We are officially at the halfway point in the 2023 MotoGP championship! Well, sort of. The paddock has just started its one month holiday between rounds, but we’re actually only eight out of twenty tracks completed for the season. It’s a weird spot to be in – the championship so far has been wild and unpredictable, and it feels like we’ve seen more than enough action for the time elapsed, but the twelve rounds left are going to come at us fast and hard in the second half.
Assen ended up being an odd end to the first half. It’s a track that has historically hosted some epic showdowns, but the task of overtaking in modern MotoGP was on full display this weekend. Riders were having to find new and innovative lines just to get a hint of advantage over their rivals mid-race, and the overall result ended up feeling fairly stale to me. After the instant classic of Sachsenring one week prior, this was a more subdued feature race, and the sprint wasn’t a huge amount better.
Given it’s the last race review I’ll be writing for a short while, I thought I’d do something fun for this week. It was my birthday last week (23 years young, thank you all for asking), so I’ll be picking and choosing who among the MotoGP field gets an invite to my party based on their performance over the weekend. It’s a pretty exclusive event, so hopefully they won’t feel too bad if they’re not on the list. Let’s get cracking!
Pecco Bagnaia – invited
How could I deny the reigning champion after a weekend like that? Fast in all sessions and starting from the front row, Pecco got a clean jump off the line in both races and was in contention for the win from lap one. While the sprint victory eluded him, his feature race strategy was impeccable, and he walks away from the Assen TT with a comfortable margin in the championship over his nearest rivals.
What I loved about his performance in both races was his ability to tangle with other riders for key positions. We’ve seen plenty of instances this year of Pecco getting the lead early and running away with it, but both here and in the Sachsenring we saw him properly fighting it out for the win. It shows real grit and determination on his part – he knows there’s plenty of competition for this title, and he wants to beat them down and prove he deserves that #1 plate.
While there are plenty of riders who will head into the break thinking about their future in the sport, Pecco’s couldn’t be more secure right now, and it seems inevitable that he will continue to roll ever closer to sealing the deal on his second premier class title. He need only continue the impressive form he’s showed in this triple header, and we’ll likely be able to pack it in by Sepang.
Marco Bezzechi – invited
Similar story here. After a couple of weekends where he looked off the pace, Bezz has restored himself as a title contender with a brilliant weekend here. A win in the sprint against fierce opposition and a solid second in the feature race is exactly what the doctor’s protegee ordered, and he is firmly back to his brilliant self.
I did think he would clean up here and take the double, and was somewhat disappointed he didn’t have more to say in the grand prix, but post-race interviews clarified that he had a bunch of rear-end chatter in the latter stages that forced him to relinquish Pecco and focus on the riders approaching from behind. It was a smart race and a strong defensive display, something we haven’t really seen from him before, and I hope this trend continues in future races.
Aleix Espargaro – invited
Maverick Vinales – not invited
Never have I groaned so loudly as I did when Maverick tumbled out of the Sunday race in Assen. After finally getting a good start to the race instead of plummeting back ten positions, he looked like one of the faster men of the leading pack and could have easily been in the running for a podium. Instead, the misery continues for the Spaniard, and he heads into the break well and truly out of contention for the title.
His teammate picked up the pieces for Aprilia, however, and it was a brilliant result for Espargaro overall. Fourth in the sprint and third in the grand prix racks up a nice haul of points and puts Aleix back on everyone’s radar as a potential contender for the second half. His race was particularly impressive given his front faring was damaged on the first lap, reducing his reliance on aero and forcing him to be a bit more old-school on the bike.
Herein lies the issue for Aprilia this year. A total lack of consistency for both their riders has meant that they are languishing down the championship order, and it feels like whenever one hits a pocket of good form the other has a miserable weekend. If either of them could string together a few results like this in August or September I’d be kinder to them and the project, but for now it’s a well-earned third place in the manufacturer’s standings.
