| Author | Message | ||
     Blake |
Johnny ruled. | ||
| Jaimec |
For some reason, this headline at the official MotoGP website tickles me: "Pedrosa Falls Short At Home" http://www.motogp.com/en/motogp/index.htm | ||
| Slaughter |
How's Pedrosa gonna fall ANYTHING else BUT short? He's done growing and he's STILL SHORT!  | ||
| Jaimec |
So far, Toseland's the only Yamaha rider not to crash. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
There have been a few days of testing so far, in motoGP. A lot of people on this board, were saying : " There are many riders that would hand Stoner his a##, if they had the same machinery as Stoner" What are they saying now ? What has happened to Melandri ? He seems to be doing worse than Capirossi ! Trojan ? | ||
| Rocketman |
The 2008 Ducati might be better still than last years offering, but my bet is Pedrosa will be strong on the Honda, and Rossi will ride just as brilliant as he did last season, except the Yamaha will be improved and the Bridgestones will work for him. The only thing standing in Rossi's way this season will be the Ducati, and not the robot riding it. Melandri went off the boil two seasons ago. Stoner is still reliant upon high tech gadgets to get him there. Fast he is, but I don't see him staying fast and upright if it were not for traction control. Rocket | ||
| Jaimec |
Marco already said Casey's riding style is completely different from his, so they are trying to get his Ducati adjusted so that he is comfortable on it. Casey's style didn't work at all on the Honda he had two years ago (he had some SPECTACULAR high sides) but seems to mesh perfectly with the Ducati. Marco's style worked better with the Honda and it looks like the Ducati is a completely different animal. I don't understand Edwards. For as long as I've been paying attention, his pre-season practices have always promised more than he's delivered during the regular season. This is his last year in MotoGP and I am really hoping he sees the top step of the podium at least ONCE before he retires. He's too good a rider not to. I want to see Loris do well on the Suzuki and I REALLY REALLY want to see Hopkins FINALLY get to the top step for the first time this year. And naturally, I want to see Nicky fighting at the front again. He's probably the hardest working man on the grid and deserves better than last season. I'm 50/50 on Rossi. I'm not happy over his strong-arming tactics to get on Bridgestones, and so far the Michelin-shod Yamahas seem to be doing better than he in practice. Still, if anyone can turn things around, it's him. | ||
| Jandj_davis |
Has anyone noticed the return of the high-side? Almost every crash that has happened this pre-season has been a high-side, from Rossi to Hopkins. I'm guess the 800's are going to end up being less safe than the 990's due to the peaky powerband. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Toseland was really good in Philip Island, and he got a big confidence boost, he was really happy after day 3. Good! I can see that Rossi fans have already started talking sh#@ ! Robots, electronics, bad karma, evil tires, and many other things that are standing in Rossi's way!  It is going to be an interesting season. | ||
| Slaughter |
Rossi is the DEVIL INCARNATE! (...and everybody else is just jealous that they don't have the opportunity to sell their souls!) | ||
| Rocketman |
Well Vag, you praise Toseland's preseason testing efforts, and rightly so too. After all, he did finish 4th fastest I believe. Strange thing is, Toesland's riding a Satellite Yamaha. What I envisage is this. Rossi still hasn't the better bike, but he can make the Yamaha (or any bike for that matter) work for him. Therefore, as bikes go, Ducati has to be favourite. But as riders go, I've yet to see a season since 2001 where Rossi wasn't the favourite, and that still stands true today. And that's despite him losing some seasons. Last season he rode as great as ever. More so on some days. This season will see him prove once again why he is still the man to beat. And if it were not for traction control and rider aids, no one would be near him, then or now. Just to put that into some kind of realism before I get branded a Rossi fan. Schumacher was without doubt the greatest F1 driver since Senna, Prost and Mansell. No one could argue against that. It's also part of the reason I lost interest in F1, and I have been a life long fan until the Schumacher days. I just couldn't gel with his personality. Not so Rossi. And Rossi is to bikes what Schumacher is to cars. I like Rossi. It's hard not to. I love his racing. He's fantastic to watch. But I am not a Rossi fan. The reality is though, he is the greatest out there, and still the benchmark and the one to beat. Rocket | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm still curious how Ben Spies would do in MotoGP. I sure hope we get to find out soon. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Toseland was 3rd, only 0.02s behind Nicky who is a very fast rider on Q tires. That was remarkable, and shows Toseland's potential. His knowledge of the Philip Island track, as he admited, was very important. He was actualy very happy in his interview in www.motogp.com Toseland also said "Corner speed of the M1 is top, I can catch people up in the entry and during the corners ! As far as drive out of the corners, he can stay with the Suzuki, Kawa , (Honda??) bikes and only Ducati is stronger" So the M1, is not that bad after all. James seem to like it. I think Toseland will have top 6 finishes at tracks he already have raced like Qatar, Philip Island, Valencia, Assen, Brno, Donington.....Also because of Michelin tires, he might do better than Rossi in some events ???? That would be great stuff. About Ben Spies.....He has no knowledge of the motogp tracks, so it is impossible to make an impact the first 2 years. See what happened with Nicky Hayden..... I also think that all riders are terrified by Stoner's performance on these tests, especially with race tires. It is a shame that Pedrosa got an injury that will take him and his HRC development work, back. | ||
