MM and Acosta on LCR KTMs?

[KungFooBob]

https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10315 ... OAQWOfP6Rg

Bit of a pipe dream, or not?

[weeksy]

Oh yes please... the KTM now seems like it's good enough to be able to run at the pointy end with a decent rider... I'd like to see either/both.

[mangocrazy]

ChrisW linked to a podcast where a german guy was interviewing Simon Crafar over the course of about 3 hours, and in that he made the point that there is a distinct possibility that if Marquez jumps ship, then it's not inconceivable that Honda will quit MotoGP, which no-one wants. Simon's view was that Yamaha and Honda both need concessions and both need to start cherry-picking the best engineers in MotoGP (and F1) and actually listen to them and let them have free rein. Honda historically don't respond well to having their noses put out of joint; look at their chequered history in F1.

[Yorick]

The King and the pretender to the throne. Dream team and Acosta will learn a lot.

But a right kick in the teeth for Honda. Losing the best rider and the whole support team.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I'd be surprised if anyone would pay MM to ride their motorcycles, he's no longer competitive, I'm not sure he'd make a good development rider either as he doesn't appear to know why he keeps crashing.

[mangocrazy]

I'd be surprised if anyone would pay MM to ride their motorcycles, he's no longer competitive, I'm not sure he'd make a good development rider either as he doesn't appear to know why he keeps crashing.

I'd disagree with the first part of your post - he's still competitive, but the Honda is a dog and he has to over-ride it to a ridiculous degree to compete. However a large part of the blame for the Honda being a dog must be placed at MM's door, as he is the lead, in fact only, development rider. What Marc wants, Marc gets and that has led Honda down a development dead end. Alex Rins has complained that his development input has been ignored, which is why he's likely to jump ship to Yamaha. Honda have listened to MM to the exclusion of all other riders and that is one of the reasons they're in the mess they currently find themselves in.

[weeksy]

I'd be surprised if anyone would pay MM to ride their motorcycles, he's no longer competitive, I'm not sure he'd make a good development rider either as he doesn't appear to know why he keeps crashing.

I'd disagree with the first part of your post -

I'd disagree with all of his post myself.

[mangocrazy]

I'd be surprised if anyone would pay MM to ride their motorcycles, he's no longer competitive, I'm not sure he'd make a good development rider either as he doesn't appear to know why he keeps crashing.

I'd disagree with the first part of your post -

I'd disagree with all of his post myself.

I'd say that a fit (both mentally and physically) MM is as fast as anyone on the grid and possibly faster. But he's not only suffering physically right now, his head was all over the place at Assen. He will have had 5 weeks to get fit and get his head sorted, so it will be very interesting to see what version of MM shows up at Silverstone. I doubt the Honda will have improved much, if at all though.

But I still reckon he's a poor development rider. His abilities allow him to do stuff, and get away with stuff, that even exceptional riders can't manage. So his input will be based on his abilities and not those of a 'normal' MotoGP rider.

[weeksy]

But I still reckon he's a poor development rider.

I can't see how we could make that assumption. Considering he's only ridden 1 bike and Honda are arguably rubbish at accepting feedback if we believe all of that stuff.. So he can't 'develop' the bike anyway.

[mangocrazy]

But I still reckon he's a poor development rider.

I can't see how we could make that assumption. Considering he's only ridden 1 bike and Honda are arguably rubbish at accepting feedback if we believe all of that stuff.. So he can't 'develop' the bike anyway.

I guess it depends on whether you think Honda accept any input from their riders, or the engineers just follow whatever development path they see fit. What is indisputable is that MM is the only rider who has been able to make the bike work (up to a point) in the last 5 or 6 years. Once MM joined the works Honda team, Dani's results dropped off and the only other riders who have won on the Honda are Cal Crutchlow and Alex Rins's one-off at Austin.

So if Honda did take note of MM's input, then he's not much cop (comparatively) as a development rider. If they didn't, it's all on Honda. But frankly I do wonder why you'd pay your star rider £15 million a year (or whatever the figure is) and then ignore his input.

Contrast this with results at KTM since they employed Dani as a test rider. He's been instrumental in turning their fortunes around.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

I'd be surprised if anyone would pay MM to ride their motorcycles, he's no longer competitive, I'm not sure he'd make a good development rider either as he doesn't appear to know why he keeps crashing.

I'd disagree with the first part of your post -

I'd disagree with all of his post myself.

We'll see, if he gets a paid ride for another manufacturer then I'm wrong, if I was running Honda's race team I'd be giving him his P45, but I don't think there's any danger of anyone letting me run a race team.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Contrast this with results at KTM since they employed Dani as a test rider. He's been instrumental in turning their fortunes around.

And before he worked for KTM he was at Honda for a very long time, when they were winning races.

[mangocrazy]

Contrast this with results at KTM since they employed Dani as a test rider. He's been instrumental in turning their fortunes around.

And before he worked for KTM he was at Honda for a very long time, when they were winning races.

There's an argument to be made that once MM came on board at Honda, and the big H started following his lead, the bike changed character so that only MM could win on the thing.

[ChrisW]

I'd love it to happen - Marquez & Acosta on KTMs - but in direct contradiction we also have this from Pierer himself (I know, silly season and all that) :

https://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/2 ... Thema.html

[Yorick]

I'd love it to happen - Marquez & Acosta on KTMs - but in direct contradiction we also have this from Pierer himself (I know, silly season and all that) :

https://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/2 ... Thema.html

It's in Forrin

[weeksy]

I'd love it to happen - Marquez & Acosta on KTMs - but in direct contradiction we also have this from Pierer himself (I know, silly season and all that) :

https://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/2 ... Thema.html

Very very honest interview

[Yorick]

Don't seem to want MM

https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/10316 ... 024-lineup

[Supermofo]

However a large part of the blame for the Honda being a dog must be placed at MM's door, as he is the lead, in fact only, development rider. What Marc wants, Marc gets and that has led Honda down a development dead end. Alex Rins has complained that his development input has been ignored, which is why he's likely to jump ship to Yamaha. Honda have listened to MM to the exclusion of all other riders and that is one of the reasons they're in the mess they currently find themselves in.

The Honda became really shit after MM monkeyed himself. Prior to that MM was king and some Honda riders could win on it, but it was a bike that suited MM to a T. During his recovery Honda were lost and got worse. They had riders who couldn't ride MM bike and no input from MM as he didn't ride for the best part of 2 years. And sounds like they went the wrong way and have continued to do so since. MM hasn't had a single season to do anything, but from his comments Honda stopped it working for him in order to help other riders but have failed at that too. To get an idea of how at sea Honda are you only have to look at them getting someone else to build them a frame!! This is Honda!!!!

So I suspect whilst MM probably isn't the best development rider he's not been able to develop anything as his not been riding. This is his first proper season back since his crash. Add to that the limited development allowed in the rules and the fact that MM has missed a lot of those tests I reckon it's Honda more than him. The last bike MM developed went from near last to first in the race he spannered himself, which suggests that was working for him when he developed it.

Plus Honda have previous with ''Rider necessary faster". I wonder what happened when they last had a multiple world champ on their hands That ended well!