EPISODE-3-AMERICAN GP

The transcript is a podcast discussion about the Grand Prix of the Americas MotoGP race. The focus is on Maverick Vinales, who won both the sprint and the main race after starting from 11th place. The podcast host questions if this is a sign of Vinales finally living up to his potential or if it's just a lucky streak. They also discuss Pedro Acosta leading the race as a rookie and Jorge Martin's aggressive performance. The host considers it one of the best races in MotoGP history. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Rookie Fans MotoGP Podcast. We are talking about Grand Prix of the Americas this last Sunday. I'm a little late to get this out. I had to take some time to recover from the absolute shock and shocker of a race that this last one was. I was... I ate through my entire nail bed. I could barely walk after it was all said and done because I was shaking so much. All things considered, I actually thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed that race. We're going to talk about it first. I'll go ahead and rattle off the results here. For the sprint, we got to go for the sprint first. I always forget there's a sprint. It was Maverick Vinales, Marc Marquez, and Jorge Martin. One, two, three. For the race, Maverick Vinales, Pedro Acosta, and Neha Bastianini. So let's go ahead and I want to start talking about Maverick Vinales. We're going to start with him because I probably have already talked about him a little bit on... I know, no, I know I did last episode because of the unfortunate event that happened at the very end of the Portuguese Grand Prix where his bike kicked him off. The gearbox went crazy and it bucked him off. So this time he's done the double. In fact, he's not only done the double, but he's done it in a fashion that really begs the question, is he back? Or is this going to finally be the Maverick Vinales we've all been waiting for? I've been hearing about this guy for my entire... actually very similar to Marc Marquez. I've been hearing about how talented he is, but I've never seen it, you know. Marc Marquez, there is proof in the pudding as far as... I can go back and watch all the seasons where he absolutely dominated and was kicking people's butts. And the proof is in the pudding with... I already said that, but the proof is there with how he performs in general on a daily basis, even on the Honda when he was throwing it down into the gravel trap every other day. But with Maverick Vinales, we haven't seen anything. There has been nothing other than a few short stints with Yamaha and of course he's on Suzuki. He's won with Suzuki as well, but we haven't seen anything that would really tell us if he's going to ever perform or live up to the performance that we know he has, the talent that we know he has. Two races in a row where arguably he should have at least finished second in the main race in Portugal, but he did win in the sprint and he absolutely dominated in this race here in America. The sprint was... he was untouchable. Nobody had anything on him and whenever somebody wins a sprint like that, by that much margin, you kind of know what's going to happen in the main race, right? In fact, I think the most telling part, and actually I kind of called it from the beginning with the sprint, at least in my own head, he got off the line. Maverick Vinales does not get off the line. He cannot do a start to save his life, but he did during the sprint. It was really good and he basically led the entire thing. It was... I don't... it wasn't processional, I don't think. I mean, there wasn't too much change in position and whatnot, but it was still interesting. In the back, there was quite a bit of fighting going on, but he led the whole race. Now, the Grand Prix, the full-length race, was shocking because he didn't botch the start, but he did not get away like he did in the sprint. That being said, he got squeezed out in the first corner, and by the time he actually finished going through the corner, he went from pole... oh, and that's the other thing I didn't even mention. He nailed the pole time. He broke a record by some crazy margins, so he smoked everybody. Anyway, starting from pole, he found himself starting from 11th by the end of the first turn. As the whole race went on, so much happened, so I'm just gonna talk about him for now, but as the race went on, he chewed his way up through the pack and finished first. He won from 11th by a little bit of a margin, too, by, I think, like two seconds. Let's see. I'll just go and find the actual results. Let's see here. Starting from 11th by the first corner. That's the thing that baffled me, because he's also one of those guys that's been known to not do very well when he gets caught in the pack, you know, the jungle, so to speak. He doesn't fight through the grid very well, for whatever reason, but he did, and he did incredibly well. It wasn't just this, oh yeah, he got there. He won the race by a second, almost two seconds, 1.7 seconds. That's impressive. I've never seen, the whole race as a whole was absolutely tantalizing. I think that's the word, tantalizing. I'll have to look that up. Somebody fact-check me on that one, but his performance just kind of, it just topped the whole thing off. Whenever I saw him go backwards to 11th, I was like, okay, well, I know who's going to win this race, and it's not going to be Maverick Danieles, but he proved me wrong, and arguably, even if he hadn't started from 11th, by the end of the first corner, there's no way anybody else could have beat him. I think he had a little bit in the tank, compared to everybody else, just in comparison, but, you know, he was on the medium