MotoGP 2013: Round 1 Qatar GP

[Dani Filth]

So it has started.
MotoGP: Surely Yamaha vs Honda but will it be 2 vs 2 or more will challenge from either side .. Cal seems to
Moto2: I predict at least 5-6 winners this season, favorite Espargaro
Moto3: seems to be a big gap in times but racing usually is very close .. Salom vs Folger?

[gomick]

Cal has been quick & Dovi going ok too - hope they can upset the top 4 factory bikes...

[chunder]

Now what would we all do if we were Yamaha and Cal keeps beating Rossi!

Against two very quick Honda's!

I know what I would do, I would do what they did for Spies and upgrade his bike a little quicker than it would normally be done!

[Schummy]

MotoGP: Very interesting IMO. Two fronts: (1) Rossi vs Lorenzo, (2) Monster Marquez evolution. Maybe the monster will devour the aliens?

MoTwo: Many good riders. Espargaro (probably the main contender), Cortese, Zarco, Redding, Nakagami,...

MoThree: Vinales, Salom, Folger and probably Fenati are my prospects. Some of them are pretty talented, I expect those to climb properly to MotoGP and doing well there.

My overall bet for titles: Lorenzo, Espargaro, Vinales.

I expect Rossi to be great in some races, but I think he will have an uncomfortable season. I expect Dani to be surpassed by Marquez, speed wise. I think Spies probably will end his MotoGP career this year. I suppose Cruchtlow, Bradl and Dovi will do good things along the season.

Forecastings exist to be broken.

[SALEEN S7R]

I know its unlikely, but the bookies are giving 33/1 for Crutchlow, definately worth a small bet, he always goes well at this track although admitedly a podium is more likely. Lorenzo looks like the definate favourite though...

[Born Racer]

Raring to go! Bring it.

[Born Racer]

Excellent rides by all the top three in the MotoGP. Lorenzo showed them the way again, Rossi battled back brilliantly from his mistake and Marquez commenced his MotoGP career as well as one could ask.

[dave vass]

It's great to see that 'The Doctor' is back!

[chunder]

Good racing, a bit ammoyed by the huge gaps in the oethr classes, seems Moto2 is a two horse race already!

But fair play to Jorge, metronomic boringness but fabulously good, Rossi worked that bike insanely hard

Gotta be frustrated for Cal, one errir and a bike that is so dog slow it might aswell be a CRT!

HAd a feeling Smith might dump it, he has got form I am afraid, and as for Ducati, same as last year, not bad one lap pace but hopeless in races and both riders could only ride same pace

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Vale!

[m355y]

The Ducatis.....it doesn't matter who rides them does it, they're always the same. It's interesting that they always seem to run to pretty much the same lap times throughout a race too, and finish together. Last season it tended to be Hayden who'd edge the qualifying and Rossi who'd edge the race, leaving them pretty much tied together across the line at the end, this season Dovizioso....

Entertaining fight for second, immaculate if dull brilliance from Lorenzo. Few surprises really, pretty routine season opener.

[S14]

Originally Posted by m355y

Entertaining fight for second, immaculate if dull brilliance from Lorenzo. Few surprises really, pretty routine season opener.

Maybe it's because I've only just started following MotoGP, but this seemed like a very exciting race (well, the race for second was exciting, at least), especially when Rossi and Marquez started going at it.

[SALEEN S7R]

Slightly boring race for the win, excellent job by Lorenzo though he was faultless from start to finish. Good battle for 2nd place throughout the race though, a bit dissapointed for Crutchlow, as has been said the bike just clearly isnt quick enough particularly on the straights he is just a sitting duck for the factory Yamaha's and Honda's in particular. Really impressed with Marques, he didnt show Rossi any fear, dont know what happened to Pedrosa in particular but if history is anything to go by being beaten by his team mate will be a bit of a psychological blow, even more so because he is a Rookie. Im not a Rossi fan, but a great race to battle back to 2nd after being knocked back to 6th place, without the mistake maybe he could have challenged Lorenzo, but then we dont really know how much more speed Lorenzo had in hand if he needed to go quicker. All in all a good start to the season!

[Schummy]

Pretty much we all agree. Three outstanding rides in MotoGP: Lorenzo, Rossi and Marquez. Pedrosa should be feeling bad, he has a hard season ahead.

Interesting Crutchlow, with an apparently lesser bike. And good job before the race by Dovi and Bradl. Hayden, Edwards, Spies, are becoming more and more redundant. It's a bad era for american riders... by now.

Being silly and judging with just a race, the season is about Lorenzo and Rossi. And let's watch the astonishing Marquez...

[Schummy]

Moto2: Strong opposition by Redding. We know Espargaro is good along all the tracks, we will have to see if Redding can mount a fight over the season.

But I think there is life beside those two.

Moto3: Tremendous season ahead. Many fearless gamecocks wanting wins. No clear favorite, so expected wartime on Sundays.

[frostie]

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

Im not a Rossi fan, but a great race to battle back to 2nd after being knocked back to 6th place, without the mistake maybe he could have challenged Lorenzo, but then we dont really know how much more speed Lorenzo had in hand if he needed to go quicker. All in all a good start to the season!

Don't think there was ever much chance of Rossi matching Jorge in the race. Throughout the weekend Lorenzo had the edge (seemed to be a tenth or two) so even if Rossi had a clean start and somehow was behind Lorenzo there wouldnt have been much chance that he'd have fought him.

