There were so many crashes over every race weekend in 2018.
But it was Marc Marquez who topped the MotoGP crash list.
However, it was Stefano Manzi who crashed most often over the three classes.
Marc Marquez may had captured his fifth MotoGP crown in 2018, but he also tops the crash list.
Marquez hit the ground 23 times last year, ahead of Alvaro Bautista who found the kitty litter on 21 occasions. The former would have destroyed many more bikes if not for his superhuman feats in saving sure crashes. However, 23 crashes are an improvement over the 2017 season during which he wiped out 27 times.
The world champion crashed mostly in practice sessions as he pushed his tyres and bikes to discover their limits. He will then know how much he could push during the race.
Other Top 5 crashers were Xavier Simeon (18), and Cal Crutchlow tying with Jack Miller at 17.
Malaysia’s Hafizh Syahrin fell 9 times.
However, Marquez’s number of crashes pales in comparison to riders of the other classes. Stefano Manzi (whose front brake lever was squeezed by Romano Fenati) went belly up 31 times in Moto2. Manzi was followed by Lowes (27), Marco Bezzecchi (24), Jorge Navarro (24), Gabriel Rodigro (22). Marc Marquez would have slipped in 5thplace.
There were 303 crashes in MotoGP, 418 in Moto2 and 356 in Moto3. That totals up to 1,077. The number is a reduction from 1,126 in 2017.
Penunggang Repsol Honda, Marc Marquez telah ditabalkan sebagai juara dunia MotoGP 2018 di Motegi, Jepun.
Penunggang berusia 25 tahun dari Sepanyol itu telah berjaya memenangi takhta dunia buat kali ke-tujuhnya setelah Andrea Dovizioso terkeluar dari persaingan berbakikan dua pusingan.
Ianya satu pertarungan yang cukup mengujakan di mana Marquez berjaya menggondoli kejuaraan di halaman Honda di Motegi.
Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda has been crowned the 2018 MotoGP world champion in Motegi, Japan.
The 25-year-old Spaniard has successfully clinched his seventh world title after Andrea Dovizioso dropped out from contention with two laps remaining.
It was quite a showdown but Marquez managed to secure the championship at the home of Honda in Motegi.
With 77 points ahead of his closest rival this year who happens to be Andrea Dovisioso from Ducati and also having obtained the worst qualifying session of the season in sixth, Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda has been crowned the 2018 MotoGP world champion at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan! (more…)
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) will start today’s MotoGP round in the Czech Republic from pole position.
Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi pulled in a last minute flyer which puts him in P2.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) will start his 100th premier class race in P3.
All eyes were on Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez as he set out to make a good show for his 100th premier class appearance in MotoGP. Too bad that Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso had to steal his limelight by storming through the qualifying session which will see him starting today’s Monster Energy Grand Prix of the Czech Republic in pole position. (more…)
Honda MotoGP Team admits it will be “challenging” to manage the relationship of both riders.
The manufacturer will also have to build a bike which suits both riders.
Pundits are rubbing their hands together in glee to see how it works out.
Repsol Honda MotoGP Team, like everyone else knows it when they signed Jorge Lorenzo to partner Marc Marquez. It has always been known that different riders have not only different riding styles but also different personalities. Besides that, it obviously no secret how they demand for the equipment to suit their riding styles.
There have been many times when the manufacturer builds a motorcycle which favours the No. 1 rider – he who finished the previous season in a higher position than his teammate.
Marquez and his Repsol Honda MotoGP team
As such, many MotoGP pundits are wondering how Marc Marquez and Honda will cope with Jorge Lorenzo when he moves to the team next year from Ducati.
Although the signing of Lorenzo gives Honda two MotoGP title-winning riders in the same team since Eddie Lawson partnered with Wayne Gardner in 1989, Repsol Honda MotoGP team Boss, Alberto Puig admits that it’ll be a challenge to manage the mercurial pair’s relationship.
