MotoGP | 2021-2022 | Off-Season

Does Cam get a callup to the majors if he finishes in that 3rd - 5th range?

 

Ideally he gets an opportunity to be a fill in rider or take part in some form of test on the GP bike but if he's anywhere in the mix for the top there's no way he'll not race Moto2 for a ride on a big bike. If it's close to the end of the year and he's not gonna finish top 5 - all bets are off.

Having said all that - I'd say if any of the 3 Americans finish top 3 in Moto2 they'd get a long hard look for obvious reasons.

 

I’ll throw a log on the fire. Can’t believe I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere before. I find Roberts and Cam’s inverse results to be interesting. As in the better Cam seemed to do the worse Joe did. For the sake of discussion I think Joe’s issue was all in his head and stemmed from no longer being the great American hope on the GP stage.

I would love to be wrong as I want to see them all do well. However, I suspect if Joe is outperformed at the start of the season by either or even both of the other 2 we will see him struggle and probably fade from the GP paddock.

Again hope I’m out to lunch but can’t wait for the season to kickoff this year.

 

The fact that there is 3 Americans in the GP pipeline again has me excited. I have no predictions how they'll do, but I can't wait to watch this year.

 

I don’t see Cam getting a call up during the season. That would leave his Moto2 seat empty and I think he’ll be in the title chase. Maybe to WSBK.

I think SDK is going to surprise. I won’t be surprised if he’s top American.

Joe at least appears to be working on his riding. Does Cam do any track riding in the off season? MX is fine for physical training but I don’t feel it makes a rider better on track. At least not at the last couple percentage they are looking for.

 

I think Joe’s main problem is the team. He went from a team who understood him and he understood them (zero langue barrier), and a team who probably would cater to his needs to a team who just won the world championship and have the Italian mentality of we know what we are doing. And thy may be a great team but I don’t know if they are any better of a team or setup a Kalex any better than his previous team and now Cams bike. I say that because of watching Bastianini(sp?) last season. Once he was at mid season and figured out the bike, dude was upfront continuously on a multi evolution old bike. He won the Moto2 championship, not the bike Joe is on. I think Joe went to the team with these high expectations that he needs to find from within.

 

I respect your opinions and know we both love our sport. But... Joe’s team is run by a very talented multi lingual very fast and seasoned veteran in Tino. There shouldn’t be any excuses for communication and or set up or anything. The championship team trusts him to manage the team and I’m sure he does everything to get the most out of his riders as he’s a second generation racer that knows a thing or two... I’ve worked with him a bit.

 

"...with all due respect…"

 

Don’t be putting words in my mouth! I just came back for a visit!

I don’t do passive aggressive, that was sincere as Quicktoy and I go back over a decade, damn time flies...

you point all that shit at the lowland southerners that say “bless your heart” instead of F-you

 

Joe's issue in the second half of the year was between his ears.

 

I’m curious why you think MX doesn’t transfer over? Seems like a lot of the GP guys do primarily MX in the offseason, although it seems like their has been more priority on track time on literbikes lately. Pridmore and Greg White touched on that in the last Greg’s Garage Podcast.

 

I grew up racing MX. Do track days now. Riding techniques are completely different. It is a motorcycle and there can be benefit, balance, fitness, eyes, etc. I just don’t think MX is going to help a rider find that last percent to beat Toprak, or win in Moto2. Braking, cornering, body position, the forces, are very different. For Cam, his technique with the unique attributes of the Moto2 chassis with those tires is where he needs to find .5% in skills and some confidence. I’m not discounting MX as a supplement, or cycling for training, but I find myself wondering what they are doing to be faster racing. I also realize I’m not an expert and have no business suggesting how they best prepare to win.

 

It conditions your body way different and counter productive to roadracing... MX builds unneeded muscle mass... I remember Ben Boz complaining that his legs were to big from MTB when he was 150lbs, when he was on the R6.

 

You solidified my point though. The team has one multilingual guy in Tito. So Tito gets every translation exact? Every mechanic hears and understands what Joe says every time he comes in? No that’s not possible. And why Joe said he’s learning Italian. But even so, if you read what I went on to say, I believe it was more about The Beast than the team or the bike. Put him on Joes bike and maybe he could have won the year before. I don’t think the bike was that much better. I think he is the reason he won the championship.

 

Recent Edge Grip Podcast interview with Josh Hayes had interesting comments from Josh about Joe being at his training program in the recent past. Josh said he asked him if he knew how to speak any Italian. Joe said he didn't to which Josh suggested maybe he try to learn a little. He told him it would show the team that he was really trying to make an effort to fit in which maybe they would recognize, and in turn, they would make an extra effort themselves. Basically, the more the rider shows they are all in, the team is more likely to do the same...

 

Does Garrett Gerloff count as being in the pipeline too?

Wasn’t he the first rider who got called up to MotoGP after Franco Morbidelli got hurt?

 

Pre-bowling ball antics = yes.

Now - pipe dream.

Toprak is numero uno, then Locatelli, then potentially Taz/Gerloff/Gagne.

 

Oh, I didn’t realize Toprak and Locatelli were American…

 

Fair point, I missed that key detail.

Carry on...

 

2022 Sepang MotoGP Shakedown Test Results - Monday lap times



https://www.crash.net/motogp/result...shakedown-test-results-monday-lap-times-final