tires, everybody else was on the soft. I have no idea why anybody picked the soft tires. It obviously worked, but him and Pedro were both on the medium tires, and I think that they were outliers. I don't know, I'd have to look, I don't have the data up in front of me, but I think they were, at least in the front row, the only people to start on the mediums. Everybody else behind them was on the softs, and they made it work, and they made it last, but that being said, is this the sign of the new Maverick Danieles? Is he actually going to finally live up to what everybody has been talking about? I remember hearing everybody go crazy about him, because of how talented he was, and this and that, but he just never done anything, and so now, he's finally done something. I mean, the last time I saw him actually win a race was in 2021, I think, the very first, like the opening round in Qatar, because I think we did a double that year. That was the year that Fabio won the championship. In fact, I think Maverick Danieles, I might have it backwards, because I know it was two Yamaha riders, but Maverick Danieles destroyed on the first round in Qatar, and then the next weekend, Fabio won. I can't remember the order, but ever since then, we haven't seen anything, you know, and then, you know, he got kicked out of Yamaha for trying to blow up his engine, or whatever the heck he was trying to do, and then he ends up here at Aprilia, and he hasn't been doing very well. Every time it looks like he's made any progress, he just doesn't deliver. I will say this, if he runs this form for the rest of the season, he's a championship contender. Not just championship contender, but the winner. Granted, I personally don't see him following this form for the rest of the season. I'm not convinced. Hot take, I'm not convinced this is a new Maverick Danieles. I'd love to be proved wrong. That would be cool, if I was completely wrong. This is it. Maverick has somehow reached the zenith of his growth as a MotoGP rider, and now it's this plateau of destruction, you know. He's gonna just absolutely mop the floor with the grid. I don't know. I don't believe that. Not because I don't think he doesn't have the ability to be the talented rider we all know he is. I feel like he's a little bit of a fair-weather rider. I don't know the guy, obviously. I've never talked with him personally, but from everything I've heard about the way he does his thing, if you want to call it that. I didn't really call it anything, but the way he operates, it just sounds like everything has to line up perfectly, and it lined up perfectly two weekends in a row. Sorry, yeah, two weekends in a row for both the sprint and the main race. There is an argument to be made that this is him finally getting there, as far as what we all know he can do, and I want to be on that bandwagon of hope. I don't even know if it's a bandwagon, but, or I guess it is, because people still been talking about how good he is, but I haven't ever been a huge Maverick Vignelli's fan, because he just never performs. Like, it's kind of disappointing, in a way, whenever you see somebody that is supposed to be so good, and they just never quite make it, you know. That's how I kind of feel about Jack Miller, who, again, I have a picture of him on my wall doing an endo, and I love the dude. Great character. He's won several, several races, but on this KTM, it's just disappointing, because he hasn't delivered. He, anyway, same kind of thing. But, bottom line is, is I witnessed one of the best races I've ever seen, I think one of the best races in history, it will go down in history as one of the best races in MotoGP, and I was just talking about the guy who won the race starting from 11th. I have yet to start talking about anybody else that was riding the race. And, there, let's start from the beginning with the fact that Pedro Acosta, if I'm not mistaken, starting from second? Let's see here. That's not it. Maybe he started from third. It doesn't matter. I think he started from second. Nailed! Nailed the start. Straight to the front, down into the first corner, Pedro Acosta, the rookie, leading a MotoGP race, and he led for lots of laps. From the very beginning, Jorge Martín made his way up, and was right behind Pedro, and, you know, it was clear that Martín meant business. He, I don't remember, I don't remember how many people he went through. I don't think he had to go through very many, but he was right there on Pedro's wheel for basically the entire time that Pedro was leading, and Jorge Martín was absolutely sending it. He was sending everything he had, corner after corner. I was, I was surprised that he was being so aggressive at the start. Not necessarily shocked, but considering he started on the soft tire, I kind of expected all the guys that were starting on the soft. I mean, I don't know. Sometimes, they start on the soft tire, and they're like, okay, I've got to be as aggressive as possible to make this tire last, and then get in the front, and then just chill the rest of the race. And then the other time, it's like, okay, I don't know. I really actually, overall, was genuinely confused with the soft tire choice. If I'm not mistaken, all the Ducati riders picked the soft tire. Why? I couldn't tell you. The track was really, really hot, and I would have figured this would have been one of those that eats your tires like nobody's business, but I'm not a MotoGP rider. I don't know what I'm talking about. That being said, still incredibly aggressive at the beginning. Jorge Martín, that is. He did not have what it took to get past Pedro for those first couple of laps, and more so, actually, you know, he had what it