Sepang 2016 - After race analysis

Personally I don't like that much this track, but it seems the riders like the new modifications applied soon before the F1 GP, with new more abrasive asphalt and different camber for some corners.

The superiority by Ducati in tough situations is quite indisputable. I think that Dovizioso would not win easily a race with a noncompetitive bike, indeed this is his second victory in this class since when he started, after he won in Donington in 2009 in very similar weather conditions on HRC Honda. By the way to be fair, he concluded his race despite his teammate Iannone, without mistakes.

Iannone gave us a really exciting battle with Rossi in the first part of the race. The crash at turn 9 at 7 laps to go has been a big shame, fortunately without serious consequences for his already precarious back.

Rossi after a terrible start, recovered the lost positions in just one inhuman braking at turn 9 for then having an amazing challenge with the friend Iannone. Probably it's the most funny part of the race. Unfortunately, with few laps to go, the track started drying quickly and, after leading the group for a big part of the session, he received 2 calls from the right side of his front tyre and had to slow down after going wide at turn 1. Easy job for Dovizioso that overtook him in that turn and got enough safe gap to win.

We had also a nice battle between Crutchlow and Marquez that unfortunately crashed both respectively at turn 2 and 11. After a deep analysis to Marc's crash I got the conclusion that he has been more unlucky than wrong, since he lost the front accelerating. The change of weight distribution on a V4 engine is quite unpredictable then if we think about the conditions and the tires, to crash was not too complicated. By the way it needs to say that Marquez itself said to be glad to be free from stress and able to drive as he wants and he crashed twice in a row... However he made an admirable job recovering the crashed motorcycle concluding 11th.

I'm surprised by Lorenzo who has been particularly honest in the interview after race saying that he got the podium because of the crashes. But it would be unfair if we did not say he improved a lot on the wet this weekend despite his bad relationship with the Michelin tires. He would have probably concluded 5th by the way, which is not bad at all.

Next and final round on November 13 in Valencia.

Motegi 2016 - After race analysis

We cannot say we had great battles in this race, but we cannot say nothing happened neither.
With Motegi result, Marc Marquez mathematically got the world championship 2016. His pace has been fast for all the weekend-end, starting from second place on the grid, took the lead, got some gap and went to win.
Marc has definitely a great talent who grew up race after race and who makes few mistakes but not that much. Despite the inferiority, even if a little bit, of his Honda compare to Yamaha, he always played is game fairly and got always points. I think his determination has been the key of this success.

Yamaha had a double fiasco. Rossi gave a bit of fun in the first part of the race struggling with Marquez. Then after passing Lorenzo he tried to recovery the gap on Marc but at turn 11 he arrives wide and too close to the limit, loosing the front end. The championship is officially over. This mistake could compromise also his second position but Lorenzo, at few laps to the end, crashes at turn 10. A very strange crash though that I would define a "Michelin crash", where he lost the front end without pushing and during acceleration. 

With both the Yamaha riders out of the game, Dovizioso can take easily the second place, followed by Vinales and Aleix Espargaro.
Suzuki worked very well all the weekend and their progression during the year is something of admirable.
Dovizioso has been even better probably helped by the low temperatures which we know they are appreciated by Ducati.

The battle for the second and third place in championship remains open. Next round in Philip Island

Aragon 2016 - After race analysis

Marquez's supremacy in qualifying session has been confirmed in race too. After a bad front loosing, he focused looking for the tyre feeling and once he got it, he recovered the positions lost, he took the lead, got some gap and went to the checking flag. Arrived to this point, the possibilities of recovering by Rossi with -52 points and only 4 races left seem to be almost none. Even if not mathematically confirmed, Marc proved to have enough maturity, speed and effectiveness to get the 2016 title.  

We saw also beautiful overtakes between the Yamaha teammates, with Lorenzo in troubles in the first part of the race and Rossi in the second. Then Valentino made a bad mistake loosing the reference for braking, going wide and loosing any possibility to get the second place. A pretty normal mistake even if preferably avoidable. He had quite visible traction problems due to spinning, especially in the third and forth sectors.

Suzuki had a bit more problems despite the optimistic preview of the team manager Davide Brivio. By the way the race is always different from free practice sessions and Vinalez risked several times, not only to crash, but also to involve other riders (like Lorenzo in turn 1). The 4th place is a very good result though.

Pedrosa furious! A setup problem in the rear tyre and a defect in the front one, compromise all the race of the Spanish rider who had almost to ruin his feet to stay on the bike and to end. Let's remember that Dani is not a polemic rider at all and when he speaks about a problem, the problem exists. Indeed...

