2020 MotoGP - The Official Thread (Warning!! Spoilers!!!)

[RichDesmond]

Well, 2019 is done and dusted, on Tuesday the testing for 2020 starts.
Anybody willing to bet against Marquez for the championship?? I'm certainly not!

[Nessism]

I think the only thing that can stop Marquez would be an injury. IF, big if, Yamaha finds a bunch of power (unlikely), and if Quartararo matures quickly, he could be a factor later next year. Can't see him competing for the championship though. No chance for Suzuki, although I'd love to see them in there.

[RichDesmond]

I think the only thing that can stop Marquez would be an injury. IF, big if, Yamaha finds a bunch of power (unlikely), and if Quartararo matures quickly, he could be a factor later next year. Can't see him competing for the championship though. No chance for Suzuki, although I'd love to see them in there.

That's a good point on the Yamaha motor. If it's enough better that Quartararo (and Vinales) can consistently take the fight to Marquez maybe they can push him into the occasional mistake and give themselves a chance.
Can't say that I'm betting on it though...

[Nessism]

In addition to Quartararo I think Brad Bender is destined for great things in MotoGP. It's going to take him a couple seasons to get up to speed though, and of course he's going to be on the KTM and they are yet unproven. Regardless BB has some pace and knows how to slide the bike around which will serve him well on the grand stage.

[RichDesmond]

In addition to Quartararo I think Brad Bender is destined for great things in MotoGP. It's going to take him a couple seasons to get up to speed though, and of course he's going to be on the KTM and they are yet unproven. Regardless BB has some pace and knows how to slide the bike around which will serve him well on the grand stage.

Yeah, Binder really impressed me a couple of years ago when he won the Moto3 championship. Apparently he had some growing up to do, but he certainly seems to have righted the ship, and I think he'll do well in MotoGP

[Rob S.]

Anybody willing to bet against Marquez for the championship?? I'm certainly not!

And his little brother isn't too shabby. (Moto2, it's called?) Watched them both win the championships about a week ago at 4 AM, think it was Malaysia. Wish I knew for sure when they're on, always come across it unexpectedly at an ungodly hour.

[Agemax]

Repsol Honda will have both Marquez brothers next year. Should be interesting

[Buffalo Bill]

It was a good season for watching. It got boring when one rider dominated. I'm glad Ducati did not dominate, it was expected to.
Would have been that much more thrilling if Quatararo and Vinales had beaten Marquez. Dovizioso and Rins did beat him.
I predict 2020:
Little-bro Marquez will be mid pack all next year, only Marc has shown mastery of the Honda.
Rossi will continue to enjoy ultimate track days, not relevant anymore.
Yamaha and Ducati will have no break through engine improvement.
Quatararo, Vinales and Rins are be the riders I'll be watching.

[RichDesmond]

It was a good season for watching. It got boring when one rider dominated. I'm glad Ducati did not dominate, it was expected to.
Would have been that much more thrilling if Quatararo and Vinales had beaten Marquez. Dovizioso and Rins did beat him.
I predict 2020:
Little-bro Marquez will be mid pack all next year, only Marc has shown mastery of the Honda.
Rossi will continue to enjoy ultimate track days, not relevant anymore.
Yamaha and Ducati will have no break through engine improvement.
Quatararo, Vinales and Rins are be the riders I'll be watching.

Agree on Alex, I think 4th-10th is mostly where his results will be.
I’m a little more optimistic about Yamaha next year. I think the motor will be enough better that coupled with advantages the bike has now will let them win some races.
The Ducati has plenty of power, they need get that bike to turn better.

[Nessism]

It was a good season for watching. It got boring when one rider dominated. I'm glad Ducati did not dominate, it was expected to.
Would have been that much more thrilling if Quatararo and Vinales had beaten Marquez. Dovizioso and Rins did beat him.
I predict 2020:
Little-bro Marquez will be mid pack all next year, only Marc has shown mastery of the Honda.
Rossi will continue to enjoy ultimate track days, not relevant anymore.
Yamaha and Ducati will have no break through engine improvement.
Quatararo, Vinales and Rins are be the riders I'll be watching.

Ducati was NOT expected to dominate anything, other than the horsepower race, which they did. And they have no need for "break through engine improvement" because they already have the best engine in the series.

As for Alex, if he's midpack that will be doing well for him I think.

I think Rins and Vinales will have their moments, just like this year, but I'll be surprised if they do a whole lot better.

My money's on another Marquez show.

[RichDesmond]

Ducati was NOT expected to dominate anything, other than the horsepower race, which they did. And they have no need for "break through engine improvement" because they already have the best engine in the series.

As for Alex, if he's midpack that will be doing well for him I think.

I think Rins and Vinales will have their moments, just like this year, but I'll be surprised if they do a whole lot better.

My money's on another Marquez show.

I think Marquez will have a little more competition next year and won’t be quite as dominate. Vinales and Quartararo could win 5 or 6 between them, Rossi might sneak one in and the Ducs will win a few, in the 3-5 range. Hell, Marquez might finish a race off the podium once or twice!
But yeah, he’ll still win half the races, or close to it, get good points at the rest and wrap up the championship with several races to go.

Suzuki I fear will go backwards a bit. They need both more motor and to fix their qualifying issues. Don’t expect them to win a race.

[pete]

You lot are missing Jack! Yes I'm biased

But he's shown improvements in maturity big time this year and a few times he's most definitely shown he can slow himself down to conserve tyres for a push towards the end. He's also slipped off less than he used to. Still can't see him taking over from Marquez unfortunately (Marquez is just ridiculously good on that Honda) but I think we'll see Jack spending more time up in that top 3 to 5 than he did this year. He'll also be on the same machinery as Dovi and Petrucci.

I've not seen much of Alex Marquez to make a guess there but it'll be interesting to see how the dynamics of the brothers goes.

Quartararo will be one to watch for sure, especially if they make his Yamaha better, and I think Vinales will continue to be sporadic, I don't see him having the consistency to really challenge Marquez.

I'd also really like to see the Suzuki up there, I like Rins and he had a great start to this year but couldn't capitalise on it for whatever reasons.

[RichDesmond]

You lot are missing Jack! Yes I'm biased

But he's shown improvements in maturity big time this year and a few times he's most definitely shown he can slow himself down to conserve tyres for a push towards the end. He's also slipped off less than he used to. Still can't see him taking over from Marquez unfortunately (Marquez is just ridiculously good on that Honda) but I think we'll see Jack spending more time up in that top 3 to 5 than he did this year. He'll also be on the same machinery as Dovi and Petrucci...

Well, I was thinking of him when I wrote, "the Ducs will win a few, in the 3-5 range."
Jack should get 1-2 of those.
Going to Ducati has been good for him, I'm not sure that Honda did him any favors by promoting him directly from Moto 3 to MotoGP.

[salty_monk]

The commentary I was watching said Jack would be best served by staying where he is but being given more factory personnel (i.e. he has the full factory bike already but not the same support as the full factory teams).

I'd like to see more close racing with Marc next year, it looks like we have exciting new blood in WSB & BSB too..

[pete]

Definitely keen to see close racing! The few battles with Marquez vs. Quartararo this year were good but go back to Dovi vs. Marquez race long battles and that was a whole different story. Last year had some great races with ridiculous numbers of overtakes and that's what we'd all like to see I'm sure!

Maybe stick 'em all back on Moto3 bikes?