took to get past him, but Pedro had what it took to keep him at bay. I couldn't believe the defensive lines that Pedro was taking were really awesome to watch. He also, in general, and it's two races into the season, and on a MotoGP bike, and he rides it completely different than everybody else. Yeah, he goes in the corner sideways just like Brad Bender and most of the KTMs do, and that's... a lot of people go into the corner sideways sometimes, but him and Brad Bender are the only ones that do it to the extremity that they both do, but he also takes different lines, just period. His way... I'd have to go and, like, compare some footage, excuse me, of him and the other KTMs, but I think he takes even different lines than the KTMs. That was... oh my goodness, the hiccups. That was fascinating to me, seeing him take completely different lines, and he managed to keep Jorge Martín way... or, sorry, way behind him. He was right on his wheel, but he kept him behind him, and I personally felt, especially after the end of the race, that he's got... well, his head, if you will, his... the head on his shoulders is incredibly smart, and the way he... it looks like he sets up corners and his exits, etc. Of course, they all do, but especially, I've noticed with him, he's trying to make the other rider do something. Maybe it's because I'm a little bit of a noob when it comes to MotoGP, I guess, in comparison to some of these people that have been following it for longer than I've been alive, but I don't think I've ever seen another rider appear to be doing what Pedro is, and that's like, literally... it's like traps. I know that there is incredible amounts of strategy in the way you ride. I love racing, I play racing games, I like to go to the track and go... I'm not racing people, but you're setting up your lines, I know the idea about racing lines, I love racing simulators, I know about strategy, as far as setting up your entrances and exits on corners, etc, etc. I'm just saying that there's something different about Pedro that I've been noticing. I can't put my finger on it, it's three races in, but he's got a solid, solid head on his shoulders, and I am incredibly impressed with how far he's come in three races in MotoGP. I think we talked about him a ton last episode because it was his first podium, but that's the other thing, is two podiums in two weekends, or three weekends, is incredibly solid for a rookie, especially in the era of MotoGP, where all the top ten riders starting from the grid have been separated by, like, half a second sometimes, or less, or more, just a little more, but like, overall, the edge that all these guys are racing on is becoming finer, and finer, and finer, and finer. Hundreds of a second are what define who gets pole and who doesn't, and this guy, you know, this 19-year-old kid, he's not too much younger than me, but this 19-year-old kid is coming in here, and this is where he belongs. This is where he belongs. It's awesome to see that, especially when it's been a while, I would say, that we've seen a rookie perform to the level that we want them to. I say that that's a little tough on the rookies that have been put in, but we can talk about that here in a little bit. Bottom line, impressive ride. Second. I couldn't believe it. Second. That, that was, that was cool. I thought for a second there that he was gonna win. He was leading the race, as we all know, from the very beginning, eventually got past, dropped back a little bit, works his way back up, but he ended up finding himself in first again, and if I'm not mistaken, I think what happened was is that he held Martine off for quite some time until Martine finally fell back and kind of got swallowed up by some of the other riders in the queue, and I know that Pedro kind of fell back just a little bit, but the guy that we all expected to win the race, actually, which is Mark Marquez, he was right there in the mix the whole time, actually, and he was going to toe-to-toe with Pedro and back and forth like it was... Pedro and the whole front grid were fighting back and forth for a while, and I know that it wasn't a big shock to see Mark finally pass Pedro. In fact, I was expecting that, too, but when he crashed that, I was not expecting that. Turned out to be a front brake problem of some sort. Mark Marquez is not one to, like, fantasize, or not fantasize, but fabricate, is a better word, the... or fabricate excuses as to why he crashes. He literally is the crash guy. He basically crashes on purpose. Everybody knows that. Not in the race, obviously, but practices. He crashes all the time. It's never his goal to crash. Obviously, it's never a rider's goal to crash in the main race, but he finds the limit by crashing, or almost crashing, which we also saw him do. That was also crazy. I haven't even mentioned that yet, but he saved it, and it was cool because the camera shot that, you know, we're watching the race live, or it was a recording. It wasn't live, but the live footage going on caught Mark Marquez saving it, I think, from a real close angle, too. So, it was... it was crazy-looking, and I don't even... I can't even explain what he did. It was so impressive, but... So, he passes Pedro, takes the lead, and then literally loses the front because of some braking problem. I'm not sure. Wipes out. It sucked. It was halfway through the race. I was about to be like, okay, well, looks like my double... my boosted Mark Marquez in fantasy is gonna pay off because I got a podium out of him, and... and the sprint, and he's gonna win the main race, but no. He frickin' missed it, man, and sent it down the road. He was... he was fighting incredibly aggressive the whole