And also this time... both the Aprilia arrived in the top 10 with just 1 missing rider in the grid. Quietly they are coming...

Next round in the 16th of October in Motegi.

Misano 2016 - After race analysis

I'm going to make an analysis on the main facts of the race instead of on the singular riders.
Michelin has reached the performances of Bridgestone, being better in some cases. However, the kind of tyre seems to permit just to keep a pace without passing it. This particular race proved that. Indeed we had overtakes but no battle at all. It's like to watch many Lorenzo all together which keep their own pace an nothing else. It's boring!
As Rossi said, this track is easier from a technical point of view compare to Silverstone but it's more difficult to overtake. This is the reason why we had so many discussions on so few overtakes we got.

Let's take the most viral, Rossi on Lorenzo in turn 14. It happened at the beginning of the race. It cannot be classified between the "clean" ones because the rider overtaken had to modify his line to avoid the accident. However it was absolutely legal and permitted move where theoretically had to be no contact at all. Why happened then?

The camera on the tail of Valentino's bike speaks itself: it shows the move before the turn and as you can see, Lorenzo saw very well Rossi. My theory is he deliberately simulated surprise to mask the enter as not regular or very dirty, keeping his ideal line and changing at the last moment looking for the contact. In fact Rossi was already passed indeed Jorge almost touched his back wheel form external. He theoretically had to modify his line to let the overtaker make his move (unavoidable) in a safe situation, for then answer later, eventually. This not happened and we had instead several controversies, which got worse during the interviews.

Was made that overtake in that particular moment right? Sipping Martini on the couch it's easy to say, on race is very different. Lorenzo teaches us if he starts in front and gets little gap, then is unreachable. I would say it definitely was right.

And Pedrosa? Wonderful race from 8th to the lead making a precise and spectacular overtake on Rossi (paradoxically dirtier than the one we've just seen). The Italian tried then to resist, making a couple of laps lightly faster, but not enough to reply to Dani. Better to take points also today, even if few.

Marquez had serious problems and just kept his pace for the whole race. Strange result despite the amazing time laps registered during the warmup session. Still a safe situation in the championship at +43pt, fine enough so far...

A little quick consideration also for Bautista who finally brought the Aprilia in the top 10

Next round in a couple of weeks in Aragon. 

Silverstone 2016 - After race analysis

Silverstone is a quite flat and long track with huge runoffs in asphalt. All the races of the last weekend have been plenty of battles and the final gaps were surprisingly content. By that, it's the ideal track for fun and motorcycles in general.
The weather compromised the qualifying session, but not the race which has been dry until the end. A red flag due to a crash between Pol Espargaro and Baz (with no consequence for them) obligated to start a second time the race.

Vinales gives a wonderful victory to the team Suzuki after years without a result like that. The team manager Davide Brivio is usually very careful on comments before the race, but that day he has been more confident than usual. He was right! Vinales jumps in the front of the grid soon after the start and gets a gap which suggests there is no way to beat him. Simply impregnable. Moreover, with this result he overtakes Pedrosa in the championship going in 4th.

Crutchlow liked the taste of the last podium and in battle is very hard to beat. After a good start manages the situation staying in the group Rossi-Marquez-Iannone-Pedrosa. The conditions of the tires in the end are still fine and after overtaking Valentino resists to a tenacious and determined Marquez which is forced kowtow in front of Cal. A wonderful and spectacular ride by him, from a couple of races, the best Honda rider.

Rossi takes the first laps of the race struggling a bit to cool down the hard compound tires. After that he takes the lead of the second place group managing for large part of the session. Then Marquez becomes insidious with so many things to clarify with him. The two of them start to overtake each other taking many risks and contacts up to the limit of the regulations. Marquez to avoid the crash is forced to run off the track to then come back quickly to his place, loosing nothing, overtaking him soon after. But unfortunately the rear tyre starts spinning and Valentino has absolutely to get points, so he opted to dose the throttle and resign himself to watch the opportunity of the podium going away. But then something happens: Marquez, trying to overtake Crutchlow with a inhuman braking, goes to get mushrooms outside the track giving to Rossi the opportunity desired. A real stroke of luck which reduces a bit the gap between them in the championship. Good race by the Italian which managed the technical problems of the Yamaha egregiously. (-50pt)

Marquez struggled this weekend like not many other times in his carrier. The 4th place is more than satisfying though, however he got too many risks. Too nervous to arrive in the podium, too determined to crash. Good but not too much.

A shame for Iannone which was the only one to have the pace close to Vinales, unfortunately crashed after a wonderful remount.

Lorenzo absent from the protagonists's list. Unexpected performances due to the pace during the dry free practice and the swagger statements of superiority before the race. In my opinion too much words and not determined enough.

