After Joan Mir won the MotoGP World Championship a week before the season finale in Portimao, some thought can be given about this strange championship characterized by the absence of Marc Marquez and the Pandemic.
When it started in Jerez after the incident with the reigning world champion, we immediately said that it would be a “strange” series without his benchmark driver.
We thought at that moment that Vinales and Dovizioso, perhaps with the best rookie of 2019, Fabio Quartararo, would fight it every Sunday. With the inclusion of some outsiders and the fact that the success of the eventual winner would ultimately have been due to the lack of ‘Magic Marc’.
With me, the driver who made the fewest mistakes this year, the best man has won: he deserves it
We haven’t changed our minds because The best man wins, in this case the one who made the fewest mistakesor the one who, thanks to a motorcycle – the Suzuki – had the fewest ups and downs, which was in its element practically everywhere (even with the Michelins), but without really dominating.
Joan Mir is still a legitimate world champion, even with just one win for his name, because even after taking the win away, he missed it at the Red Bull Ring because of the red flag. He still got 7 podiums. More than anyone. If he continues to improve and Suzuki is with him then he certainly needs to be considered for 2021. Just like Rins, who didn’t start the year in perfect physical shape but thanks to a great final part of the year he will now fight for second place overall with Morbidelli at Portimao.
Yamaha, the big loser of 2020, more than Ducati: won 7 GPs, 10 podiums and a lot of criticism
Morbidelli and Quartararo won more than Mir, 3 wins each, While Morbido only lost form and finished 15th at the Styrian GP, Fabio struggled too hard after a few falls (under pressure?) In some Grand Prix races such as Styria and Valencia 1.
Vinales wasn’t consistent either, just one success and only three overall podiums and too many inexcusable races. A situation that led Yamaha to capture a total of 7 wins and 10 podiums, but at the end of the year the big loser of 2020. Without the embarrassing “valve affair”, which, however, left a big question mark for the sporting justice in MotoGP.
The “Yamaha Valve Affair” and the MSMA decision were the worst event of the year
On this matter, we were spectators of an unclear situation, Starting with the delay with which the FIM or whoever for it – it is no longer clear – communicated this serious inaccuracy. As if the FIM had consulted everyone involved before the release in order to somehow save the face of the championship and especially the TV show. Inexcusable.
A word that we unfortunately also have to use for Ducati-Dovizioso Who, after three consecutive seasons, is still the best pairing on the red motorcycles in the world championship standings – in 6th place – but with only one win and a podium.
Dovizioso’s breakdown is inexplicable, a victory, but often behind his fellow brands
So, After the six wins in 2017, the four in 2018 and the two last season, we’ve moved on to one. An incomprehensible descent that can not only be explained by adjustment problems to the tires. Because in that case it would mean that the race in Valencia today will be carried out by Jack Miller is inexplicable. Plus, usually a fantastic calculator, Dovi only has a zero to his name (not his fault) this year, while Jackass even has four.
The Australian finished behind Andrea in Jerez 1 in Brno on the Red Bull Ring podium together with the victorious Dovi. In Styria he and the man from Forlì took 2nd place, in Misano they came one after the other, 6th the Italian, 7th Jack. And in the last four Grand Prix, despite a zero, they ended with 37 to 28 points in favor of Miller.
This year the Ducati had to be “ridden over the problems”: Miller was successful at times
From the outside one has the impression that Andrea Dovizioso was influenced far too strongly by the contractual situation, Forget to give 110% what everyone is doing now. And then of course he didn’t want to go over the problems with a phrase made up by the great Wayne Rainey.
Too bad for Ducati, too bad for him. Even the decision made in Austria to end its story with the manufacturer Borgo Panigale without first having secured a ride for 2021 is incomprehensible. It is difficult this year, without having seen the paddock, to say how much of his responsibility and how much of his manager Simone Battistella. Even if it has to be said that normally the last word always belongs to the driver.
But maybe it’s also possible that Dovizioso had like his former teammate Cal Crutchlow, exhausted his competition after facing a beast like Marc Marquez who could beat him for three years, and we’re talking 2017 with a bike that is significantly worse than the GP17.
The rest, as we often say, was the culmination of this long championship, which was condensed and played incorrectly. Binder, Petrucci, Olivera and Rins won too, but for one reason or another, apart from Alex, they didn’t affect the result of the championship.
Aprilia was admirable with Iannone, but we would have expected it to be present in litigation
There are still some considerations to be made as well as the mandatory ones regarding Suzuki’s growth. If possible, KTM even did a better job. The Austrians have shown that they can use both the licenses and the test team they lead Dani Pedrosa. Something Aprilia was unable to do regardless of the Iannone affair.
Still on this topic: The Venetian manufacturer was great in their support for Andrea, but they sinned on two important counts, in our opinion: even if it was a private matter We would have expected an active presence in the litigation. After all, the interests of the manufacturer were also at stake. Instead, Andrea Iannone did everything herself, from communication to defending himself. Aprilia should have made his voice and weight heard. I know that Massimo Rivola may not agree with this thought of ours, which has been raised several times, but indolence never pays off. And the lack of a plan B and even C and D proves this as well.
Finally, a note about Honda and Valentino Rossi. It’s serious not to be able to win a single race in a world championship with nine drivers on the podium. Something to think about and which casts a long shadow over the next season for both of them. Honda has to find Marc Marquez again; Valentino Rossi has to find himself.