MotoGP Le Mans 2014 *** Spoilers ***

[Speeddog]

I checked my crystal ball.
It said there will be more punishment administered by the Marquez de Sade.

He seems to have 0.3 sec in hand over any of his 'challengers'.
And those 'challengers' struggled to get within 1 sec in Q2.

Unless JLo pulls a lightning start, he'll be elbow to elbow with Bautista and AE, and he's got Pedrosa right behind him on the grid.

[duccarlos]

Pos.   Points   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time/Gap
1   25   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   159.5   44'03.925
2   20   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   159.4   +1.486
3   16   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   159.3   +3.144
4   13   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   159.3   +3.717
5   11   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   159.3   +4.077
6   10   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   159.1   +7.088
7   9   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   158.8   +11.527
8   8   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   158.2   +22.103
9   7   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   158.1   +22.626
10   6   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   158.1   +23.108
11   5   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   158.0   +25.780
12   4   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   157.2   +39.523
13   3   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   157.0   +42.544
14   2   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   157.0   +42.736
15   1   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   156.2   +56.644
16      70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   155.2   +1'14.123
17      5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   154.8   +1'19.723
18      23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   154.2   +1'30.934
19      63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   154.0   +1'34.521
Not Classified
29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   148.9   27 Laps
8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   141.8   27 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda      0 Lap

[duccarlos]

It was cool to see the rest of the field as MM screwed up the first lap and ended up having to fight back from 10th. Less than half way through the race, he was leading.

Val gave up the lead very easily when he went wide, but kept it within 2 seconds.

I think Bautista's primary goal was to take out Rossi again, but because he could not catch him, ended up taking 3rd.

The Turd had surgery this week and it was obvious he was not having fun out there. He looked exhausted when he was back in the paddock.

Jorghey, what can you say? I guess this year's bike suits Rossi's style better. In my dreams I see Yamaha giving Aleix Lorenzo's ride next year.

[thought]

I bet Rossi felt like all those '80s horror movie heroines the whole time...  while he might be in front he knows that Jason/Freddie/Michael is just slowly gaining on him the whole time.

I'm dreading the day that MM learns to make a good start.  Right now we at least get a couple of a fun laps while he catches up the front and beats everyone to the ground.  Once he learns that launch it'll be the end of that even.

Some interesting results this race though... def not what was expected.  No idea what's happening with JLo.

[lazylightnin717]

Agreed about not sure what's up with Lorenzo.

Pedrosa and Bradl both put in decent races after surgery for arm pump.

I loved MM's dance going across the finish line 

[duccarlos]

Now we have to wonder when MM is going to NOT win a race. He has a chance to make due for dumping it last year at Mugello.

[ab]

Psychopath MM is simply amazing!!

Great race Rossi.  As he said, wish he made it harder for MM.

Great job by 4th Esparagro.

Hope Hayden is ok.

Moto3 - now that is exciting race to watch!!!!!!!!!!

[Speeddog]

I think the only thing to stop MM is an over-exuberant maneuver on his part, or JLo/Pedrosa getting their heads screwed on straight, which seems a slowly vanishing possibility at this point.

Jlo's still got a broken wire somewhere in his head. 6th?
And Pedrosa 5th? Granted, freshly post-op.
But behind a satellite Honda (FFS Bautista, WTF ?!?!) on the podium, and satellite Yamaha in 4th?
Granted, LeMans isn't a big 'power' track, and Bautista and Pol are fast riders, but really....
JLo and Pedrosa seem to be nearly completely mind-make the beast with two backsed.

They have to admit to themselves that the 2014 championship is dusted, write it off.
Then concentrate only on beating MM.
Not salvaging points to 'stay in the hunt', as that will only serve to complete their mental destruction.

[duccarlos]

Every time MM passes either of them, they practically give up. For years I've known that the Turd simply does not have much race craft. He's shit fast as long as he has clear track. JLo used to be able to battle, but those crashes in the first 2 races have really screwed up his head.

[1.21GW]

I like MM and all, but is there any chance DORNA can just award him the championship now and then let him take off on a 8-month vacation?  I enjoy not knowing who is going to win, and right now I feel like Bill Murray watching Jeopardy in Groundhog's Day.

[thought]

More detail on JLo's situation:

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/204616/1/jorge-lorenzo-it-happens.html

[Triple J]

To me JLo and Pedrobot are similar, in that they both need to start from the front and lead early.

MM, and Rossi, don't really care. They're both capable of moving to the front after a bad start or grid position.

What MM did this race was amazing to watch IMO. Utter and complete domination. 10th to 1st in the 1st half of the race. Not a single other rider was even capable of putting up a fight. 

[duccarlos]

And it was pretty much the same move every time. He put on a clinic passing in the Ss. JLo has a PR issue on his hands now. He has not been able to adapt and having Rossi doing much better than him puts Yamaha in a position where they might move the #1 rider tag back to the GOAT. Jorghey is still fast, but he might have lost his grip on the bike development.

[thought]

To me the issue is that JLo's riding style isnt really adaptable to the new level of competition and developing the bike around his style makes it too hard to be ridden by anyone else.

Back when JLo could holeshot and then set the pace, he could choose the perfect lines to keep that corner speed up... now that he has to fight for his lines more often the yam doesnt have the outright acceleration to make up for that loss of corner speed.

But honestly, I think its just that MM demoralizing the hell out of Pedro and JLo.  They've spent years being known as the aliens, the best in the world, setting the benchmark lap after lap... now some kid shows up and makes them feel like they're the 2 bit clown show.  That's gotta mess with you big time.

[koko64]

MM's race reminded me of what a younger Rossi used to do if he fluffed the start. Win from the back in a way that demoralized the opposition. That has to be demoralizing for George and Pedro now. Mind you, bike development may have turned away from their preference in set up.
MM could have had a big margin but backed off and clowned around at the finish line. He had plenty in hand once he got away.