Next round in Misano this weekend

Brno 2016 - After race analysis

It happened all. The bad weather compromised the race to somebody and made the life hard for somebody else. The race started in very wet conditions but with no rain. The choice of the strategy is crucial in this cases.

Crutchlow won his first GP in MotoGP class opting for a setup which initially doesn't pay back. The hard compound indeed has problem to get the proper temperature and it requires more time. The British wet experience suggested to Cal that the asphalt in those conditions would have probably issues to dry and the best choice was to arrive up to the end without swapping the bike. If he had chosen the softer option like anybody else out there (suggestible if you have to swap the bike) he would have serious problems like what happened to the factory Ducati team which dominated all the race but concluded with a no classification for Dovizioso and the 8th place for Iannone.

Rossi managed the race as a champion. Yamaha risks and decides to put the hard compound just in the rear in both the bikes. It goes bad and the riders lose lots of positions going even out from the top 10. Valentino starts to desperate and to regret for the choice but then the situation changes and the tyre starts to work properly and he becomes the fastest in a moment where nobody is. He skips the Yamahas Tech3, the Suzukis, the very fast Ducatis and Marquez. Cal is too far to start a chase with 4 laps to the end. For today it's fine like this. Surprising performance by Valentino who overtakes Lorenzo in the championship going at -53 from Marquez.

Marquez opted for the common choice getting the soft compound to then change the bike at half of the race (since there was no rain). However the asphalt doesn't dry and Marc noticed that. He decides to slow down to preserve the tires for having something at the end. He loses positions going back in 5th but remaining there checking the situation. When few laps remain to the end he changes pace and overtakes the Ducatis in the front seizing the podium. A mature and professional management by the young rider who limits the damage once again in the best way. (197pt)

Lorenzo fails again in the rain making confusion and changing the bike in the wrong moment, when he was starting to recovery positions. He also tried to swap the bike a second moment but changing his mind at the last minute. Hilarious moment which shows a leaking of professionalism by the Spanish rider who is literally wasting points important for the championship. It seems he is there just for presence. He concludes in last position with on lap of gap.

Great result for the Ducati Avintia racing team GP2014 which having old generation Ducati made a better result than the factory team. Baz 4th and Barbera 5th after a great battle with Iannone

Next round at Silverstone

Brno 2016 - Qualifying

Compare to last year, the lap times are finally improved. We can officially say that Michelin did it.

Brno is a very fast track and definitely not flat. This conformation is against Honda which has big trouble setting the electronic. Also this time Marquez doesn't know it and made the best lap time taking the pole in a circuit which he doesn't like. He made really a miracle doing better than Lorenzo who was the fastest up to few laps before. We have to remember that Lorenzo made the best lap time also last year. Marc was also helped by Valentino that was making the fast lap in the same moment trailing him.

Iannone has been another protagonist this weekend: it's always the fastest of the Ducatis and will be surely present tomorrow. More problems for the other Ducati of Dovizioso, behind even the GP2014 of Barbera. Leaking of consistency also this time.

Good result for Aleix Espargaro who is doing well in the fast laps, we hope the same for the race. Vinales slower than him, I think will be hard to see him as a protagonist tomorrow.

Rossi fails again during his fast lap: chooses a bad moment to enter and he remains stuck in the traffic behind Pol Espargaro who ruined his lap. As long as Valentino doesn't fix this stupid defect he got, starting in a good place on the grid will be always a problem. That is a crucial moment in the race. Despite that, Rossi is confident and believes to be enough fast for the race and we wish that to be true.

We'll have bad forecast tomorrow for the race which will move the situation on the grid.

Below the grid of the last year for a comparison:

Spielber 2016 - After race analysis

I regret to say it, but this was a pretty boring and predictable race.

This are the results:

The gaps are content and indeed for all the race I had the impression that the riders were close to overtake each other several times. However this is not happened probably because Spielberg is a very fast circuit and there are not so many "dare spots".

Iannone gave to Ducati something that Dovizioso has tried to since when he started with them: a victory after 6 years of starving. He ran a clean race with no risk and the reward is the first victory in MotoGP class, the best way to conclude the weekend.

Dovizioso didn't surprise, like usual, present but absent in the same time he arrives second and brings important points to Ducati. By the way I just want to remember he ran 250 GPs getting 10 victory and just one of them in MotoGP (where he began in 2008). His consistency is highly questionable.

Lorenzo (-43pt) made another step before the race which gave him the opportunity to overtake Rossi (-57pt) and to keep the position, struggling anyway if we look the final gap.

