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Have to say that it's soul destroying to look in to see another 6 pages of content free abuse and for/anti the personality cult stuff rolled out in response to this guy blaming the bike yet again. He's as many have pointed out a rider that hasn't been on the pace in 9+ years - but is still on a top works bike for what seem to be marketing reasons. It's a given that he's going to struggle... Better to ignore these form pieces - to shut down the hot air supply that holds the mirage aloft. That way maybe an up and comer will get the bike and in time deliver some competition for Marquez. There's been some ups and downs in results (he's experienced and mostly consistent, and this with the fact that the tyres have to be conserved until the quick guys put the hammer down in the last few laps has minimised the embarrassment) but he's in pace terms had his head handed to him on a plate again this year - x2 new riders on second team Yams and his team mate all significantly faster. Zarco did the same before that. Vinales has pace, but is let down by inconsistency which may in part not be unrelated to his being destabilised by the internal team dynamic. The bike is apparently down on top speed now. The story changes every few races... The reality is that if you're not carrying enough corner speed then you're always going to be down on top speed on the straights, and struggling for traction off turns as you try to (over) compensate for this with the throttle. Maybe suffering tyre troubles late in races too.. It's clear too that if you can't exploit a bike's strengths you're at nothing. The Yam works when ridden Lorenzo style to maximise its corner speed advantage. The trouble (as Danny P with his corner speed style found year after year too) is that this makes for a bike that's very sensitive to set up and to tyres and tyre wear, will gain or lose depending on the track layout, and isn't good at cutting through traffic/at cut and thrust racing. The latter because the guys in front get in the way. Which is why Jorge got most of his results by hole-shotting starts and getting quickly settled into a hot but steady pace that saved his tyres and gave him some breathing space later in the race - he at most had to race one or maybe two other guys. It's always possible to ask for more whatever in a bike, but the fact is that it may not be feasible to deliver it without giving away something else. The guys winning now (mostly Marquez and Dovisioso) don't have magic bikes - they do it by exploiting what their bikes do well, and minimising the effect of the downsides. The rider himself having a little extra pace in hand is key - that's what allows Marquez to compensate when it's not all at 100% to win consistently. If a rider is not just down on pace but is also not able to exploit the bike's particular strength (corner speed) then there's not much hope. Problems build on problems. If you can't consistently qualify at least on the front row (and struggling to make Q2 means that front rows must be few and far between), and/or if you're inclined to be an inconsistent starter you're as above in trouble with a high corner speed bike. Even more so in a very close field with lots of (relatively) slow mid corner Ducatis in the pack that clear off once up and driving hard. Corner speed tends to be the true test of real pace and commitment - it's young blood territory. Not for the geriatric whose mind has long since discovered it doesn't like pain and is subconsciously keeping a hand on the brakes, and whose physiology isn't anyway quite at its best any more... It seems unlikely that KTM would stand for it. Honda neither unless something has changed there...

Ditto to Gilles remarks!!