2022 MotoGP

[sav0r]

A huge one that. Lets hope he recovers.

[SoCal250]

It's going to be an interesting weekend in Argentina with all Friday events cancelled. Compressed schedule and no FP3 or FP4. A cargo plane carrying team equipment broke down in Kenya and was delayed.
Any teams that can't get their setup dialed-in immediately will suffer.
MM93 is out (eye injury) so Bradl will sub.
Nakagami is out (positive Covid test). He was able to race after all because of the delayed schedule and tested negative just before.

[SoCal250]

Only a few days until the GP of the Americas at COTA!   Anyone going?

An unusual race schedule this weekend with Moto2 first and Moto3 running after MotoGP.
But it will be a few totally full days of racing because it's a MotoGP / MotoAmerica double header.

Supposed to be very windy on Sunday (not very good for motorcycle racing), but Saturday should be nice.
SAT 04/09
Sunny skies. High 86F. Winds SSW at 10 to 20 mph. Precip: 0%
SUN 04/10
Partly to mostly cloudy and windy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Precip: 15%

And MM93 will be returning from his eye issues after missing the last round.

[Seizer]

This season is bonkers, so far. Aleix leads the championship? Pecco scoring points in only 1 race so far? Alex Rins hasn't crashed out of a race, yet? Will Marc dominate? Will Marc launch himself into orbit, again? It's wild lol. Very entertaining.
Who do you got for the podium at COTA, Russ?

1-Joan Mir
2-Pecco
3-Fabio Quartararo

Maybe after Aleix's win, Pol will get his shit together?

[SoCal250]

This season is completely crazy. Every race is so hard to predict. The podiums prove it - 9 different riders in the first 3 events!

Picks are very difficult. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that since Aleix got his win that his confidence will surge. The Aprilia is a proven fast bike this year. And you can never count out MM93 at COTA (no matter how banged up he is). I'm sure he will be going for it as always.

1. A. Espargaro
2. M. Marquez
3. Quartararo
4. Miller Martin

[SoCal250]

The Austin GP was a really fun weekend as always, despite the wind.
Too bad for Beaubier but he's doing well and will get his chance to get on the box or even the top step.

The Yamahas were getting dusted on the back straight. (minus 10-15kph)

I only took a few photos. Nothing special since I only had my phone.
-Turn 1  (Gagne & Peterson were sitting right in front of me, lower left)
-Turn 3
-Turn 11
-Turn 11 #2

[SoCal250]

A few more shots

[sav0r]

I thought Jack had that one in the bag and then to fall to third on the last lap only hurt more. It was a good ride by the top three, and of course Marquez still is a beast. Some issue off the line to fall to dead last and then marched back through. That Suzuki is well rounded and they spoiled the Ducati fun despite the semi lack of might down the straights. The Yamaha will do okay in some of the upcoming rounds but you have to wonder if it will hold out over the season.

[SoCal250]

Pretty awesome! It's been a long time coming. Hopefully this is the start or many for Joe, Cam, and SDK.
Joe16 
https://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2022/04/26/unseen-i-was-crying-on-the-straight-joe-roberts/417341

[Seizer]

It's the Italian GP this weekend at (imo) the best track on the calendar: Mugello! Home of the MotoGP Top Speed Record (225mph / Johan Zarco).
Anyone want to throw out their podium predictions?
Will Quartararo repeat his win from last season?
Will Ducati improve their top speed record?
Will Bastianini smash into the back of Zarco on the warm-up lap again?
Will Pecco crash out of the lead again, like last year? (And last race lol)
Who knows? The unpredictability of the '22 Season is incredible.
Here's my guess:
1: Fabio Quartararo/ Yamaha Monster Energy M-1
2: Jack Miller/ Ducati Lenovo GP22
3: Marc Marquez / Repsol Honda RC213V

[Hawaii-Mike]

I'm guessing Pecco and Quartararo will be first and second, it seems to be a trend.

[SoCal250]

It's going to be a wild one at Mugello! Should be really exciting with all the unpredictability and the inconsistency among the riders. And this weekend is the official retirement of Rossi's #46 will surely draw even more crazed fans in yellow.

It's anyone's race! There are probably 10 to 12 guys you could pick for the podium and still be be in the ballpark with an on-target guess, but I'll go with:
1. Quartararo
2. Bagnaia
3. A. Esparagaro

Other names I pondered for this:
Bastianini
Mir
Zarco

[SoCal250]

It was just announced today that the Finnish GP has been cancelled because the track is not ready. It was supposed to be held on July 10. The championship is now down to 20 races.
https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2022/05/25/grand-prix-of-finland-postponed-to-2023/421737

[SoCal250]

The last two days has brought some big news for the 2023 grid:
--Aprilia has re-signed A. Espargaro & Vinales for 2023 & 2024. I thought that maybe Vinales' seat was at risk with the available riders floating around but he's remaining with Aprilia.
--And today Aprilia announced that they have signed a deal with RNF to create an Aprilia satellite team for 2023 & 2024 with an option for a 2-yr extension. So there will only be two Yamahas on the grid next year and four RS-GPs.

https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2022/05/27/withu-yamaha-rnf-to-become-satellite-team-of-aprilia/421979

[Hawaii-Mike]

With Suzuki leaving, it would be great if Kawasaki can get back into it.

I am pretty amazed that the European companies (Ducati, Aprilia, KTM) are able to build competitive MotoGP bikes.  Decades ago there wasn't a lot of hope for them to stay in existence due to the Japanese bike monopoly.