#ttassen

Having returned to the historic track in the Netherlands after a year out, we may not have been given a thrilling race, but it certainly left us with some talking points, as the teams head into the summer break!

Looking back on the first half of the year, Yamaha have almost been a step above the rest, and were it not for some small issues, they would have won most of the races so far this year! Then inside Yamaha, Quartararo has really been a star, showing superb pace on the bike, and outshining his more experienced teammate! This weekend that looked like it could change, yet once again, when it counted most, Vinales made a bad start, fell back, and struggled to make his way back through, which let Fabio run away to an easy win! Maverick has been firing shots at Yamaha, but it looks as though the problem is with his confidence on the bike, there is more news on that, which I will cover in an article tomorrow! Rossi looks resigned to his fate, and will likely retire this year, crashing out here sums up his year so far. Gerloff rode a commendable race, and should be considered by Yamaha for next year, as with more time on the bike, he clearly has more to come from him!

This may be the highlight of Mir’s season so far, climbing from 10th to get a podium, having strong pace all race, which we haven’t always seen from them. You can see hints that it is the same bike that won last years title, they just can’t unlock the late race pace we saw previously! Joan is still in the title fight, so if a fix is found, he is by no means out of it yet, although beating Fabio right now looks almost impossible! Rins may have had the worst start to the season of anyone so far, pretty much all of his points for the year came at Losail. His pace is clear to see, as he always outqualifies Mir, but mistakes are costing him big time, without those he would really be in the title fight!

Ducati barely missing the podium here shouldn’t hurt much, as this is one of their worst tracks on paper! They were lost all weekend, so to get 2 bikes in the top 6 is very good, and without Miller’s crash it could have been better! Bagnaia did well to hold off Fabio for so long, however, as the tyres wore, it was a matter for time before he got past! He has surpassed expectations this year. As has Zarco, who has been fast at every track, and is incredibly 2nd in the championship, although over 30 points behind Quartararo. Going to Austria next, that could be where he closes the gap! Miller’s season has been up and down, with 2 great wins, but also some crashes, it may already be too late for the title fight! The 3 rookies have each shown glimpses of true speed, especially Martin, can they do it more regularly in the 2nd half of the year?

KTM’s 2021 campaign is sort of being held up by 1 man, Oliveira, as despite the odd, good result for Binder, he is not showing anything like the consistency of Miguel. They still don’t have the bike to really challenge for regular wins, so if they can bring the other riders nearer to Oliveira, and be comfortably in the top 10 most weekends, then we could see something bigger in 2022. That being said, we talked about the same thing last year! In the battle between Petrucci and Lecuona for the other seat at Tech 3, it is really hard to call, as both can show pace on different weekends, however, I do think Petrucci does it more of the time!

There are green shots showing, of a Honda recovery on the horizon very soon! After what happened in Germany, Marc only finished 7th today, but with Nakagami and Pol not far behind, they might be beginning to go in the right direction! They did look more comfortable with the front end at Assen, despite Marc’s crash in qualifying, which had been their main issue. It does also seem that the bike is still built around Marquez, which leaves them once again open to big issues if he gets injured again!

I believe that is a top 10 for Aleix in every race so far but Le Mans this year, when both bikes blew up. That consistency is truly remarkable, on a bike that has taken a huge step forward this year! Their one main weakness is power, but with the concessions, they should be able to really close in the gap to the top teams! Savadori, despite qualifying well, fell back in the race, and will likely not be around in 2022!

These 4 weeks off are a chance to reset for those who have had a tough few races to start the season, also to try and understand how on earth they can try and take down the might of Yamaha this year. Their bike is incredible, but we have seen weaknesses in many different ways, so don’t count anyone out yet!

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1