The one with the pigtails was setting in the suite with us. She was something else. That was a stealth shot. Tried not to look that obnoxious aiming the camera at here. Sad but true, someone is going to be fed up enough with this one.

Slim pick'ens as usual. Only one or two standouts and then, 'how did you get this job?' My P900 Nikon should have been there. Maybe at Laguna with a club race of MotoAmerica.

The dark hair "hose Monster" has that look of 'yeah, I'll spend all your money in 3 months and wreck your life, but it will be worth it ...."

Hub, you should have taken Green's cash with you and you would have been right!!!

Impressive Portugal results.

Honda struggling with the bike big time.
But if their substantial resources can figure that out they have the riders.

Q Man brilliant.
Rins unbelievable.
E Espargaro incredible.

Miller racing incident but still.

Open Championship.
Best way...

I agree. Great racing. Miller fully admitted his mistake and apologized to Mir and the Suzuki team. He's A class act. Mir didn't seem all butt hurt and also handled this event well.
Lets talk about Moto2 for a second. Virtually half the field was eliminated in the big crash. Obviously, some bikes were beyond repair, but most were disqualified because they didn't get back to the pits within 5 minutes. I think they should be allowed more time. Especially for a crash that took down 11 riders. Something has to be changed.

Mad

Na, it's a good points disrupter. TV time window extends. Really can't change levers, bars, ect. in 5min. Even though it wasn't the points leader's fault, it adds to the drama. JMO

So , a good race by Pecco. I don't think he put a wheel wrong the entire race. Apparently Marc is no longer an "alien, he's jut really good.
Happy for Agura getting his first win.
It really sucks that Suzuki is pulling out, but they have to deal with Dorna first. There are some
financial consequences.

Mad

* Last updated by: Maddevill on 5/4/2022 @ 6:33 PM *

Yep, perfection from Peco and well deserved.

Qman is doing exceptionally well considering the machinery he is on.

Honda are struggling with their new bike.
And every race that ends with an average finishing position results in Marquez losing a little more confidence.

Miller certainly is an unknown quantity next year.

As for our earlier 2022 Championship predictions, I am miles off the pace...

As it plays out, I'm seeing how Alex is riding the wheels off that ape, or they found something. If you have the HP, I can see you leaving the field behind. I caught a ride on a fast bike, and when I opened it up, I said, oh, that makes the bike easier to ride. But he's playing a real head game that's working for him.

Sort of working it down to the cream rising to the top. Basti just pulled off a new lap record, but he's a hot and cold rider. He's losing points that way, and Alex is just the opposite. He's looking like Rins a few years ago. Speaking about the dream team at Suz, Pol loses his seat for Mir. That's the rumor. Rins, who knows?

Let's see if my pick can pull off max points this weekend. Though I'd like to see Alex take the championship just because this might be his only shot, if his last shot. Going to be a wild game of seat changes down the road. I doubt Miller is going to ride a factory bike. He's another inconsistent rider. You want consistency, like in the early days, look at MM and that year he was as low as 2nd place all year.

What's with Gardner? He's 'not his dad,' or he is not cooked thru yet; stick a toothpick in him.

Okay, I'm going to pick the finishers. I predict a Duc Sweep. I'll make another prediction. If I were running the musical chairs, I'd take Rins and Mir and call it, Dream Team II at Honda. MM ain't what he used to be, plus that age window; it's time. And if Honda has some performance clause and MM has a few more year to play out the contract, well I don't think it works like that. Clause winning is everything. Can't gather points that far back.

Rossi's team is sweeping the track... literally. so that looks like a crash fest. I'd be fishing for Spaniards in the parking lots.

For me, the race of the weekend was moto3. Two standouts that caught my eye was Ayumu Sasaki and Sergio Garcia. Sasaki was very aggressive in his riding, and Garcia came up from the back. Yeah, yeah, Cameron almost stepped on the podium, but the future is in moto3.

So they coined Basti as the Beast. Geez that guy is spanking the factory on the old stuff. Pecco blew the 3some. Season just got started. The ape engine has a limit and swapped during the season, right? Rider's head game changes during the season. Let's see how Alex handles it for the rest of the season. He might be fucking with my boy, if my boy doesn't snap out of his hot and cold racing. Though his time sheet was impressive. Everyone is so good, it's down to hundreds of seconds.

Reading your comments so far Hub and you seem to have nailed it right from the start including your 2022 Champion pic (so far).

Respect mate...

SA-CRE BLEU !!!
French GP was pretty good. Another great ride from Pecco....right up until he threw away the race...AGAIN!!
OOFTAH !He has a habit of doing that, unfortunately. It seems his pace is a little bit better than Miller's.
Once again, Enea came through the pack to record another win. He's really shining this year. And Aleix Asparagus
keeps getting podiums which is great for Aprilia. They have now lost their concessions which puts them on equal footing to the rest. And, he's only a few points out of the championship lead. Well done !
Once again, Cam just missed his first podium. It's coming soon though. I was impressed with Joe Roberts coming through the pack from 25th to take 7th. Racing this year is hard to predict. I guess my pick of Tito Rabat looks foolish now. Lol !

Mad

Thank for the comment. I blame it on a gut feeling or an instinct. When I was watching NASCAR, I picked the champion 3 races in. Did that twice. FI came around, said Kimi would win that year. He did. Watched Checa lose the year before and next year I picked him. Have no clue about the ins and out of football, but there was a run I had on those years. Trapped myself and was locked into the Seahawks for years. Came so close for years and then finally won.