After a perfect start and a mistake in the first corner which compromises both him and Lorenzo, Marquez played essentially in defense, limiting the damages in a track not suitable for Honda, like many others. (181pt)

Pedrosa made a wonderful job concluding 7th, starting from 12th. i would say the most spectacular and unpredictable thing happened in this race. (-76)

Next round in Brno

Spielberg 2016 - Qualifying

Ducati confirms his superiority here on Spielber taking the first and the third position. Despite the expectations due to the test results and the free practices results, they struggled a bit in qualifying since a good improvement of Yamaha but even of Honda which has his fastest riders Marquez and Crutchlow very close to each other. It's clear that Honda started to bring pieces also to the satellite teams since Marc is the only one is getting point but rightly he cannot make miracles, perhaps...

Pedrosa too far and with so many difficulties is not even in the top ten.

Rossi sweated particularly a lot this weekend, but against all the expectations, realized a wonderful last lap splitting the Ducatis and leapfrogging Marquez and Lorenzo, up to that moment faster than him.

I've noticed no particular phenomena of "trailing", where the riders follow other riders during the lap time for having references and wake, so we have pretty clean time laps.

The first 10 riders are in less than 1 second and there are no significant differences in the top speeds. It seems to be a pretty balanced GP for MotoGp, at least compare to F1.

Remembering last tests in Austria

Unfortunately we cannot analyze the results of last year since this is the first time for MotoGP in Austria. The only thing we can do is to take in exam the last day of test on 20th of July.

Here the results:

01- Andrea Iannone – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – 1’23.719

02- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP – + 0.079

03- Yonny Hernandez – Aspar Team MotoGP – Ducati Desmosedici GP14.2 – + 0.677

04- Jorge Lorenzo – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.699

05- Maverick Vinales – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 0.722

06- Aleix Espargaro – Team Suzuki Ecstar – Suzuki GSX-RR – + 0.766

07- Eugene Laverty – Aspar Team MotoGP – Ducati Desmosedici GP14.2 – + 0.781

08- Cal Crutchlow – LCR Honda – Honda RC213V – + 0.809

09- Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.824

10- Scott Redding – Octo Pramac Yakhnich – Ducati Desmosedici GP15 – + 0.841

Honda decided to risk and brought only the satellite teams. Just Crutchlow in the top ten in 8th position.
The Yamaha it's quite too far. More than 5 tenths in a such short circuit like that are a lot. However we cannot know which configuration they have been used and the result could be misleading.
Seems to be pretty clear the superiority of Ducati which has the factories in the firsts 2 positions and 5 of them in the top ten, probably helped by a preferable cold climate.
Good the Suzuki, both with a similar time laps. Perhaps Aleix is finding the confidence he was looking for.

We remember that Stoner participated in the first day of test taking the 4th position. KTM participated too, but being 2 seconds slower than the Red team. Not bad for a first approaching though.  

The compromising error

This year, Marquez has shown in several occasions to be dangerous and to be able to limit the damages in negative weekends. It seems this concept doesn't arrive to Yamaha and his riders. Despite they have less technical problems than anybody else out there with the Michelin, they are the ones that make more mistakes and serious.

The picture of the championship before the Sachsenring GP was clear: the gap between them and the leader Marquez required an attack strategy. On the wet Valentino is more competitive then Marc, indeed he got several important seconds in the first part of the race he would have to keep. However he risked ignoring the written "BOX" of the staff and decided to follow the strategy of Dovizioso, who was leading the race at that moment but not worrying at all.
Rossi believes that even if he was entered 2 or 3 laps before, nothing would be changed. WRONG! Marquez wag gaining from 5 to 7 seconds per lap and entering even 1 lap before would change everything.

What nobody was expecting was a so aggressive strategy by Honda which had nothing to lose but to defend instead. They played a risky card mounting the slicks in a moment where the track was not completely dry. This makes the difference. Watching this move, Yamaha would have to copy, not to think.
The combination Rossi-Yamaha made a series of mistakes which compromised and thrown away an entire weekend and probably the championship. I talk about "combination" because Valentino is the one who decides when to box, but Yamaha is the one that decides which setup to put on the second bike and they decided for the intermedium one.

This remember me Misano 2015. In a very similar situation the Yamaha riders opted for an absurd strategy where they were practically the only ones on the track with a wet setup on a dry asphalt. The swapping was delayed like in this case. The race concluded with the crash by Lorenzo and the 5th place for Rossi. I supposed the learnt something from that weekend.

From what I see, in general, better to arrive always second than to win and make unforgivable and avoidable mistakes. Marquez is deserving this title at 100% so far.

