2018 FIM Moto GP World Championship

[strad]

If only F1 could be as exciting.

[etusch]

It brings up the old question, (in races) : in the troglodyte years Cars were 80% car and 20% driver with bikes being the opposite, what are the percentages now? Cars = 90% car 10% driver; Bikes 40% bike and 60% rider

What I find odd in recent years is riders using 2016 chassis with a 2017 swingarm and 2018 forks. How do these top manufacturers not progress every year. Imagine Mercedes using 2017 suspension and 2016 aero on the 2018 chassis. Its insane to think that would happen in F1, but it happens all the time in motogp.
So yes the riders have a larger impact than drivers in f1, but when you see the mixture of chassis, swingarms ect it helps on certain tracks for different pecking orders when teams/riders make the wrong choices

The answer IMHO is easy, riding a bike is completely different to driving a car because of several factors:

1- Riding a bike you change weight distribution while moving around, wich means difference between riding styles can be dramatic from one to another, specially when compared to F1 and drivers
2- Rider weight is a huge percentage of total weight, so the difference between a small and light rider to a big and heavy one is dramatic too.

So basically in MotoGP there´s no perfect chassis, perfect for who? A light and smooth rider like Pedrosa has completely different chassis requirements to any other heavier, more aggressive, or even taller rider who can modify weight distribution easier when compared to Dani..... or keep static and not modify it. It´s all up to the rider, wich is dramatically different to F1 where drivers can´t modify weight distribution, and their weight and height is almost irrelevant for the chassis design

You are correct on some aspect but when it comes to the point that you are saying rider is more important than bike it is wrong. When we compared it to car racing, as you said, riders have more impact. Talent is a bit more important.
As we all see that Lorenzo was good at yamaha but not so much at ducati. İf it's all about weight distribution of rider, it would be nearly same because of the very same rider. As soon as vinales came to yamaha he was very fast.
Swing arms are important part of rear of bike but you know they are like suspension arms( I don't know how it is called in english ). So there are many other parts those might be changed in spite of they used same swing arm at the rear. Old swing arms are not mean that there are no updates. But in the same time, as you know, F1 has almost not a year without rule change. But motogp rules are very consistant. Because of this consistancy they are at the edge of the technology but again they are improving every year. This weak Qatar lap record broke with very big margine.

(I am sory for motogp 2018 topic. I got a fast glance and couldn't see the topic and desided to start one. I would pleased that if a mod massaged me about moving topic to firstly opened )

[Andres125sx]

I agree when I said it´s all up to the rider I didn´t mean riders are more important to bikes, even when they are , but obvioulsy much more balanced than F1. I was refering to the chassis requirements wich are dependant on the rider style, weight, etc, so there´s no perfect chassis wich works for everyone. Probably that´s the reason we see talented riders strugling when compared to their teammates, teams can´t build a perfect chasis for both, so when there´s some contraditcion between both riders input I guess manfacturers follow their first rider requirements, so the second will suffer.

Then it will depend on each case, but those whose styles are very different will have a hard time, for example Marquez and Pedrosa comes to mind, one smooth and clean on his lines, while the other is the most aggressive style you can find out there. I guess HRC focus on Marquez requirements, so Pedrosa must adapt to a bike designed for a completely different style

Rossi and Viñales may be the same, but Viñales is still too novel to be sure. Or Lorenzo with Ducati, but Ducati is a special case

[J.A.W.]

Yes, in Moto GP, Ducati is.. for sure.. "a special case" & in many more ways - than one..

One being, just how many 'top flite' riders have failed to achieve any real results there, ( a high %).

[Nonserviam85]

Yes, in Moto GP, Ducati is.. for sure.. "a special case" & in many more ways - than one..

One being, just how many 'top flite' riders have failed to achieve any real results there, ( a high %).

Actually only Casey Stoner (the greatest natural talent) achieved results with a Ducati...Dovi sort of (yet)

[johnny comelately]

Yes, in Moto GP, Ducati is.. for sure.. "a special case" & in many more ways - than one..

One being, just how many 'top flite' riders have failed to achieve any real results there, ( a high %).