Brad Binder – invited
The MotoGP stewards – blacklisted
Binder had yet another stunner of a weekend, qualifying well and consistently being right in the mix for the podium positions. This is the KTM stalwart we know and love – he’s been the only non-Ducati rider to really show form like this across the 2023 campaign. Crossing the line in third position in both the sprint and the feature race, it should have been a solid points haul for the South African.
The stewards disagreed. Grazing the green paint through turn eight in both races on the final lap, Binder was penalised three seconds in the sprint and a position drop in the race that saw him fall to fifth and fourth respectively. It was emotional the first time and downright frustrating the second, as his team held their heads in their hands and Binder simply shook his head in confusion.
The issue I draw with the stewarding process across 2023 is the lack of communication. Not once did we hear any kind of justification for Binder’s penalties despite it being clear that he received no tangible benefits from the run-offs, despite this being a ruling that has been overturned in the past. If we could receive an explanation from them at the end of each weekend for the various rulings made across all categories it would go a long way towards rebuilding trust between the steward and the community, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on that front.
Jorge Martin – invited, if he doesn’t bin it on the way over
Three weekends in a row of Martin looking on top form was clearly too much to ask. The Pramac rider was fast in both races, but a crash early in qualifying ruined his weekend by shuffling him way down the grid and forcing him to make up tonnes of ground against his opposition. It was a valiant recovery from him, but he ended up conceding a lot of ground in the championship.
It’s unfortunate just how much the new weekend structure is impacting riders. Martin only really slipped up once all weekend with a singular spill in Q2, but the repercussions of that crash were huge. Had he kept it upright all session and gotten some better laps in, his pace was likely good enough to battle with the top dogs, but instead he played catch-up in both.
If you’re a Martin fan, I wouldn’t start freaking out just yet. Yes, he’s shown a propensity to crash at inopportune times in the past, but this year he strikes me as a much more mature rider. He didn’t panic this weekend, just got his head down and did the work he had to do, and the points haul he walked away with is totally respectable in the grand scheme of things. I believe we have yet to see the best from the Martinator.
Fabio Quartararo – invited
Quartararo has been telling us all season that his issue was single lap pace. Once he solved that problem, he insisted, he would be able to prove he has the pace to go with the top tier of riders and battle for podiums and wins once again. They were bold words from the former champion, but it was hard to argue when he was consistently showing up down the order in Q1.
This weekend, he proved that he was telling the truth the whole time. The Frenchman slotted himself onto the second row and made full use of it in the sprint, bagging a late podium after Binder’s penalty. The feature race would end up being less kind to him, crashing out in the early stages and taking a luckless Johann Zarco with him, but it was still a solid weekend for him.
Can Fabio build from here, and re-insert himself into the championship conversation? I’m not sold on him being able to regularly repeat this feat, but I’m also more than happy to be wrong. Quartararo is a phenomenal talent trying his hardest to tame a terrible bike and ride the legs off it to a good result, and you have to admire the resilience he has shown this season. The championship is likely a step too far at this stage, but this weekend would have given him plenty of hope.
Marc Marquez – not invited
If the drama on track was big here in Assen, the drama off it was gargantuan. Having binned it during qualifying and found himself way down the order on the grid, Marc began making noises about his future at Honda and hinting at the potential of moving elsewhere – and it seems the Japanese manufacturer agrees, with Alberto Puig also making comments hinting at a potential early split with the 8 times champion.
From a fairly calm starting point, this silly season has ramped up to a cacophony. Marc being a potential pawn in the mix will be sending shockwaves throughout the grid as manufacturers start looking at their underperforming riders and questioning their long term potential. Jack Miller (who suffered yet another DNF on his KTM), Vinales, Morbidelli… these riders will have plenty to think about over the Summer break as Marc starts to put his feelers out and assess his situation more fully.
There’s no guarantee he is moving, mind you, but it’s a real spanner in the works if he does, as there really aren’t that many factory seats available right now. Someone is going to have a messy breakup in order to make room for the former champ, and I’m both excited and terrified at what is yet to come here. Hopefully we find out more in the coming month’s break.
Solomon Talks Bikes 