Sachsenring 2016 - After race analysis

The rain causes always mess, especially when not constant during the race. In this particular case, it stopped in the second half of the race, drying the circuit and creating overheating problems to the wet tires. However there were only a couple of crashes, fortunately. 
Let's take a look to the race arrival list with the gaps from the leader

Marquez started with few issues which made loosing him time and positions. Then he saved from crash himself after probably a lost of grip, going wide in the gravel. He looked done for a while. Honda chose for a great strategy and called Marc into the box to swap the bike with the slick tires on it (medium for the rear and soft for the front). We know Marquez is able to manage tough situations by the way, indeed he started to go really fast getting 5 seconds per lap on the leading group Rossi-Dovizioso-Crutchlow that decided to enter a bit too late. He arrives with almost 10 seconds of advantage on the second, going to +48 on Lorenzo and +59 on Rossi.

Crutchlow got the same tyre set of Marquez, like any Honda rider. He is so fast that's able to overtake the competitive Ducati ridden by Dovizioso few laps before the checking flag. No mistake, precise and effective. It was a long time we didn't see him like that.

Dovizioso, despite his worries before the weekend, ran a good race. Probably he would make a better result if Ducati had opted for the slick set like Honda, instead of the inter-medium set. However he concluded third and not so far away from the lead.

Rossi shows his ability on the wet once again, staying together with the fast Ducatis of Petrucci and Dovizioso, toiling a bit. Then he receive the communication "BOX". Of course Yamaha monitored Marquez's rhythm after the swapping and started to worry. In a contrast with a strategy based on attack against the championship leader Marquez, coping his movement, he opted to defend the second position following the leader Dovizioso, entering in the box few laps later, compromising the advantage he got. He comes back with the inter-medium set, like Dovizioso, and the bikes goes bad, really bad. It starts only at the end to get confidence but it's too late and Valentino has been overtaken by several riders. He concluded eighth. Sorry to say this, but this is a completely wasted weekend that adds to the other fails of the season. The championship is too far by now.

Lorenzo has been totally absent like in the last GP. He really doesn't like the wet.

I spend just a word for the poor Petrucci who leads the race for few laps before to crash in the gravel. His ability on the wet are visible and he is one of the most competitive Ducati riders. What a pity.
What a pity also for Pedrosa who shown to be fast this weekend and loves this track.

This is the end of the first part of the season. Next Gp in Austria on the 14th of August.

Sachsenring 2016 - Qualifying

The Sachsenring circuit is very short, only 3 turns going right, 2 of them very slow and 1 very fast (the famous turn n.12, called also n.11). The remaining left corners are 11 (the second and the third ones can be counted together). 

Due to its conformation, the riders arrive at turn 12 with the right side of the tyre "cold" or not in temperature because they have no opportunity to warm that up. Michelin took that question seriously and brought new asymmetric tires for this weekend which should help the riders to arrange the problem.

Lorenzo has been protagonist of several crashes in these days and failed the time-lap because he destroyed both the motorcycles before the flag. Rossi and Marquez are definitely more in shape and costant. 

Marc took several risks, instead Valentino seems more comfortable on the bike even if he has still to learn how to avoid the traffic during qualifying. He had the potential to do a better time-lap.  

Other protagonists have been Vinales, Iannone, Pol Espargaro and Barbera fast in qualifying session but even in free practices. Real big pity for Pedrosa who likes this track and knows it very well.

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1.21.160s
2. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2) +0.412s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) +0.506s
4. Danilo Petrucci ITA Octo Pramac (Desmosedici GP15)  +0.506s
5. Pol Espargaro ESP Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)  +0.578s
6. Maverick Viñales ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.624s
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) +0.698s
8. Aleix Espargaro ESP Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) +0.723s
9. Andrea Iannone ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP) +0.730s
10. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) +0.732s

Let's take a look also to the 2015 finishing arrival:

1 25 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 41'01.087
2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +2.226
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +5.608
4 13 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +9.928

 

Previews for the weekend

Despite I scanned the news everyday, nothing of particular happened. This is the reason why i wrote nothing so far and I'm going to write few things now.

Finally we're back to race and after this weekend we're going to have a long break to start again in middle August.

Last news were about the unexpected victory by Miller, an unforgivable and resounding crash by Rossi, a good defending race by Marquez and a boring and worrying race by Lorenzo.

This particular GP has not so many front-runner: Marquez is the first and probably the only one. If we look at his main antagonists in the championship (the Yamaha riders), Honda got a quite picture.

Lorenzo never won in Germany. He is also the only rider who frankly speaks about the issues with the tires, especially with the front one.

Back in 2009, Rossi won his last race there. However, this time he is particularly determined and ready, like his teammate. Most of all this year we have the variable of the tires which changes the situation completely.

