MotoGP 2020

[Rare White Ape]

Yeah why the fuck did Zarco move over there? He appears to change his line after they were both on the brakes.

[JoeW]

Ermmm I see it completely the opposite. Looks like a racing incident to me and the announcers agreed. Zarco got hit from behind and dislodged from the bike due to the impact. Morbidelli went over the bars. Zarco was the lead rider at that point. Both riders at speed in a corner and trying to brake hard at the same time. Just a dangerous mix. Nothing more.

Zarco and Morbidelli were both in the middle of the track at the time of the impact. So not sure what you mean by “way out there”. Zarco had taken the inside line to make the pass and his “out, in, out” trajectory was normal for this move. Morbidelli was getting passed and on a slightly different trajectory. If anything morbidelli probably could have drifted wider to avoid instead of trying to stay as close as possible under braking.

Amazing how you can see it as a criminal offense and I see it as a racing incident. I guess it mirrors today’s politics in its polarity.

[Dicknose]

Its a weird setup, high speed left into braking area for a right. And especially for these bikes as it puts the braking area at the end of the left.
So people are starting to brake while in the middle of the track, some then aim left for the racing line, some aim straight to keep the inside.
Watch Miller there - he was always starting to brake in the middle and drifting left. When he seemed to have front tyre issues he was braking further back and it looked even worse.
So I dont think you can blame any of them for what happened, no one did anything stupid or deliberately dangerous.

Its actually not a good combo for the bikes, the speed of the motoGP bikes and how much braking they need makes this corner combo a mess.

Was scary to see this happen and just good luck that none of the other riders were hit. Rossi never saw it coming.

[JoeW]

Have they never raced there before?

It was good to see Dovi get a win. Last I watched Moto GP he was a new guy

I am somewhat irritated as a "new" old watcher that many of the bikes aren't more clearly advertised as to what brand they are. Very frustrating.

[Rare White Ape]

Joe: Zarco was hard against the left of the circuit, while Morbidelli was about 1.5 meters to his right. As they hit the brakes, it was actually Morbidelli who was taking the correct line. Zarco moved right after he hit the brakes and cut across Morbidelli’s front tyre. The normal thing to do is to follow the track to the left before turning right.

Morbidelli had nowhere to go. He couldn’t brake any harder. It’s very hard to steer while on the brakes. And getting off the brakes would’ve ended with an impact anyway. There’s not a hope in hell that he could’ve moved wider, all he could do was straighten up in the half a second before impact.

[JoeW]

I can see that you believe this to be true which is why we disagree. I have ridden for over 45yrs and roadraced for a couple of those. So I have an educated opinion as well. So agree to disagree.

Watch the race. You can see about 20 different lines taken through that corner. He was ahead of Morbidelli before they hit the apex of the corner. The onus is then on morbidelli to decide how to approach the next turn. Zarco is ahead and has made his decision as the lead rider. The following rider now needs to react.

I guess I have the luxury of not hating any of the riders ahead of time as I haven’t watched in forever. The only names I recognize are Rossi, Dovi and Marquez (by reputation).

Seems like there is some pre hate for Zarco that is clouding some judgements.

[Rare White Ape]

I actually love Zarco. He was spectacular in 2018, really shook things up.

Here’s copied text from a post on Facebook:

𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗚𝗣: 𝗭𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗥𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶, '𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲'

Johann Zarco clears the air with Valentino Rossi after some strong words on Italian TV following huge Austrian MotoGP accident with Franco Morbidelli: 'I didn't cut the line. It's too crazy to do it and too dangerous'.

Johann Zarco said that he and Franco Morbidelli "hugged each other" in the Medical Centre.

"Then after I was sad because, during the interviews, bad things came out from the comments by Franco and Vale."

The comments in question were aired on Italian TV, where Morbidelli's (translated) words labelled the Frenchman as "a half-assassin… I hope this huge accident makes Zarco think. It was really dangerous for me, him, for Rossi and Vinales who saw a bike coming in their faces at 280km/h."

"Franco was already gone but it was good to speak with Vale, so we spent 10 minutes together and we could sincerely say what happened and our thoughts about it,"

"Fortunately, nobody is seriously hurt, so I just talked with Vale to make him understand I'm not a crazy guy. I delayed the zoom because we had to fix things."

I didn't do it on purpose.

I overtook Morbidelli in the straight and then in the moment when I had to brake, he touched me and he has been surprised.

"They [Rossi and Morbidelli] were thinking that I went super wide and it was not correct, but I didn't go so wide. I was not much more wide than usual. And I didn't do it on purpose.

"For sure I could expect that maybe Morbidelli would try to overtake, but I didn't cut the line to stop him. It's too crazy to do it and too dangerous and I'm conscious enough to manage it. So when I was braking there were no bad thoughts, but now it's clear between us.

"Now that we could speak together they understand what's happened and it's just because of all the speed, because we were close to each other - I think he got at the moment when I braked - this slipstream. We touched, then had no control and crashed."

It was not like a crazy overtake'
Zarco also insisted it hadn't been a risky move to make.

"It was not crazy because my engine was really much stronger than him in that moment and I overtook him when we were still in 5th gear. When we were maybe 300 metres before the braking point. So when I was braking it was more than one-second that I was in front of him. This was not like a crazy overtake.

"Just in the straight I went on the left, because there was no space on the right, so I was well in front. But in the moment I had to brake, maybe because I was not super leaning I had to go a bit on the right. And this, with the slipstream - I think it was very similar to me and Marc in Australia [2018] - but I was in front."

" Then the bad thing was the bike that could really destroy Valentino. Vale just felt something, stood up a little bit and saw the bike. He has been scared also."

"I was feeling bad for this situation. Franco got more hurt than me because he has some pain in the head. Me, luckily I have few burns on the arms the hips and the leg. A little bit of pain in my wrist but nothing broken."

What did Valentino say?
"He just told me that when he saw the crash, just with the few views that we have on the TV, that I went super wide and I did this during the braking just to stop Morbidelli,"

"I explained to him that I didn't go so wide and we have to check again, even myself, because I was not crazy wide. And I really did not want to stop Morbidelli, this was not the idea in the moment I was braking.

"So he wanted that this was clear, that I didn't do it on purpose, because in the first idea when he saw it – but then he knows the bikes are so fast at 300 km/h, heavy and at this speed you cannot change your line in the last moment like in Moto3.

"That's why he told me, 'just careful for it', and I said, 'Vale, I'm careful for it and that's why I tried to keep my line'. But in the way I was moving I could not go more on the left and that's maybe what surprised Franco. This was the discussion.

"I think yes [he understood me] because we were just both together. I think this was very, very important because my feeling is we spoke honestly"

[JoeW]

There ya go. It sounds like what I thought it was.

[JoeW]

Pretty amazing finish on this last race.

[Freude am Fahren]

Vinales be like



Seriously, he knew he had brake problems, and slowed earlier, I can't believe he didn't park it.

Enjoy this season while it lasts. Marc will be back to amaze us and make the race for 2nd most interesting next year.