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Crunching The Numbers: Is Bagnaia Right That Gaps In MotoGP Used To Be Bigger? And Why?

By David Emmett | Wed, 31/05/2023 - 22:14

Shortly after the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, controversy erupted surrounding statements Pecco Bagnaia had made during his media debrief on Sunday evening. Bagnaia had crashed out of the race on lap 5 after a collision between himself and Maverick Viñales.

Though the crash had been a racing incident, both riders conceded, Bagnaia raised a recurring theme in the 2023 MotoGP season, especially since the introduction of sprint races on the Saturday of a grand prix. With the field so close together, and overtaking so difficult, it was becoming ever more imperative to be aggressive at the start of the race, and try to pass as many other riders as possible before your front tire pressure became too high to risk a pass.

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Editor's Blog: Some Reading, On 50 Years Since Jarno Saarinen, And MotoGP Aerodynamics, And Announcing A Brief Hiatus

By David Emmett | Sat, 20/05/2023 - 21:14

With MotoGP taking a break until June 11th, I will also be taking a small break. My elderly mother is visiting for a week, and so I will be concentrating on spending time with her. The site won't be completely silent - there are a couple of subjects I want to touch on if I get a spare hour or two - but I will be back up to full speed in a week's time, after May 28th.

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Le Mans MotoGP Post-Race Part 3: Rise And Fall Of KTM, Marquez Returns, And Quartararo Winds Back The Clock

By David Emmett | Wed, 17/05/2023 - 23:30

If you had made your MotoGP fantasy picks for the Le Mans grand prix on Friday evening, as I did, you would have been all in on Jack Miller and KTM. The Australian was fastest in both the morning and afternoon sessions, and his pace looked good too. Teammate Brad Binder was third in the morning, seventh in the afternoon, and on pace for another strong result.

Or so it seemed. Qualifying went reasonably for Miller, the Red Bull KTM rider ending up in fourth, just behind polesitter Pecco Bagnaia. Brad Binder had a tougher time, struggling with the front tire locking, and ending up in tenth on the grid.

In the sprint race on Saturday, Binder made up for his poor qualifying by getting one of his trademark rocketship starts and steaming through to finish second, behind an unleashed Jorge Martin. Miller chose the medium front, on the advice of KTM and Michelin, and ended up losing the front at Musée, always a tricky spot when the left-hand side of the tire isn't quite up to temperature. But both riders had shown real potential.

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Le Mans MotoGP Post-Race Part 2: Why Le Mans Was A Crashfest, Bagnaia's Mistake, And Martin's Revival

By David Emmett | Tue, 16/05/2023 - 22:18

Yesterday, I wrote about the stupendous crowds at Le Mans for the 1000th motorcycle grand prix. The circuit and event were the right place to celebrate such a memorable occasion. But the fans who packed the circuit at Le Mans got their money's worth in terms of racing too. The MotoGP race was spectacular and tense in equal measure.

It was also a very messy affair. Of the 21 riders who lined up at 2pm on Sunday – Raul Fernandez had tried to ride after arm pump surgery, but that had proved impossible – only 13 made it to the checkered flag. It was a war of attrition.

Why all the crashes? A lot of reasons. There's a lot of hard braking at Le Mans, and more right than left corners. Temperatures can be relatively cool, and tires can cool off quickly. And riders found themselves caught between choosing a softer front tire and suffering in braking, and going for the medium or hard front and nursing the left side of the tire through Musée and Chemin aux Boeufs.

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Le Mans MotoGP Post-Race Part 1: Why Le Mans Sells Out, How Bezzecchi Won, And Whether It Matters For The Championship

By David Emmett | Mon, 15/05/2023 - 23:23

Great occasions deserve great celebrations. Running a series like grand prix motorcycle racing, Dorna has a lot, but not everything in their control. What they did have in their control was the timing of the 1000th grand prix, and the choice of which circuit it would be held at. A massive number like 1000 needs a grand stage, so holding it at Le Mans, with its packed grandstands, seems like a good idea. If the Finnish Grand Prix at the KymiRing hadn't been canceled, then it would have been at Jerez. That would have worked too.

The stage was perfect. The 2023 French Grand Prix at Le Mans saw the largest ever attendance of the MotoGP era: a total of 278,805 spectators counted over four days. And on Sunday, the biggest ever crowd for a MotoGP event at Le Mans: 116,692 spectators packed the grandstands, the grounds, and every spare scrap of space.

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2023 Le Mans MotoGP Race Result: Quite A Statement Of Intent

By Zara Daniela | Sun, 14/05/2023 - 13:44

Results and summary of the MotoGP race at Le Mans:

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2023 MotoGP Championship Standings After Round 5 Le Mans, France

By David Emmett | Sun, 14/05/2023 - 13:25

MotoGP standings after the 1000th grand prix:

5
2023
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2023 Le Mans MotoGP Warm Up Result: Zarco Leads Binder

By Zara Daniela | Sun, 14/05/2023 - 08:05

Results:

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Le Mans MotoGP Saturday Subscriber Notes: Winning Sprints, Making Rules, And Rebellious Riders

By David Emmett | Sun, 14/05/2023 - 00:22

Perhaps the sprint races are starting to calm down a bit. Sure, there were only 17 finishers – Raul Fernandez withdrew on Friday because of his arm pump surgery, and Jack Miller, Augusto Fernandez, Jonas Folger, and Fabio Quartararo all crashed out – but there were no injuries, no riders taking each other out, no excessively enthusiastic attempts at a pass ending in collisions. It was hard, close, clean competition.

Surprising, then, that once again all of the drama is around the standard of stewarding. After the meeting the Stewards had on Friday with the riders, explaining how each contact would be punished and laying out the guidelines they use to assess which penalty to apply in which situation, they went on to apparently throw their own guidelines out of the window and – correctly – not penalize any of the several riders who touched other riders while making hard passes. This left half the riders furious, the other half delighted, and everyone dismissing the role of the Stewards as pointless. It felt like they span the great Wheel O' Penalties again, and we all got lucky when it came back saying "Free Pass".

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2023 MotoGP Championship Standings After Round 5 Sprint, Le Mans, France

By David Emmett | Sat, 13/05/2023 - 14:10

MotoGP standings after the sprint race in Le Mans:

5
2023
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