#it'd be nice if motogp could just like. provide a list of what races are classified as what so i'm not going off memory and a dream but <3< /div>
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batsplat · 11 days ago
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bringing this back just. y'know
could you say that marc is the best flag to flag pilot, at least in modern motogp?
idk if it's recency bias or what but I just rewatched misano 2015 and brno 2017 and like beyond his actual skill in the wet (which I think is pretty up there) honda and him usually nailed the strategy i think
misano 2014 was obv not great bc he came in too late but I think on the whole
oh yeah, it's not particularly close. and 'modern motogp' is in this case a completely unnecessary caveat! f2f was only introduced in 2005 as a more tv-friendly format and the first f2f race was phillip island 2006. until 2015, there's not like... any real patterns amongst the winners - and generally they're rare enough that you can't draw that many conclusions from who's winning them. marc's first f2f is technically phillip island 2013, which wasn't a weather-related bike switch but did of course feature the notable team fuck up that got him disqualified and could have cost him the title. then it's aragon 2014 where he fucks it and crashes because he didn't switch bikes when he should have, yes. but after that, the record's flawless: wins misano 2015, argentina 2016 (also a tyre-related bike swap), sachsenring 2016, brno 2017 - the full set until 2021. I do have another ask sitting in my drafts sent well before misano, which requires a longer response because it's about what makes a rider good or bad at f2f... so I'll go into more detail there. for now, yes there's a little bit of luck involved in some of these wins, a gamble or two that paid off because his race wasn't actually going all that great until he swapped bikes, but it's a record that kinda speaks for itself. it also probably speaks for itself that I spent much of the season pre-aragon attempting to singlehandedly manifest rain clouds. representative sample included here of my dispassionate analysis of the situation:
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which made me initially quite irritable when the rain showed up at the race after aragon, but that's neither here nor there. anyway, I will go into this in a little more detail for that other ask, but I do think it's the f2f format specifically that suits marc. it's just those specific conditions where it's not wet wet but kinda slippery and gross where he really thrives - which of course you also see with stuff like his affinity for low grip conditions in general. plus, he developed a knack for picking the correct strategies in this genre of races. his record in proper wet races is significantly worse... if I had to make a list of the best wet weather riders this century, a few names would sneak ahead (dovi, casey and valentino being the obvious picks, and some of those riders were..... not so great at f2f). here's the comparison:
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so yup - he's not a bad wet weather rider by any stretch of the imagination, but it's the type of mess thrown up by f2f where he really thrives. neat skill to have
#//#brr brr#current tag#not like i particularly mind the marc prop but occasionally you want to shove spreadsheets at people#like i get the sense his wet weather record is seen solely in terms of his f2f brilliance. where he is unmatched!!#but it's also inarguable that his record in full wet races is substantially worse which is interesting in its own right#can't believe i'm making a 2015 comparison of my own volition but i was getting strong silverstone 2015 flashbacks#where marc was hounding valentino for much of the race and then crashed. which obviously wasn't ultimately ideal for the points situation#so when marc crashed today i went. right. yeah. fair enough i saw the script in advance#marc's at his best in changing conditions where the grip level is uncertain. NOT full wet where he is *good* but not a class apart#it's a little unfair to compare his raw numbers to valentino's given f2f was only introduced in '06. but casey + dovi low key have the edge#during the time period when both dovi and marc competed in the premier class dovi got four 'full' wet weather wins to marc's one#and marc's 2017 misano win was a last lap spite fuelled overtake!! he's never dominated a race in the wet#this really isn't to do marc down. the inaccuracy just bugs me b/c if anything it's more compelling that he's *specifically* goated at f2f#mind u since making this spreadsheet i did clock that if misano this year counts as f2f surely assen 2017 would too#which. groundbreaking! valentino managed to technically get his last victory in a format he was absolute ass at!#it'd be nice if motogp could just like. provide a list of what races are classified as what so i'm not going off memory and a dream but <3
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