time, and I know it's because he wanted to get to the front of the race. So, when he did, it was kind of a big shock that he literally, like, sent it down the road into the gravel trap the very next... I don't even think it was a lap later. So, that put Pedro back in first. At this point in time, I'm pretty sure Maverick Vinales was still, like, fifth or something. That's the other crazy part, is we're, like, halfway through the race, Maverick Vinales is only getting faster, and the race goes on, and I was thinking to myself, this rookie is about to be making history, and, you know, he still is, but no, Maverick caught him, and yeah, he actually... well, he made history last weekend when he's, you know, the first man, or first rider in, I think it's the common MotoGP era, at least, or the current, sorry, current MotoGP era, to ever win on three manufacturers. Well, there's... I say there was, I don't think in the minds of fans, I think it's all politically speaking, quote-unquote politically, there is a controversy around whether or not it really is him winning on three different manufacturers because it was a sprint, they're not counted as full-length races, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and, well, I'm pretty sure it's official now, considering he just did a double here in America. The guy's a stud, and I do have to say, I'm impressed. I love, like I said, I'd love to be proven wrong. I hope he's coming back. Anyway, back to Marc Marquez. He was fighting incredibly aggressive through the whole race, up until the point that he crashed. In fact, he did throw out a pretty... a few, many really aggressive, from nine miles away, sending it down the inside, kind of passes, you know, like he was hunting with a scope rifle, you know. He's way back, and then just brakes really late, tries to make something stick, and it doesn't work, but he eventually did get past everybody, because he's Marc Marquez, and there's no shock, sent it down the road. That was incredibly disappointing, because I was just waiting for him to get a win on this Ducati, but I don't think there's really too much to talk about there. He made the whole race, like, the culmination of all this crap going on was... is why I think this will be one of the most talked about races, at least of the season, but probably one of the most memorable races in MotoGP's history as it continues. I think the only other thing I could talk about with Marc Marquez real fast is just how, well, he's making all the other 2023 Desmos Adichies, or whatever they're called, making them look like trash, because he's outperforming them by a large margin. He's up there fighting with the 2024 Desmos Adichies, or whatever they're called, and actually winning against or fighting them to win battles. I... yeah, you know, the points are the only thing that matter, but whenever you're watching him pass people or pass riders on the new bikes that are hands-down better in basically every way than the 2023 bikes, which is a big shock, it's impressive. We know Marc Marquez is notorious for overriding bikes. Regardless, you know, not a big shock that he is making the other riders that are riding the same bike look like crap. He did that at Honda for 13, 14 years, however long he is there, and he's... even to the very, you know, the very... the dying days of his Honda career, I... I think he'll come back, but that's either here or there. He's at Ducati now. The dying days of his Honda career, he still made all the other Honda riders look foolish, and he wasn't even... he's still sending it down into the gravel trap every other race, but goodness gracious, the guy is still probably the most talented rider on the grid. If I... if I'm not mistaken, somebody, mainly me, in the very first episode, probably... I think it was the first episode, my first hot take, at least, was that Pedro Acosta's rookie season is going to outshine Marc Marquez's Ducati season, or this, uh, switch to Grassini, and I'm sticking by it. You know, as much as I love Marc Marquez, I... I've already said it, I'd have a picture of the guy on my wall. This kid is something special, uh, he's a Marc Marquez-level talent, there's no doubt about it. Seeing what he's doing on his KTM, talk about making people look foolish. Pedro Acosta, second place, Brad Bender, oh, ninth place. All the way down to Jack Miller in 13th place, Augusto Fernandez in 14th place, uh, yeah. Talk about a gap in performance. That's crazy. That is absolutely... that's actually... let's see, one, two, three, four, five. Five Ducatis between Pedro Acosta and Brad Bender. And... oh, that's interesting. Oh, well, duh, he fell off. Uh, I think Alex Marquez fell off, too, but Brad Bender and Jack Miller, I don't think they... there's not a single European bike... oh, no, that's not true. I always forget. Trackhouse now is American. Hey, they did pretty solid for Trackhouse, uh, 10th and 11th. Raul Fernandez in 10th, Miguel Oliveira in 11th, not bad, shout out to them. I'm not going to talk about them this episode just yet, but, yeah, Pedro is just dominating. Marquez, obviously, even though he fell off, still making people look like they don't know how to ride a motorbike. So, that kind of covers the... some of the hype. I mean, it's kind of... I can't stress enough, like, if you're... if you haven't watched the race, you need to go watch it. I will say this, maybe this is a hot take, it's the best MotoGP race I... I think I've ever seen. I... that... that's a hard one for me to say, because I've seen so many really good races that have, like, really good stories behind them. The first one that comes to mind is, uh, another Aprilia rider, his first race win. That