| Author | Message | ||
     Vagelis46 |
"Stoner is just the latest in a long line of riders who have found out how far Rossi is willing to push in order to win" I think this is the first time in his career, that Rossi has to push 100% in order to win. So far Gibernau-Biaggi and others were no match for Rossi. Now, after a long-long time, there is a rider able to stay with Rossi, and actually be faster, when Rossi is on his best form and pushing 100%. Rossi knows that it is no longer possible to win Stoner, when he start from the 3rd row. This competition is a great thing, unless you are a Rossi fan. | ||
| Bads1 |
Stoner also did beat his track record by a reasonable time frame then last year so the bike did do well. It was loose though compared to the Yamaha. | ||
| Ceejay |
stoner couldn't handle his mistakes as well as rossi did his, then to call rossi for bad form is well-bad form. | ||
| Trojan |
It appears that Stoner continued whining well after the GP ended, if MCN is to be believed. After labelling Rossi 'dangerous' he then attacked Randy de Puniet for being 'immature' for allegedly brake testing Stoner into one of the turns. Do yourself a favour Casey, keep your mouth shut and stop making yourslef look childish. Just to rattle Stoner further, Rossi described his overtake at the Corkscrew as 'my best overtake ever'  He also said that the younger riders haven't had to fight as hard as he did in the 250 class and into the 500GP and 990 era, which is very true. When Stoner was runner up in the 250 class the winner was Dani Pedrosa. Both riders have an aversion to close racing it seems, and would never have got near the front of a 250 race back in the days of Rossi, Harada, Capirossi, Biaggi without some physical shananagans, that's for sure. | ||
| Benm2 |
He said shenanigans... | ||
| Trojan |
Shananagans shmenanigans | ||
| Ceejay |
I'm really interested in seeing how stoner is going to do in the next race-specially since it will be on the telly over here. I'm not a "Rossi fan" but his riding style is way cool and that pass he pulled off, which looked more like a mistake that he just improvised on, was one of the better ones I've seen(admittedly I haven't seen a lot). Will Stoner start riding over his head-which is what it looks like happened when he dropped it in the kitty litter... | ||
| Sparky |
If anybody recorded the laguna race and would be willing to make a VCR copy, I'll supply the tape. Having seen the race in person, it's just not too thrilling to watch the sports car race that I inadvertantly recorded from the Speed channel at the time.  | ||
| Trojan |
I'm not a "Rossi fan" but his riding style is way cool and that pass he pulled off, which looked more like a mistake that he just improvised on, was one of the better ones I've seen(admittedly I haven't seen a lot). Maybe it wasn't a mistake, and Rossi had been doing his homework and watching some old videos of races at Laguna. Anyone remember a CART/Indycar race a few years ago when Alex Zanardi took the lead on the last lap with a very similar move at the Corkscrew? And didn't Ben Spies overtake Mat Mladin at the same place last year in the AMA Superbike race? Rossi studies every aspect of every circuit he goes to in far more detail than most riders, just to get any advantage he can get. You'll see him watching the 125 & 250GP races intently every week to see how the track is looking and which are the fastest lines, when most of the MotoGP prima donnas are locked in their motorhomes. | ||
| Ceejay |
In regards to his race prep, I've read things similar, but I wasn't thinking he planned to run it through the dirt-if so even better. The telly had some highlights of the red bull rookies cup and the young guys were doing the same thing-banging and jostling, the race winner and second place were even leaning on one another across the stripe-so I'm not sure why stoner is so miffed by it, considering he came through(most of) the same stuff. | ||
| Gaesati |
Gosh, Trojan, You are certainly a Rossiphile. Stoner and Rossi are both rare talents. Rossi is, however, far more mature and more capable of playing psychological games with Stoner. It is interesting that he has gotten under Stoner's skin. It seems very similar to the early pressure he put Gibernau under. I look forward to seeing how it develops. | ||
| Jaimec |