Dovizioso is really worried and says this track is not enough good for Ducati. I wouldn't expect nothing special by him anyway (since the last fail in Assen). It's a long time he's trying and he never concluded anything relevant so far.

Marc's maturity

You can't deny, this year Marquez is going great. He's grown the little Spanish rider and he understood the importance to get points. The only mistake committed was in Le Mans were after the crash restarted immediately, getting few but essential points.

This is the first time in his career to complete 8 GP getting always points and without retreats. Maybe less spectacular, but wiser. It's a drastic change for him who already after the disappointing start of last year confessed he understood the importance to get points always. Last year he collected 6 retreats, most of them due to the bad 2015 frame by Honda who compromised the front feeling for the riders.

Assen weekend has been tough for Honda (and not only), likewise the beginning of the season and Marquez his putting is soul, as also Jorge admitted.

The rode perfectly, thinking just to the goal and not to the riders in the front, so at the end the mistake was committed by the possible problem of that day, Rossi. Then if we think about the bad race by Lorenzo, who got points though, that second place sounds like a victory to him and a lethal defeat for Yamaha.

Sachsenring will be next round where Marc won in the last 2 years. We can quietly think about him as front-runner. 

Assen 2016 - After race analysis

Assen is a nice GP because surprises, sometimes in a good way, sometimes in a bad way, but surprises always. This race amazed, starting from the splitting of the event in 2 parts due to the bad weather and the high number of crashes.

The protagonists:

- The Ducatis in general have been really competitive in both the situations (dry/wet)

- Jack Miller, for somebody a new name, usually present in the last positions. There is a reason because is not easy to see him in the first rows, without discussing his skills: he skipped the Moto2 class to go directly in MotoGP. This is his second year and he wants to show his skills which actually did winning in Assen in very bad conditions with a private Honda. He's 21, great in battles, who overtakes also when is not possible. A little Australian rider we often will hear about, I'm sure of it.

- Marc Marquez started with some problem which he fixed in the second half of the race. He arrived 2nd defending, he didn't risk and got a lot of points going to +24. Now he can breath better.

- Scott Redding is fast since the beginning and brings the Pramac Ducati team on the podium after stealing the position to a strong Pol Espargaro. Especially in the first part of the race he was incredibly fast compare to the others, going in the leading group togheter with Rossi. The most impressive of the weekend in my opinion.

- Danilo Petrucci is the other rider by Pramac Ducati team and gave us a nice battle with the leading group Rossi-Dovizioso. Clean, fast like he already did in Silverstone last year in similar conditions. Onfortunately the bike betrayed him in the second part of the race due to a technical problem. A very sad end for a day which looked for a moment almost perfect to the team. 

- Andrea Dovizioso perfect in race 1, has a good pace and defends his position until race 2 when decides to gain distance from the follower loosing the front end and crashing disastrously in the Dutch gravel. The Ducati Factory Team has to settle with the comeback of the teammate Iannone from last concluding in 5th without crashing anyone.

- Valentino Rossi starts well and stay together with Hernandez and Dovizioso getting gap from the others. He struggle a bit and concludes 3rd in race 1 to restart on the grid from there. In race 2 the follower becomes Marquez who is not too far and scare. Trying to get more gap, he loses the front end and crashes. A serious unforgivable mistake to avoid. With the engine fail of Mugello and the crash in Austin, Marquez has never been so far in the championship, at +42. Marc is reachable only in case of his own mistake, however when you hope in the blunder of the opponent, then you played badly and Rossi did it.

- Yonni Hernandez, with the softer compound, overtakes everybody leading the group from far away. Really exiting moments for the Ducati Aspar Team which finish before the end of race 1, with his crash. A big petty.

The other Honda rider Dani Pedrosa gets only 4 points. After a good comeback he crashed in race 2 restarting and concluding 12th.
Delusion by Lorenzo which has no felling with the front and fortunately gets 6 points concluding 10th after everybody in front of him crashed.

Assen 2016 - Qualifying

As previewed, the rain played a crucial rule in these sessions. Indeed the time laps are very high compare to last year, when it was dry. Spotted wet situation in all the track created trouble to understand and choose the proper setup and strategy.

Ducati has been competitive as expected and got 2 of the firsts 3 positions.

Dovizioso has been effective also because the presence of Valentino in front of him, a good reference during the time lap. Redding has already shown his potential and maybe he was looking for the ideal moment to do it again.

Rossi has been strong since the beginning of the weekend and got the perfect strategy for the qualifying. He is the best located on the grid compare to the other championship leaders.

Marquez made a miracle again: despite the huge quantity of technical problems by Honda, he got the forth position.

Pol Espargaro has been fast all the weekend and we might keep focus on him about the race.

