Topic: Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM..... - page 281. (Read 141766 times)

The sprint races are quite interesting from time to time, isn't it similar to your suggestion with the time trials in cycling? But in my opinion there are too many points awarded for the sprint race, a maximum of 5 points would have been enough, plus the teams have less time for the set-up.

But let's wait and see if and how long the sprint races will prevail, in my opinion nothing should be changed on Sunday.

Fabio Quartararo insists he and Yamaha have no room for mistakes if they are to defend the title this year.

As is known, the roller-coaster track layout at Portimao matches the Yamaha YZR-M1 motorcycle. That's why positive results must be obtained. Moreover, Quartarararo needs points to catch up in the standings.

“This one (Algarve Circuit) 50:50 for us, but it's true that Jerez and Le Mans are vital tracks for us. Can't make mistakes. If we want to fight for the title, mistakes are intolerable," El Diablo said when asked by Autosport if the Portuguese GP was the real start for him and Yamaha.

"So, at a circuit like this, (we) have to be on the podium and not make mistakes, because otherwise it will be difficult to get in a good position at the end of the year."

Yamaha didn't have the top speed needed to compete with their rivals and they struggled when stuck behind a faster bike, as the riders couldn't use the cornering power of the M1.

Fabio Quartararo has previously noted that the M1 has a short operating window. This means, they will be very dependent on the grip offered by each circuit in MotoGP.

But when asked if he expected an update from Yamaha after MotoGP returned to racing in Europe, El Diablo said there had been no real discussions about it with his team.

“I hope (we get some updates soon). At the moment I don't have much news about it. But we had to do it because imagine I'd be happy to finish P7 in America,

"It sounds ridiculous because I was world champion last year, and (ironically) I already feel happy to finish the race in that position. So we need to have new things." ^{Source:📰 Motorsport.com / gpnews.ig}

TBH I'm not a huge fan of the sprints, and with the points being increased this season, it may be little different to just having no sprint and giving the race winner 33 points.

If they want to do something different, they should do it at Monaco, they could just have a series of cycling-style time-trial sessions, maybe some in daytime, some in evening etc, and award points for those and ditch the boring Sunday procession.

I think the updates would involve something like bringing back the side pods for the Mercedes in order to very slightly reduce the down force and in effect also reduces porpoising which really is the real problem with the 2022 cars.  Ferrari seems to have solved the issue or have less of the issue.  

Anyway there's one betting market I'm looking to bet at every race for the whole season if it continues to be 1.80 or better and if Leclerc really goes on a dominant run this year.

Rumors started at the MotoGP World Championship, Andrea Dovizioso could leave the WithU Yamaha RNF structure sooner than expected.

Everything suggests that the Italian will leave the structure on May 29, just after the Italian Grand Prix weekend after his poor first half of the season with 14th and 15th positions as best results.

Jake Dixon seems to be the best positioned driver to occupy that position for the rest of the season, let us remember that the Briton made his debut with this structure last season replacing Franco Morbidelli during the British and Aragon GP. ^{Source: espmotogp}

@coinlocket$ I wonder if this new update will finally save Mercedes season, because in my personal opinion they’ll find it hard to bounce back quickly. Also Verstappen and Leclerc seem to be too good this season, and I wonder if Hamilton is getting effected by their performances, because I feel that he’ll either finish 3rd or 4th by the time this season ends.

I would be happy if Mercedes could fight for the podium again, but Verstappen and Leclerc are my favourites at Imola. But will the Red Bull be reliable now or will there be another retirement? Big updates in Imola are a bit difficult, because of the sprint race you have very little time to test and understand the new updates, there is simply little time to find the right setup.

But the weather can reshuffle the cards again, and it's much possible and difficult to predict.

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, started third place at Imola last year and won the race. Let's watch and see if he can win at Imola this year. It looks like the fight will be tougher this year because Ferrari was so strong in the first three races and there seems to be no reason why they shouldn't continue it at Imola.

I really hope both news become true,at least the first as we cannot really control the weather but a rain here in such a legendary track can only add to the race being much more beautiful than in normal conditions.Last race was a great one here and even though is a narrow track we saw some overtaking,the one being great Max Verstappen overtaking right in the start of the race Hamilton.

