails a bit too. Brad doesn't agree however:
https://www.autosport.com/motogp/news/binder-losin...
He rode a good race in Portugal. 18th to 5th isn't a bad result.
Some rather interesting comments
Especially KTM, Oliveira is top drawer, a guy that wins two races, one totally dominantly on a semi factory JTM compared to Pol that never won on it despite riding well for years and Binder who also won! Cmon that line up is stellar. The issue is apparently tyres, KTM want harder tyres and the majority do not like them so Michelin bring sifter ones, this happens at time.
Miller is clearly struggling, being caned by Zarco and Peco cant be great, but i am sure he gets there soon. We all know Honda is built for one man, and he even he struggles at times, poor engineering in my view.
Especially KTM, Oliveira is top drawer, a guy that wins two races, one totally dominantly on a semi factory JTM compared to Pol that never won on it despite riding well for years and Binder who also won! Cmon that line up is stellar. The issue is apparently tyres, KTM want harder tyres and the majority do not like them so Michelin bring sifter ones, this happens at time.
Miller is clearly struggling, being caned by Zarco and Peco cant be great, but i am sure he gets there soon. We all know Honda is built for one man, and he even he struggles at times, poor engineering in my view.
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