This looks the race of the year. There is going to be chances galore I would expect, are the points leader back in the pack. I expect Aleix to take chances no matter what.

Cough, Rossi is rolling out the talent and when they hit the field [not his place] they clean up, show potential. Marco, I hope is hungry and does something. Probably have the Beast cool his tires in 2nd for most of the race. Love to see Mav smear it in Lyn's face.

Vietti is a Mooney46 Groomed in moto2. Going to keep an eye on him jumping to gp. Where are my 3 duc's in a row, tomorrow? Soon to be 3 Mooney's filling the podiums.

Figures I'd fall asleep. Woke up as they were interviewing Pecco. The odds of 3 duc's in a row has yet to pan out. Mav stuck it to them.

What happen to Lowes in moto2? He binned enough bikes to deplete the truck load of parts they bring for this guy?

Pecco did a good job of holding off Vinales then Bastaini. I kept expecting him to make some kind of mistake. Looks like Ducati got the right guy in signing The Beast. Luca looked good for 4th, tying for his best finish.
I think Sam Lowes is injured again.
I keep hoping Jackass can have a good race without some kind of mistake, but he keeps letting me down.

Mad

* Last updated by: Maddevill on 9/4/2022 @ 2:00 PM *

Thanks, Madd. I usually have my fanatic friend keep me up on things, gp wise. Well, year is not over, but that was a close race. Might change Enea's name to 'Sandbagger.' That boy is playing with Pecco. Equal bikes next year is the team to watch. Money is on the cherry picker.

Well Hub, again you and the factory Ducati team are on the mark with the Beast!
Amazing race and result.
And now he's also working himself back into Championship contention as well.
With a little more consistency he will be a major threat next year.

Miller just keeps letting himself and us down.
Last race a crash out of P1 and this race a fade out of the podium positions.
4th-6th seems to be his place in MotoGP.
Shame.
Perhaps he is close but doesn't quite have it.
I always wondered if Ducati did the right thing letting him go but it's now obvious they have nailed it!

And of all riders to be knocked out of the race on lap 1, it couldn't have been more costly than to happen to Qman.
His solid lead in the Championship is now all but gone.
Hopefully his amazing skill will see him edge his lead back out again.

Yet another amazing performance from Espargaro on the Aprilia to just grab the last podium spot at the end.
By far the guy and manufacturer who I hope wins the whole shabang this year but unlikely with the Ducati juggernaut in such hot form.

Pecco is starting to be Mr Consistent and reaping the rewards towards the Championship race.
Strange why the Beast wasn't given Ducati team orders to let their main factory rider prevail who is the main hope for the Championship and to get his 5th straight win with as many points as possible?
Those few points may just make the all the difference in the end.

I have a theory on Marquez.
He sold his soul to the Devil for 8 incredible World Championships but as payment is now cursed with injury and being involved in any and every piece of poor luck / negative incident on the race track ongoing.
This last race being no exception.

But the last few races in 2022 will be super exciting with such close competition for the riders Championship.
May the best man win.

Go Aprilia and Espargaro...

Exactly, yannih. Miller is a wash up, IMO. Talented riders, state of the air factory bikes, literally 100's of seconds between brands is the competition, and use Miller as an example of brilliant riding, but the consistency is not there. More like flash racing. A few laps of world beating times and the next lap is a position being another backmarker at the end.

The south african on the ktm came out of nowhere in yesterday's race, is a podium contender, and fades back. A moto2 disappointment was Remi, and his team mate of last year. Both are so bad leaving moto2, it's like what happened?

I love this one. Mav tosses it away first time this year. Don't know if he was in any physical damage, doubt it to be cleared to race after a crash. Alexis crashes in practice, makes a comment about 'brain block,' aka head game, takes one for the team and gathers points with a clear head.

MM comes back and is on the top of the time sheet first practice? Racing is so dynamic as to have this incident happen, the points being so close. Qman struggling, turns out to be the top of the heap if not equal to the 'sandbagger.'

Pecco is not fast. Basti's faster. He's playing with Pecco. Every race [it seems] that guy is in, he just eats away at each sector catching up on his mistakes to win.

RR is a crasher.
Qman is not.
Basti is more the tires taking him out in practice.
Alexis is not a crasher, but is on one of those missions happening in his fate. No brain block for this guy.

The 3 that float to the top for me are Basti is king of the comebacks. Alexis for the mindset. Qman for riding the wheels of a non-competitive bike. Those 3 deserve the prize at the end of the year.

As far as Pecco and his wins, yeah, he's on the best bike out there, has the talent to be on the bike, but I don't know, that Beast is something else.

Pecco needs to spy on Bastiani and figure out how he makes his tires last. Enea gets stronger as the race goes on
I'm betting Fabio wishes Marc never returned. I think maybe Marc was just trying a little too hard. Took out two Yamahas in one lap. Impressive. Good riding by Rins to avoid running over Fabio when he bellyflopped
Things are getting tight now. Phillip Island will be interesting since it's a fast track and the Yamaha isn't. But Fabio is fast in corners, sooooo?
But first, Japan. Ohayo gozaimasu !

Mad

* Last updated by: Maddevill on 9/19/2022 @ 9:58 AM *

I'm ready for a rain race, this might be the place. Different ball game if that happens

* Last updated by: Hub on 9/22/2022 @ 10:54 AM *

Wet riders lead the pack. MM is one of those. Brain block is not in his mindset. But my panic button watching MM kink over past 60° meets double vision each time out, he is for sure in the mix. I'd like to see him keep adding to his record and pass, cough, that guy for wins. I think he could catch up on that number, with less years racing.

He's one of those meaning, he's like, cough, that guy, and won't count him out. I want to see the top 3 try to pass MM for the win. My [Grn] money is on MM, Pecco, and one of the runners for points, say Aleix, who I think deserves the championship.

* Last updated by: Hub on 9/24/2022 @ 6:35 PM *

cough, that guy

Yeah, nice work from my boy MM93.
Wish the forecast was rain for the race.

Qman and Pecco nowhere.
Should be interesting watching the required charge through the field.

And Miller the wet specialist was mediocre yet again.
I thought he would have thrown 105% at this qualifying with a pole or crash due to conditions that favour him and nothing to lose.

And 303 km/h in the wet?
Those boys are another breed!

* Last updated by: yannih on 9/24/2022 @ 5:43 AM *

Ah, I forgot Zarco. His second moto2 championship? Smoked the field in the wet. Every time it rains it rains, french fries from heaven. All of a sudden it feels easier like before to pick who winds up in the pen. So MM, Zarco, now it gets interesting.

Who will windup second or third? Wouldn't it be nice to see the rain bros on the podium, Marc and Alex. Maybe first practice was he 6th? He's like the Beast with the tire preservation and then pounces. But he's more the pick'em off starting from the back lap after lap type.

And then there's hot and cold. Don't remember if he has something for the field like MM does or Rossi could. See what rehab can do for you? Was that word trigger therapy by any chance?

I'll go with Mav to close the pen's gate.

Oh look, Moe! Pray for rain gods showed up

Well so much for not checking the weather. Not a cloud in the sky. Blue is going to choose the Beast.

* Last updated by: Hub on 9/24/2022 @ 8:02 PM *

And Miller the wet specialist was mediocre yet again.
I thought he would have thrown 105% at this qualifying with a pole or crash due to conditions that favour him and nothing to lose.

Bravo! At least someone caught a fish for the bucket. Every one of mine got off the hook.

Not the right night to go to dinner with the team. Probably, everyone raise their plate and toss the pasta on Pecco. What a fucking idiot. Go figure, the hot and cold consistency kicked in this round. That fucking ape again, walled?

Championship brings drama. Only way Qman loses points is getting banged off the bike. Slow bike but dependable. Qman is no crasher, so all he has to do is gather point. Pecco is his own problem. The Beast could finish them off if he was only consistently up there. Aleix has a bike problem about to nag him now? Not now!

Going to be fun watching this go down.

-edit-

Did you see Crutch hug Miller in the pen? I think it was you... and then they panned away. I'll finish it off... owe my wife dinner again.

* Last updated by: Hub on 9/25/2022 @ 4:53 PM *

Miller just killed it. He was in his own race. More than 5 seconds in the end.
Pecco did what he does too often. An unforced error....again. He'd already be a World Champion if he minimized his mistakes. He needs to take lessons from Fabio. He rides smart most of the time. Good to see Marc at least finish the race.
I was impressed with Binder. He wasn't mentioned at all until he was fighting for the podium

Mad

Good to see Marc at least finish the race.

6th in points before the operation.
1000 days later 16th in the points.
2nd row all season qualifying so the double vision is to stay up, don't crash.
Marc for next year, does not need to win a race, he'll collect points because of the inconsistent up front.
Might just pass Rossi with less years at it.

Speaking about old; search, "Winning: The racing life of Paul Newman."