was cool. Talk about a good story. Seeing Mark Marquez win at the Saxon Ring for, like, the 11th time in a row, that was awesome. There's... there's a lot of cool stories that come with some of the races that I've seen in the past, but as far as action is concerned, uh, this is definitely... top three. We'll go... we'll go with that. If it's not the best one I've ever seen, it's definitely probably... definitely, probably. I don't know if you can use it like that. It's definitely in my top three. Maybe... maybe in future episodes, I... I'll pull out a list of, like, uh, my personal top 10 races that I've ever seen, MotoGP races. That would be... that'd be kind of fun. Maybe I'll make guests start doing that too, like, I'll have a couple guests on and have them build up a list. Maybe... maybe 10 is too much, but we'll do five or something, you know. Even if we have to do just top three, just get out there, like, from the top of your head, what are your most favorite MotoGP Grand Prix that you've ever watched? Live, recorded, from the past, it doesn't matter. Uh, there's so many good ones out there, but that... that was special. So, you have to talk about another Ducati rider, and it's not Pecco Begnaia. In fact, I'm going to say one thing about Pecco Begnaia right now. I think he still has what it takes to challenge for the title, but I am surprised. That's... this is the guy that, you know, came back from, like, a 97 point gap. I get it. This isn't 2020... oh, 2022, that is. This isn't 2022. The Yamaha is far... it's, you know, he's not competing against a fading Yamaha. He's not competing against a crummy Honda or whatever. He's now competing against a boatload of Ducatis, a really good Aprilia, a really good KTM. So, that being said, he needs to get with it. I'd love to see him put up a good title challenge. If I was going to be selfish and pick the rider that I want to win the championship, it would not be Pecco. That... but that... that being said, I'm glad I don't pick who wins the championship, because I'll tell you what I'd rather see than, my quote-unquote selected rider, the chosen one. Rather than seeing my chosen one, who I personally would like to see win the championship, win the championship, I'd like to see a championship go down to the wire, down to the very last race. You know, this season, unless... what's this guy's name? Jorge Martin. Unless Jorge Martin just runs away with it, um, it could go down to the wire with multiple people. There's a really... there's a good lineup of riders right now that look like they could be competing for the title. The title race is on three races in, and it's on Sirius. There's some good contenders. So, anyway, I'm not going to talk about Pecco Benignaia for the rest of the episode, because fifth place doesn't cut it, man. So, who I am going to talk about is his teammate on the other side of the garage, and I'll talk about Jorge Martin briefly, too, because it's kind of a two-fold coin here. Enebashianini. Finally, I get to see... we get to see him put up a title fight. Uh, I say that. It's three races into the season. You know, it is a title fight for the rest of this million race season, whatever it is, but we're seeing him do what we knew he could do as far as consistency goes, and he's been around the podium for the last three races thoroughly, and on the podium a couple times, if I'm not mistaken, and I'm glad to see it. Um, in fact, you know, uh, I'm not shocked. I'm just... I'm just surprised that he's doing better than, um... oh, there we go. I gotta bring it up again. I'm surprised he's doing better than Pecco, considering how well Pecco did during testing, uh, but Enebashianini is one of my favorite riders on the grid, just my own personal favorite, so seeing him back on top of things and doing as well as I know he could is really great. I think he's cool. I think he's cool looking, his helmet and his colors that he wears, you know, all that kind of stuff. I've also... I've been following him since he joined MotoGP, and I followed his rookie season, and especially... let's see, what year was that? Am I screwing this up, dude? Uh, 2021, I guess. Yeah, so 2021 was really cool. I watched him as a rookie do some really cool things. That's when we got a... was he a rookie, then, or a sophomore? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. 2021. Watched him start coming up from the back of the grid, gaining four or five places on the last closing laps, you know, that kind of stuff. His tire magic is phenomenal. We got to watch him, uh, do that this race when he just had more grip than Jorge Martin at the end of the race, and... and... and Anaya Bashunini is running soft tires, too. They're all... they were all the Ducatis running soft tires, and Anaya Bashunini somehow still has a tire left at the end of the race. I think I heard somebody talking about how... I can't remember. Somebody was... somebody was I can't remember. Somebody was joking. I was listening to a podcast, watching an interview or something. I can't remember. Somebody was joking about how, um, they think that they were using... somebody was using, maybe it was Jorge Martin, might have been using Anaya Bashunini as a good gauge of what tires to use. I can't remember how the joke went, but I just thought it was really funny because out of all the people that you choose to, like, pick the same tire they're going with, it would not be Anaya Bashunini. He could probably run a race on, like, cycling tires, you know, those real thin ones, and still have tire left at the end of it. So I think it might have only been with, like, two laps to go or something. It was at the very end. He passed Jorge Martin, who