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Post by truenorth on Nov 9, 2020 15:09:01 GMT -8
The Circuito de la Comunitat Valenciana was completed in 1999 and held rounds of the MotoGP and Spanish Motorcycle Championships in the same year. The Cheste track has several layouts, running anti-clockwise with varying lengths. MotoGP events are held on a 4km track comprising of five right handed corners, eight left handers and a 876m straight. Although the track is regarded as quite small, the pit complex contains 48 garages whilst the stadium style grandstands can seat up to 150,000 spectators. The circuit layout which allows all parts of the circuit to be seen from any stand helps to create a unique atmosphere enjoyed by Spanish and international riders alike and as the last race of the season there is always a party feeling to the Grand Prix, which was voted best GP of 2005 by IRTA. Mir made no mistake. It was a magical performance from the MotoGP™ sophomore and this win now hands Mir a wonderful lead in the Championship. Next weekend at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, we have every chance of a new World Champion being crowned on Sunday. Rins took a hard-earned P2 just six tenths from victory and it’s a result that draws him level with Quartararo in the overall standings, and it’s a 1-2 that sees Suzuki now lead the Constructor, Team and Rider Championships – the triple crown is in sight.
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Post by truenorth on Nov 9, 2020 15:35:31 GMT -8
Morbidelli: "Seeing the suffering of another Yamaha makes me feel a little better"
Rins: "I have that little thorn in it, I would have liked to fight a little with Mir"
Mir answers Rins: “If he wants to fight, I don’t; more than looking for yourself, you have to look for the brand”
Petrucci: “If I had to leave now, I’d use Michele Pirro’s setup”: “We’re trying them all, but the bike doesn’t curve. We raced without using Pirro’s data but, if I had to do the race again, I’d use them. Unfortunately, I have no rear grip.”
We have been struggling since 2017’ – Vinales
‘We are in a lot of trouble,’ says Rossi
Bagnaia: "I would have been the best Ducati rider, I was going like the Suzukis": "I crashed because I pushed too hard. I made a beginner's mistake and that's not good. I haven’t finished in the last three races. Pleased to have Marini, the Ducati is a complicated bike. I am happy to have him."
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Post by truenorth on Nov 9, 2020 15:37:02 GMT -8
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Post by truenorth on Nov 9, 2020 15:43:16 GMT -8
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Post by truenorth on Nov 9, 2020 15:57:23 GMT -8
MOTO.iT Crutchlow Yamaha test rider, Dovizioso doing MX November 9, 2020 - Cal and the Japanese manufacturer have reached an agreement: he will be the replacement for Jorge Lorenzo, not Andrea Dovizioso, whom we will hardly see in the world championship in the future. For the British, a two-year contract Yamaha and Cal Crutchlow together for two years : the news is not yet official, but it is practically certain. Crutchlow will therefore be the test driver of the Yamah a: Cal has decided, he prefers to be a test driver rather than a driver. Aprilia had contacted him - Massimo Rivola confirmed it live to moto.it - and had asked Crutchlow to wait to decide after the sentence on Andrea Iannone (on November 15, probably), but Cal preferred to anticipate the times and accept the offer from Yamaha, which he believes is more suitable for his future, for a life less stressful and demanding than that of the rider, but still with the possibility of riding a motorcycle. And Dovizioso? At this point, what will Andrea Dovizioso do? "The decision has been made, we will communicate it shortly" Andrea Dovizioso repeated throughout the weekend in Valencia. There are no certainties, but the chances that Andrea is no longer in the world championship, not even as a test rider, are very, very high: Dovizioso, in all likelihood, will dedicate himself to motocross.
