MotoGP | 2025 | Race 8 | MotorLand Aragon | GoPro Aragon Grandprix | June-6 to June-8

Would that potentially mean Diggia is really the #3 rider right now given he's on the '25 hybrid too? Or is the gap from Alex to Diggia significant enough that Alex has him beat either way?

 

I've always been an Alex M fan, mostly out of respect for enduring the past 15 years of "...the brother of..." and not trying to kill said brother in his sleep, or just totally give up and try to coast through on his last name.

Before the start of this year I'd have rated him talent wise in GP as 10th maybe lower but after the Show he's put on this year in terms of outright speed more importantly his incredible consistency, I'd now likely put him up to 5th-6th in terms of talent.

He's showing how incredibly mediocre Jorge and Pecco were last year on maybe the best motorcycle to ever grid up.

Clearly the GP24 suits him much better than the 23 did but I'd have bet the farm pre-season against him being the leader twice and over 1/3 in the season he'd be in 2nd, and one bad weekend away for Marc of being back to leading. Kudos to him.

Diggia is the opposite this year - essentially Alex in reverse as far as ratings go only lower overall. Much more consistent but not threatening the top 5 usually, very Bastiannini-like but still miles ahead of the head-scratcher that is Mav "I'm on the box or battling for 14th" Vinales.

 

The whole ‘develop a bike thing’ has me confused. MM is not (that I know of) a mechanical engineer. He’s not a data specialist. He’s a rider. It’s up to him to say what he sees/feels, but it’s up to the guys with the deep pockets, propellor hats, expensive computers, and dirty hands to apply his feedback. If they aren’t able to, that’s not on him.

 

Explaining what you feel and what you need in a way that has value to the engineers is not a skill every rider is bleesed with. In a blind test, a lot of winning GP riders throughout history wouldn't be able to tell you with absolute certainty if a change was actually made to the bike. The others make good development riders. Just my opinion.

 

Agreed and I think this is an exceptional skill, to be able to speak both languages, across disciplines. Like Michael Schumacher.

 

Schumacher and Ross Braun was a ridiculously overabundance pairing of abilities.

 

Hailwood was well known for being unable to convey what he was feeling on the bike to the engineers with any clarity. Ron Haslam was apparently the complete opposite. He really was more of a development rider.

 

I remember when Ryan Newman first made it to Nascar's Cup series. He made a comment to his crew chief about the car and used the word yaw. The crew chief had no idea what he was talking about. Newman had an aero degree from Purdue University. He was known to be helpful in setting up a car.

 

Espargaro and Lorenzo were on the way out the door when they joined HRC, what's your point? They got 2 year deals with a good race here and there but got the same retirement tours of every other brand an older rider has gotten. He pushed the bike well past his limits because he made a dumbass mistake in the beginning of the race. What season are you watching.

 

Uhhh, I'm watching the current season.

Marquez getting hurt while overriding (and some red mist) several years ago isn't really news to anyone? Not sure what you're trying to convey.?