had been chilling in third, so that was cool. I don't think there's much to be said. I do know that Anaya actually fell back during the race and made his way back up. Like, he is back to what I knew him to be at the end of the 2020 season. That's so exciting because 2023 was supposed to be him and, uh, there's his name again, Pekka Benyaya, fighting for the title, but it wasn't. So that being said, I'm looking forward to the rest of the season following him. Jorge Martin, big name here because he is putting some form down. He didn't get on the podium for the race, but he did very well and he's continuing to do very well on Sundays and Saturdays and qualifying. And, uh, we touched on it last episode, I think, but maybe this is the more mature Jorge Martin that will bring a solid, solid title fight for the whole season and not just part of it. And maybe he won't make the same mistakes he did last year as far as, uh, I mean, he made some really poor tire decisions. Phillip Island last year was absolutely tragic. I have never seen somebody drop that many positions so fast just based off of the fact that they're, they just ate away, he ate away so much of his tire. And anyway, that's, that's all it is. Uh, where was the other one? Oh, this is interesting too. I'm going to have to talk about him again. I think he was in Malaysia last year where he fell off. So maybe this year we'll get to see more of his head play into the game, you know, like his smarts, because he is a smart cat. I mean, all these MotoGP riders have to be because there's a lot to process. And if this is what he's going to be like for the whole season, he's going to win the championship. That's my guess. So it'll be cool. It'll be really cool to see, number one, a, uh, satellite bike win the championship. But Jorge Martin has been putting up or laying down some rubber for a while now. And I think, I think, I think he deserves some, some gold. I, same kind of thing with Maverick Vinales. I'm not quite convinced that he doesn't have a couple, everybody does, of course, but I'm not convinced that he's doesn't have a couple of stones in his shoes still, so to speak. I think that, I don't know. I just always get this feeling that he's a little more, how would you put this? Unpredictable isn't the word because he is, he's, he's bullish in the race. He's very, like, it's, he's headstrong. He makes the moves stick and he puts himself in there. Aggressive, he's aggressive. And there's nothing wrong with that, but his aggressiveness and the way he's just gung-ho all the time sometimes has caused him problems. So, if he has changed and he has started using his head, then I could easily see him winning. That would be cool. So, here we go. We have to mention Peko Benyai again. So, just another last season, that race in Indonesia where Peko, Peko won in Indonesia and Jorge Martins fell off. I think this is the one where, oh, here we go, here we go. Here we go, here we go. Yeah, yeah, okay. Peko started in 13th and Jorge Martins started in 6th and Jorge Martins was, like, leading the whole race or for a good portion of it and just fell off at the front and Peko Benyai came up from 13th to win the race. Now, obviously, you know, he, I mean, that was crazy. That actually was very important for the title because what looked like was going to be, like, a huge win for Jorge Martins was a massive win for Peko because he just, you know, no points because of the DNF for Martins and then Peko won. That's, that's nuts. So, anyway, I don't want to see any more of that from Jorge. We already know that he can skip on his butt to the gravel trap really well and especially, was it 2021 or 2022? It's 2022, I think, where he did that so badly and was just always falling off and you, like, he'd get into the front and then fall off, get in the front, fall off, like that kind of stuff and we haven't seen that at all this, this season so far. I know he fell off a couple times during practice. I really, I do not care. I personally, as far as, like, the, because I know what they're doing, I know what it's like to ride a bike. I've almost fallen off several times myself. I actually have wrecked a couple times tucking or not, not a couple, I've wrecked one time tucking the front and I know what that kind of, like, the sensations are like. So, it's not crazy to me that they crash. It's crazy to me that they don't. So, that being said, in practice, they're pushing to the limit to figure out how much they can go on the tires that they're using, etc., etc. Everybody knows how the practice works. It's in the name, practice. But, I think he, it was a pretty bad crash, apparently. In fact, I think I was seeing somewhere that Jorge Martin was saying that if he had, if it was any worse, that he probably wouldn't have had a podium in the sprint and that's, that's, that's kind of bad. But, anyway, let's hope that he's got all those woes behind him. So, that puts us with a few more riders to talk about, I think. Let's see here. Who are we going to pick on? Who is my, who was my most, like, who was I most disappointed in for this, this Grand Prix? That's a good question. I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I think, I'm going to say Mark Marquez again. Close second is Jack Miller. Jack Miller was doing really well. I already talked about Mark Marquez, so I'm going to talk about Jack Miller. Jack Miller was doing pretty decent for, you know, as he does for the first seven laps or whatever it is, and then he just falls off during the halfway point. I love the dude. I wish he was doing really, really well in the KTM. I, he's not, it, from what we have seen, it doesn't appear that he's trying to do