De April Gomez Casares / Motosan.es
After the San Marino GP, Dennis Noyes reviews with Judit Florensa all the MotoGP news on Radio Ocotillo.
Grand Prix after Grand Prix, the MotoGP World Championship surprises. After six rounds, the leader of the World Championship is Andrea Dovizioso. Who finished seventh in the last race. Without Marc Marquez on the track, there is no dominator in MotoGP. The favorite drivers from the beginning of the year are overtaken by satellite drivers. First there was Fabio Quartararo, in a satellite team but with an official bike, then Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira with KTM, and now Franco Morbidelli with Petronas as well as Pecco Bagnaia with Pramac.
To comment on the latest MotoGP news, Dennis Noyes joined Judit Florensa for a podcast about the current season. An atypical season. Dennis Noyes: “ After six races we have a leader with very few points, which has never happened in MotoGP history. Even in 2018, where Márquez had 95 points, or in 2006 with Hayden and Capirossi tied at 99. The normal range is 120-130 points. It’s a completely open world championship. »
Morbidelli and the problems at Yamaha
The first race at Misano highlighted Franco Morbidelli. Drowned : " Morbidelli didn't have a fast lap, but he didn't make any mistakes either. What's interesting about Franky Morbidelli is that he is the only Yamaha rider to use last year's chassis. Furthermore, the slowest bike was Morbidelli's. His motorcycle went 15 km/h slower than the fastest, that of Bagnaia. But working with Ramon Forcada. We must not forget the work of Ramon Forcada, who won with five riders in MotoGP. In their box, Morbidelli and Forcada made the 2019 version the fastest or most efficient bike on several occasions. So maybe Quartararo is waiting for a chassis more like Morbidelli's. »
With his victory, Morbidelli hid Yamaha's problems. Dennis Noyes: “ Furthermore, Morbidelli's victory made us forget about Yamaha's problems. There are still problems. They reduced engine performance. And as Ramon Forcada explained to me, now the problem is that we have to keep changing the engines and counting the kilometers to dose. We must not forget that next year they will not use the same physics engines, but the same design. The design of the engines is fixed. And that’s not really to Honda’s taste either. »
Mir's impeccable overtaking of Rossi
Another of the protagonists of the San Marino GP was Joan Mir. On the Suzuki, he sneaked up to third place after overtaking Valentino Rossi on the final lap. Drowned : “Mir's finale on Rossi was magnificent. Joan succeeded. He made a very nice overtake at a place where Rossi thought he would never be overtaken. He passed him like butter, without touching him, it was an impeccable overtake. And that spoiled Valentino's party with the Academy drivers a bit. At Suzuki he has a very strong team and Rins is injured. From the 19th to the 27th lap, Joan Mir was a rocket, being the fastest. Passing Valentino on the inside is an important feat and even more so on his circuit. »
Ducati
After learning the race times, according to Noyes, Joan Mir could even have overtaken Pecco Bagnaia. The Pramac rider finished second in Misano. A second place which would give him a seat on the official Ducati, after the announcement of his move to the Italian brand. Drowned : " At Ducati they have a fighting chance, but look what happens. First they kicked Lorenzo out when he won three races. And now they are making it clear that they would only pay Dovizioso a pittance. We'll see if Ducati saves this because they have a motorcycle. And if Pecco Bagnaia can finish what he started, he can win this weekend. The next year they did well with Bagnaia and Miller. Jack Miller has experience on the Ducati. I think Miller and Bagnaia make a strong team for next year on the Ducati. »
The problems at Honda
With the absence of Marc Márquez due to injury, Honda is in a difficult situation in MotoGP. Their best driver is Takaaki Nakagami. An LCR rider with a 2019 motorcycle. Dennis Noyes: “ Nobody thinks about Marc Márquez, the drivers don't think about the absentees. But at Honda they continue to think about how they can win the world championship with Nakagami. Who is only 23 points behind. They are giving Nakagami everything they have and, right now, he is Honda's number one rider. »
In addition to the problems on the track, the team's management has faced criticism, the latest of which has come from Carlo Pernat, who believes that Alberto Puig should be fired. However, Dennis on his Podcast disagrees with this statement. Drowned : " Alberto Puig joined Honda at the start of 2018. The decision to fire Dani Pedrosa was imposed by HRC, because I think they wanted to have a plan B. They wanted a driver for the future and they wanted to sign Zarco. Then Jorge Lorenzo offers himself to Honda. Nobody can say no to Jorge Lorenzo. At Honda they signed Lorenzo to have a second winning driver. Due to circumstances, Lorenzo retired at the end of the season. And what does Honda do since there are no free drivers? It was logical to turn to Moto2 world champion, Álex Márquez. This season has been conditioned by the pandemic. So to say that the sports director must be fired, because of a series of calamities that have nothing to do with him, seems very unfair to me. »
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