Bezziecchi and Pecco should be a good race between those two. Top 3 qualifies podium, maybe a duc sweep this round, like mirrors the race tomorrow.

It's unreal how many duc's do not make a sweep of it. Yep, all the if this and if that were only lined up with the stars, MM would have won that but they are going backwards with this so called project. Got caught wit me pants down I didn't catch Miguel. Next time.

So, Pecco and Fabio 2 points apart. Shit, even Miller has a shot now ! I'm sure it was hard to guess at wet settings when all the practices were dry. Especially for Aprilia with a very different bike so they couldn't use information from previous years. Both Pecco and Fabio can't afford to make any more mistakes.
Bring on Phillip Island.

Mad

Got caught wit me pants down I didn't catch Miguel.

Well, the yannih curse is alive and well.
I write off Jack Miller and he comes back with a 1st and 2nd and storms back into championship contention.
And Phillip Island next which he loves!

Qman's luck with the weather finally ran out.
Last year rain was predicted in several races but never eventuated so Qman took advantage.
If it rains in 1 or 2 of the last 2022 races he is done.

Espargaro still there but just.

Should be fun watching the season wind up...

Lastly, lets see if I can use my curse for good.
Miller cannot win the 2022 World Championship!!!

Alex Marquez must be coming out of his shell. Looks good in practice. Fermin Aldeguer [moto2] is another pick of the litter. Kind of hot and cold but with potential. Going with this kid coming up in the ranks. Though what is behind him are a few contenders as well, but he's more of an instinctive pick like the Beast.

The typical multi-time champions you just don't count out The Bin. A 62° save, probably will be standard saves thru the race. Though Qman is top dog when it comes to not crashing. Maybe one or two 3-sweeps for practice times, but the podium in a race with all those duc's in a row? No. 4 to go.

Probably Miller would be a nice wedding present and another bonus check, but I can't count out the Bin. Plus, I know it takes at least a year to even be close to 100% as if it never happened, so if he doesn't double vision out in the next 4 races, I think I'll go after MM just for the will to win. Don't bring that into the box, I'd stay home.

So it's in no certain order, but Miller having a home advantage, MM because that's just the same old record breaker and pass, gulp, Rossi. The third slot, I'd love to see Mav on the podium, just to make Lyn smell like urine, as Mav pulls out the old mighty rev counter and aims well.

Facking Marquezes everywhere ya look !
So Alex didn't give a very good wedding present to Miller at the bottom of Lukey Heights. Unless whiplash is acceptable. I'm not sure what happened but he was way out of control and was lucky to not take down several riders
Quatararo suddenly looking mortal, 2 unforced errors put Pecco in the drivers seat.
Riders I was impressed by
Rins- if only he could ride like that every weekend.
Marky Mark- showing he's almost back to his best
Bastaini- unbelievable late race pace. Needs to qualify better

So things are suddenly very different. We'll see how things go now that the pressure has switched to Bagnaia.

Mad

Wad a chokefest. The top points chasers are tossing their hopes away. Looks like it's a duc dream team if they had The Beast and Martin. Pecco is going to blow it or show it. WSB is going down to the wire with duc winning both GP and WSB in one year. They were that close to winning it all.

I put my foot in my mouth with Martin. If Honda does not go V4 I don't know if they are going to catch those two next year. Qman is one brilliant rider. I know team duc has been swimming in dry pond for years, but the way Qman has been running his program out on the track, it's a tossup.

Anyone watching WSB and that finish? Same or GP.

So I heard the reason for AM t-boning Miller at Phillip Island. Apparently he had complete brake failure.
Not much you can do in that situation.
Bagnaia finally not making mistakes. He rode a good race at Sepang. I was more impressed with Fabio. Riding with a broken finger and a slow bike but he's keeping the pressure on. He certainly is riding like a champion.
Aleix and Bastaini out so it's a 2 way fight in Valencia
Ai Ogura should have settled for 2nd in Moto2. He's usually not the kind of rider to make bad decisions.

Mad

* Last updated by: Maddevill on 10/25/2022 @ 10:48 AM *

Congratulations to Pecco and Ducati on winning the title. H
Set a record for the largest points comeback in motive history.
Fabio rode and behaved like a true champion. He shows class at all times.
And what can you say about Miller. Right there at parc ferme with the team celebrating Peccos title.
KTM is going to benefit from him being with them.
Also congratulations to Augusto Fernandez for the Moto2 title. He took it right to the end. Ogura will be back
next year with more experience and I expect him to be a title contender.

Now what am I going to do for entertainment ???

Mad