MotoGP 2013

[mx_tifoso]

With the 2013 season underway it seems like it's going to be even more exciting than last year. Marc Marquez seems to be doing just fine (understatement...) as a replacement for Stoner and with Rossi back with Yamaha we have even more contenders for the title, but hopefully Pedrosa can maintain his consistency and finally win a MotoGP title.








My best source for anything MotoGP and motorcycles in general is this site: http://www.motoblog.it/

[Websta]

Cannot wait for Rossi vs Lorenzo again, I hope it isn't too one-sided in the Spaniard's favour - I want to see a close fight

And I am interested to see how long it takes for Marquez to get his first win (probably not very)

[zonk]

MotoGP rookie Marc Marquez stole the limelight during the second night of the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix.

Fourth and over half-a-second off the pace of Yamaha's reigning title holder Jorge Lorenzo on Thursday, the Repsol Honda team made Marquez feel more 'comfortable' in FP2 and FP3.

The Moto2 champion responded by setting sizzling laps at the end of each session, which saw him end the night just 0.001s clear of Lorenzo.

But the most impressive factor was the gap between Marquez and the other RCV riders. Team-mate and last year's title runner-up Dani Pedrosa was next best, in sixth place on the timesheets.

“Today the most important is that I feel so good on the bike,” said Marquez. “From the beginning we tried some different things. I felt so good, so comfortable.

“I did just one fast lap in FP2. In FP3 I did some more quick laps. Generally now we have a good base, but we need to try some more things tomorrow because we can improve in terms of 'safety' and consistency.

“The most important thing is that practice-by-practice I feel better on the bike and my riding style is more 'MotoGP'”.

Saturday will mark the debut of MotoGP's new knockout style qualifying session.

Unlike F1 and WSBK, the top ten riders after free practice are already guaranteed a place in the grid deciding final (Q2) session, meaning the only other Saturday track time for the leading riders will be a short final free practice.

“We will see what happens tomorrow. I'm concentrating on our work. We must make the most of the 30 minute (FP4) session before qualifying. The main thing is to be ready for the race - to be clear about the tyres and everything,” he said.

Lorenzo was the last MotoGP rookie to qualify on pole for his first event, at Qatar in 2008.

source: http://www.crash.net

[mx_tifoso]

Final race standings at Qatar

1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 166.4 42′39.802
2 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 166.0 +5.990
3 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 166.0 +6.201
4 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 165.8 +9.473
5 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 165.2 +18.764
6 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 165.0 +22.148
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 164.8 +24.355
8 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 164.8 +24.920
9 Andrea IANNONE ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 164.0 +37.124
10 Ben SPIES USA Ignite Pramac Racing Ducati 163.5 +44.908
11 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 163.2 +49.809
12 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 162.8 +56.495
13 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Blusens FTR 162.0 +1′09.599
14 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Paul Bird Motorsport ART 161.9 +1′10.742
15 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Avintia Blusens FTR 161.8 +1′13.600
16 Claudio CORTI ITA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 160.8 +1′29.444
17 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 160.5 +1′34.341
18 Lukas PESEK CZE Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 160.5 +1′34.683
...

[seventhsin]

Amazing ride from Rossi. Great to see him racing with his old style again.

[Forghieri]

The doctor is back!

[NathanOlder]

Good to see Cal running up there again. If it weren't for the run on at turn 1 when Rossi passed him, I think Cal would have challenged Dani for 4th. Marquez will slow a little after a few hard crashes. He can't keep riding it like a moto2 bike. He was the only 1 riding so wild for the whole race. Cal on a 1yr old M1 able to match the factory honda's.

[Donuts]

Fantastic racing! What a season we have ahead of us!

[mx_tifoso]

Yeah, with Marquez being so competitive it almost makes up for Stoner's absence! The races are exciting and the season will definitely be amazing.

[Tommy Cookers]

so we just had a brilliant MotoGP where the (21 litre) fuel constraint was undetectable (to this viewer anyway)
F1 has no hard fuel constraint, but is currently full of complaints about fuel constraints spoiling the racing ?

serious technical question - how is the engine run in MotoGP ?
presumably the air:fuel ratio is fixed throughout the race ? leaving only short-shifting etc possibly involving the rider ?

the MotoGP and F1 engines are now quite similar in rpm (early MotoGP engines were much slower running eg 13000 rpm)

unlike F1, MotoGP design hasn't been frozen for years and maybe doesn't need a rich mixture at its max (17000 rpm) ?
I think current MotoGP designers have chosen a significantly smaller bore (maybe even a longer stroke) than F1
to get consistent and fast combustion without needing rich mixtures

does anyone know ?

[db__]

serious technical question - how is the engine run in MotoGP ?
presumably the air:fuel ratio is fixed throughout the race ? leaving only short-shifting etc possibly involving the rider ?

They do have different fuel maps available to them in MotoGp. In fact Cal Crutchlow has stated that he had to change maps in the race to avoid running out of fuel.

"We had some speed restrictions, and I also had to change the map to avoid running out of fuel [which made] it even harder."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106591

My understanding (and this is only from listening to BBC commentary soi don't quote me!) is that the engine management systems will also automatically manage fuel use.

[mx_tifoso]

For 2014:

• Spec ECU (but own softwre)
• 20 liters instead of 24 for the race
• Factory teams only 5 engines per season/ 12 for customers

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106613

[Tommy Cookers]

IMO 21 litres of fuel currently (24 for the claiming rule category)

Mr Rossi managed his fuel well ?

[mx_tifoso]

.... Marquez dominates in Austin and with his win he's the youngest ever to do so in MotoGP!

I should have watched this race instead of F1.

Anyways...

• Pos Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap
  1. Marc Marquez Honda 43m42.123s
  2. Dani Pedrosa Honda + 1.534s
  3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha + 3.381s
  4. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha + 6.616s
  5. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda + 12.674s
  6. Valentino Rossi Yamaha + 16.615s
  7. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati + 22.374s
  8. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda + 22.854s
  9. Nicky Hayden Ducati + 33.773s
  10. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati + 42.112s
  11. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia + 48.837s
  12. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha + 50.705s
  13. Ben Spies Pramac Ducati + 1m14.132s
  14. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia + 1m15.651s
  15. Yonny Hernandez PBM Aprilia + 1m19.591s
  16. Michael Laverty PBM-Aprilia + 1m34.391s
  17. Hiroshi Aoyama Avintia FTR-Kawasaki + 1m39.823s
  18. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki + 1m39.952s
  19. Claudio Corti Forward FTR-Kawasaki + 1m46.773s
  20. Bryan Staring Gresini FTR-Honda + 1m48.084s
  21. Blake Young Attack APR-Kawasaki + 1 lap

[Shrieker]

It wasn't the most exiting of races. M&M rode a very fine race. You don't often see history made right in front you though. Stoner must be pleased the mantle was taken over by M&M. I might be tempted to buy a shoei MM replica when I replace my bike.