anything different than what he's always done, and that is what I just said, you know. At the beginning, he's really, really fast, and then all of a sudden, he just, his pace just drops off entirely, and I don't mean to be that guy and just be a total butthole, but he's not going to have a job next year because a certain kid on a red bike, number 31, is going to be sitting in that spot. That sucks. Maybe, maybe he will have a job. He'll be on a different bike somewhere. That'd be cool. Oh, that, uh, that'd be interesting. Oh, there's a couple spots he could go. What about Aprilia? Is Alicia Sparrow going to retire? I don't see them wanting to pick up Jack Miller, though, if I'm going to be honest, because I still feel like they, I still feel like Aprilia, especially after today, or today, it's Wednesday, I'm way behind on recording this podcast, but especially after this weekend, Aprilia, it, I mean, they fixed their clutch. Maverick was talking about how nice the clutch is now, and somebody who is not Alicia Sparrow has won on it, so they have a pretty decent bargaining chip now in the rider market, and, uh, with the news that Fabio Quattoraro is signed for another extension with Yamaha, that's one name that we kind of, I was kind of, in my head, I, I wasn't convinced by any means, but I, I could see why or how Yam, uh, Aprilia, that is, could be appealing to Quattoraro, Quattoraro. Um, I was thinking that it might be a good fit, considering how well the, uh, not on not on, I don't know about, I don't know enough about how the engines feel on the bikes to talk about, like, why one rider might prefer the inline four that's in the, um, uh, what are they even called? They're not R1s, they are, um, maybe they are R1s, I can't remember. It's, they have weird names. Anyway, the Yamaha, the current Yamaha iteration, they have an inline four that's, uh, it's, it's not like a normal inline four that fires two up, two down. It's, there's a word for it, I can't remember, I know what I'm talking about, I just can't remember the word. Uh, they don't fire in the same order as normal ones do, so it gives you the, the similar, uh, delivery of power to the rear wheel that a V4 does. Is it non-linear? I can't, I can't remember, but so, I don't know how much different that feels. I've only ridden inline fours, so in my head I can process the idea, but Aprilia corners incredibly well, so does, or at least used to, the R1, or I keep calling her R1, whatever the blue turd is that sits on every race, um, whatever it is, he used to corner really well, so I can see the fit there, as far as, like, bikes are concerned, like, why he'd be interested. Now, what I did hear straight from the news was that Aprilia offered him, like, four million dollars, and Yamaha offered him 12 million dollars. Well, kind of an easy decision, uh, especially when you're thinking about how much money, in general, Yamaha always spends on their bikes, their MotoGP bikes, that is, and their other ones, of course, but all things considered, I understand why he signed with Yamaha. I'm not surprised, really. I can't see him going anywhere else simply because, he did win a championship on there, I feel like, for him, this is what I would imagine, he's been cranky for a while, and talking trash on the blue turd he's sitting on, but the dream is still there. Otherwise, I don't think he'd be there, still. I think he wants to win on a Yamaha, and stay with his team, and his crew, and all the people that he's been working with, I know he just split with his manager, or whatever, but that doesn't count, the actual crew around the paddock there. I'm sure he is really, uh, attached to them, he won a championship with them. He's still a very talented rider, and you see him outperform, heck, he outperformed a KTM, a couple KTMs, and a couple Ducatis that they sell off, and all the other bikes that didn't do very well. I, he, oh my goodness, it's sad to see him doing so poorly, but, yeah, so, Brad Bender, ninth, I mentioned he did, he didn't do very well, I don't know why the other KTMs are so far down, Pedro Acosta spanked them. Um, any big news with the rider market other than Quattroro? Nothing comes to mind, I know, oh, you know what has happened? It was three weeks ago since I last recorded a podcast, and a lot has actually happened, and this is probably a decent way to start talking about it, but Liberty Media, is it? The people that own F1 are buying MotoGP or Dorna? Um, I don't know much about F1 enough to talk about, like, how the broadcasts go, or how decent the product is presented to the viewers, that kind of thing. I do know one thing about F1, and that Drive to Survive has blown it up. I've never watched it, Drive to Survive, I'm sure if I did, I'd probably start watching F1. Probably not, that is a joke, I don't think I could sit through a four-hour event where they maybe overtake a couple times. Um, I'm just kidding, I enjoy watching some F1 because I do like the nerdy aspects of racing, so I 100% understand where, especially the hardcore F1 fans, find their enjoyment for the race, the racing, and there's a lot to be said about that. I'm not going to poo-poo on F1, but I'm talking about Liberty Media right now, that's the important part. They've done a really good job taking care of F1 and making it a consumable, consumable product. They're, my cousin, and aunt, my cousin and aunt, um, they're not sports people, uh, they're not really racing people, they're not racing people, but they're not, you know, there's some people, there's sports people that just like sports. I would not classify them particularly as sports fans, let alone motorsport fans. They started watching Drive to