Who failed:

Iannone has to start from last position anyway and it's better to improve that time lap or he will have troubles to go back in first positions.

Pedrosa really no... He had even to make the Q1 without qualify to enter in Q2. It will be particularly difficult for him.

Lorenzo didn't impress, he don't like the wet and Assen in general. Most of all I think he got the wrong strategy for qualifying.

Vinales is still looking for the best setup, which Espargaro seems to have found.

We wish these riders can find what they're looking for during the warmup, the last opportunity before race.

Assen 2015 qualifying results

It's always preferable having the qualifying results of last year to compare and have an idea about the possible scenario. Probably the time laps will be higher since the new Michelin tires. So far they have been +0.5 up to 1 full second more than the last year. However there is also a small possibility of improvement since the French company brought new sets of tires particularly comfortable for the riders.

The meteorologic variable is crucial and we cannot still have a sure idea about the weekend forecast, especially there in Netherlands. 

We can notice the small differences between the lap time of each rider, even 10 riders in less than half second.
Lorenzo is looking for a good result since the last GP, even if in the last 2 years he didn't get it here.
Marquez is quite confident also because admitted a series of favorite tracks for him is finally coming.
Rossi has been the last winner and got 9 victories so far. Despite he didn't got many fast laps in qualifying, here is particularly fast.
Vinales will be surely a protagonist taking in consideration Suzuki likes this circuit and it got the second place last year with Espargaro.
Ducati will be definitely present in race and in qualifying, be ready for that.

Next update after qualifying, if no surprise.

The motorcycling university

This is the real name of the Assen circuit in Netherlands. It is quite flat especially, but plenty of pitfalls which require very high skills.

The first thing which made different this track from the others was the totally absence of the curbs. Despite what people think, they give a "comfortable" sensation to the riders, technically and physiologically.

We can deduct that the totally absence of them gave no possibility of mistake, a mistake that if committed was paid hardly.

I've spoke with the past for a reason: nowadays the situation is another. The layout of the circuit was entirely redesigned for political and safety reasons.

The most compromised part is the initial one which has nothing to do with the 2005 version. The most traumatic change was the installment of huge and wide curbs, depriving the main characteristic of the track.

As you can see, the modifications are substantial and in many parts. The total length passed from 6Km to 4.5Km. There is also a variation realized in 2009-2010 after the second straight where it was changed the geometry of the curve removing the braking part and making it faster

Being a conformist, it's hard for me to say I like this new Assen. Thereby I listened other opinions, from experts of the sector, and the track seemed to have still the essence was designed for.

I'll take in consideration only the fact that Assen still gives us beautiful and epic battles, something that other currently circuits envy.

Some preview about Ducati

It has been a really difficult start for the Red team this 2016 season. It's a really big petty because since Stoner got the title in 2007, they had not so many results. Definitely too much zeros and mistakes instead.

From a technical point of view Ducati improved a lot, compare to the terrible seasons had with Rossi, probably also because they have more resources right now thankful the new owner Audi. This 2016 seemed to be the moment they were looking for from a long time, but as we know the facts happen despite the theories.

In the last years the Red team has been particularly strong on the wet and in the "cold" dry. In the Assen GP we could have both of them.
Michelin developed a competitive rain tyre, based on the lasts opinions by the riders in the tests.

In the last GPs in Assen Ducati got:
- in 2015 the 4th place with Iannone with +20 second from the leader Rossi;
- in 2014 the 2nd place with Dovizioso with +6.7 from the leader Marquez.

Well, from these data we can expect a good weekend for the Red team and surely we wish for them. We also kindly ask to Iannone to ride smartly, limiting errors and mistakes this time.

Who's right?

When I saw the "contact" between Marquez and Rossi in Assen 2015 for the first time on live, I immediately thought about an exaggerate move by Valentino. After a deep analysis I think I reached a reasonable point.

The camera in the run-off fools giving the idea that Rossi resisted from external after the overtaking. 

The camera from the helicopter says there was no overtaking at all.

Let's study the thing from on-board.

From Rossi: He braked in the right point, defending well, finding the right line and clean, but then, when he was ready to open the throttle and so the bending was particularly high, the front tyre of Marquez touched his arm and instinctively he raised  the bike cutting the chicane.

From Marquez: He braked lightly late and he found a little space where to get in. He succeeded in a surgical inserting between Rossi and the curb, but his speed was a bit high. He touched Valentino when was still braking and indeed went wide soon after.

In my opinion without the presence of Valentino he probably would go in the gravel. It was a great move if it would be the last corner of Jerez, where both of them dared a overtaking like that. There, in Assen, it wasn't the proper place where to try it.