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Post by truenorth on Nov 9, 2020 16:01:28 GMT -8
Eddie & Freddie
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Post by truenorth on Nov 9, 2020 16:08:07 GMT -8
BAD DECISIONS SINCE 2016 – VINALES Simon Patterson Nov 9 2020 Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales has led the latest wave of criticism from within the manufacturer’s ranks, complaining bitterly after Sunday’s European Grand Prix about the position that the team has once again found itself in. After a season in which he’s been fast on occasion and yet completely inconsistent, the pitlane start for Vinales at Valencia all but ended any title aspirations he might have had, after he was forced to serve the penalty for using a sixth engine during what became Yamaha’s weekend from hell. However, his title aspirations were arguably over well before he rode from pitlane to 13th at Valencia, thanks to the persistent issues that have plagued Yamaha not only in 2020 but since he first joined the team in 2017. “The problem is that you go from winning a race to being 14th without understanding why,” he told journalists at Valencia. “That throws your mind off a lot. Every race you have to reset, and that situation is very tiring and very frustrating. “I understand Fabio [Quartararo] because I have already experienced this for a few years at Yamaha. “I always have hope, because in the end I always end up signing with Yamaha because I believe in the project, and otherwise I would not be here. “But there are decisions that are not chosen well and then we pay for it all year long. “The problem is that it is a motorcycle with a very small working window. I like to watch previous videos, and for example in 2016, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo were first and second in any circumstance. “Take a reference from that year and the bike worked very well. Even when [Johann] Zarco was here, in many circuits he beat us [with an older-spec, 2016 bike]. “They had a motorcycle that worked on all occasions, even in the wet. Then you had a good reference, and Yamaha has bikes from previous years that were champions.” Current satellite rider and Vinales’ 2021 factory team-mate Fabio Quartararo was in complete agreement with the Spaniard. Virtually ruled out of title contention by a crash in Sunday’s race, he too knows that in reality Yamaha’s recent performances had more to do with his championship downfall than his own error. And, with the title race all but over, his goal for the remaining two races of 2020 will be to try to fix as many of the team’s issues as possible – something that’s easier said than done thanks to an engine development freeze for 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. “We know that we will start with the same base next year, but we need to see where we can improve because the others can improve every race and the result is double podium, double podium, double podium,” the Petronas SRT Yamaha rider said when asked about the situation by The Race. “We can win, but apart from at Jerez I don’t think we’ve made a double podium – and Suzuki can do it with only two bikes [as opposed to Yamaha’s four]. “We need to discuss what we need to improve. I have quite a clear idea about where we’ve already had some problems this year and where we can work better next year, but if we can avoid stupid mistakes it would be great.” Suzuki’s Joan Mir can claim the championship in next weekend’s Valencia race, having moved 37 points clear of nearest rival Quartararo by leading team-mate Alex Rins in a 1-2 yesterday. Vinales is 41 points off Mir with 50 still available, but said that even without that daunting maths Yamaha’s lack of form means he cannot think about the title. “Mir has to make a mistake and I need to win a race and finish second in another one,” he admitted after Sunday’s performance, “so I can’t even think about it. “Right now, I’m thinking about other things, because we’re very far away in speed and this is what we need to recover.”
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Post by truenorth on Nov 9, 2020 16:23:44 GMT -8
Why Suzuki’s GSX-RR is dominating MotoGP How Suzuki’s MotoGP squad is ruling MotoGP thanks to excellent man management and a bike that’s the king of compromise Mir races towards his first MotoGP victory on Sunday Suzuki AUTHOR Mat Oxley Joan Mir danced on the edge throughout Sunday’s race at Valencia, so much so that it looked like Suzuki team manager Davide Brivio might have a heart attack at any moment. But Mir and team-mate Álex Rins were able to ride that knife-edge quite happily. How come? The Grand Prix of Europe was a perfect illustration of why Suzuki is ruling this year’s MotoGP world championship. There was no fully dry track time until morning warm-up, which was too cold for any meaningful work on bike settings and tyre choice. Therefore everyone went into the race blind. Especially in these circumstances you need a balanced, well-rounded motorcycle with a wide operating range, so