| Author | Message | ||
     Rocketman |
I did say Marquez is a wizard on a bike! Consistently beating is not a measure of Marquez's talent against Rossi as we've only seen him ride the Honda, which for likely all the seasons whilst he's raced in Moto GP has been and still is the dominant bike! Until we see Marquez win on an inferior bike, taking such to a world title as Rossi (Yamaha) and Stoner (Ducati) have, he remains the rider on track with typically the best bike and advantage all through his Moto GP career, so we are unable to compare all aspects of his brilliance until he steps off the Honda for something slightly inferior. Rocket in England | ||
| Jaimec |
Technically, before 2017, the Honda WAS the inferior bike. I'm just amazed Marquez hasn't killed or maimed himself yet, as his race laps look like one saved crash after another. On another subject, any rumors on Pedrosa's future? | ||
| Rocketman |
Technically? According to who? Rocket in England | ||
| Rocketman |
2011 RC212V The two-pronged approach was unbeatable and led to Honda domination of the sort not seen since Rossi left. Stoner took ten wins and never finished off the podium, Pedrosa another three, and Honda romped away with both the rider’s and manufacturer’s titles. 2012 RC213V The factory bike was hard to argue with – it won 12 of the year’s 18 races – but Jorge Lorenzo took the remaining six and, thanks to incredible consistency that meant he never finished lower than second, won the rider’s title for Yamaha. Honda took the manufacturers’ crown, though. 2013 RC213V Again, it was the bike to beat, delivering Marquez the title on his debut season. 2014 RC213V In terms of result, the Honda was perfect from day one. Marquez achieved a remarkable 10 straight victories at the start of the season, with three more in the second half, to romp to the title. A resurgent Rossi on the Yamaha made the end of the season a generational battle, but couldn’t do anything to overcome the enormous lead of the Honda. 2015 RC213V On track, even Marc Marquez couldn’t do enough to beat Yamaha in 2015. While Rossi and Lorenzo duked it out for the title, the Honda man trailed in a distant third. 2016 RC213V Perhaps proving that steady evolution is the best route to success, the almost invisible changes were still enough to hoist the Honda back to the top of the pack in 2016, with Marquez taking his third title on the machine. 2017 RC213V Marc and Dani began the weekend on Friday night with a dinner party at Tokyo’s Shangri-La Hotel, celebrating the conquest of the Riders, Constructors, and Team World Championships Source :- https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-vie ws/features/racing/15-years-of-motogp---part-one-- -honda With the exception of 2015 it's impossible to argue Marquez has not had the dominating bike. Rocket in England | ||
| Pwnzor |
The Honda dominates when Marquez rides it. Not so much with somebody else, I think. We shall see what 2019 brings with Lorenzo. | ||
| Jaimec |
What Pwnzor said. Don't look at Marquez' results. Look at what everyone else riding the Honda was accomplishing. It's like saying during the Stoner years, Ducati built the best bike. | ||
| Crusty |
It's like saying during the Stoner years, Ducati built the best bike. They did for Stoner... | ||
| Jaimec |
A little history on the most successful MotoGP racer who NEVER won a title: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/even-with-zero-moto gp-titles-pedrosa-has-options-for-2019-beyond/ | ||
| Jaimec |
Crusty, only in 2007 when Ducati's desmodromic valve train gave them a leg-up on RPM and fuel consumption over the rest of the grid. After that, the bike got progressively worse and worse and Stoner had to wring its neck to get anything out of it. Just compare his performance during those years to those of the other Ducati riders and you'll see the same disparity we see now between Marquez and the other riders on Hondas. | ||
| Rocketman |
Excuse me but, the Honda was the best bike before Marquez jumped ion it. It's churlish to suggest Marquez made it a winning bike when Honda's accolades extend far beyond just Marquez's achievements on it. As always, the opinions here are blinkered. Some things never change. 2002 RC211V to 2018 RC213V, works Honda's have won 109 races. Does not include wins by satellite team bikes. No other manufacturer comes close. 37 of these wins are Marquez over 6 seasons - the other 72 wins are across 11 seasons including those where where Rossi dominates for Honda and 7 seasons where Honda don't have the best riders until Stoner joins, which kinda proves the point Marquez is on the best bike. That would be the Honda with the exception of the Yamaha's dominance, but even then Hayden still managed to bag (just) a title on the Honda in 2006. We all know the Honda is typically the bike to beat every season and has been since the four stroke era. Of course, there are seasons when the opposition catch up and beat Honda, but Honda always return to winning ways. This is why the likes of Dovi, Pedrosa, Stoner, Marquez want the Honda, and now Lorenzo's gonna give it a go too. I wonder why   Rocket in England | ||
| Jaimec |
I would point out that right now, Marquez may be leading in rider's points but... which TEAM has the most points? | ||
| Pwnzor |
That... would be... Yamaha. | ||
| Jaimec |
Lorenzo is looking pretty damned ominous right now... | ||
| Crusty |
Isn't an ominous one of those double deckers that drive around the streets of London? Why would he want to look like a bus? | ||
| Pwnzor |
 | ||
| Rocketman |
Lorenzo Honda deal on ice! Breaking news, running his own team.  Might be flake news though Rocket in England | ||
| Big_dog |
One of the best races I've watched in a long time!!! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Assen delivers yet again. Spectacular race. Riveting the entire way thru. Nice of Jorge to brake check the GOAT. Uncalled for! | ||
| Pwnzor |
Most definitely packed with edge-of-your-seat action. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
MM usually goes with the harder tire options which come in during the second half of the race when the softer tires are starting to fall off. Pretty sure this explains at least some of what happened the last few laps at Assen. He left those boys in the proverbially dust. Hell of a race as has been mentioned. | ||
| Jaimec |
First shoe has dropped: Aspar will be the new Yamaha satellite team for 2019 onward. Next week we'll see what Dani decides to do. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Dani has options? In GP? I noticed he was riding in 19th place a one point on the same factory Honda MM was going to eventually check out on. He seemingly has lost it. | ||
| Jaimec |
I think the Yamaha would be an easier bike for him to ride. HRC has been developing the bike around MM's style which seems to be killing it for anyone else attempting to tame it. Cal Crutchlow has flashes of brilliance separated by crashes. Dani's small size and light weight seems to make it difficult for him to generate enough heat in the tires. I'd be very interested to see how he'd do on an M1. | ||
| Pwnzor |
It's got to be tough racing in Marc's shadow. | ||
| Jaimec |
It seems the motorcycling press is pretty sure Dani will be announcing his retirement tomorrow. Over the years, my feelings towards him have changed. In the years since the infamous "incident" in Portugal, I'd seen interviews with Nicky saying that he and Dani were "good" and that Dani had even promised to help him in the final round if he could. The REAL villain was Dani's old manager, Alberto Puig. It was Puig who decided to push Dani off of the Repsol team and replace him with Lorenzo. I would've LOVED to have seen Dani finish his career on a factory-supported satellite Yamaha but it's looking very likely that won't happen. That's a shame. I've a feeling Dani would've gelled better with the M1 than Lorenzo will with the RCV. I guess we'll probably never know, now. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Lorenzo may have learned point and shoot with the Ducati, so maybe he will be OK on the HOnda? Time will tel... | ||
| Jaimec |
It's official: Dani's retiring at the end of the year.  | ||
| Fresnobuell |
He has been riding like he's been retired for a while....or like a mortal 32 year old. | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm hoping he scores at least one more win (preferably at Marquez' expense) to keep his perfect scoring record alive. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Pedrosa? Winning? I think he's mentally packed it in. Probably hoping he gets thru the season without hurting himself... |