Actually only Casey Stoner (the greatest natural talent) achieved results with a Ducati...Dovi sort of (yet)

Ha ha, yes its much easier to list the successful ones.
Now Casey's case is fairly unique for certain reasons, and once you unlock that there will be a better understanding of the less than rigid parameters and matrices for Motogp as compared to F1, which is very much the opposite. Understanding this will give a better insight into what i think are some of F1 maladies.
Probably Max Verstappen would be the closest parallel.
Of course the Ducati syndrome has changed quite a lot since Audi input. But that is a stand alone engineering and management factor and will allow a broader range of riders to be competitive, quite distinct as to why Casey could.

[nacho]

Ducati is now a totally different bike than it used to be. Used to be a career destroyer from 2007-2014 or so, except for Stoner.

GP15 was perhaps the first Ducati that almost all the riders got along, before that GP14.2 (introduced mid season) was already decent.

During the past few seasons Honda has been the most difficult bike, especially rookies have been unable to get much out of it. For this season Honda has gotten their bike a bit easier to ride again as evident of the results behind Marquez.

[etusch]

Ducati is now a totally different bike than it used to be. Used to be a career destroyer from 2007-2014 or so, except for Stoner.

GP15 was perhaps the first Ducati that almost all the riders got along, before that GP14.2 (introduced mid season) was already decent.

During the past few seasons Honda has been the most difficult bike, especially rookies have been unable to get much out of it. For this season Honda has gotten their bike a bit easier to ride again as evident of the results behind Marquez.

Agreed Honda riders Qatar ( which is not Honda track) results show us that Honda made it.

About ducati, petrucci also very promising driver. Iannone was also good. If he were at ducati last year I bet, at least one or two wins of dovi were go for Iannone

[johnny comelately]

There was some talk in Qatar of MX star Ken Roczen making a move to GP racing in the same way that Jean-Michel Bayle did back in the day. Roczen has suffered a serious arm injury which makes MX and Supercross very difficult but KTM might pave a way to the tarmac.

[johnny comelately]

Carlo Pernat, Iannone's manager says "Today the vehicle counts 70%, the pilot only 30%" ,of course you would have to discount that a bit .
Ago says "“The technology and electronics have allowed everyone to reach the same level. Just one small detail, like a tyre for instance, is enough to deny a rider the win. This means that the bike counts for a lot, because if something is missing, the rider can't make the difference as he once could. I think it's all got too sophisticated”.
And I think that has to considered in relation to F1

[johnny comelately]

2017 News but... The prizes keep coming for Tony Cairoli since winning his ninth world title. The day after his Assen triumph, Red Bull decided to give the Sicilian rider a test with the Formula 1 single-seater as a reward for having been crowned world champion once more.

The Italian will have to wait for next spring though; first he will build confidence with the simulator before taking to the Austrian Red Bull Ring at the wheel of the RB13.

The surprises for #222 didn't end there though, as over the weekend Pit Beirer offered him the chance to ride the MotoGP KTM used by Bradley Smith and Pol Espargarò. Where? Probably at Aragon or Jerez during the next IRTA tests in which the team will participate.

We contacted the nine-time champ's entourage who tell us that they know nothing about the offer. But they confirm that if he were to receive such a proposal, he definitely wouldn't turn it down. Basically, ten years after testing Valentino Rossi's M1, we'll see Tony Cairoli back on a MotoGP, but the KTM rather than a Yamaha.

In the meantime, the Sicilian has confirmed that he won't take part in the South African RallyCross event, while he will attend the Monza Rally Show, set to take place over the first weekend of December.

[nacho]

I disagree a bit, I think this season the bikes are more even than almost ever before that's why it's tight not because it's easy. Also the level of riders is pretty high, more champions than ever before.

[Andres125sx]

I don´t think it´s that easy. Riders relevance depends on the difference between his and his rivals bikes. If you ask any KTM rider they´ll say the bike is a 99%, but if you ask a title contender fighting with a similar bike his opinion will be vastly different

It doesnt´matter how sofisticated are the bikes, if they´re similar riders will be very important. At least while aero does not play a huge role as we all know

[johnny comelately]

Petition to Kawasaki, "Come back real soon"

please ( oh, and bring Johnnie Rea)

[J.A.W.]

Kawasaki factory racing will likely have their focus even more strongly on WSBK, being beaten in the
opening round at Phillip Island by Ducati, & with Ducati having their new V4 Superbike to come on line..