that even if the tyres aren’t exactly right for the conditions the rider can still make them work. You also need a bike that’s gentle but not too gentle on its tyres, which is especially important in the Michelin era. Suzuki’s GSX-RR is that machine. These same strengths have helped Suzuki through much of this Covid-affected season, which has been extra-challenging for engineers because many races have been run at unusual times of year with unusual track temperatures. There are motorcycles on the grid that have more outright performance than the Suzuki, but those bikes only operate at their best across a narrower range of conditions, so their riders only get to extract all that performance when everything is just right. These bikes therefore produce more up-and-down results. The GSX-RR doesn’t have the most outright performance but its wide operating range, its balanced, rider-friendly character and the team’s focus on all the details allow riders to take it to the limit pretty much every weekend. Hence Mir’s and Rins’ consistency, which is making everyone else look like they’re in a different championship. So far this year Mir has scored eight podiums, just two fewer than the ten achieved by Yamaha’s four riders. The GSX-RR’s friendliness also helps the bike look after its tyres. On Sunday Mir and Rins were the only top-ten finishers who ran the medium front instead of the hard. This gave them a significant advantage, because softer tyres give better feedback and therefore more warning of impending doom, so riders can feel exactly what’s going on at the tyre/track interface, which gives them the confidence to push to the very limit. Meanwhile during Sunday’s race, almost a third of the grid (six of 21 riders) most likely didn’t feel the limit, so they tripped over it and crashed out. KTM’s Pol Espargaro, the only man who could run the pace of the Suzukis, used the hard front slick, because the RC16’s character demands a harder compound front. He had to be very careful how he managed the tyre – if he didn’t do it right he knew he would either crash or be too slow. The extra feel the Suzuki gives also allows its riders to be more accurate, which helps explain Mir’s stunning consistency. From laps four to 25 he was between 1min 31.9sec and 1min 32.2sec on all but three laps! It’s impossible to attribute any of these machine characteristics to any particular aspect of the Suzuki’s design. But from the very start of the GSX-R project the bike was designed to be a well-rounded machine, rather than a weapon that’s super strong in some areas and inevitably less so in others. The most important word in motorcycle racing is compromise, because at the sky-high level of MotoGP it’s almost impossible to improve a bike in one area without hurting it in another. Therefore Suzuki technical manager Ken Kawauchi and his engineers have made the GSX-RR MotoGP’s king of compromise, carefully blending together each area of performance. “Always we say that the most important thing is the balance of the bike,” says Kawauchi. “If we only increase horsepower it’s not ideal and if we only improve turning it’s not ideal. The most important thing is that we extended the bike’s ability in all areas from 2019 to 2020.” Suzuki celebrates its first one-two since Hockenheim 1982 Suzuki Since the GSX-RR did its first race in March 2015 Suzuki has carefully tweaked the bike, always working to find more race-long performance by refining the details, rather than looking for big performance gains here or there. You might say that the way Suzuki works and the way the GSX-RR works is the exact opposite of how Ducati and the Desmosedici work. The GSX-RR’s only real handicap over the years has been a lack of horsepower. Year by year Suzuki has added a few horses here and there, only once taking a wrong turn. That was in 2017 when engineers at Hamamatsu increased crankshaft mass to improve corner-exit traction. In fact they went too far, so the bike was heavier to turn. That mistake finally convinced them that it’s better to keep taking small steps in the right direction than risking giant leaps. Perhaps the final piece of the jigsaw is Michelin’s 2020 rear slick, which suits the inline-fours – the corner-speed bikes – better than it fits the V4s. The tyre’s grip allows Mir and Rins to carry more speed out of the corners, which gives the same benefit as a few extra horsepower, reducing the straight-line advantage of the V4s. The bike’s overall strength and its ability to deal with Covid curveballs has put Mir and Rins first and third in the riders championship and Suzuki ahead in the constructors’ championship. The last time Suzuki won the constructors crown was way back in 1982, when the factory ruled 500cc GP racing with its RG500 square-four two-stroke. Indeed the RG won the title seven years in a row, from 1976. The RG is arguably the greatest machine in the history of GP racing, because it democratised the premier class for the first and last time. Suzuki equipped its official riders with factory RGs, but