I get the feeling Casey's gotten a little "full of himself" lately. How DARE someone actually CHALLENGE him on the track? Until Ducati was able to come up with an electronics package that could compensate for his wild, uncontrolled riding style he spent nearly as much time in the gravel as he did on the track. He had more spectacular high-sides riding the 990cc Honda RCV in 2006 than anyone else I can remember watching. Until Ducati got this year's electronics dialed in for him, he struggled pretty badly as well (with Qatar being the exception). As for no one pushing Rossi as hard as Casey?? I REALLY think you need to go back and look at the videos of Rossi vs. Gibernau or Rossi vs. Biaggi again. Gibernau and Biaggi are both gone. Rossi is still here. Rossi will likely retire after 2010, so Casey (who's still quite young) will have his chance. That is, unless Lorenzo gets up to speed and takes over spanking the whiney little Aussie... | ||
| Jaimec |
Regarding the comments Edwards made regarding Hayden at Assen: I KNEW things were being taken out of context. Just two friends "busting" on each other: http://tinyurl.com/5l5hhp | ||
| Jaimec |
Maybe there's hope for Stoner yet: http://tinyurl.com/693env | ||
| Trojan |
Nicky Hayden seems to have blotted his Honda copy book for the last time, after geting injured at the X games he is out of the Czech GP this weekend. He 'apparently' had the permission of his team to compete at the X Games, but nobody at Honda looks very happy about it and the company are unusually silent about it too. This comes only a week after it was pretty much confirmed that the only way Nicky will remain at Honda next year will be in a satellite team, with Dovizioso almost certain to partner Pedrosa in the factory squad. Hayden is still highly linked to the Ducati team for next year, but he may be better off on a customer honda with no pressure. Some of the 'privateer' Hondas have been quicker than his factory bike all year so he would hardly be taking a backward step riding for Gresini or JIR. The Ducati is a poison Chalice at the moment and Nicky would be playing second fiddle to Stoner, so it could be the worst move he could possibly make. It has already blighted the careers of some excellent riders who have been race winners on other bikes, and who's to say it won't do the same for Nicky? | ||
| Benm2 |
Looks to me like Hayden's relationship with Honda is over. Missing the race for a "heel injury" seems less than 100% accurate: Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Hopper, Bayliss, and others have raced with the equivalent of duct tape and string holding them together. It seems to be the start of the final parting of ways. With regard to the poison Ducati, could it really get that much worse for Hayden? It seems Honda is uninterested in helping develop the bike for him, and has basically written him off. Personally I expect that Hayden's dirt track experience will help, he might be more comfortable on the unruly Ducati. | ||
| Jaimec |
Michelin looks to be on the edge of a late season meltdown. Nine of the top ten riders from today's practice are on Bridgestones with only Colin Edwards able to squeak into the tenth slot. My early season prediction of Rossi making a big mistake jumping to Bridgestone is proving to be WAY off. So much for my sports prognostication talents! | ||
| Jaimec |
If you haven't seen the race at Brno yet, don't read any farther!! Looks like the Rossi "Mind Games" are back in full, with Casey being the victim this time. Casey seemed DETERMINED not to let "The Doctor" anywhere near him after the start. He pushed too hard and too fast at the beginning, and paid the price, and now finds himself 50 points out of the lead with only six races remaining. Andre Dovizioso won the "Michelin Race" coming in ninth place. I suspect there will be an angry mob with torches and pitchforks storming the Michelin castle any day now... especially after TWO dismal races for the company. HOW could they have fallen from the top of the mountain so hard and so fast?? (Message edited by Jaimec on August 17, 2008) | ||
| Azxb9r |
Don't write Michelin off just yet. Remember the battle between Michelin and Bridgestone in F1 a few years back? One would look great, then suddenly the other would seize the advantage. Michelin is not going to sit around and pout, they will improve. | ||
| Jaimec |
Right now, Michelin just provides tires for three Yamaha men, and four Honda riders. Everyone else on the grid has Bridgestones. Both Honda and Yamaha also have riders on Bridgestone rubber as it is. All they have to do is tell Michelin to kiss off, and we have a single-tire in MotoGP without any special ruling from Dorna (especially now since Dunlop has thrown in the towel). | ||
