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Marco Bezzecchi

2023 Misano MotoGP Test Notes - What The Five Factories Were Working On At Misano

By David Emmett | Mon, 11/09/2023 - 21:37

With just two days of testing during the MotoGP season, track time outside of race weekends is like gold dust. Just over halfway through the season, teams and riders find themselves with a lot of questions needing urgent answers. Factory engineers have their own agendas, with prototypes and new ideas to collect data on in preparation for the first post-season test at Valencia, to give themselves enough time to get bikes and engines ready for 2024.

Michelin, too, have things they want testing. New compounds for 2024, and very early work on the 2025 front tire which is meant to solve the current woes with tire pressure caused by ride-height devices and aero. That tire is reserved for test riders, however. The MotoGP regulars won't get their hands on it until Valencia or Sepang at the earliest.

So there was an awful lot to test on Monday at Misano. A new engine, chassis and aero for Yamaha, a new bike (sans engine) for Honda, carbon-fiber frames for KTM and Aprilia, and experiments with suspension and setup and bike geometry to work through.

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Misano MotoGP Saturday Subscriber Notes: Paying Tribute The Right Way, Riding Through The Pain, And Sticking Between The Lines

By David Emmett | Sun, 10/09/2023 - 00:35

There are days when you are reminded that racing is not quite as important as we like to think it is. Saturday was one of those days. The news that Mike Trimby, IRTA CEO, had died on Friday night affected everyone in the paddock. To say that Trimby was a giant of the sport is an understatement. The only person who has had a greater impact on the shape of MotoGP and motorcycle racing in its current guise is Carmelo Ezpeleta.

And arguably, Trimby did more to make motorcycle racing safer than Ezpeleta, because he was elected by the riders as a safety representative, and went on to form IRTA, which had the political clout to improve safety because they had the power of collective bargaining. And Trimby had the moral courage to use that power to force race promoters and circuit owners to make drastic changes to make the racing safer. There are riders alive today who probably wouldn't have been if Mike Trimby hadn't taken the stance that he had.

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Marco Bezzecchi Stays With Mooney VR46 For 2024 - Why It Happened And What It Means

By David Emmett | Wed, 30/08/2023 - 10:36

As we have been predicting for weeks, Marco Bezzecchi is to remain with the Mooney VR46 squad for the 2024 MotoGP season. Today, the Mooney VR46 team announced the Italian rider, currently third in the championship, has turned down the option of a guaranteed factory bike in the Pramac squad to stay with the team which he credits with saving his career and taking him up to MotoGP.

Bezzecchi had hinted at the decision in the podium press conference after the race in Austria. "I made already my decision. I cannot tell you what I will do. Soon I will communicate it," the Italian said at the Red Bull Ring.

He had also given a hint that he would be staying with VR46. "Vale is pushing a lot, to be honest, and I really appreciate this. To be pushed by the GOAT is something that not everyone in the world can say."

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Austria Kicks MotoGP Silly Season Up A Gear - LCR Honda Confirm Zarco, But Who Takes Gresini And Pramac Seats?

By David Emmett | Tue, 22/08/2023 - 14:23

At the start of the 2023 MotoGP season, we hadn't really expected very much movement. But the summer break has kicked the MotoGP rider market into action, with both real rider movement and wild speculation running rife. In the run up to Silverstone, Yamaha announced that they would not be renewing with Franco Morbidelli and would be signing Alex Rins to take his place. For some of the background to that story, see this interview with Yamaha boss Lin Jarvis.

Zarco to LCR

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Austria MotoGP Sunday Subscriber Notes: Why The Racing Was Processional, And Why The Championship Is Nearly Done

By David Emmett | Sun, 20/08/2023 - 22:53

Sometimes after a race, I feel like there is a lot to write about. This is not one of those days, because it was not one of those races. In previous years, the Red Bull Ring has always delivered when it came to racing. But with conditions as close to perfect as possible – the only complaint you could have is that it was perhaps a little too hot – the weather wildcard was taken from the pack, and the race turned into a measure of rider and machine. And as it's the Red Bull Ring, where the key to speed is braking and acceleration, mostly machine.

So the race we got is a pretty fair reflection of the current state of MotoGP. The strongest rider/bike/team package dominated. The second strongest rider-bike package finished second. And the best of the satellite riders headed up a gaggle of last year's Ducatis. The Aprilias, who should have done better, got bogged down at the start, the launch off the line still very much the RS-GP's kryptonite. And the Japanese bikes spent their race battling to get into the top ten.