“Of course, not easy,” he said during the press conference at the Sachsenring, “But if wanted things to be easy, probably we wouldn’t run a team at this level. It’s complicated, but it’s a challenge.”
Marquez rides a V-shaped line – from MotoGP.com
On the rationale behind signing up Lorenzo, Puig replied, “The understanding is that the team wants to have the best riders, this is the principle. The possibility to sign him up was there and we took it. For Honda it’s important to prepare the best bikes we can and give them to the riders that are faster.”
Speaking about the “best bikes,” Honda will have their hands full in building a bike that suits the riding styles of both riders. Marquez rides a “V-shaped” line: Brakes late, snaps the bike over at the apex and stands it back up early, using the engine’s power to blast away. Lorenzo’s style is the opposite: He uses the traditional “long arc” of braking early and carrying more corner speed, hence he needs the most stability at the turn in and most lean angle.
Jorge Lorenzo carries more corner speed hence needs lots of lean angle – from MotoGP.com
“We don’t know Jorge, which kind of machine he wants,” said Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) General Manager Tetshuhiro Kuwata, “But of course we will try to adapt to his requirements. And also Marc has a lot of requests to us, and we try to achieve this.”
Kuwata-San rubbished claims that the current RC213V is developed entirely around Marc Marquez’s needs, “Now we are developing for Marc and also for Dani. It’s not only for one rider. So we will continue the same way next year.”
Last night’s MotoGP race won by Marc Marquez was considered by many as one of the best MotoGP races yet.
Almost 10 riders fought in the front group and there were too many overtaking and dramatic events to count.
Marc Marquez crossed the chequered flag in first place followed by Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP).
Those of us who were fortunate enough to watch the Motul TT Assen MotoGP round last night can agree with one thing; the battles were incredible! Almost ten riders were fighting in the front group for podium contention which ended in Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez winning the epic race. (more…)
Jorge Lorenzo puts on another masterclass in riding to win the Catalan GP.
Marc Marquez led the race briefly before his 2019 teammate won back the lead.
Valentino Rossi finishes the race in third place for the third time in a row.
Jorge Lorenzo once again gave Ducati something to regret about after he won the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya in flawless style. The Spaniard won the race by over four seconds to secure his second consecutive win.
Marc Marquez came home in second place to extend his championship lead, while Valentino Rossi secured third place for the third race in a row.
It was not all smooth for Lorenzo, he messed up the start which let Marquez take the lead into the first corner. Andrea Iannone of Suzuki Ecstar too made a fantastic start and slotted into second place on the opening laps, pushing Lorenzo back to third place.
Lorenzo had pace and grace and kept his composure to get past Iannone and Marquez into turn one on the second lap. From there on he simply disappeared ahead and opened a comfortable lead.
His Ducati team mate Andrea Dovizioso found himself in a comfortable third place behind Marquez, but the Italian ran out of luck and crashed out on lap nine – his third DNF of the season which put another massive dent in his title aspirations.
Rossi inherited third place after Dovizioso crashed out, but by then the leaders had already opened up a 3.2 second gap. The gap between the two up ahead though remained under one second for most of the race but Lorenzo looked impervious, setting 1:40.0 second lap after lap. In the end though, Marquez simply could not respond and eventually finished 4.479 seconds behind from Lorenzo, who now draws level on points with teammate Dovizioso in the championship standings.
Rossi came home in a lonely third place but made it yet another podium finish to remain second in the standings, with Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda Castrol enjoying a fantastic ride to finish as top independent rider in fourth place. The Brit was locked in a battle with Dani Pedrosa but got the better of the Spaniard. Dani rounded out the top five.
Maverick Vinales opening lap woes continued, with the rider finishing the first lap down in P10 after starting fourth. The Spaniard later managed to salvage sixth at the end of the race, holding off Johann Zarco, but the two traded blows throughout the race.
