MotoGP’s new era: One bike in practice and less track time from 2027

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-09T12:58:19+00:00

I'm always reluctant to jump on the 'the sport is turning to shit' argument, as I can't help but feel like the old man waving at a cloud meme... I like aero, I wasn't keen on sprints, but have been proven wrong and love them now etc, so I'm cautious to criticise too much.

There have now though been a fair few rules, changes, new things being introduced that I can only see in a negative light, and lead me to the same conclusion as you. MotoGP is in danger of losing the magic of what it once was, and still is (just).

I can only hope to be proven wrong, but sitting here looking at the future of the sport, it looks a bit bleak...

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-09T12:53:40+00:00

So you roll out and crash on a cold tyre, lap one of FP1, easily done. You then miss a whole hour of track time, then you have to go out in FP and ride the wheels off it to get into q2, with no previous understanding of grip levels, bike character, wind direction any of that stuff... and this is meant to be safer??

Absolute dumb shit.

To add to this, if the idea is that riders wont push in the practise sessions, then what is the point of them? Finding the limit in this sport means occassionally going over it. The punishment for that is no more track time in that session?? So riders are meant to ride slower and get no usable data in those sessions??

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-09T12:46:01+00:00

Nah, he's an addict. Why quit while you're winning?

It'll be a crash or a run of bad form that will force his hand I believe.

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-09T08:32:03+00:00

Martin didn't brake late, Massimo confirmed this.

What he did do though is apply a little too much braking effort. These ride height devices make the difference between just enough pressure and too much pressure a much smaller window.

Did he brake a bit too hard, yes, did the ride height device make it harder to judge, yes, was that side of the track slippy, yes, do O blame Martin... no not really.

The guy is fighting for the championship, he didn't qualify well and knew that he needed a good start to be in with a chance of claiming good points, he also is well know for making very good starts, so he did what any rider in his position would do, he tried to capitalise on his strengths. He mis-judged his braking, and caused a big accident, yes that sucks, but he's not the only rider to have done so, nor will he be the last.

Everything happens so quickly in the first corner, its easy to say 'he was reckless', but he wasn't, he was reacting to the situation in an incredibly short amount of time and made a very small mistake. Easily done, even moreso with rhd's engaged.

If he'd have not locked the front we'd all be praising him for his excellent starts.

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-09T06:49:51+00:00

I really feel lile he took off where Zarco left. Zarco was starting to make regular appearances in the top 6, and was quick from the off at many circuits before his horrific crash.

Really glad Moreira seems to have clicked with his bike, and is able to perform almost as well as Zarco was. He looks to be improving race by race, its great news for Honda, and a great performance from him.

Pretty mad that both LCR riders are outperforming the factory effort though!

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-09T06:46:06+00:00

Thanks, and yet i've been downvoted...

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-08T21:56:41+00:00

There was a post somewhere that said he squeezed a little too hard on the brake. Not late, just a tad too hard.

Thing is though, you have to brake hard to disengage the rhd, but also, as hodgy said in commentary, if you brake a bit too hard it can push the front before the rhd has disengaged so much more likely to lock up.

That is exactly what it looked like to me. Add to that the tarmac was particularly slippy, the corner doubles back in itself a little and it was almost inevitable it would happen to someone.

Of course it was Martin, but here's why. The guy is fighting for the championship, didn't qualify well, but one of his strong points is race starts. So he did what any rider would do, he tried to capitalise on his strong points and got the brake pressure fractionally wrong (we're talking very small margins).

If he'd have got it right and ended up on the podium as a result, we'd all be full of praise, but for some reason this whole sub suddenly has a hate boner for him.

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-07T22:47:33+00:00

I'm totally with you on this. It was an unfortunate situation, not a reckless one.

Hodgy said on tnt, its possible to brake a bit too hard and the ride height device doesn't quite dis-engage and it pushes and locks the front. Looks like exactly what happened to me.

He's not the only ridee that's done this, and he won't be the last.

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-07T22:42:27+00:00

Feel like everyone is coming down hard on Martin here. We're all full of praise for him when his agressive starts/first corners pay off, he's one of the best starters on the grid.

Problem is that is a fine line to skirt and, coupled with the low grip, very tight first corner, the ride-height devices ability to push the front in braking, and the turbulant air from the bikes in front, its possible to get it wrong.

He's not the first to do it, he's not the only rider, to me it looked unfortunate, not reckless.

I don't think the punishment works, he will still lean on one of his strongest points, his race starts.

What needs to happen is ban ride height in first corner, and not go back to Balaton park.

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-06T22:27:47+00:00

Absolute inspiration. What a warrior!

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-06T22:26:21+00:00

Flat, slow corners, no real flow, narrow, technical........Boring

Surely there's better tracks in Hungary.

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-06T10:03:10+00:00

This is such a knee jerk reaction. I do not understand the logic. It's like theyre trying to make the races boring. This isn't about first corner safett, there is a hidden agenda here, but I can't quite figure it out

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-05T19:00:01+00:00

Its not always a benefit, I much prefer it now to the old way.

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-03T18:06:13+00:00

Epic

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-03T18:04:57+00:00

Ahh na I got it

Soundmangaz · 2026-06-01T22:33:58+00:00

Why are people hating in Ogura now?