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Austria MotoGP Saturday Subscriber Notes: Putting Together Perfection, And Assigning Blame In The First Corner Crash

By David Emmett | Sun, 20/08/2023 - 00:51

As I wrote in my preview for the Austrian Grand Prix on Thursday, something always happens at the Red Bull Ring. It is impossible to have a race here without some kind of unexpected drama unfolding. Although, if it always happens, is it still unexpected?

This Saturday's drama revolved around Jorge Martin and the first corner. A massive pile up there at the start of the sprint race saw Marco Bezzecchi, Miguel Oliveira, and Johann Zarco crash out. Martin got the blame, and was handed a Long Lap Penalty to be served on Sunday.

Was Martin really to blame? Yes and no. A little bit perhaps, though others played a role too. Mostly, though, the causes of the Turn 1 incident run much deeper, and are more troubling than the question of whether a particular rider's approach to the first corner was overly ambitious or not. And they highlight some of the underlying problems with MotoGP.

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Austria MotoGP Preview: The Endless Drama Of The Red Bull Ring

By David Emmett | Thu, 17/08/2023 - 13:35

I am not a fan of the Red Bull Ring at Spielberg. It is an overly simplistic circuit – a bunch of straights with an omega in the middle to prevent it from being a basic trapezoid layout, stuck up against a hillside. Because it is basically three long straights and an extended left hander, speeds reached are high, and there is very little runoff. Add in a couple of blind crests where riders have a tendency to crash – the exit of Turn 1, the exit of Turn 3 – and you have a recipe for disaster.

That recipe came terrifyingly close to completion at Turn 3 in 2020. Johann Zarco clipped the front wheel of Franco Morbidelli's Yamaha on the way up the hill toward Turn 3. The bikes were traveling at such a speed that both Zarco's Ducati and Morbidelli's M1 shot across the track at Turn 3, Morbidelli's bike passing in between the Yamahas of Maverick Viñales and Valentino Rossi, Zarco's Ducati flying just over the head of Maverick Viñales.

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Cormac Shoots Silverstone: Dark Skies, But The Racing Shines Through

By David Emmett | Wed, 09/08/2023 - 21:13


Look to the skies. That was the story of Silverstone in 2023. The weather didn't stop the racing, but we spent a lot of time watching rain radar images

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Silverstone MotoGP Sunday Subscriber Notes: Initial Thoughts On Silverstone, Tire Pressures, Penalties Not Handed Out, And More

By David Emmett | Mon, 07/08/2023 - 00:32

It has been a long and eventful weekend, and there will be much to write about this coming week. Including an interview with Lin Jarvis, talking about the decision to sign Alex Rins instead of Franco Morbidelli, what Yamaha is doing to address their problems, and what type of concessions would really make a difference for Yamaha and Honda.

But first, some initial thoughts after a fantastic day of racing, across all three classes. It made a nonsense of British national broadcaster ITV's decision not to show the MotoGP race live, preferring to broadcast a meaningless soccer game. That was bad for ITV, but also bad for MotoGP. Silverstone is one of the tracks that produces fantastic racing, which needs to be seen by as wide an audience as possible. Today's race was the kind of race that will bring in new fans if casual TV viewers get to see it.

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Assen MotoGP Post-Race Subscriber Notes, Part 1: Pecco Bagnaia, Momentum, And Track Limits

By David Emmett | Tue, 27/06/2023 - 23:05

Assen has always been an important race on the MotoGP calendar for a lot of reasons. It is a historic venue, where victory carries a symbolic value as well as counting toward the championship. There may be the same 25 points on offer as every other race, but at Assen, as at Mugello, Phillip Island, Jerez those 25 points feel more precious, gilded. They are 25 points that sparkle just a little more.

In 2022 and 2023, they carried even more weight than usual. Assen was the last race before an unusually long summer break, so a strong result at the Dutch TT gives riders momentum to carry in to the five-week stretch before Silverstone.

Last year, Assen felt like it had an outsized effect on the title chase. It was the place where Pecco Bagnaia ended his streak of unforced errors and posted a flawless performance to win. Fabio Quartararo, on the other hand, crashed into Aleix Espargaro, then crashed out a second time. After Sachsenring, Quartararo held a 91 point lead over the eventual champion. A week later at Assen, Bagnaia had cut the gap to 66 points.

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Turkey & Syria Relief Funds

The massive earthquake which hit the border region between Syria and Turkey has killed over 45,000 people and left millions with their homes destroyed. If you would like to help, you can use these lists, found via motorsports journalist Peter Leung.

Charity Navigator's Shortlist of Charities for Turkey & Syria categorized by relief & aid types:
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