Danilo Petrucci crossed the line in eight place, with fellow Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista finishing seven seconds further back in ninth place.
Despite a brilliant start, Iannone slipped back and the Italian came home in tenth place. Pol Espargaro picking up his fourth straight P11 finish, with Scot Reding and Karel Abraham were the only other riders to finish the race in P12 and P13 respectively.
Bradley Smith went up to as high as eight place on the opening laps of the race, but was taken out by Takaaki Nakagami on lap 14, both riders are okay.
Mika Kallio of Red bull KTM Factory Racing, Tom Luthi and Aleix Espargaro and Xavier Simeon also crashed out early in the race. All riders are okay.
Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin was enjoying a good race and looked like he could earn a top 10 finish, but he crashed on the exit of turn four.
Alex Rins difficult weekend continued in the race, and the Spaniard retired on lap 12. Jack Miller and Tito Rabat both had to retire their bikes too with Rabat’s Ducati catching fire.
The next race in the calendar is set to take place at the classic Assen circuit, where Lorenzo will be looking to extend his championship points and Marquez will be looking to keep Rossi at bay. Rossi is currently in second place in the standings, but the Doctor has often been the master of the TT Circuit Assen.
Though not yet confirmed by Honda as yet, reports suggest that Lorenzo has signed with Honda for two years.
Deal supposedly worth 4 million Euros a year was signed before Lorenzo’s maiden win with Ducati.
Earlier reported Yamaha satellite team supposedly to go ahead without Lorenzo.
After weeks of speculation and rumours about the future of Jorge Lorenzo, the hammer has dropped and it is officially official, the triple motogp world champion will be joining the Honda MotoGP works team.
While Malaysians slept, the wheels of negotiation were turning through the night and though this was supposedly done before Lorenzo secured his first win with Ducati, it seems like the Japanese manufacturer has secured the services of Lorenzo for at least two years.
Just hours after announcing that Pedrosa will be dropped from the team for 2019, the news bout Lorenzo joining Honda broke. And though Honda has not officially announced it as yet, but sources out of Europe are confirming it as true. The agreement between rider and team is reported to be at about 4 million Euros a year.
There are also rumours that Lorenzo was not the first choice for the team, but as other top riders like Johan Marco, Andrea Dovizioso and even Joan Mir of Moto2 all signing for other teams, the choice was obvious. The only other top rider that was available was Lorenzo and the choice was clear.
Earlier rumours about Lorenzo signing for a satellite Yamaha team in 2019 were supposedly true, read our report here, but no current team has been firmed up as a satellite Yamaha team for 2019. The project was backed by Petronas and Monster, and again reports suggest that the team could still happen, probably lead by Marc VDS Honda’s Franco Morbidelli.
Dani Pedrosa has been racing for the works Honda MotoGP team since 2006.
He has always been a strong contender, but a dip in form and performance has fuelled criticism.
Honda has confirmed that it has informed Dani that his contract will not be renewed for 2019.
But who will replace him? Some say Jorge Lorenzo?
It is officially official, the works Honda MotoGP team has informed its long time rider Dani Pedrosa that his contract will not be renewed for 2019.
Some say the writing was already on the wall considering his poor start to the 2018 season where Dani currently sits 12th in the championship while his teammate Marc Marquez leads it.
Though not exactly shocking, the news is as sad as it comes considering Dani has only ever raced for Honda powered machinery throughout his race career. He won the 2003 125cc title as well as the 2004 and 2005 250cc titles with Honda. Dani has been with the HRC MotoGP team since 2006.
There is no immediate news on his replacement as yet, but there are some whispers about Honda poaching Jorge Lorenzo. That seems unlikely since the Spaniard, whose contract with Ducati is coming to an end at the end of this season, looks set to be joining a Petronas and Yamaha backed satellite team.
But the temptation of racing on a bike that has proven to be nearly unbeatable in the right hands for the past few seasons may prove to be too much. Never say never.