the bikes it sold to privateer riders often performed just as well. No wonder they were so popular – in 1977 all but four of the 32 points scorers in the 500cc world championship rode RG500s! Those were very different times. In 1979 an RG500 cost £12,000, the equivalent of £62,000 in today’s money. And with a few more grand spent on tuning the bike a privateer could compete for podium finishes. In 2020 MotoGP you’d be hard pushed to buy a year’s supply of brake discs and pads for that money. Nowadays MotoGP is incalculably more complex. Instead of a rider and his mate trucking around Europe in a van and caravan it takes a couple of hundred full-time staff to compete for victory. Which is why man-management is more important than ever. Improved machine performance doesn’t come from data, it comes from riders, technicians and engineers who know how to make the most of everything they’ve got and work together in harmony. “Suzuki work very well because I think [Davide] Brivio has made a fantastic job, fusing the work from Japan with some very strong work at the team in Italy,” says Valentino Rossi. “Especially he’s able to convince the Japanese to work together with the Europeans and Italians and they make a very strong team. It’s not the case that the bike is so fast now – I think they’ve improved with this strong work.” Brivio was the man who initiated Rossi’s move to Yamaha in 2004. There’s no doubt that he learned a lot while working with Yamaha engineer Masao Furusawa, the man who brought the factory to the forefront of four-stroke MotoGP racing, by getting the best out of his manpower and machinery. Finally, without taking anything from Suzuki’s performance we have to remember that Marc Márquez isn’t there. If the Suzuki is the machine with the widest operating window then Márquez is the rider with the widest operating window. The reigning champion can extract 100 per cent of a machine’s performance even when bike isn’t right and the tyres aren’t right. That’s why he’s been so dominant during the Michelin and Magneti Marelli era, when bikes are rarely perfect.
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Post by Pistola on Nov 9, 2020 20:44:50 GMT -8
I didn't think it could happen but it's Mir's to lose. Friggin' Joe Roberts.
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 6:53:59 GMT -8
I didn't think it could happen but it's Mir's to lose. Friggin' Joe Roberts. Suzi came from nowhere to the top of the pile. It would look good the win. Joe's just starting and that team is not the best. Next year will tell the story better.
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 6:54:59 GMT -8
Yamaha affair: the valves were different in hardness and geometry: The latest rumours cast a shadow over the declarations by the Iwata manufacturer’s management: it would not merely be a question of a batch from another supplier. www.gpone.com/en/2020/11/10/motogp/yamaha-affair-the-valves-were-different-in-hardness-and-geometry.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=social&refresh_ceMarc Márquez: This season I will not compete again. After evaluating how the arm is doing with the Doctors and my team, we have decided that the best option is to return next year. It's time to continue with the recovery. Thanks for the messages of support. Looking forward to returning in 2021 Lecuona like Rossi: if the swab is negative he can do FP3: Iker remained in quarantine for 10 days after his brother tested positive for Covid, he now awaits the result of his test Pol Espargarò: “I can’t hold back anymore. Let’s do it!”: “With three races, you can’t risk getting injured, but there’s not much time left. It’s all or nothing. I could fall, but I’m behind in the championship, so I’ll try to take advantage of this opportunity Bagnaia: “Márquez will be at the same level as before; will return to the top "
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 7:10:16 GMT -8
IANNONE’S BAN INCREASED TO FOUR YEARS AS SAGA FINALLY ENDS Simon Patterson Nov 10 2020 There has finally been a resolution to Andrea Iannone’s doping case, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport conclusively rejecting the former MotoGP rider’s defence of accidental contamination and siding with the World Anti Doping Association to hand him the maximum ban of four years. The news effectively ends his motorcycle racing career, by ensuring that he is now not permitted to race again until January 2024 – when he will be 34 years old and will not have had any competitive experience on a race bike since November 2019. The decision by sport’s highest governing body cannot be appealed, meaning that this also marks the conclusion of Iannone’s year-long bid to keep his career alive. A MotoGP rider since 2013, he has had a tumultuous time in the premier class and has frequently been at the centre of attention for reasons other than his race results during his seven seasons there. The Swiss-based court categorically rejected Iannnone’s defence of accidental contamination from meat, saying in its initial