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2017 MotoGP Season (Spoilers Inside)

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#1 ·


2017 MotoGP Rider Line-up :D

Repsol Honda
Marc Marquez (End of 2018)
Dani Pedrosa (End of 2018)

Movistar Yamaha
Valentino Rossi (End of 2018)
Maverick Vinales (End of 2018)


Ducati Team
Jorge Lorenzo (End of 2018)
Andrea Dovizioso (End of 2018)

Suzuki
Andrea Iannone (End of 2018)
Alex Rins (End of 2018)*

KTM
Bradley Smith (End of 2018)
Pol Espargaro (End of 2018)

Aprilia Gresini
Sam Lowes (End of 2018)*
Aleix Espargaro (End of 2018)

LCR Honda
Cal Crutchlow (End of 2017)

Marc VDS Honda
Jack Miller (End of 2017)
Tito Rabat (End of 2017)

Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Jonas Folger (End of 2017, Option 2018)*
Johann Zarco (End of 2017, Option 2018)*


Avintia Ducati
Hector Barbera (End of 2017)
Loris Baz (End of 2017)
Barbera will ride a GP16 and Baz a GP15.

Pramac Ducati
Scott Redding GP16
Danilo Petrucci
Danilo will ride a GP16 and Redding a GP15.

Aspar Ducati
Alvaro Bautista (End of 2017)
Karel Abraham (End of 2017)

*Rookie
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Was just gonna come and start this thread but you beat me to it. Looking for another strong season from my dude MM93. Glad he won in 2016 and finished strong. Lots of changes for 2017 so should be exciting. Wondering if we have more than the 9 winners we had in 2016.

EDIT: Freakin EPIC recap of 2016:

 
#5 ·
Looks like Iannone got right in the groove with that suzuki. Only 0.2 seconds off the leader so far. Although everyone is going well over a second slower than qualifying times...so running race pace.

I think Lorenzo will be fast on the Ducati as well next year. I'll be fighting with myself in every race as far as who to cheer for. Hate Lorenzo...love Ducati...it'll be tough :D

I'm curious to see how the guys that moved up from Moto 2 will do. I don't expect to see great results in this test, but we'll see if they get up to pace by the Qatar race.
 
#6 ·
FACK!! My subscription ended this morning. Poop.

Guess I'll have to re-up soon. Think I better go halves with Dad this time. lol
 
#7 ·
I love testing just for the new liveries etc...

Iannone with livery of the day... Vinales close second.

Pol Espargaro with suit of the day...
 
#10 ·
Valencia MotoGP test times - Tuesday

1. Viñales, Maverick SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 30.930s
2. Rossi, Valentino ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 30.950s +0.020s
3. Lorenzo, Jorge SPA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 31.052s +0.122s
4. Marquez, Marc SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 31.102s +0.172s
5. Dovizioso, Andrea ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 31.131s +0.201s
6. Crutchlow, Cal GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 31.156s +0.226s
7. Iannone, Andrea ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 31.165s +0.235s
8. Redding, Scott GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15/16) 1m 31.242s +0.312s
9. Barbera, Hector SPA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2/16) 1m 31.286s +0.356s
10. Pedrosa, Dani SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 31.306s +0.376s
11. Miller, Jack AUS Estrella Galica 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 31.477s +0.547s
12. Bautista, Alvaro SPA Aspar Ducati (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 31.674s +0.744s
13. Pirro, Michele ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 32.068s +1.138s
14. Espargaro, Aleix SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 32.177s +1.247s
15. Baz, Loris FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 32.315s +1.385s
16. Folger, Jonas GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 32.450s +1.520s
17. Zarco, Johann FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 32.462s +1.532s
18. Rabat, Tito GBR Estrella Galica 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 32.578s +1.648s
19. Espargaro, Pol SPA KTM MotoGP Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 32.613s +1.683s
20. Smith, Bradley GBR KTM MotoGP Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 32.806s +1.876s
21. Rins, Alex SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 32.811s +1.881s
22. Laverty, Eugene IRL Aprilia Test Rider (RS-GP) 1m 32.935s +2.005s
23. Abraham, Karel CZE Aspar Ducati (Desmosedici GP14.2/15) 1m 33.231s +2.301s
24. Lowes, Sam GBR Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 33.359s +2.429s
25. Tsuda, Takuya JPN Suzuki Test Rider (GSX-RR) 1m 34.110s +3.180s
26. Bagnaia, Francesco ITA Aspar Ducati (Desmosedici GP14.2) 1m 36.940s +6.010s
 
#15 ·
Also, this is just probably the cheapskate in me...but why do all these teams waste so much money on new bodywork, suits, and other livery changes just for a test? I can understand when testing the new 2017 bikes, because maybe they don't have the next year's livery done yet, so you might as well just paint it black or something simply, but why spend all that money on the suits and bodywork for the 2016 bikes??