My question for Marquez after his complaining is: Which would be the alternative scenario? Rossi crashed in the gravel?

Lorenzo's issues in Catalunya

Before been beaten and crashing in the gravel, Jorge was having serious technical problems on his bike. They were quite visible because usually when he starts in the front, he is able to get gap immediately.
That time was not possible due to graining problem to the front tyre.

It's a quite common and known phenomena in the racing world, but it's not a good thing. It happens when the tyre is excessively stressed once not properly warmed. In this way the tread will rip, deforming itself and will compromise the grip and the fluidity during the bending. The worst part is located on the edge.

The human factor is determining in this case, so it's better to analyze the riding style of the Spanish. Time ago Jorge was defined "the computer" by the teammate Rossi and indeed he is known in the class to have the particular skill to push hard since the beginning. Based on the previous analysis, we notice his style is not the proper one for these tires. It takes more time to reach the ideal temperature (it seems something the other riders understood). Of course there is also the possibility he didn't warm properly during the warm-up lap, but it's always matter of human mistake. 

I think he learnt the lesson and he will be more competitive for the Assen GP, which actually he doesn't love.

By the way it's correct to remember the huge problems all the riders had since the beginning of the season with the Michelin, more susceptible than the previous Bridgestone. However they improved a lot and are getting closer to the time laps of the last year. We have also to remember that changed the diameter of the rims, going from 16.5 to 17 inches. This forced the French company to work on the geometry of the profile, creating of course side effects not wanted.

Suzuki test and some 2017 preview

Before the Suzuka 8 hours event, the team well thought to spend one day for tests in Motegi circuit, proposing to the Moto2 world champion 2015 Johann Zarco to be the rider of their GSX-RR MotoGP bike. This will be a good occasion to get other important data for the Suzuki team and a good occasion also for the French rider to get experience, even if he will ride another kind of motorcycle for that event. 

Class 1990, Zarco got an easy victory last year in Moto2 class for the first time with the Ajo Motorsport team. He is fast, good in overtaking and battles and to choose in the right moment.

Probably we'll see him next year in MotoGP, but strangely in a completely different team.

Herve Poncharal, boss of the Yamaha Tech-3 team, has still to replace the two currently riders are working with him (Smith and Espargaro). Both of them will move in the brand new KTM factory team. Jonas Folger will be the official substitute of Bradley Smith.

One of the favorites for the second seat should be Zarco together with Alex Rins. The options are two for a reason: In case Suzuki will make a better offer to Alex, then they'll use the B plan.

Suzuki has no intention to keep Aleix Espargaro by the look of things.

This should be the possible situation for the next season:

Suzuki factory team: Andrea Iannone - Alex Rins

Yamaha factory team: Valentino Rossi - Maverick Vinales

Ducati factory team: Jorge Lorenzo - Andrea Dovizioso

Honda factory team: Marc Maquez - Dani Pedrosa

KTM factory team: Bradley Smith - Pol Espargaro

Aprilia factory team: Sam Lowes - ____

Yamaha Tech-3 team: Jonas Folger - Alex Rins/Johann Zarco

Podrosa's disappointment

I would define him the best teammate to have, who gets always points and who contains the mistakes. He arrived in MotoGP in 2006 and he always has been a faithful Honda rider, grown with this team since his debut in 2001 in 125cc class.

Despite his ironclad fidelity, recently, expressed his opinion on his teammate. Most of the directions taken by the team were leaded by him. By the way this is comprehensible: perhaps you could possibly have a rider like Marquez every 50 years. He has the skill to manage and keep the limit like other very few riders and I'm sure I'm not the only one to think in this way.
Marc decided many parts of the bike making comfortable for him but compromising the feelings and the results of the other Honda riders (Dani says). Actually the presence of these riders in the firsts 10 positions is missing so far from a while, I would say also because the other teams made huge steps ahead (like Ducati).
However for Dani this way is not professional because the decisions usually have to be taken for the team and not for your own preferences. Thereby we are speaking about abuse of power and I gather he is more disappointed by Marc instead of Honda.

Pedrosa has never been protagonist of scandals, never spoken awkward words or unfairly. He has been a teammate to envy and desire, super correct so far.
To speak in that way something must be happened from inside. We have also to take in consideration that this bike chosen by Marquez is really uncomfortable for him, so all this is making him surely nervous.

From a physical point of view Dani is the ideal rider for this kind of bikes, indeed Honda developed mainly on him until the arrive of Marc. 2012 has been the best season for him when he almost got the title (at the end got by Lorenzo). He was betrayed by his fragile body and his shoulder. That cursed shoulder took a very long time to heal properly.