| Jaimec |
Edwards and Toseland are still working with the conventional M1 engine. It'll be interesting to see how well they do with the pneumatic valve engine Lorenzo and Rossi are using... | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I would like to see tech3 Yamaha to do really well next year. The team manager and the riders seem very cool people. | ||
| Jaimec |
Last test, and Rossi was the SLOWEST man on a Yamaha. Superbike Planet is running a poll: "Has Rossi Screwed Up By quickly switching to Bridgestone tires on his Yamaha?" So far, the majority thinks "Yes" http://www.superbikeplanet.com/getVote.jsp?pn=ross i0229 | ||
| Vagelis46 |
We will soon find out. It seems that it will be a very interesting season. So far it seems that Stoner is ahead from the rest, on race tires. The arrival of Melandri in Ducati, and Rossi's switch to Bridgestone have not produced the results a lot of us were expecting. So far from the tests, the only conclusion that can be made, is that it was Stoner's last year's performance that earned him the title, and not Ducati or Bridgestone. It also seems that this year it is better to ride a satellite Honda than a factory Suzuki or Kawasaki. Or is it the new talented riders, making an impact ? DePuniet likes Michelin and he is faster than last year on Bridgestone. He was fast from the very fist test, and had not problem adapting to the Michelin tires. Nakano seems to be slow on a Honda with Bridgestones. He was slow on a Honda with Michelin last year too. DeAngelis and Dovizioso are very first from the first test, regardless of tires. One uses Michelin and the other Bridgestone. Toseland ? He is young, talented and motivated. The M1 & Michelin seems a good package. Yamahas are doing very well, because they have signed very fast riders that will make an impact. I think Rossi has once again overestimated himself. It is not easy seting up his new package with no help from a teammate. | ||
| Mcgiver |
I have said it before and ill say it again, Rossi just may be getting over the hill in racing, it does happen to all of us. Brian  | ||
| Trojan |
I have said it before and ill say it again, Rossi just may be getting over the hill in racing, it does happen to all of us. The problem with making judgements based on who is fastest in testing is that we do not know exactly what they are testing. So a guy who is miles faster than everyone else may be on a race ready bike whereas they guy 2 seconds back may be testing fuel consumption or a slightly different design of spod rod or gangle pin, hence not looking for outright lap times. Toseland is undoubtedly a good rider, but top 3 in a race? I don't think so yet. One test is not enough to base any assumptions on. As for Rossi losing his edge, I'll wait until the flag drops before I believe any of it ;) | ||
| Blake |
Over the hill? Rossi? The boy is still in his twenties, yes? Corser is over the hill. Duhamel is over the hill. Heck, I know over the hill; over the hill is a good friend of mine. Rossi isn't over the hill. | ||
| Blake |
Rossi has rarely been one to be much concerned with being fastest during practice or even qualifying. He just prefers to be first across the finish line on the last lap and has demonstrated an amazing ability to do so. He's in diagnosis and testing mode. No big deal. (Message edited by Blake on March 03, 2008) | ||
| Jaimec |
It is not unknown for Valentino Rossi to "Sandbag" during practice so his opponents don't know how fast he really CAN go. It will be interesting to see how the season plays out. Blake, I believe he recently turned 29. On the MotoGP grid, that is practically "Senior Citizen." Next thing you know, Loris Capirossi will be using a walker to get to his bike on the grid.  | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Rookies are doing very well so far. Lorenzo, DeAngelis, Dovisiozo, and Toseland, usualy finish the tests in the top 6. They are either : 1. Too talented. 2. GP bikes are pretty easy to lap fast these days. What is going on ? One thing is for sure. Rossi is not over yet. | ||
| Blake |
"On the MotoGP grid, that is practically 'Senior Citizen.' " Gosh, what does that make Capirossi and Edwards? And what were Bayliss, Checa, Gibernau, Biaggi, Barros, KR Jr., and Doohan? Mighty Mick Doohan won the championship in 1998; he was 33 years old at the time. | ||
| Bads1 |
I do believe though that Rossi indeed does need to make a statement this year and do well and win this year or his status does seem like it is fading. To me anyway's. | ||
| Mcgiver |
You don't have to be old, to be past your racing prime. He has also been doing this a long time, and at some point racers just arn't as good as they used to be. Is Rossi at that point? Who knows, maybe we will in the fall. Brian  | ||
| Jaimec |
Blake, I rest my case... none of the racers you've mentioned are in MotoGP anymore. I don't know about Capirossi, but Edwards has already stated this is his last year in MotoGP. Rumor has it he wants to "retire" and take on Mat Mladin in AMA Superbike. | ||
| Jimidan |
Blake, I rest my case... none of the racers you've mentioned are in MotoGP anymore. You rest your case on the wrong point. The point is that all of these guys were "senior citizens" by some folk's racer-boy standards...and they all were doing pretty good when they were. Rossi was very competitive last year even though he was down on HP, and probably just on an inferior bike to the booming Ducati. Count him out at your own peril.} | ||
| Diablobrian |
No matter what you think of the guy's personality his talent is undeniable. Rossi will go down in the history of motorcycling as one of the all time greats. His name will be mentioned in the same breath as Agostini and the like. As long as he is able to mount a competitive motorcycle and is healthy enough to ride the duration of the race he will continue to be a threat. That said, I'm not a big Rossi fan, but like I said his talent speaks for itself. | ||
| Blake |
What Jimi said. Thanks Jimi. |
