Lap 23, Turn 15, the moment the dream died. Pecco Bagnaia knew he had to win, chose the hard front, crashed out
Bagnaia's crash turned a double Repsol Honda podium into their first 1-2 since Aragon 2017. The cool weather and high grip suits the Honda
Ducs in a row - Luca Marini's bright yellow VR46 bike captured the attention
Takaaki Nakagami was fastest on Sunday morning, but there's no points on offer in warm up. In the race, he crashed, rejoined, finished last.
Speaking of crashes, Marc Marquez had a rough Saturday, before going on to win on Sunday
Farewell tour. Valentino Rossi threw his helmet into the crowd on Sunday. He never does that. A special moment
Decidedly second hand. Joan Mir destroyed his bike on Saturday afternoon by flinging it into the catchfence, hitting a camera operator
Marshals can be helpful in more ways than one. That includes preventing photographers from getting close up photos of crashed bikes. Here, Pecco Bagnaia's Ducati GP21
Marc Marquez chased Pecco Bagnaia, then gave up, then went on to win after Bagnaia's mistake
It was a rough weekend for Joan Mir. He and Danilo Petrucci hugged it out after Mir crashed in the race and wiped Petrucci out in his final MotoGP race on Italian soil
Not quite ideal conditions.
Yellow was the color of the weekend
Massive thumb brake on Enea Bastianini's bike, and a lockout switch stolen from an MTB to operate the rear ride height device. Butterfly switch on the triple clamp for the holeshot setting at the start
Ducati is the OG of holeshot devices. Check how low the rear of the bike is, how compressed the front forks
The Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli is not far off
Same with Valentino Rossi, though you wonder if the rear could go lower
Alex Marquez uses his lanky frame to get over the front. The Honda is low. The 2022 bike should be even lower, given its revised exhaust layout
Marc Marquez is a public critic of the ride-height devices. But just because he doesn't like them doesn't mean he won't use them
The front of the Suzuki GSX-RR is low, but the rear is still higher than the rest
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Comments
In reply to Trying to discern by Xpansnchmbr
In reply to The neon 46 yellow bike was a by Motoshrink
In reply to The neon 46 yellow bike was a by Motoshrink
In reply to The neon 46 yellow bike was a by Motoshrink
Beautiful
Thanks Cormac. Gorgeous, as always.
Trying to discern
If Vale's front tire is locked. The telltale is the smoke, but the tire shows rotation. The disc carrier, however, does not. I can't make out the brake lever, but seeing as how Rossi is a four-finger braker, maybe he has it covered?!? The big question - why? Great shots, lots to see, especially in the holeshot device area.
In reply to Trying to discern by Xpansnchmbr
Could be just...
...the touchdown after having the wheel slightly off the ground for the first 50m?
Well spotted Xpansnchmbr
Yes but no. Yes it looks like smoke comming off the front tire. No F brake applied. Definite in the big version of Cormac's excellent image. Perhaps the front is just touching down as the power wheelie is managed. Like at jet landing, tire speed and ground speed not the same when the tyre first touches down again. Maybe VR46 doesn't have the handlebars perfectly straight?
As you say the wheel seems to be turning, there must be some relative movement betwixt tire & tarmac.
That's my guess anyway.
The locked front we need a pic of
Is the one on Raul's bike
I would guess Vale's front is turning slower ...
... than the tarmac is rushing underneath. That's nearly locked ? All you guys who can feel the front squirming and sliding amaze me. I can do it on a mountain bike in the gravel, but not on a motorbike on tar - toooo scary !
Rossi's fingers
..are not on the brake lever. Once zoomed in the lever is quite clear.
The neon 46 yellow bike was a
The neon 46 yellow bike was a bit much, but still appreciated. Anyone else missing some diversity? Noticed that the new 2nd Yamaha team jerseys were solid black, horrible and lazy.
Light Rizla blue, HM Plant orange, and Pons Camel Honda yellow again please! Heck, how about a nice purple?
In reply to The neon 46 yellow bike was a by Motoshrink
Team colours
Suzuki may not usually build the best bikes, but they've almost always got the best-looking ones. Who could forget the Pepsi bikes or the Rizla papers blue scheme complete with cop brolly girls? And the current ones are by far the best as well.
In reply to The neon 46 yellow bike was a by Motoshrink
Lucky Strike
Lucky Strike for the win!
Mark
In reply to The neon 46 yellow bike was a by Motoshrink
A bit much is an
A bit much is an understatement. Does Marini like being the cymbal banging monkey for that team? What were his colors the race before, race, pink?