Then again, wedding dressing are expensive and typically worn once only too so whatever...lol
 
#16 ·
Marketing my friend all marketing and the costs are relatively small, bodywork and some vinyl is a drop in the ocean that is their annual budget and the suits are not that big of a deal either... two additional suits per rider for companies like Dainese, Alpinestars is nothing not even 1% of their racing budget, now weight that vs the marketing benefit and you see it's quite a good deal actually. I've already started rolling up pennies to save up for the new D-air suit Pol Espargaro debuted...
 
#17 ·
Valencia MotoGP test times - Wednesday

1. Viñales, Maverick SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 29.975s
2. Marquez, Marc SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 30.171s +0.196s
3. Dovizioso, Andrea ITA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 30.443s +0.468s
4. Iannone, Andrea ITA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 30.599s +0.624s
5. Pedrosa, Dani SPA Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m 30.686s +0.711s
6. Crutchlow, Cal GBR LCR Honda (RC213V) 1m 30.709s +0.734s
7. Rossi, Valentino ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1) 1m 30.709s +0.734s
8. Lorenzo, Jorge SPA Ducati Team (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 30.744s +0.769s
9. Espargaro, Aleix SPA Factory Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) 1m 30.885s +0.910s
10. Folger, Jonas GER Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 30.948s +0.973s
11. Zarco, Johann FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m 31.015s +1.040s
12. Miller, Jack AUS Estrella Galica 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 31.069s +1.094s
13. Redding, Scott GBR Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP15/16) 1m 31.118s +1.143s
14. Bautista, Alvaro SPA Aspar Ducati (Desmosedici GP16) 1m 31.186s +1.211s
15. Barbera, Hector SPA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP14.2/16) 1m 31.244s +1.269s
16. Pirro, Michele ITA Octo Pramac Yakhnich (Desmosedici GP16/17) 1m 31.816s +1.841s
17. Espargaro, Pol SPA KTM MotoGP Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 31.853s +1.878s
18. Rabat, Tito GBR Estrella Galica 0,0 Marc VDS (RC213V) 1m 31.918s +1.943s
19. Baz, Loris FRA Avintia Racing (Desmosedici GP15) 1m 32.161s +2.186s
20. Smith, Bradley GBR KTM MotoGP Factory Racing (RC16) 1m 32.538s +2.563s
21. Laverty, Eugene IRL Aprilia Test Rider (RS-GP) 1m 32.568s +2.593s
22. Abraham, Karel CZE Aspar Ducati (Desmosedici GP14.2/15) 1m 32.699s +2.724s
23. Tsuda, Takuya JPN Suzuki Test Rider (GSX-RR) 1m 33.305s +3.330s
24. Rins, Alex SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) 1m 33.761s +3.786s
 
#19 ·
Vinales looks pretty impressive. But I'm also pretty impressed with Espargaro on the Aprilia and the Tech 3 newcomers all within 1 second of the leader.

I think Aprilia might see a lot more top 10 finishes in the season with Espargaro on the bike, and I think Zarco will used to the big bike pretty quickly and push for some top 6 finishes.
 
#20 · (Edited)
I knew the thread would be here already!!

Liveries look sick. Iannone wins with the suit and the bike. Vinales' gloves win. I actually like the simple Red Bull KTM. I'd love to see podiums out of those two, probably not gonna happen. I would have liked to see Barbera or Redding on a Suzuki...I think one of them would do well. Perhaps the Ducati (even older versions) grunt is a false positive for their talent, but i've seen those guys run super fast. I have a lot of hope in Ianonne that he's gonna find a groove and steal lots of points this year. Excited to see what Lorenzo is made of. Something humbling seeing him in different colored gear. The Ducati is gonna be so fast this year, i wonder how much those little winglets actually helped. Game on!