Survive, and now they watch F1, and that's cool, that's great, that's, you know, I think the more people into motorsports the better. But it's just shocking how well Liberty Media has done with putting out a product that people will consume and enjoy, and if they can bring that to MotoGP, I'm all for it. In fact, I was mentioning, uh, to a friend of mine the other day, maybe it was my dad, I think it was my dad, I was talking with my dad, you know, because I got him into MotoGP, and I was just talking about how much I'd love to see more people on the bandwagon. I could not care less if they are only interested in MotoGP because of some documentary or whatever. I want more people to watch it because that means more MotoGP will be around for me to see all over the place, and that, maybe that's a little weird logic there, I guess, but I don't care, you know, the more fans the better. That's how cults start, um, so I want Liberty to come in and do a documentary series just like they did for F1, and they should bathe it in the glory of MotoGP, because if I'm going to be honest, I, as much as I still, like I said, I understand why people like F1, it ain't got nothing on MotoGP. The spectacle that MotoGP is, you can't, you can't beat it. Uh, we have, we, MotoGP, um, the coolest footage, oh my gosh, there's no way if they did a, uh, documentary just like they did for F1 that it would be, it would take off, I know it would. There's just so much, just so much more fun to watch, there's just so much, just so much more fun to watch, it's so much more raw, uh, talk about a thrilling, exciting event to see people leaning on the ground, off the ground, at 60 degrees. In fact, that, this is so stupid, but I'm going to bring it up because I thought it was funny, um, I don't, I think it's at probably some sort of Yamaha museum or, uh, what are those things called where they sell motorcycles and, uh, they're not factories, showroom, uh, lot, whatever, I'm drawing a blank, something to do with Yamaha, and they had a Yamaha leaned over at the 60 degree lean angle or whatever it was, so it looks like it's just, there's, it, it, oh my gosh, that is also really cool, seeing how low to the ground that actually is, and so this is on, like, Instagram or Snapchat or something, but in the comments, people are like, oh, that's not real, like, there's no way that could stay up like that, like, like, you'd be fall, you'd be scraping on the ground, and like, yeah, they do, you know, I, I, I thought that was funny, you know, they do, they're just tough, um, and they wear leathers, but anyway, I just, there's so much to, to see and, and watch when you're watching a race that there's no way a documentary series that goes into depth with some of our writers that are characters and of themselves, they're different, but there's no way that it wouldn't be successful, because not only could you get into the quote-unquote drama that's in the paddock, but you could also provide the most dramatic form of racing there is. I, I'll make that argument all day long, motorcycle racing is extremely dramatic, the crashes mean more, um, the passes mean more, and the timing of everything is, it means more, because if you mess up, your butt's gonna be skidding down the asphalt, and, uh, there's, there's no way around it, there's nothing that, there's no halo, there's nothing that keeps you inside the bubble, there's airbags in your leather, and you are wearing a leather suit and, you know, thousand dollar helmet, but you're going down, and that's crazy, and yeah, you know, people want to see crashes, whatever, especially, like, new fans and whatnot, but I'm just talking about the very fact that it's actually, like, inches from, you know, catastrophe. Every time you lean that motorcycle over, in general, it, you're inches from falling off, it, and of course, there's a lot more to it than just that, but it's just something, there's just something to be said about how much this sport can be publici- publicized? Publicity? The publicity, it needs to be good, there's a lot there. Um, I want to see more all over the place, and I definitely, I definitely think that this will be a good thing for MotoGP. I, I know, I think, uh, oh, what's his name? Dan Rosamondo, I think that's his name. The new, he's not the sporting director, that's, that's Carlos. Anyway, he's in charge of, like, the media side of things for MotoGP, and I've been on the website for a little while now today, and that's already improved, you know? Talk about just putting better content out there alone, the website's improved, it's working better, I don't know about the app, that's a whole other story. Um, and this is from a hardcore fan that absolutely was getting irritated with the website a little while ago. It's better! And I don't know how much he has involved with that, but the whole reason I brought him up was because, uh, I, I think Liberty definitely hit the nail on the head with their approach to F1, and especially here in America. So, I think a combination of, uh, Dan Rosamondo being ahead of, uh, an American, he's an American, being ahead of the MotoGP media thing, and Liberty possibly buying, or, I, I think, it's confirmed, I'm not positive that, like, the deal's gone through yet. They are buying it, like, they are trying to buy it, but there's some red tape they have to cut, figure stuff out, because, you know, the free market isn't so free. Uh, but, with a combination of these things, I think there's a really good chance that we could, they could, whip up a lot more support from America and the U.S., just, or the Americas in general, but the U.S. particularly, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and,