Mercedes have said they may be bringing upgrades to Imola, but I don't think it can be enough to propel them to the front of the grid. Their lack of pace has been hidden a bit by some bunching behind safety cars which reduces the gap at the end of the race, and their positions have been boosted by some DNFs... but the fact remains that the Mercedes is about a second per lap slower than the Ferrari and the Red Bull. It seems incredibly unlikely that they could bridge that gap with just one set of upgrades.

maybe bro, the weather will not hinder the team's cohesiveness and the action of the jockey racers on the circuit, the Mercedes class and other top teams may have predicted well, the performance of the mounts or the spare parts (tyres) that will be used to run as optimally as possible. sure long ago and even the moon they have predicted when the weather suddenly becomes unfriendly. An event like this is impossible to miss with the team's careless concentration. If you choose the Mercedes team will be superior in the race, so am I, my friend. What do you think the opponent is? the heaviest of this mercedes?

2 news from Italy.

1 - Mercedes is expected to bring a big update and maybe they will be competitive now.
2 - Wheater, rain is around the corner for the following days, can be wet any day.

The teams have now had some time to work on the car. There is still a lot of work to be done, especially at Mercedes. However, the question is whether Mercedes will still get things in order, I doubt that. Ferrari has done a great job. Red Bull is decent, but not more than that. 2 retirements for Verstappen in 3 races, then you don't have to think about the championship yet. Hamilton who will drive these races with a special feeling, knowing that he cannot win.

ya.ya.yo!

I checked weather forecast for weekend and there is rain shown with low temperatures on Friday, clean Saturday and rain on Sunday. If I'm not mistaken, these cars didn't had wet sessions during pre-season tests and without any doubts during season. So, it's interesting how new cars will behave on wet track and for who this rain would be beneficial
Don't forget that this weekend we have sprint race first time this season.

I do not think that he has any chances left even after the third race, all depends on Charles and Ferrari of course because we could maybe see them miss a few races as well but we need to remember that Red Bull probably won't finish all of the remainder of the races, in all season we have regular situations where it is either about the tyres, or car itself, or a crash with another driver, or just simply spin out who knows, I doubt Max would spin out . But, we have seen races that he couldn't finish, and he already had 2, and I guess there will be maybe couple more, Charles could have couple more too, every racer would have a couple of them.

I'd love to see Ferrari win in Italy, especially when they are looking so strong and are probably favourites for the championship. The fans will go wild if Leclerc wins.

Will be interested to see the RB upgrade... but obviously all eyes are on their reliability and whether the car can finish, not so sure if the suspension can feed into that at all.

Yes, I think so because the rumors that have been circulating now are about Jake Dixon who will replace Dovizioso in the Yamaha satellite team if Dovizioso is not able to be on the podium this season and in several races that have been going on it has been seen where Dovizioso is very difficult with his motorbike so can't get a lot of points for now. Very sad.


That is clear because Dovizioso himself must be able to change his riding method to be able to tame the Yamaha motorbike which is famous for being very soft so that he can overtake his opponent in certain parts and one of them is when his opponent is braking in the corner.
But so far Dovizioso himself is still very difficult on the Yamaha despite having been on a Yamaha before going to Ducati in the past.

Since Portugal's Portimao circuit has been included in the MotoGP calendar, only three riders have won races there and all three are riders who are also very strong this season because they are still able to provide competition in every race.
So for this time or this year to be more precise, will the three of them also be on the podium again at the end of the week ? Or will there be another rider who will win the race there this year ?
Because this Sunday's Race will take place in Portugal at the Portimao circuit.

This weekend we will have the 1st sprint race of the season.

They changed the points as a reward.
 
The top 8 driver will be rewarded with the following points

1st 8
2nd 7
3rd 6
4th 5
5th 4
6th 3
7th 2
8th 1

I'm not too excited with any update from Red Bull if it isn't an update for their power unit.  But I don't think we'll be seeing much of 'new engine updates' from them anyway...  So yeah, I think it's gonna be another Ferrari win at Imola.  Leclerc doesn't seem to have lost track position that he started with at every race in this track.  I don't see any reason how that would change unless some dumb accident happens.

Oh and it's in Italy...