Guest Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 Hi there,Does anyone know of a link to a good beginners guide to Moto GP? Obviously with becoming a new biker I thought I would give the sport a watch, having previously only watched F1. Watched the Qatar race, and was a bit overcome by all the jargon. So if anyone knows of an interesting site, or fancies giving it a shot themselves, I would be most grateful.Things I would like to know include what are the key determinants to winning? So for example with F1, its all about the tyres, aerodynamics and pit-stop strategy. What are the contentious rules? Who should I watch out for?How does the whole race work. i.e. Qualifying, How many laps etc?You probably get the gist by now! Quote
Guest akey Posted March 19, 2008 Posted March 19, 2008 OK I have a few mins so could start some off:weekend is split into 3 classes125cc, 250cc and the 800cc motogp class.For MotoGP there are 2 free practice sessions an hour long and one qualifying session. On race day there is a free practice in the morning and then the race in the afternoon (usually).Qualifying tyres are allowed, teams are only allowed a certain number of tyres for the weekend, all of which have to be in the paddock on the fri - so no overnight special tyres which used to happen.Components of a good package are good tyres, good tyre choice for the race day, good rider, and a good set up.If the race is a dry race when the race starts but then becomes wet the teams can change tyres (the race is not stopped as it is in some other championships) if the rider pits, he must leave the pits with a different type to tyre to the one he entered in, so if he started the race on inters, he must leave the pits on either full wets or slicks.the bikes are limited to 21 litres, no pit stops for fuel.Laps vary from track to track.The qatar race is held at night on a flood lit track (first one this season) and as it was largley judged to be a success more of the far east rounds will no doubt do the same next season to provide a larger western tv audience at prime time, therefore more money from sponsers.What to watch out for is a difficult one, as a race can change so quickly, if casey or valentino qualify down the pack then that usually has some potential for great racing, if valentino can got the yamaha on song this year we could have a real ding dong battle going on.Most people will say qatar is a track like no other, therefore dont read to much into the season from the last race (track very cold, very long straight, night race, sand on the track and many other things- apparently).sit back and enjoy the showOh and if you wanna see some passion get yourself to MFN Overide because a large number of full on petrol head bikers watching the brit gp on a big screen, with a reasonable number of brits in 125, 250 and JT in MotoGP should produce one hell of an atmosphere! Quote
techno Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Actually akey its 3 free practice sessions and 1 qually.Race day sees morning warm up!Oh and if it starts to rain during the moto gp race they wil show a white flag and the pitlane is open for the riders to change bikes.They must go out then on a bike with different tyres ie slicks to wets/inters!the 2 smaller classes the race is stopped for rain! and restarted with the remaining laps.Best thing to do is just watch and pick it up as you go along!Oh and keep an eye out for the rivalry between little Georgy lawrence and pedrosa! Quote
Voodoo Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Things I would like to know include what are the key determinants to winning? So for example with F1, its all about the tyres, aerodynamics and pit-stop strategy. Lol, I watch F1 too and I find it funny that you haven't mentioned driver skill, probably quite rightly too, and yet in Motogp I say rider skill is probably at least 50% of the equation if not more. Put a bad rider on the best bike and he will not win, put a good rider on a bad bike and it sure is fun to watch! Quote
Korben Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Great thread garthunkleBeing a relative newbie to bikes, and definately a newbie to MotoGP this has helped.All I really knew until now was Rossi, Stoner, and this year JT. Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Could somebody explain how the teams work?Am I right in saying that there are factory teams and others that just use their bikes?Which team would you say is the one to beat this season?Which is the best track of the season?If anybody has any other questions, stick them up! Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Voodoo - I think whilst driver skill has some impact on winning ability in F1, if you mess up any of the three I mentioned you have lost the race. On the other hand, if you have the right pit-stop strategy, tires and the car is aerodynamically perfect, it doesn't matter what driver you put in - they will do very well.I think it's good that MotoGP makes skill more of a determinant on how well you do, but does that not end up with having the same guy win all the time? Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 (edited) Could somebody explain how the teams work?Am I right in saying that there are factory teams and others that just use their bikes?Which team would you say is the one to beat this season?Which is the best track of the season?If anybody has any other questions, stick them up! Alright mate, there are works teams and Satellite teams, the satellite teams buy customer motoGP bikes, Rossi rides for factory Yamaha so he gets all the good technology first. Toseland Rides a Satellite Yamaha so the team has to buy the bikes and tech when its available.The team to beat mate is the works Yamaha Team mate as they have the best rider/bike combination i think, but the bike and rider to beat is casey stoner on the ducati mate.Track of the season is kinda down to personal preference, Mugello and Brno normally see good racing though Matt Edited March 20, 2008 by Anonymous Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Oh and did you know the BBC has the F1 again from next season Matt Quote
Korben Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 The team to beat mate is the works Yamaha Team mate as they have the best rider/bike combination i think, but the bike and rider to beat is casey stoner on the ducati mate.Matt Award for the use of the word "mate" more than anyone else in a sentence goes to Matt!!!Mate Quote
Korben Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Oh and did you know the BBC has the F1 again from next season Matt Fantastic news. No more having all the good stuff happening while the bloomin adverts are on!! Quote
Korben Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Im the same when talking. Everyone gets called mate, all the time.I actually irritate myself I do it that much. Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Yeah I heard about the F1 going over to the BBC. Can't stand it when ITV go to an ad break and thats when something actually happens in the race! Plus the commentating was rather dire at times. Will be good to see what the BBC do with it, but if I get into MotoGP I might not watch F1 anymore! Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 I watch em all mate, WSB, MotoGP, BSB, WRC, F1, BTTC, if its racing ill watch it i went to Spa last year it was feckin awesome Matt Quote
Voodoo Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 I hope the BBC don't drop Motogp now they've got F1 Quote
Korben Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 A bit of a concern, but I think they should keep it. I would be surprised if they did drop, they have had it for a long time. Quote
Voodoo Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 A bit of a concern, but I think they should keep it. I would be surprised if they did drop, they have had it for a long time. They've had it since they lost F1, before that it was very hit or miss if they showed it Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 How you have any spare time after watching all of those Matt -I don't know!I doubt they will chop MotoGP, they will probably make some sort of theme out of it. Do the races run on alternate weekends? Quote
Voodoo Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 How you have any spare time after watching all of those Matt -I don't know!I doubt they will chop MotoGP, they will probably make some sort of theme out of it. Do the races run on alternate weekends? Don't be too sure, they've done it before Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 They could give it to ITV as a commiseration present! Quote
Guest Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 How you have any spare time after watching all of those Matt -I don't know! Its called Sky+ watch it through the week when naff alls on the tele Matt Quote
techno Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Can I assume you dont have sky garthunkle as you havent mentioned wsb!Theres some seriously good racing to see in that series too!But I was a big formula one nutt till i started with the bikes..but I didnt stop watching cos of the bikes but because they ruined it with all the rule changes! Quote
Korben Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 You should try it again this year Techno.Now they have removed the Traction Control from the cars, it seems to be making it a bit more lively.There was more action in last Sunday's Grand Prix than the whole of last season. Quote
Voodoo Posted March 20, 2008 Posted March 20, 2008 Formula 1 would be great if they got rid of the aerodynamics and made it so they could overtake Quote
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