129 days....
 
#21 ·
I knew the thread would be here already!!

Liveries look sick. Iannone wins with the suit and the bike. Vinales' gloves win. I actually like the simple Red Bull KTM. I'd love to see podiums out of those two, probably not gonna happen. I would have liked to see Barbera or Redding on a Suzuki...I think one of them would do well. Perhaps the Ducati (even older versions) grunt is a false positive for their talent, but i've seen those guys run super fast. I have a lot of hope in Ianonne that he's gonna find a groove and steal lots of points this year. Excited to see what Lorenzo is made of. Something humbling seeing him in different colored gear. The Ducati is gonna be so fast this year, i wonder how much those little winglets actually helped. Game on!

129 days....
Exactly what do you mean by "steal"?? Like he'll do well and get podiums, or he'll crash into people that are running in podium contention? :laugh
 
#23 ·
2017 is setting up to be even better than 2016 in terms of who can possibly run at the top of any given race. Love it. The unified software, etc. was a great move by MotoGP. Seemed to have leveled the playing field a TON instead of having each race be MM vs VR vs JLo.
 
#24 ·
MotoGP News - MotoGP Valencia: Marquez describes new engine improvements

Pressed on where the 2017 engine is better, Marquez said, “Where is it better? It looks like I can have a little bit more grip. I can manage a little bit better with the gas, some positive things.

“Then also it's a completely different engine so the electronics, the base that we have is made for the current bike. This new engine, when the tyre drop, we still need to adjust many, many things. Our weak point that is the acceleration still is there.

“Today again was like yesterday. We did a big change on the bike to try to understand. We spend the day not only playing with the springs to find the best way, we did a big change.

“Still we need to work because when I did the long runs it was a completely different bike to what I used in the race. But even like this I was fast but I was struggling in some points.

“You know, I'm happy about the job that we did here. We must work much more. Honda needs to work much more this winter to give me something more in Malaysia.”
 
#25 ·


MotoGP Valencia: Dall’Igna: Clear idea of what Lorenzo needs


"With Jorge, I'm quite happy about the impression that he has with the bike," Dall'Igna declared. "Starting from the beginning, we found out some good points on the bike, and some worst points compared to his usual bike.


"Yesterday we worked all the time with the 2016 bike. Today we made a comparison between the new and the old bike, and we did also some tests with some different material.

"So I'm quite happy about his impression. The lap time could be better, but if we wanted a better lap time, for sure we have to work in a different way. Because we didn't work on a proper set-up for him, but we selected a lot of materials, and so I'm quite happy about that.

"Anyway, I have a clear idea of what he needs, and I hope that I can give him something in the next test."

Pressed on the exact areas Lorenzo would like Ducati to work on, Dall'Igna replied:

"We have to improve the turning of the bike, like we know, and we work for that with the 2017 bike. And also the first touch of the throttle is a worse point, and we have to improve that."

While Yamaha released Lorenzo for the Valencia test, he will not be able to take part in next week's private Jerez test and will next be on track for the opening 2017 test at Sepang in late January.

"Jorge's a champion, he has a lot of experience, so I'm really happy to work with him," Dall'Igna said. "His impression on the bike and the set-up and everything is for sure clear. We spent only two days with him, but we have to learn more about each other during the next tests at Sepang and Phillip Island and Qatar."
 
#30 ·
In other news Dani Pedrosa is selling his supermoto...


 
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#33 ·
MotoGP Results - Jerez MotoGP/WorldSBK test times - Wednesday

MotoGP
Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 8 Héctor Barberá Ducati GP16 1:39.614
2 76 Loris Baz Ducati GP15 1:39.806 0.192 0.192
3 19 Álvaro Bautista Ducati GP16 1:39.862 0.248 0.056
4 45 Scott Redding Ducati GP16 1:40.085 0.471 0.223
5 41 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia RS-GP 1:40.086 0.472 0.001
6 51 Michele Pirro Ducati GP17 1:40.092 0.478 0.006
7 29 Andrea Iannone Suzuki GSX-RR 1:40.149 0.535 0.057
8 43 Jack Miller Honda RC213V 1:40.340 0.726 0.191
9 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati GP17 1:40.432 0.818 0.092
10 17 Karel Abraham Ducati GP15 1:40.484 0.870 0.052
11 36 Mika Kallio KTM RC16 1:41.889 2.275 1.405
12 12 Takuya Tsuda Suzuki GSX-RR 1:42.003 2.389 0.114
13 38 Bradley Smith KTM RC16 1:42.362 2.748 0.359
14 72 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda RC213V 1:42.531 2.917 0.169
15 22 Sam Lowes Aprilia RS-GP 1:43.021 3.407 0.490