Like Madd said, hard to predict. Since MM was in his prime years back it was a lot easier. Now it's playing that 3sweep. Just a matter of when?

Oh and did you hear the new rules for the E bikes next year? It's a two rider deal.

3 Italian bikes qualified top 3. 3 Italian riders. Home track advantage. Doesn't count, but to me that looks like a 3 duc sweep maybe this time around. Not saying those riders, more the duc's in the pond.

What a combo; slicks, wet track, a desperate rider, an experienced rider, and when he went out to get away from the pack, on a cold track, cold tires cooling off from the warmers, another crash, but this time, snap the forks off, last bike for Sunday morning practice, it's back together, but new forks, snapped/cracked frame. Rules say?

Team46 might be the next Penske and dominate like he did the Indy 500 series. But then again, I'm looking at the home field practice track. I know the Beast can sustain a full race mentally, physically too, don't know about the stamina with this fresh round. Might pick them off if it's dry. Can't remember if he can rain ride?

I'm not about to choose Sunday's winner. I'll say Basti gets a good start, Maybe top 5 when it all settles in on the first lap. I'll just watch his tire work and pick them off later. Then again, can't throw it away and lose points.

The way Alex is racing, I'd like to see the outcome of each race, and watch the struggle chasing the big one.

I know its tough and will never comprehend whats involved at the premier level of any sport, but gee I'm getting tired of Marquez crashing.

He had just come through Q1 off Millers coat tails and had the massive advantage of understanding the tricky track conditions.
Then he doesn't make it past a couple of corners of the Q2 sighting lap before yet another high side.
Advantage and confidence gone.
Result?
Marquez P12 out of 12.

And the other rider through from Q1 topped Q2!

I might be starting to lose the faith and Hub might be right yet again.

Honda have some big challenges ahead...

MM is like a top fuel engine, just down one cylinder. He's going to pop one off tomorrow and take a chance staying up. I'd be on the plane the same day I announced I need to go under the knife to regain my body's mobility. So that explains his performance. Stuck with a bad residual.

If the rumor is true, the behind the scenes getting all this scheduling and conferencing going on, the suz press release, a run to Mir to replace MM for the year, it might turn out Honda is back up front with someone capable. Seats are locked in with a few factory teams, typical drama in motogp.

Without saying, always the beast for the win, but I want to see that duc sweep in Italy. Basti, Pecco, Gresini, or team46, for the Italian rider sweep too.

Getting back to MM, this might be his last race, so rip one off for the books, MM.

Well, I would have lost Grn's money on that bet. Can't even have the roulette wheel stop on 3D. The beast went backwards, but to see him chip away the laps and coming up on them. Let's say Alex gives good input to bring that bike to that level? That guy is on a roll. Going to be something to see who wins this year. Can't take anything away from Qman.

Italian, French, and Spain podium round. Where the goombah go?

Marquez announced that after the Italian GP he's flying to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota to get another surgery on his right arm and shoulder. He's done for the season. We'll see if he ever fully regains his form.
Big news that the Satellite Yamaha team is switching to Aprilia. It's starting to look like nobody wants to ride the Yamaha anymore.

Mad

It's starting to look like nobody wants to ride the Yamaha anymore.

Marquez gone!
This season only, or pretty much for good?
This time he will recuperate for as long as it takes which will probably affect next season so the future is not great for him.
And WTF are Honda going to do now?
Miller, Mir, Rins next season but what about now?
Will a Suzuki rider desert a sinking ship early?

With the Suzuki and Marquez saga's, it's hard to see how the 2022 season will be remembered for the right reasons.
Unless Rossi comes back...

* Last updated by: yannih on 6/2/2022 @ 2:43 AM *

I think Marc may be done for the season. But he still wants to come back next year. He was saying that, with his arm right now, he can't ride the way he wants.
Quatararo signed with Yamaha for 2 more years. Yamaha needs to build a faster bike to attract more top riders. Otherwise they're going to find themselves in Hondas position. Having a motorcycle only one person can ride.
The competition for next years factory Ducati ride is getting fierce. Miller is an outstanding rider and an even better teammate. But his results may not save him. Pecco already signed for 2 more years. Right now you'd have to give Bastaini a hard look.

Mad

Espargaro.
WTF???

DOH !!!!!! A completely rookie move by someone who should have known better. You can bet he won't
make that mistake again. But he's showing that the Aprilia is the real deal. It would have been his 5th
podium in a row.
Miller out at Ducati, looks like Enea will take his place. Miller is rumored to be Binders teammate
next year on the factory KTM.
Bagnaia just has no luck. Either throws away wins or gets taken out by others mistakes. When we were in
Catalunya in 2006 a similar crash happened. Capirossi hit his brake lever on someons tail section and looped
his Ducati taking down a bunch of people.

Mad

Plus I am completely amazed that there wasn't more recognition on Nakagami and the potential extend of what injuries he could have endured after the early race incident.

Watch the sickening replay.

Nakagami Crash

A split second after losing the front, Nakagami's head contacts Bagnaia's spinning rear tyre.
On contact his helmet grips the rubber tyre and snaps violently up vertically.
It then stops abruptly when it contacts the bottom of the bikes rear tail unit.
And watch the visor fly off!

Nakagami could so easily have broken his neck in that incident.

Thank goodness is was not really seriously injured...

* Last updated by: yannih on 6/7/2022 @ 8:52 PM *

Taka actually hit Bagnaia not Enea. But yeah it looked brutal. I think he's ok.

Mad