MotoGP | 2023 | Race 4 | Jerez | Spain | April 28-30

Its that fat spanish sponsor money.

 

He lost red bull as a personal sponsor this year and didn't pick up another energy drink.

 

MotoGP: Despite the Stewards an amazing weekend of racing from the top class riders. Pecco was on another level, passing Miller on his terms multiple times. Pedrosa with two great finishes and battling with Marini all weekend. Maybe my fave moment: Miller making fun of Tardozzi when watching the highlights!

Moto2: Where did Lowes come from? I mean, he pulls out a lap 0.5sec faster than anyone in qualifying, then just motors away in the race? He's having a ton of fun on his "farewell tour."

-T

 

Oliveira has taken the baton from Dovizioso. There used to be a time when if anyone did something stupid, Dovi was in the vicinity and got taken out.

 

it had to be more fun than his last wildcard for KTM!

 

I'm not sure it can be overstated how ridiculous what Pedrobot did Sunday was. Has anybody done a wildcard appearance that successfully, let alone after being off the grid full time for several years? He was within sight of the winner. That's just nuts.

 

Well Troy Bayliss won a race in a wild card appearance so there’s that.

 

After washing out of MotoGP the year prior. Though, he did have a WSB championship win that year. So that was keeping him race sharp.

Other noticeable wild card 500/MotoGP one off's were Norifumi Abe, and Noriyuki Haga. Though, Haga's WSB wildcards were even more impressive, and preceded the 500 wildcard performance.

 

To me, the huge difference is Pedrosa hasn't turned a wheel in anger since 2018. Look at what a year off did to Dovi for reference.

 

It would be cool to see Rossi do the "come back" success at a one off...and ignite another sea of yellow again.

One wonders why Pecco doesn't have this fan base? Pedrosa seems to have more of a following than him.

 

He seems to be an introvert. He's not flashy or extremely personable like some of the other guys.

 

I don't think Rossi will ever be back after those two flying motorcycles almost took his head off. After that he was entirely comfortable cruising around in 17th and waving at the fans. I don't blame him one bit.

 

Truth. He was somewhat washed up at that point, but still top ten, occasionally sniffing a podium. After that incident, he was on the fan parade retirement tour.

 

Didn't he finish 10th in his final race?

 

How about Josh Hayes? Didn't he get 7th in his one and only appearance in MGP? First time on the bike, tires, and track, and he was mid pack.

 

That was amazing, but it was a wet race with 12 finishers. P3 and QP were dry, and he was last(16th) in both. Josh was new to it all though, so I don't think there is any way to compare the two.

 

In this era of MotoGP, comes backs are gonna be rare but Dani just did it so I'm thinking maybe fast guys are always gonna be fast. At 37, I think his reflexes and depth perception are still good enough to win.

Rossi may have pushed past the desire and perception abilities.

 

Agree you can't compare the two. Dani has been actively riding an MGP bike consistently since he retired. Dovi rode dirt bikes. Josh never rode one, and while conditions were mixed, he still outperformed a lot of regulars. Pretty sure the team was pleasantly surprised by his performance.

 

Agree 100%. Josh is a great rider and one of my favorites. I used to hate Dani, but he has grown on me and I am blown away by what he did this weekend.

 

Curious why you hated Dani. Seems like a nice guy, quiet, but generally well liked. It was good to hear Miller and Binder mention his efforts in improving the RC16.