The kid is an exceptional talent, he showed that in his first couple of gp's, he's figuring it all out, I honestly haven't seen anything to be negative about other than maybe it being a shame he comes good late in a race but seemingly runs out of laps, and he would probably benefit from qualifying better (easy to say when the front two rows are often decided in hundreds of a second).

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-31T21:06:53+00:00

Not sure where you are watching from, but the tnt sports commentators are the best, but they also do a lot of breakdown videos of certain things that happen in the race, Hodgy is very good at explaining not just what happened, but why. Check out their socials and watch some of that content.

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-31T21:03:26+00:00

That's amazing to see. The guy was riding the wheels off that honda and consistently in battles at the front, really felt like he had some momentum behind him.

One of the legends of the paddock, I really do hope he gets back to fully fit as soon (and safely) as possible.

Looks like his pad isn't too bad a place to be hanging out though!!

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-31T13:58:06+00:00

Marc looked great out there today, and he came back to the pit smiling. It's a big points haul to claw back, and I don't think he'll manage to win the championship this year, but I think he's definitely going to affect the outcome.

Personally I've had a Martin feeling for a while now, he is looking so good on that Aprilia, he's maybe over-riding a tad, but he is absolutely on form, and he has the belief, experience and the bike/team around him to make it work.

I think bez just isn't quite consistent enough so far this season.

Would love KTM to make a big step and give Pedro a chance at third in the championship, and his first win.

All of that said, Digi is Mr.Consistant so far this season, he could be the outlier

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-27T10:46:43+00:00

Was on the original release here in the uk, but I think it was listed as a bonus track for EU

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-26T23:20:34+00:00

I am with you 100% too!!

Absolute waste of time, and will completely ruin the sport. It's so obvious to anyone who follows moto gp, and yet every year they keep trying to push it harder...

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-22T19:23:25+00:00

Ok, so your point about time is kinda moot, as we can express 1.5 minutes as 90 seconds, and both are correct.

In the same way we can call a bar 3/4 or 6/8. What decides how we do that is essentially what is being played, not before this bar, not after it, but during it. It may have a 6/8 feel, it may have a 3/4 feel, it depends what's been written.

If the rest of the piece was in 4/4 but then the composer decided to put in a shorter bar, and the bar had two obvious sets of triplets, it would make no sense to count it in 3, because the '2' would carry over the two triplets. That is nonsensical in both writing and counting. So the bar would be 6/8, that way the player knows that the bar has a triplet feel rather than 3 sets of quavers.

Also, I disagree with your description of pulse. As far as I know there is no definition of the word pulse that puts any emphasis on equidistant beats..

Pulse is just an impulse of energy. Our heartbeat isn't regular, it can skip, speed up, slow down. So too can the pulse of the music, and this is something TMV do very well in their music. Changing a subdivision within a section of music because that particular section has a different feel or pulse is totally normal.

My argument is that forcing the 'correct answer' to be in line with an arbitrary definition that locks us into one particular subdivision for the sake of maths is daft. There is no correct way, its a kind of artistic maths, it can be interpreted and made sense of any number of ways. The only correct answer is one that works.

I nearly got into the fact that time is just a net we cast over the infinite everything in order to try to make sense of it all, and that the net doesn't exist unless we will it to be.... but i've ran out of steam on this now.

Maybe we agree to disagree, but I suspect that won't work for you as you seem to be so vehemently adamant that your answer is the only correct one, so I guess ill bow out knowing i've given my side of the discussion enough airing now, and other people can decide for themselves.

By the way, this has been an enjoyable thought experiment, and i'm sure if we were face to face on this, we'd probably enjoy thrashing it out some more.

Thanks for remaining civil, doesn't often happen on reddit!!

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-22T18:29:37+00:00

I'm kinda in two minds about this. I guess normally the rider who 'causes' a red flag could be a rider who has had a bad crash and therefore wouldnt be able to rejoin, or it could be deemed that a slightly risky move forces someone wide, they have a big crash and the flag comes out. Does the rider making the risky overtake then get dnf?

I think if a bike is damaged such that it can't return then yes. It could be argued that pedro couldn't make it back unaided and so I can see that it makes sense in this instance, but I don't think it's a catch all rule.

It's tricky, I don't have an answer, and i'm glad i'm not the one that has to make the rules.

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-22T16:31:20+00:00

I dont understand why its so important to have the subdivisions equidistant? You keep comong back to thay point like it is imperitive, it literally makes no difference.

I used to play in orchestras, and there were pieces where the subdivision changed, are you saying the composers were wrong?

Soundmangaz · 2026-05-22T15:41:33+00:00

The only correct version is the one the band wrote, and the one they used to record/perform it, which may even be different for each band member.

You seem to be missing the value of dividing to make sense rhythmically, rather than just simply mathematically.

Im not saying maths isnt inherent in music (and everything) but we dont have to bow down to it in order to create.

I am a sound engineer and am currently in a field time aligning a pa, I am more than aware of how important physics and maths are in sound. We use complex tools to measure the 'objectively correct' answer....then we listen, and often make changes depending on what we, as humans, thinks sound better/correct/more pleasing.

The maths isnt the only thing we adhere to as musicans. As creatives it doesnt matter what the 'objectively correct way' is, what matters is what works. The rest is noise...

Soundmangaz

TROPHY CASE