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Mandalika, Michelin, Marquez – How a Chain of Unfortunate Choices Ended in Disaster for Honda

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Honda went into the Indonesian Grand Prix widely seen as potential front runners. Pol Espargaro had been fastest in the test at Mandalika a month previously, Marc Marquez had been quickest on the second day of the test, Honda riders had set a consistently fast pace, looking better than their single-lap speed.

What’s more, Espargaro was coming off a podium at the season opener at Qatar, the race where Marc Marquez had finished fifth.

To say the Indonesian Grand Prix ended badly for Honda is an understatement. Pol Espargaro was fastest Honda once again, but the Repsol rider crossed the line way down in 12th, 33 seconds behind the winner, Miguel Oliveira.

Espargaro was one of only two Honda riders to finish in the points, crossing the line just ahead of Alex Marquez on the LCR Honda in 13th. Takaaki Nakagami could only struggle to a 19th place, 49 seconds behind the winner.

That wasn’t the really bad news, however. The worst blow for Honda was the fact that Marc Marquez manage to miss the race, and perhaps endanger his chances of the 2022 title, or worse. Much worse.

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MotoGP

Marc Marquez Diagnosed with Double Vision After Highside

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Marc Marquez has suffered yet another injury setback on his long road to recovery. He has been diagnosed with another episode of diplopia, or double vision, after his huge highside in the morning warm up before the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika.

Marquez was ruled unfit after the crash, and did not take part in the race at Mandalika. At the time, he had undergone scans to check for broken bones and brain trauma, but the scans turned up nothing serious.

Fearing a concussion, however, Marquez was not allowed to ride, a decision he and his team supported. During his trip back to Spain, however, he started to suffer vision problems again.

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MotoGP

Saturday MotoGP Summary at the Indonesian GP: Chaos Reigns

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The first Indonesian GP in 25 years has been a complicated affair. A new track, in the middle of a construction site where a new resort is being built. A track which was resurfaced after the test uncovered issues with the asphalt.

The blistering tropical heat, capable of raising track temperatures to well over 60°. The swapping out of the rear tire used at the test for an older, safer tire used in Austria and Buriram to prevent the tire from blistering if track temperatures get that high.

And the intense rains which leave the track wet for a long time, have eaten into setup time, and keep washing dirt onto the surface.

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MotoGP

Friday MotoGP Summary at the Indonesian GP: Low Grip & Yamahas

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We say it pretty much every Friday of a MotoGP weekend: it’s hard to draw conclusions from the first day of practice.

The first day of practice is usually spent trying out different setups and then assessing which tires are the best compromise between performance and durability for the race, so just glancing at the timesheets doesn’t tell you as much as you would like.

The first day of practice at Mandalika is even more complicated to unravel. First, there is the fact that it rained heavily on Friday morning, leaving the track damp at the start before drying out.

Then there’s the fact that nearly half the track has been resurfaced, the work finished not long before MotoGP arrived.

Finally, Michelin changed the construction of the rear tire from the one used at the test, in response to the heat at the track, the new surface, and the data from the test.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 263 – Mandalika MotoGP Test

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Episode 263 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one sees once again getting into some on-track action, as MotoGP made a stop in Indonesia, testing at the Mandalika street circuit.

To discuss the tropical topics, we have the usual crew of Steve English, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler on the mics, as they trade insights on our first glimpse of the MotoGP bikes on the island track.

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MotoGP

Mandalika Circuit to Be Partially Resurfaced Ahead of Indonesian GP

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The people of the MotoGP paddock were extremely enthusiastic about their return to Indonesia. The series had long-wanted to return to a country that is at the heart of the MotoGP fanbase in Southeast Asia.

Once at Mandalika, the teams and riders loved the setting and the scenery, and were very positive about the layout of the track. It was fast, and it was fun. They were less happy about the surface of the track.

It was filthy on arrival, with mud and dust all over the track, and the riders were forced to make laps on the first day of the test to clean it up, creating a single racing line. Once clean, the track had plenty of grip.

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MotoGP

Mandalika MotoGP Test Saturday Notes: The Cream Rises to the Top

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You could tell testing was underway in earnest at Mandalika on Saturday by the fact that for most of the day, Brad Binder’s name was stuck at the top of the timesheets. The time Binder set was already well under Pol Espargaro’s best time from Friday, hitting a 1’31.814 on his third exit from the pits.

But, nobody followed suit until the final hour or so of the test, with Luca Marini eventually ending up fastest with a lap of 1’31.289. The teams and riders were too busy with the hard graft of testing, optimizing parts and refining setup, figuring out the best base with which to launch their assault on the 2022 MotoGP championship at Qatar in three weeks’ time.

A day of riding had made a huge difference to the track surface, with a clean line with high grip appearing.

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MotoGP

Mandalika MotoGP Test Friday Notes: Sweeping the Circuit to Start

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It was a good day for attention-grabbing headlines at Mandalika. Pol Espargaro ended the day with a scorching lap which took him under the WorldSBK Superpole by four tenths of a second.

There were six different manufacturers in the top six. The lead on the first day changed hands time after time in the last couple of hours.

But the headlines don’t really mean very much. Times were dropping because the track started off filthy and only really started to clean up in the last hour or so of the day.

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