| Clarkjw |
Marco just announced he's joining Kawasaki. | ||
| Jaimec |
Yup, I saw that. Clears the way for Nicky if the rumors are to be believed... | ||
| Jaimec |
Michelin is in DEEP Kim-Chee: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-mich elins-last-stand-part-i/ http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-mich elins-last-stand-part-ii/ Interesting reading. | ||
| Alessio66xb12r |
on sunday moto-gp will be in Misano not a lucky circuit for Rossi considering that Misano is only 30 kms from his home ( and 50 from mine , this is why i'm a little beat slower than him). until 2007 the track was counter-clockwise and was a classic fast and easy circuit, in 2007 a driven part was added in the west side ( now is 4.2 kms) and direction was changed in clock-wise .(now considered by pilots one of the most maybe THE most bastard circuit in Italy). once it was possible for a lot of pilots going from the 2° "carro" turn to the "tramonto"(sun-set) turn at WOT pretty easily now only a real restrict number of pilots are able to ride at WOT that portion , if you look at the track map you will understand what i mean. when in june i was there to see the supertwins and other classes racing a lot of pilots racing the 1000cc open class told me they use only 5 gears , just a curiosity...top speed for that class was 257 kmph ,Spiller top speed (supertwins class) with the "1125" was 256 kmph ( best of his class) , only 2 weeks later WSBK top speed was Biaggi(not sure about the pilot) 262 kmph not sure if WSBK also are using only 5 gears. during that event (WSBK) Rossi was there as a spectator maybe to learn somethings watching Biaggi. i'm sure the race will be interesting. bye Alessio | ||
| Ceejay |
Article linked above states that Hayden signed with Ducati, I haven't been able find any confirmation, anyone else? | ||
| Trojan |
It is an open secret that Hayden will announce his Ducati signing at Indianapolis next month, and that the deal has been done for some time now. I hope it works better for him than it did for all the other top guys who have failed to gel with the bike, and it will certainly be a make or break move for Nicky. One thing is for sure, if he is fast on the Ducati straight away then Stoner will whine even more than he does now, and you can bet he will lean heavily on his number 1 status in the team to stay ahead of Hayden  Meanwhile, the factory Hondas continue to be at the blunt end of the pack in second FP at Misano. Last time I looked they were 11th & 12th, with a couple of privateer Hondas ahead of them (again). It is only the other Ducatis in the race that prevents it being a much more embarrassing position for the works Honda team. Maybe Honda will try to organise another boycott this week if they qualify badly again | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Nice to see Lorenzo back at the top ! I hope he wins this race. | ||
| Alessio66xb12r |
Vagelis are you here to see the race ??? | ||
| Lledlaw |
Great to see lorenzo confident and on the pace. Seems yamaha have been working with him. As for stoner the biggest whinger since phil read although barging faring at 100mph was all in a days work for phil. Come on Rossi outwit the whinger. as for Misano seems they ruined a great circuit but good to know the old circuit is still there for the classic guys..... | ||
| Alessio66xb12r |
as for Misano seems they ruined a great circuit... 50% RIGHT ; the first part of the new ciurcuit is fantastic and completely new all the circuit is longer , wider and for sure more difficult , it was really ruined the fast portion between the "tramonto" turn and the first "carro" turn where pilots brakes to attack the second one(due the fact that's clock-wise) , once this portion ( like i explained in my precedent posting) was the famous characteristic of this track : a long tract with 2 turn ridden at wot . now nobody love it. Rossi said today ( Italian TV) "I DON'T LIKE THIS CIRCUIT" this is a fact and a lot of Moto GP pilots seems to agree in this direction . a TV reporter asked to Dovizioso if he is able to ride the fast tract and the big "open" turn called "curvone" completely WOT and he answered that nobody do it 250gp included. maybe in few years this circuit will be ridden or driven counter clock-wise again , to much people wants it. hope to see a nice race bye Alessio |
