MotoGP | 2023 | Silly Season

Not all I4s are created the same. Yamaha has chosen to use a cross-plane design which is known to trade peak HP for better acceleration (traction on acceleration). Suzuki and Honda use the traditional screamer I4. Top speed is an easy metric to observe, while power delivery is a bit more vague but shows up in lap times, something Yamaha does well with. Yamaha do need more top speed though, and I wonder if electronics have reached the point of making other designs good enough on power delivery while retaining that peak HP/speed potential?

 

I think Fabio will stay with Yamaha and is just trying to get the most money possible

 

I hope Fabio does anything but go to Honder. Not sure he should stay at Yamaha(and I'm a Yamaha fan), but Suzuki have their #1(Mir) and Duc have multiple up and comers to promote. I don't see him going to KTM, and Aprilia is still a developing entity.

 

I think Fabio in a Suzuki would wreck MotoGP al la peak MM93 style.

 

Wonder how in the world the Duc got faster again?!? At Qatar the Suzuki could pass the Duc... at COTA it couldn’t even stay in its draft?!?

Crazy cool changes for sure.

 

Suzuki has to dial back power at certain tracks because it can't finish the race is on full power (fuel consumption, not reliability). I'm guessing the Ducati is more efficient.

 

I started typing that but thought both climates are dry and warm... the hills at COTA could eat fuel I suppose... it was odd to see though... rins was losing ground with a better drive in the draft... hope they are decently matched the rest of the year as it makes for much better racing for sure.

 

Speaking of tunes... you read anything about the downshifting sequences? The Pramac bikes are the only ones you can noticeably hear old school throttle blips and downshifting, although I’m sure it’s all automated.

The KTMs were the most odd... they sounded like. CVT or something as you couldn’t hear any shifts but just a loud vvvvffffffftttt like a backwards old school centripetal clutch on a snowmobile or something. Really makes me want to know all the different shifting/clutch systems in the different bikes, as each brand, and then the Ducs 21 vs 22 were different too.

 

I think it was Simon Crafar that said during Qatar race that the Ducs could not use the same map in the race thats used for qualifying as theyd run out of gas.

 

So we don’t know which is faster between Suzuki and Ducati? That’s pretty cool and I’d have never thought that’d be said a few years ago...

Guess we could look at Q top speeds...

 

I would think that all of the manufacturers tend to do the same thing as Ducati with different qualifying and race maps.

 

Suzuki is also a crossplane. And the Honda is a 90 degree V4.

 

I was apparently in a very confused state and thinking WSBK when I wrote that. But you are correct.

 

Then I’m from Missouri today... show me...

 

This may be more of a 2022 silly season but 'rumours' have it that Dovi would walk out after Mugello, to be replaced by Jake Dixon....

 

Don’t know if the team sponsor would like that. Didn’t they push for an eye-talian?

 

They're saying BT Sport is pushing for a Limey, anywhere.

I can see Dovi not enjoying this one bit...

 

BT Sport is always begging for a brit in the class but it's a pretty complicated situation. Not only did WithU want an Italian rider, Dovi is contracted directly to Yamaha on a factory bike. It's hard to see Razlan Razli convincing his title sponsor and the people paying the salary/supplying the bike to trust a rookie with one moto2 podium in four years. Stranger things have happened though...

Taking that into consideration, my guess is Dovi will ride out the year and we'll see one of the Italian Moto2 front runners on the bike next year to keep WithU happy.

 

Moto GP needs less not more "passport riders"

 

Indeed. I don't give a flying bucket of monkey poo where the riders are from, I just want to watch the best riders in the world.