| Author | Message | ||
     Macbuell |
limit the amount of electronic rider aid and you'll see better racing That's the key for me. They took away all the throttle control with those monsters when everyone started running traction control, etc, etc. Part of what makes those racers so special is their throttle control. | ||
| Bads1 |
Check out the new 4 stroke 600 that will replace the 250 class. http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?artic le=35477 | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Hayden is 1.5 slower than Stoner in Sepang. Same like last year for the factory team riders ?? Edwards faster than Lorenzo ?? Both on new tires. It is also good to see Suzuki on the top, and great that Capirex is doing so well.  Is this the electronics aids riding Stoner's Ducati in Sepang ??? | ||
| Jaimec |
Stoner is the only one with absolute FAITH in the electronics. No matter what the bike is doing beneath him, he just goes full throttle. See Nicky's comments about how the bike's behavior unsettles him? He should just turn off his brain and go WFO and trust the electronics to handle any problems he feels. THAT'S when he'll go faster. You'll notice the second fastest Ducati rider is a rookie who's never ridden a MotoGP bike before? | ||
| M1combat |
Except that Ducati says that Hayden is the one who leaves the throttle on through more of the bike's wobbles... They say he's the brave one of the two. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Brave or not, Hayden is still over 1.5 sec slower. But maybe this has to do with the Bridgestone tires, since Lorenzo is also much slower than Rossi. Is it the wall in the Yamaha garage ?? Edwards found the switch to Bridgestone easy, or perhaps Rossi is willing to give his old friend some set-up data. Rossi is definately not helping Lorenzo with set-up data. I hope Hayden and Lorenzo improve. | ||
| Blublak |
It would be nice.. after all with such a small (and shrinking) grid, it'd be nice to see some serious dicing and slicing by the folks that are riding. Thinking about that, I wish Dorna had done something to reign in the costs. When the factory teams are starting to think they can't come out and play.. well.. you know it's a bad sign.  Here's to the time between 1st and 10th being less then 4 seconds come race day!! (now that would be fun!) | ||
| Jaimec |
Colin Edwards is one of the most under-rated riders on the grid. I sure hope he notches his first win this year. | ||
| Jaimec |
Looks like my weekend in Indianapolis just got shortened by a day: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-elec tronics-limited-and-friday-morning-practices-scrap ped-for-2009/ | ||
| Jaimec |
D'OH! I misunderstood the article. There were always TWO practice sessions on Friday. This new ruling only eliminates the FIRST practice. So there's still a three day weekend in there! | ||
| Trojan |
I think the differences between the BIG teams (Marlboro Ducati/Fiat Yamaha/Repsol Honda)and the rest of the field will be even bigger this year when it comes time for the flag to drop. Everyone is tightening thier budgets, but the 'little guys' such as Tech 3, Suzuki and the satellite Honda operations will be the first to suffer and will lose more than the factory teams in terms of performance. If either Colin Edwards or James Toseland win a GP this year I'll be very surprised, and don't really expect to see them on the podium unless there are misfortunes in front of them amongst the leaders. It would be nice to see Suzuki challenge this year, but they always seem to flatter to deceive in winter testing and never seem to translate testing times into race results. I think I'll watch more WSB this year  | ||
| Jaimec |
Whatever happened to Hopkins?? http://tinyurl.com/b62kqr | ||
| Jaimec |
Looks like Kawasaki is in, but Hopkins is out: http://tinyurl.com/cc46o2 | ||
| Bads1 |
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?artic le=35667 | ||
| Jaimec |
Nicky fastest in the wet in Qatar, followed by Marco Melandri. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Following Qatar test....... It is interesting that Hayden starts to show big improvement in lap times with the Ducati/Bridgestone bike. Did he need time to adjust to the Ducati or to the Bridgestones ?? Everyone were saying that he needed time to get used to the Ducati, but I am not so sure now. The answer to this question was given by Lorenzo's improvement in the 3rd day of the Qatar test. So far in all the 2009 tests Lorenzo's time were slow. But he said yesterday that he just found out how to be fast on the Bridgestones, so it took him a while. Since both Hayden and Lorenzo were on Michelin last year, it seems that it took them the same amount of time to short their style with the Bridgestones. The same with Rossi, he needed time to figure out the Bridgestones last year. So it might have been the tyres that Hayden had to get used to, not the GP9. The GP9 might not be a 'difficult' bike as it is said to be. I hope Hayden will keep improving, and start fighting at the front. Edwards ?? As always, when the pace is getting fast he is moving backwards. Theoreticaly Spies will join tech3 next year, as a WSBK champion. | ||
| Benm2 |
Stoner left the test with a one-second-per-lap advantage. After 5 laps of that, the race becomes officially boring. Hayden was still about 2 seconds off of Stoner's times. He's still got distance to cover. | ||
| Kenneth |
Hayden was faster than any of the Hondas, and only half a second off of 2nd place. I think he's doing pretty well compared to anyone that has ridden that bike, with exception to Stoner. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Hayden was only 0.5sec from 2nd place Lorenzo, and 0.5sec from 3rd place Rossi. That was positive. When was the last time the 2nd Ducati was that close at the top ?? