| Author | Message | ||
     Vagelis46 |
OK, Loris is NOT doing well with the 800cc bikes, so far. But he was a 250cc champion a few years ago, and he actually switched from 500cc to 250cc at some point in his carrer because a few people thought that he was more suited to the 250cc. So he has BIG experience with the 250cc riding style. So what is going wrong now? Is he just getting old ? Is it that he is used to his wife's support during a race weekend, and know that she is missing he feels "alone"? I want to think that is his wife's absence that affects him, and he does not feel 100% focused on the job. I think this is human. I hope that he will soon return to his usual form! GO Loris! One racer I do NOT feel sorry for, is Melandri. He turned down factory Ducati and stayed with a Honda satelite team. What was he expecting? Now he says stupid things that do him, his reputation, and his team no good! "HONDA abandoned me!", "Look at Rossi&Yamaha" and other stupid things like that! Stoner that accepted Ducati's offer, so far says that he is more than 100% satisfied with the team that he actually calls "his family". Sometimes it is better to keep your mouth shut, do the best you possibly can and on the first chance you get, change team. Otherwise you become Max Biaggi..... I think Doohan once said that it is better to be in a factory 2nd role team like Suzuki or Kawa, than in a satelite team. This way you have a say on how the bike is developed. Vermulen followed his advice! | ||
| Jaimec |
So what do you think? Has Yamaha upped the horsepower enough on the M1 to make it competitive in the horsepower friendly tracks coming up in the next two races? Or is Stoner on the Ducati poised to snatch the lead away from Rossi? Rossi has NEVER won in Turkey. Will his third try be the charm? Should be an exciting weekend! | ||
| 12r |
I think The Doctor will give it 110% this weekend but Pedrosa will worry him. Stoner will ride well but Hopper will crash unexpectedly while chasing a podium position. Elias will continue to ride like a nut case and the 250 cc race will be like 'Gladiator' on motorbikes  | ||
| Jaimec |
What about the only man to win at this track in the MotoGP class? No prediction for Signor Melandri? | ||
| Firebolt428 |
He is having trouble adapting to the 800cc bike. with his complaints of HRC I would be surprised if he wins a race this year. But now that I have said that he will probably win.  I'm thinking Hopper will come out strong and battle for his first win. Look for Edwards and obviously Rossi and Pedrobot to be there too. | ||
| Jaimec |
GO COLIN!! | ||
| 12r |
Randy's big race big up: http://www.motogpnews.com/home.php?pageid=820  | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Stoner's performance was phenomenal in QP2. I was watching live timing in motogp.com and Stoner was OVER 1 sec faster than everyone else on race tyres. I think that unless conditions change, Stoner is going to win. Unless the Doctor ......... | ||
| Jaimec |
And it looks like Capirossi is back, too! Can't EVER count him out when he's on his game! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Capirex on race tyres was not doing very well. He was 2sec slower than Stoner. I do not think he will have a good result on the race. I hope he proves me wrong, since he is one of my favourite. | ||
| Firebolt428 |
Ya the ducs are almost 10 mph faster in a straight line than everyone else... Kinda surprised none of the big factories came back with some horsepower changes to give them that extra mph. The red train looks to be coming through Turkey | ||
| Trojan |
When the chips were down in qualifying the cream once again rose to the top, with Rossi setting pole alongside Edwards and Pedrosa. The Ducati is now just 5kph faster on the straight than Pedrosa's Honda, so the other manufacturers seem to have done some serious homework in the break. Hayden even managed a top 6 qualifying slot, just behind Stoner & Hopper  | ||
| Vagelis46 |
This weekend was strange. Up to QP (FP1 to Fp3) the Ducatis, and particular Stoner, were on the top. But the Michelin riders were saying that they are waiting for the track to clean up from the dust, for the Michelin tires to work. It seems they were right, since 1 to 3 position is taken by Michelin tyres. Stoner's pace on race tires was pretty good. I think that if he stays with the top group from the start (NOT like in Spain)he might have a shot of winning. Ducati is still more than 10km/h faster than Yamaha and Honda in FP & QP. It is thanks to little Pedrosa's size&weight that the difference in only 5km/h. Sometimes I wish that the tires rules in Motogp were the same like WSBK, where only one tire manufacturer is supplying tires..... It levels the game. I feel sorry for Hayden. Up to the Q tire he was lower than the Dunlop Yamahas. What is going on? My prediction and wish for tommorow, for a more interesting championship : 1. Stoner 2. Pedrosa 3. Rossi | ||
