MotoGP 2023

[Bigyin]

For years people have said HRC are making a mistake in developing a bike only Mark Marquez can ride but judging by this test it looks like they are still taking that pathway.

MM had 4 different bikes to try during the test but his team mate Joan Mir, who let’s not forget is a more recent world champion, had 2 bikes to try with one of them being a 2022 for comparison runs

[wull]

For years people have said HRC are making a mistake in developing a bike only Mark Marquez can ride but judging by this test it looks like they are still taking that pathway.

MM had 4 different bikes to try during the test but his team mate Joan Mir, who let’s not forget is a more recent world champion, had 2 bikes to try with one of them being a 2022 for comparison runs

Could be because of MM complaints about the bike last season. So they want to try more to hopefully find a package that works well and one that he likes and feels comfortable with. Joan might be easier to please at this moment.

[Skub]

Honda can't keep making a bike that hurts riders. I don't think there's been a more volatile weapon since the old stroker days.

[mangocrazy]

Honda have always had a policy of 'we know best' when it comes to designing and building bikes. Sometimes their engineers do actually make a good bike, but for several years now they've relied on Marc riding round (and thereby masking) problems. They could get away with that when the competition was not at such a high level, but the emergence of riders almost as good as or possibly as good as Marquez has shown up the deficit in bike performance. And the strides that Ducati have made (and are continuing to make) has meant that even a 100% Marc can't bridge the gap.

There's also the possibility that Marc's development input is not as otherworldly as his riding skills and he's actually been leading the designers/engineers down the wrong path.

[Bigyin]

Could be because of MM complaints about the bike last season. So they want to try more to hopefully find a package that works well and one that he likes and feels comfortable with. Joan might be easier to please at this moment.

When Cal was at LCR he was quite open to say he couldn’t ride the bike the way Marc did but changed his bike as much as HRC would allow to make it more suited to him but when he offered his opinion to make the bike easier for all the Honda riders it was the usual “Rider must go necessary faster” from management.

Fortunately for Yamaha they appear to listen to him as the M1 has made steps forward and what the boffins come up with he can work with and give feedback to improve and they seem to value his opinion

[wull]

[wull]

[wull]

[mangocrazy]

It's weird not seeing Mir in Suzuki blue.

[Yorick]

It's weird not seeing Suzuki blue.

FTFY

[Yorick]

This pic shows how stupid the ride height devices are.
May help top speed but taking them away from what a motorcycle is all about.

3269549.0008.jpg (91.55 KiB) Viewed 492 times

[mangocrazy]

They're looking less and less like motorcycles every year.

[Skub]

It's like one of those mad murcan stretched bikes.

[mangocrazy]

It's a Diavel, only much lighter and less attractive (and I don't like Diavels...)

[westers151]

They're looking less and less like motorcycles every year.

The same could be said for race bikes in the 70's and early 80's - how many production bikes looked, or sounded like GP 350 and 750?

It's a prototype class so they should look daft.

And yeah, I don't like the styling either, but I'm sure some old codger, back when he was a jack the lad, said that he didn't like them fairing nonsense. It's progress - it's bloody hideous progress, but it's progress.

[ChrisW]

It's a good point - here's Kork Ballington in 1981:



And here's the Kawasaki range brochure from the same year:

[mangocrazy]

Point taken, but during the 1990s and 2000s and even until pretty recently we'd got used to race bikes looking like very exotic and super-trick versions of sports bikes. That isn't the case in recent years.

[Yorick]

It's a good point - here's Kork Ballington in 1981:



And here's the Kawasaki range brochure from the same year:

That's the centrifugal force throwing the fairing bottom to the ground.

[Yorick]

Day 3 done.

First Jap bike in 10th place.

MM a fair way behind little brother.

Yams in 19th and 20th. But only 1.1 behind top time.

Hmmm

https://www.crash.net/motogp/results/10 ... ults-day-3

[wull]

2023 OFFICIAL SEPANG MOTOGP TEST - DAY 3 (FINAL)
RIDER NAT TEAM TIME LAP SPEED
1 ^3 Luca Marini ITA Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) 1m 57.889s 47/54 336.4
2 ^8 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP23) +0.080s 42/43 337.5
3 ^2 Maverick Viñales SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP 23) +0.147s 50/56 337.5
4 ^8 Enea Bastianini ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP23) +0.260s 37/42 335.4
5 ˅4 Jorge Martin SPA Pramac Ducati (GP23) +0.315s 24/46 336.4
6 ˅4 Aleix Espargaro SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP 23) +0.418s 13/32 337.5
7 ^8 Fabio Di Giannantonio ITA Gresini Ducati (GP22) +0.455s 47/50 333.3
8 ˅5 Marco Bezzecchi ITA Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) +0.474s 37/61 336.4
9 = Alex Marquez SPA Gresini Ducati (GP22) +0.496s 43/49 334.3
10 ˅4 Marc Marquez SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.777s 17/55 336.4
11 ˅4 Raul Fernandez SPA RNF Aprilia (RS-GP 22) +0.821s 29/47 332.3
12 ^4 Joan Mir SPA Repsol Honda (RC213V) +0.895s 40/45 332.3
13 ˅5 Pol Espargaro SPA Tech3 GASGAS (RC16) +0.908s 13/37 334.3
14 ^7 Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.923s 44/52 332.3
15 ^2 Johann Zarco FRA Pramac Ducati (GP22) +0.963s 42/50 333.3
16 ^8 Jack Miller AUS Red Bull KTM (RC16) +1.012s 41/54 333.3
17 ˅4 Miguel Oliveira POR RNF Aprilia (RS-GP 22) +1.033s 41/52 333.3
18 = Alex Rins SPA LCR Honda (RC213V) +1.043s 50/55 332.3
19 ˅5 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.054s 48/63 334.3
20 ˅9 Franco Morbidelli ITA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +1.097s 38/44 331.2
21 ˅2 Takaaki Nakagami JPN LCR Honda (RC213V) +1.646s 42/44 328.2
22 ˅2 Augusto Fernandez SPA Tech3 GASGAS (RC16)* +1.771s 32/46 330.2
23 ˅1 Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha Test Rider (YZR-M1) +2.034s 13/40 332.3
24 ˅1 Stefan Bradl GER Honda Test Rider (RC213V) +2.546s 32/43