PASSING THEM BY
By many measures, the first half of the 2022 MotoGP has been deeply impressive. Be it the surprise of the assailants (Aprilia and Aleix Espargaro), or its underachievers (Honda, where are you?), no one can posit the series has been easy to predict. Thirteen different podium finishers in the season’s 11 races is testament to that.
What’s more, this year’s championship has been faster than ever – and not just by the small matter of tenths or hundredths of a second. Lap records have been broken at six of the 10 tracks the series had visited before. Race records have also taken a beating. Seven of the outings witnessed so far were quicker than what MotoGP machines had done before.
And quicker by quite some margin. Factors such as temperature and track conditions must always be taken into account. But some of the numbers make for wild reading. Take the season opener in Qatar for instance.
The race-winning time was 10.7sec faster than the previous year. Similar differences were seen in Silverstone (-10.3sec), Argentina (-7.4sec), Jerez (-5sec) and Assen (-9.8sec). And that’s before we look at Austin (-18.3sec), and Le Mans, where the race record was cut by 19sec (accepting 2020 and 2021 were affected by rain).
Yet speed doesn’t always translate to excitement. Anyone with even a passing interest in the sport will also have noted how these faster races have, at times, lacked the thing for which MotoGP has been best