And the impressively similar WSBK test times

WorldSBK
Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 1 Jonathan Rea Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:39.739
2 7 Chaz Davies Ducati Panigale R 1:40.409 0.670 0.670
3 66 Tom Sykes Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:40.611 0.872 0.202
4 122 Alex Lowes Yamaha YZF-R1 1:40.985 1.246 0.374
5 32 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia RSV4 RF 1:41.048 1.309 0.063
6 33 Marco Melandri Ducati Panigale R 1:41.288 1.549 0.240
7 2 Leon Camier MV Agusta F4 1:41.486 1.747 0.198
8 50 Eugene Laverty Aprilia RSV4 RF 1:41.692 1.953 0.206
9 60 Michael Vd Mark Yamaha YZF-R1 1:41.830 2.091 0.138
 
#34 ·
Wait wait wait...let me get this straight. Jonathan Rea was faster than pretty much all the MotoGP guys, and only 0.1 seconds slower than Barbera...on a production bike? And Chaz Davies faster than about half the Ducati GP15, GP16, and GP17....on a Panigale? :D

I can't help but smile! So far for Dorna neutering the WSBK bikes with the rules they imposed a couple of years ago because they saw the WSBK bikes were getting to be too close to the performance of the ridiculously expensive GP bikes. Not taking away anything from Rea and Davies, but I'm wondering how guys like Marquez, Lorenzo, and Rossi would do on the factory WSBK Kawasaki, Ducati or Aprilia if they had some time to get used to them?

Also, Laverty needs to step up his game. He better be ready to run at the front once the season starts. Can't be slower than his teammate. Not looking good so far, but I'll give him a break since it's his first time on a WSBK machine with Pirellis in the last 2 years.
 
#35 ·
Agreed.

I realized how close the times when the series changed from MotoGP to WSBK at Laguna seca in 2013/2014.

2013 Stefan Bradl pole position at 1’21.176
2014 Tom Sykes pole position at 1'21.811

I'm calling it right now, Laverty will take the WSBK championship :D. Wishful thinking.
 
#38 ·
https://motomatters.com/results/2016/11/24/jerez_test_thursday_times_jonathan_rea.html

MotoGP
Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 19 Álvaro Bautista Ducati GP16 1:38.946
2 76 Loris Baz Ducati GP15 1:39.184 0.238 0.238
3 8 Héctor Barberá Ducati GP16 1:39.542 0.596 0.358
4 41 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia RS-GP 1:39.675 0.729 0.133
5 9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati GP17 1:39.766 0.820 0.091
6 17 Karel Abraham Ducati GP15 1:39.776 0.830 0.010
7 51 Michele Pirro Ducati GP17 1:39.887 0.941 0.111
8 45 Scott Redding Ducati GP16 1:39.985 1.039 0.098
9 43 Jack Miller Honda RC213V 1:40.307 1.361 0.322
10 36 Mika Kallio KTM RC16 1:40.505 1.559 0.198
11 12 Takuya Tsuda Suzuki GSX-RR 1:40.942 1.996 0.437
12 72 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda RC213V 1:41.003 2.057 0.061
13 38 Bradley Smith KTM RC16 1:41.621 2.675 0.618
14 22 Sam Lowes Aprilia RS-GP 1:42.312 3.366 0.691

WorldSBK
Pos No Rider Bike Time Diff Prev
1 1 Jonathan Rea Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:38.721
2 7 Chaz Davies Ducati Panigale R 1:39.116 0.395 0.395
3 66 Tom Sykes Kawasaki ZX-10R 1:39.461 0.740 0.345
4 33 Marco Melandri Ducati Panigale R 1:39.694 0.973 0.233
5 122 Alex Lowes Yamaha YZF-R1 1:40.142 1.421 0.448
6 2 Leon Camier MV Agusta F4 1:40.693 1.972 0.551
7 60 Michael Vd Mark Yamaha YZF-R1 1:41.328 2.607 0.635
 
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