2014 MotoGP Thread
 

I grew up watching Formula 1 in the UK and last year began a romance with MotoGP.

I started to enjoy MotoGP for a couple of reasons;

-my new interest in bikes
-the documentaries Faster (2003) and Fastest (2011)
-the bite-size length of each race means you don't have to make a huge time investment to follow each race

The biggest thing for me though was watching Fastest. For people unfamiliar with the series, riders and technology, this movie gives you all the context you need to start enjoy the series right away.


Final 2013 Rider Standings

1 - Marquez (Spain) Honda
2 - Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha
3 - Pedrosa (Spain) Honda
4 - Rossi (Italy) Yamaha
5 - Crutchlow (UK) Tech 3

2014 MotoGP Calendar

Round 1: 23 March Qatar* Doha/Losail
Round 2: 13 April Americas Austin
Round 3: 27 April Argentina Termas de Rio Hondo
Round 4: 04 May Spain Jerez de la Frontera
Round 5: 18 May France Le Mans
Round 6: 1 June Italy Mugello
Round 7: 15 June Catalunya Barcelona - Catalunya
Round 8: 28 June Netherlands** TT Assen
Round 9: 13 July Germany Sachsenring
Round 10: 10 August Indianapolis GP Indianapolis
Round 11: 17 August Czech Republic Brno
Round 12: 31 August Great Britain Silverstone
Round 13: 14 September San Marino & Riviera di Rimini Marco Simoncelli Misano
Round 14: 21 September Aragon MotorLand Aragon
Round 15: 28 September Brazil (STH) Brasilia
Round 16: 12 October Japan Motegi
Round 17: 19 October Australia Phillip Island
Round 18: 26 October Malaysia Sepang
Round 19: 09 November Valencia Ricardo Tormo-Valencia

*night race
**Saturday race

Welcome aboard, hold on to your pants and enjoy the ride.

Some highlights from the 2012 season to get everybody excited ...

Fastest is available on netflix fyi :)

If anyone is undeserving of a factory ride it's Dani Pedrosa. He's the smallest guy on the fastest bike, yet watching him is like watching old people fuck. He rides safe, doesn't take any risks and is boring as shit to watch. I can only imagine how exciting the sport would be if Stoner didn't retire and Simoncelli didn't die. Every weekend we'd have Marquez and Supersic running into everyone on track and Vale, Lorenzo and Stoner fighting them for the podium. How glorious that would be :okay:



RIP Supersic :(

pic was taken by a fellow RSer - rare moment between Dovizioso and Simoncelli. they've been bitter rivals since they were kids in the 125 class

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.n...78417037_n.jpg

No Laguna Seca this year?

Not enough sponsorship dollars to support three events in the US, especially with markets like Qatar coming online.... :(

MotoGP not returning to Laguna Seca in 2014 - MontereyHerald.com :

Yea I figured that was probably the reason. Disappointing, I was hoping to go this year :(

laguna is hosting WSBK from now on instead, which is more exciting than motogp anyways :D

plus moto2 and moto3 never raced in laguna either so we're not missing that much.

Anyone following pre-season testing in Malaysia right now? Marquez just smashed the track record by 0.4 sec to be the first person ever to break the 2 minute barrier at Sepang. Edit: nvm, Stoner hit 1:59.6 during 2012 testing.

And I'm really excited to see Aleix Espargaro doing so well on his new bike. The FTR chassis with a leased Yamaha M1 motor is going to be a powerful package. He's coming within a tenth of the top factory Yamaha, which is a huge testament to not only his skill but just how much power the Open Class bikes are squeezing out of the extra 4 Liters of fuel they get compared to factory and satellite teams (24L as opposed to 20L).
Looking forward to how the new rules will play out this year.

Times after day 2 of testing (Marquez is a beast lol):

1 MARQUEZ M. Repsol Honda Team 1:59.926
2 PEDROSA D. Repsol Honda Team +0.410
3 BRADL S. LCR Honda MotoGP +0.413
4 ROSSI V. Yamaha Factory Racing +0.538
5 ESPARGARO A. NGM Mobile Forward Racing +0.621
6 LORENZO J. Yamaha Factory Racing +0.647
7 SMITH B. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +0.677
8 IANNONE A. Pramac Racing +0.929
9 ESPARGARO P. Monster Yamaha Tech 3 +1.135
10 BAUTISTA A. GO&FUN Honda Gresini +1.184
11 DOVIZIOSO A. Ducati Team +1.220
12 CRUTCHLOW C. Ducati Team +1.470

I guess the only real question this year is can Marquez repeat? I think the safe bet is yes. Pedrosa can't and wont put it all together yet again and who knows what he will be like without puig looking over his shoulder every moment. Lorenzo can be dominate but the honda is the best bike still, especially as the Yamaha seems to struggling with the new fuel restrictions.

I know it's not motogp but for those interested wsbk starts next Sunday at Phillip island.

Just ordered the dvd double pack for faster and fastest! :gayfight:

Do you think BMW pulled the factory team to prepare for MotoGP entry into the open class? I thought it was weird that they would leave sbk especially since they were doing so good.

It would be nice, but I suspect not. They've flirted with entering Motogp before and canned it because of the costs involved.

but if they entered as a CRT, that would bring the cost down a lot.

CRT is dead it's now called the open class. ;) yes it's cheaper, but it's still very expensive and it's still not likely to have any kind of pay off.

weird, they ditched crt? does it still have the same "benefits" of CRT?

The Newspeak of MotoGP?s Rules for 2014

basically.. the open bikes or "factory option" as they are called in the link still get concessions on number of engines and fue limit but must run a stock ECU and software. I don't know if they'll get a softer tire like they did last year.

that FTR with the M1 motor is hauling ass. with 24L of fuel i wouldn't be surprised if it starts passing factory hondas down the straight lol

Gotta say Happy Birthday to The Doctor!

http://static.webshopapp.com/shops/0...tle-helmet.jpg

Marquez broke his leg.

Soup :: World Champ Marquez Breaks Leg In Dirt Track Crash :: 02-20-2014

QATAR FP1 STARTS IN 8 HOURS JELKA;JFDLAFHEADSKLJFHEIAPHDSOJFXKLFJLAEJ;HSDEAKDF HKEADSFL;JAELKJA;DSLJ

3 hours now :)

qualifying was friggin intense. i feel so bad for aleix though :(