6215 replies to this topic

[RedRabbit]

Pretty crazy that Bagnaia beat Martin 11-3 in race victories and still didn't win the championship. Maybe the points system needs a rethink. Still, you compete according to the rules of the game so congratulations to Martin!

The difference was all the Sprint DNFs for Pecco.

Happy for Martin though. He put in a good campaign and stayed in front for all but 2 rounds. Having a new champion is always nice.

[Alex79]

I don't follow MotoGP that closely but I am curious as to whether Martin leaving Ducati is the best move for him. I get he feels like he is deserving of a factory ride and the money that must come along with it but surely Ducati is the best place for him if he wants to win? He won this year on a satellite bike and was pretty close to winning last year too. I would rather be in that position than be a factory rider for Yamaha, KTM, Honda or Aprilia fighting for points.

If he left Ducati at the end of last season he wouldn't be a world champion today.

Pramac was going to leave Ducati to become a Yamaha Satellite Team. Martin was in Talks with Ducati for becoming Factory Rider, but that was on the assumption of Ducati that they could convince Marquez to stay on a satellite bike. Marcus did not want that, so they had to choose between Martin and Marquez as partner of Pecco. Martin was convinced he'd done enough for a factory and might have even used the 'slight' as an extra motivation.

[thegamer23]

[dissident]

Martin will be a prime candidate for Honda if & when they sort themselves out. Or factory Ducati once Marquez leaves.

 

It's unlikely that he challenges for a tittle while at Aprilia but podiums and wins are entirely possible.

[steferrari]

This is quite impressive to look at... 

 

[JRodrigues]

[Risil]

This is quite impressive to look at... 

 

 

Absolute catastrophe in Texas

[RedRabbit]

That whole interview with Pecco is pure class! His name belongs among the gentleman racers of old.

He deflected all the flame bait questions and said that it's Jorge's day to enjoy and he is not taking anything away from him.

The world needs more of that

[RedRabbit]

Accosta ended up just in front of Binder in the standings, great first season from him as well.

No he didn't, he got passed by Bezzechi on the final lap and Binder passed Enea.

Let's remember Binder won a race as a rookie, and this was a shocker of a season for him. He probably crashed more this year than the rest of his MotoGP career combined.

But KTM desperately need 2 strong riders, and Binder and Acosta are definitely that.

Interesting that all 4 KTM riders next year finished in consecutive order in the championship - 4, 5, 6, 7. Hopefully that continues next year a position or 3 higher for all of them.

[messy]

I think Binder is one of the best racers in the field. Hard but (usually) fair. Very quick over a race distance. He's just all too often an absolutely terrible qualifier. Started what 18th this weekend? You saw at Qatar how strong he can be when he starts higher up, but it rarely seems to happen. For me Acosta being a much stronger qualifier is what's meant he's been so strong relative to Binder, and I dunno how Brad ever sorts that, he's pushing 30 now. It's probably always going to be a limitation of his. But he's not going to roll over for Acosta next season, on race pace he's still brilliant at times. But I'm quite happy for him that he (just) got 'top non Ducati' over the line. Just.

Edited by messy, 18 November 2024 - 15:24.

[midgrid]

Random Carmelo Ezpeleta on a Harley Davidson

 

Not so random after all!

[ARTGP]

The new Aprilia boyz

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I saw this with my morning eyes and was wondering how I missed Rossi joining Aprilia...

[Cesc]

Pretty crazy that Bagnaia beat Martin 11-3 in race victories and still didn't win the championship. Maybe the points system needs a rethink. Still, you compete according to the rules of the game so congratulations to Martin!

 

Standings only with sunday races:

 

 

1 Francesco Bagnaia 370

2 Jorge Martin 337

3 Marc Marquez 270

4 Enea Bastianini 264

5 Brad Binder 173

6 Pedro Acosta 151

7 Fabio Di Giannantonio 139

8 Marco Bezzecchi 137

9 Alex Marquez 136

10 Maverick Viñales 135

 

Standing only on sprint races:

 

1 Jorge Martin 171

2 Francesco Bagnaia 128

3 Marc Marquez 122

4 Enea Bastianini 122

5 Pedro Acosta 64

6 Franco Morbidelli 57

7 Maverick Viñales 55

8 Aleix Espargaró 54

9 Brad Binder 44

10 Alex Marquez 37

 

Bagnaia season has been sensational on long race distance. I do not feel very happy with the saturday stuff, but it is what it is and Martin did the best out of the system, so well deserved champion.

Edited by Cesc, 21 November 2024 - 07:06.

[messy]

Thanks for posting that - really interesting comparison. Shows quite neatly the riders who benefitted from the sprints but couldn't sustain that over the longer races (thinking Morbidelli and Espargaro) but also the riders who maybe didn't have the explosive early speed to score highly on a Saturday but came on really strong in the main Sunday races (Binder, Diggia, Bezzecchi). Whether it strengthens or weakens their case is another discussion but obviously pre the last couple of years, that 'Sunday only' table is THE World Championship table.

[Spillage]

It really shows how the sprints have xomspletel changed the nature of the sport. I'm not sure I like it, personally.

[highdownforce]

Sprint races have saved two seasons.
Maybe what is off is actually the point system, that may reward a win on sunday just too little.