conclusions that he had failed to demonstrate even what kind of meat he had consumed let alone its source. “The CAS Panel found that Andrea Iannone had failed to establish neither the precise type of meat he had consumed nor the origin of said meat,” the Court said in its brief notes ahead of the release of the full report. “Moreover, the Panel found that neither Andrea Iannone nor his experts were able to establish specifically that there was an issue of meat contamination by Drostanolone in Malaysia. The Panel considered therefore that an anti-doping rule violation has been committed. “Andrea Iannone essentially left the Panel with protestations of innocence, his clean record and his alleged lack of incentive to dope. Factors which were insufficient to establish, on a balance of probability, that Andrea Iannone’s ADRV was not intentional (in case of an unintentional ADRV, the applicable period of ineligibility would have been of two years maximum). “Since it is for an athlete to establish on the balance of probabilities that an ADRV is not intentional, his inability to do so means that he is deemed to have committed an intentional ADRV, pursuant to the applicable anti-doping rules.” The news puts new pressure on Aprilia and its 2021 rider dilemma as well. The factory has supported Iannone throughout his appeal and was keen to keep him as Aleix Espargaro’s team-mate for next year. However, Aprilia had already confirmed to The Race that if Iannone’s sentence wasn’t shortened to a year or less then it wouldn’t be keeping him. That means that it now absolutely has to find a replacement for next year. Five-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo has become the prime contender – despite Espargaro’s reservations – as both Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow have been ruled out of the race in recent days. Lorenzo is believed to bring significant financial rewards in terms of sponsorship, a key contributor as Aprilia owner Piaggio looks to cut costs.
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 7:16:18 GMT -8
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 7:24:40 GMT -8
Rivola: "We accept the sentence on Iannone but it arouses many perplexities": Aprilia Racing CEO: "We are not sorry we stayed close to Andrea and we still are. This affair has seriously damaged us" Guidotti (the boss of the Pramac satellite team): "They raged on Iannone and brought him to his knees": "Four years of disqualification do not seem to me a balanced sentence, not having ruled out food contamination. It makes me turn up my nose" Who shot Andrea Iannone in the back? He has always aroused controversy. He has been loved and hated with equal intensity, and this is how it works for the champions who have divided the crowds. He showed a lot of his talent, but not enough.
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 7:33:34 GMT -8
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 8:32:26 GMT -8
JoanMir36 : Thank you @suzukimotogp! Blue heart Thanks to the whole Suzuki family for helping me to fight for the @motogp title and to chase our dream. Also to that part of the team that is not in the picture but is working from the circuit, from Hamamatsu or from home in this unusual year.
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 8:38:38 GMT -8
Beating Mir to MotoGP title ‘not impossible’ for Rins 10.11.2020 BSN Ecstar Suzuki’s Alex Rins believes that catching and passing his team-mate Joan Mir in the 2020 MotoGP points table isn’t an impossible task. The Spaniard is 37 points behind his compatriot with only 50 left on the table but refuses to roll over and let Mir cruise to the big trophy. “There are 37 points to Joan. I think, sincerely speaking, everything is possible. Let’s try to fight. I will give my maximum to try to recover points to Joan” said Rins, speaking at the track. “Joan is showing a very good potential and he’s putting the bike on the limit and is very constant. For this reason, he is 37 points in front. So let’s try. I think nothing is impossible. The pair took Suzuki’s first one-two in the premier class since Randy Mamola, Virginio Ferrari and Loris Reggiani locked out the Hockenheim podium in 1982.
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 8:49:10 GMT -8
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 9:13:39 GMT -8
Dovizioso: "I have decided to keep myself free from any agreement for 2021": "I will therefore return to MotoGP if and when I find a project driven by as much passion and ambition and within an organization that shares objectives, values and method of working.
Valentino Rossi protege Bezzecchi favourite to replace banned Iannone at Aprilia
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Post by truenorth on Nov 10, 2020 9:34:11 GMT -8
I wonder if there's a sports news service anywhere that offers as complete and as timely reporting on international motorcycle racing anywhere? I'm pretty sure that Mayhem and I lead the world on that account.
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