Look at the times from the race and you'll see Jorge's consistency. His first 15 laps were all within about 0.4s of each other and it was only when he eased off in the last third that Rossi was able to get close to his pace (admittidly he did have traffic but I still couldnt see him having the pace)

To beat Lorenzo you need to be at the front from the start. He is too consistent to give him any kind of headstart. Crutchlow said it in Valencia that there's no point matching the times of Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Stoner during the race if after the first two laps you're three seconds behind. You need to be right with them from the very start.

Rossi was very impressive, and it was great to see him being aggressive again, but he was outgunned by Jorge this weekend. I do think however that he will be a match in the next couple of races. Qatar has always been a track that Lorenzo was fantastic on. It suits his style of riding very well but when we get to Jerez we should see Rossi able to match him. COTA is obviously an unknown at the minute

[chunder]

I do think that Valentino and Burgess didi manage to do what they always managed in the pasta nd got the bike working in a corner that others didnt.

The right kink about 4 corners in where Stoner crashed a couple of years ago Vale was able to cane the Honda's there and he was passing them all through there as he was able to keep it pinned and it was gripping and not spinning up.

This is all very typical Vale/Burgess, they make the bike brilliant in one place, be it braking, a bend that might be flat is, and Vale keeps it there for the rest of the lap.

I do believe if he had been able to get away with Jorge he might have been close, maybe not able to win, as you dont know what Jorge had left.

[gomick]

Didnt see the races, on at bad time here, but saw that Spaniards won across the grades

[frostie]

Originally Posted by chunder

I do think that Valentino and Burgess didi manage to do what they always managed in the pasta nd got the bike working in a corner that others didnt.

I do believe if he had been able to get away with Jorge he might have been close, maybe not able to win, as you dont know what Jorge had left.

That's a very good point Chunder, Rossi did have a significant advantage at a couple of corners (his traction on the exit of the final corner was superb too) and as you said in the past Rossi and Burgess have always looked at having a big advantage in specific corners, we saw at Philip Island with Stoner how significant an advantage this can be for a rider.

Overall I think that Vale did very well over the course of the weekend and made a lot of progress but finding the final 1% is always difficult. Jorge has the experience of the bike and himself and his crew clearly know how the bike works in pretty much every way and now Rossi has to get to that level. Qatar was very encouraging for him and the mistake at the start obviously hampered him but, to me at least, Jorge always had the edge.

I didnt have an internet connection over the weekend so didnt have live timing but it always seemed that Lorenzo was a tenth or two quicker throughout the weekend and I think that even if Rossi had been away with him at the start Jorge would have had the edge. That being said Lorenzo always goes well in Qatar so being a fraction of a second slower than him around here bodes very well for the rest of the season for Rossi.

[chunder]

I think if he can get away with Jorge it will be like 2010, he might lose a few seconds, but he will then be able to make it back when the tyre goes off

But its a risky game, and it also depends on Jorge going off a bit, which his style tends to as he pushes the front so much and doesnt spin the rear as much.

I think the 1000cc helps Vale, the bike spins more and you need to pick it up more, Jorge would never have been any good in the 90's as Luca and Biaggi were not either everywhere, but the bike works for that style now and Vale also uses tons of corner speed.

Believe me I think Vale is closer than you think, and we could get some Barcelona races, he very much surprised me this weekend, and has shown what some of us, me included had thought he had lost, complete utter and total speed and class.

[frostie]

Originally Posted by chunder

I think if he can get away with Jorge it will be like 2010, he might lose a few seconds, but he will then be able to make it back when the tyre goes off

But its a risky game, and it also depends on Jorge going off a bit, which his style tends to as he pushes the front so much and doesnt spin the rear as much.

I think the 1000cc helps Vale, the bike spins more and you need to pick it up more, Jorge would never have been any good in the 90's as Luca and Biaggi were not either everywhere, but the bike works for that style now and Vale also uses tons of corner speed.

Believe me I think Vale is closer than you think, and we could get some Barcelona races, he very much surprised me this weekend, and has shown what some of us, me included had thought he had lost, complete utter and total speed and class.

I was talking in terms of just Qatar mostly. I think jorge had the edge on him, not by much but by enough. It won't always be the case and i agree that at most tracks if Ross is with him at the start it will be a coin toss between them for who will come out on top.

Valuation misjudged qualifying and his mistake was heavily punished so i doubt we'll see him at such an early disadvantage too often as well.

[cg7aa]

I hope the FTR Hondas can sort themselves out in Moto3, I'd like to see what Romano can do in his second year. Qatar was a bit of a shocker for all the riders really. Does anyone know what the issue was?

[Schummy]

Lot of dust for nearby constructions?

[chunder]

No, the Honda's are just very slow, KTM have improved in all areas, Honda are doing what they did with the RS125 and making a bike for everyone, that isn't fast enough!!

[frostie]

I was interested in the Moto3 race to see that Folger seemed to sit back a bit compared to the rest of the leaders. He never really made an effort to get past anyone and stayed in fifth for pretty much the whole race. I havent managed to rewatch any of the race yet, terrible internet connection, but I remember at the time thinking that he seemed to be lacking a bit of confidence in the front compared to the other leaders so maybe he was hampered a bit by the Kalex chassis compared to the rest of the leaders with the KTM chassis and engine.