| Trojan |
I think the result will depend on who guesses the right tyre combination tomorrow. Turkey is a circuit where the 800 GP bikes have never tested, and with the new tyre rules this year it is a completely unknown prospect to everyone. I am not surprised that the Yamaha only came good in final qualifying as they were probably more interested in finding a race setup throughout free practice. Knowing that Rossi is the best rider on worn tyres and is also the best at adaptiing his riding style to suit different situations, I would predict the result to be: Rossi Pedrosa Elias (yes really!) Elias has been really quick all weekend on race tyres and only let down in qualifying. If he can get a good start from his lowly grid position I can see him posing a real threat. As the most exciting rider to watch I really hope he is up there fighting for the win Congratulations to Bradley Smith in the 125 class too. He may only be in 13th place on the grid but he is once more the leading Honda | ||
| Vagelis46 |
OK Rossi is the best rider. BUT in Qatar in the final 2 laps with worn tyres Stoner set the fastest lap of the race and Rossi admitted that he could not stay close to him to make one of his moves..... What can I say? I am a BIG Ducati fan.... I hope Stoner wins. Also good luck to Hopkins. I hope he tastes podium tommorow! | ||
| Jaimec |
From reports I've heard, Yamaha has closed up the horsepower gap. I predict Rossi will end his long drought at this circuit and take his first win tomorrow... | ||
| Slaughter |
Hopkins/Suzuki - my "dark horse" favorites. DANGIT but we've been watching him ALMOST making it. Suzuki and Hopkins have been hanging tough - this might be a good year. (though I'm still thinking Rossi is gonna go all the way) | ||
| Heads |
Trojan: Rossi didn't look to good on worn tyre's to me 10th place tells you that.. My stoner predictions are looking better every race, which is strange for my predictions.. Stoner was just to good the rest where fairly even. im sure rocket will chime in with his usual bagging of stoner tho. | ||
| Trojan |
Trojan: Rossi didn't look to good on worn tyre's to me 10th place tells you that.. I think Rossi suffered from a little more than just worn tyres unfortunately. More like a disintegrated tyre I think. Michelin suffered badly today, with just one rider on their tyres in the top 9 positions, and that was Hayden in 7th. Considering the amount of attrition amongest the leading riders I would have exected him to have done better than that had the tyres been any good. Well done to Toni Elias though I know he would do well today Also well doen to Alex Barros, good ride | ||
| Vagelis46 |
What about the CRASH? Who made the mistake? Jacque or Pedrosa? Rossi has to realise that sometimes things do not work for his favour. Elias did what usually Rossi does. Well done Toni. I also feel that Sete is smiling right now. | ||
| Trojan |
The mistakw was undoubtedly OJ's that caused the big crash, although Colin Edwards also seemed to lay some of the blame on Rossi. When Rossi lost it everyone else thought they could capitalise on his mistake and basically outbraked each other It was pretty obvious from lap one that Michelin had got their calculations totally wrong, and someone in France is sure to have a difficult interview on Monday morning. It just makes the new tyre rules look very very silly when it turns out to be a complete tyre lottery. I am not taking anything away from Casey Stoner, who rode a perfect race from flag to flag, but the results were undoubtedly adversely affected by the tyre situation. Under the new rules, riders/teams only have 31 tyres in total for the weekend to choose from, including qualifiers (not including wets though). They have to choose which compounds they will be using on the Thursday prior to practice starting. This means that, at tracks like Turkey where nobody has tested the new bikes or tyres, it is just complete guess work as to what will work and what won't. Bridgestone struck lucky simply because their tyres work better in low grip/low temperature situations whereas the Michelins seem to be the opposite. The track temperature dropped quite significantly for the race today, and that affected the tyres to a huge degree, and had the temperatures risen by just 2 degrees the results would probably have been very different. MotoGP should either have a control tyre, as in WSB, or a completely free choice as before. This rule sucks  It sure did make for an exciting race for the last podium position though | ||
| Vagelis46 |
