MotoGP Jerez

The MotoGP finally kicked off this weekend! It has been a long wait due to Covid-19, and I had almost forgotten what it was like to watch a MotoGP race!

Lot's of excitement to be had for sure. The qualifying was exciting enough, with very hot conditions. Unfortunately Rins crashed hard, and got ruled out for the race. Then in the Sunday morning warm-up Crutchlow crashed and sustained a concussion ruling him out too! That really only left MM to show for the Hondas. Not unlike last year... For sure, the younger Marquez is a bit out of his depth this early on with a factory Honda, and it showed. Quartararo did not disappoint, and kept his pole position from last year, with Viñales showing very good form in second.

When the race kicked off, I was surprised to learn the two factory Yamahas had chosen softs both front and rear, and I think at the end of the day this may have cost Viñales a win, or at least it deprived him of a chance to fight for a win in the end. Marquez then hammered it, and was quickly out front. He was pushing like a madman, and it did not take too long until he made a mistake. But, in typical Marc Marquez style, saved his slide in some incredible way. Honestly, the guy is not human!!! No other rider would have made that save, and he rejoined in 16th or something.

This gave us something quite amazing to watch. While Quartararo was doing his thing out front, trying to stay calm so as to get his first victory, Marquez decided to make up his lost time and try to win no matter what. He was just so much faster than anybody else on track, and he would barge his way through rider after rider. I think he was overly brutal several times, but also I just can't quite comprehend how he managed to keep such tight lines through the corners with such insane late-braking, corner after corner. In some inexplicable way, he made it back to second, and then what had to happen happened. He highsided his bike, had a nasty fall which ended in a broken humerous (not funny!!). Quartararo went on to finally win his first race, Viñales in second and Dovi grapped a miraculous third place.

I think Marquez may have been a little bit too eager to try to deprive Quartararo of his first win. It seemed like it already last year that he is concerned that this will liberate the Frenchman, and so he has wanted to avoid this at all cost. This time however, with the championship being what it is with back to back races, the cost may just have been too high. He is very likely to miss next weekend's race, and he will be suffering after that. This really ended up being a huge step for one of the Yamaha riders to grab the title from him.

Some closing words about Rossi. I really hope he does not end up signing for the Petronas Yamaha next year. He just can't run with the kids anymore, and he is no longer able to fully adopt his riding style to meet the requirements of the modern bikes and especially the new tires. He should retire, start a MotoGP team along with his Moto3 and Moto2 teams, and maybe hire Luca Marini for that.

The two Jerez MotoGP races were fantastic for very different reasons.

Totally agree regarding Rossi. I can only imagine how hard it would be to admit that you're past it, but I hope he reaches that point of choosing to retire before he ends up hurting himself.

Shame about Peco this morning in Brno. He was looking to be an interesting story for 2020.

2020 will no doubt be survival of the fittest. Don't get hurt and stay on the bike, and you've got a great shot of doing well in the Championship.

Ahhhhhh!!!! This year has been different, hasn't it?

I missed the start of the season, but downloaded the quals and races and just finished watching Brno Quals.

Agreed about Rossi. Still love him, and he's a great ambassador for the sport, but he was losing out to the Lorenzo/Marquez generation and now there's a newer one...

Last year Marquez got in Quateraro's head, but I think that worked both ways and Marquez was desperate to assert dominance this year. Shame about the injury, but at this point Fabio has both the point and psychological upper hand.

How about Zarco in Brno qual? It would be great to see him get his mojo back like he had in 2018 (?)

So how is everyone weathering 2020 so far?

eso

What a race result! I have had my eye on Binder since he started out in Moto3, and I have always expected KTM to make to the top eventually. However I really only expected podiums this year, not a race victory!!

Zarco could perhaps have made 2nd without the unfair penalty, but just seeing him there in third was great. I wonder if he regrets leaving KTM though...

Just saw race. That was quite the result.

Yeah, the penalty... I know the rules and protocol is different for bikes, But where was Zarko supposed to go? Having said that, the condition of his tires at the end of the race makes me think that was the best position he was going to get regardless. He still far outperformed the other Ducatis so it was a great result. It's good to see him back on better form.

Quateraro had a bad day, but he's still placed well in the championship. He just can't have too many weekends like that.

eso

Austria Qualifying was great. So close at the top of the timesheet.

So, Where will Viñales be at the end of the 1st lap?

How about Dovisioso leaving Ducati? I wonder where he'll land?

eso