This is racing. In Jerez the Michelin had a clear advantage. Also in qualifying in Turkey the michelin was top. BUT in the race the Bridgestones worked better. It would be interesting to see what Pedrosa would have done if he did not crash. Stoner is super. I think noone believed that he whould be so strong this season. I remember that he was offered a ride in Yamaha, but Possi said NO. Valentino must realise that time passes and that he is not 22 any more. He must realise that sometimes he must settle with the idea of not winning and go for the best possible result. Not get involved in a dogfight and just do his own thing. I think that he pushed too hard too early against Elias and wasted his tires. It was 100% his fault. If he was more conservative he would have finished the race in a much better position and he would be leading the championship. But so far in his carreer he&his bike was much better than everyone else, and his life was easy. Not any more | ||
| Trojan |
But so far in his carreer he&his bike was much better than everyone else, and his life was easy. Not any more Absolute rubbish. Valentino raced against Doohan remember, and when he moved to Yamaha everyone thought he had gone mad, moving from the best bike in the MotoGP field to the worst (and one that other 'top' riders wouldn't ride and couldn't win on). The Honda RCV211 became the best bike largely because of Rossi's input, not the other way round. Rossi is without doubt the most talented racer of his generation, and we have not seen the end of his reign yet Even with his terrible tyre problems in Turkey right from the start, he still set the fastest lap of the race. The new tyre rule is a joke, and saying that it evens out over the year doesn't make the situation any better at all. Racing should be about what happens on the track, and the result should not hang on what tyre is randomly chosen 4 days previously. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
"Absolute rubbish." Thanks for your kind words! Rossi must realise that he is not the God of Motogp, and sometimes his choices might prove wrong. He definately is the best rider of his generation. But new talent is joining MotoGP and he must realise that he NEEDS a top bike to win. It is not possible anymore to win on an average or badly set-up bike. He is not racing against Gibernau or Biaggi, but against new&very talented riders, thirsty for wins and glory. The way Rossi was 5 years ago. When he moved to Yamaha, he took Burgess with him and Yamaha increased its MotoGP budget to develop a bike under Rossi&Burgess instructions. Also the riders he had to race against at that season were not even close to his abilities. He won and also Yamaha developed a good bike. That decision proved right for Rossi. I think over the years he has become a bit arrogant, and maybe over-estimating his abilities or under-estimating the opposition. Sometimes he lets himself being destructed like the F1 or the WRC thing. His decision to stay with Yamaha up to 2008 might prove a VERY bad one. Time will tell. For me : NO RIDER IS ABOVE THE SPORT ! He is just the best rider, so far. | ||
| Heads |
Vagelis46: i predicted stoner to be 2007 champ so yes i did think he would be strong. Jerry Burgess has a big part to play in rossi,i have argued this point before and the poms get a little upset. If it was Rossi who won this race it would be he is just to good for the rest of the field....so yes Trojan dont take anything away from Stoner.. Well done to Stoner i new he would do well today.  | ||
| Rocketman |
Man, I wonder sometimes what planet some people are on, never mind what race they watched. If Rossi hadn't had a tyre problem he would have won today. His speed and skill were clear to see, until his tyre problem occurred. He was closing on Stoner lap after lap after his run off the track. Great race all the same. Rocket | ||
| Davegess |
Here is the guy who really knows what is going on, great report, man did I miss a good race http://blogger.xs4all.nl/daisy/ | ||
| Vagelis46 |
So when Honda were forcing the rules to change to 800cc, they were doing Ducati a big favour............... I guess Mr Taglioni must be smiling up there..................... | ||
| Heads |
Rocketman:you must be of ya face bro, if rossie had not had tyre problems he may have finished second or third. stoner was doing faster lap times at the back of the race.. | ||
| Simond |
Thanks for the link Dave, that was a very good write up. I saw most of the race but missed the Elias move on Rossi - was it as bad as Rossi is suggesting? Vale isn't exactly averse to the odd "contact" pass himself! Not sure if Rossi would have won without the tyre problems but he was the only one who would have taken the fight to Stoner. Hayden's finish was pretty impressive bearing in mind that he was on Michelins too and I want to see Chris Vermeulen nearer the front. While he did have a clearer track than the battling front runners, those times were impressive for a guy fighting back to 11th place! |
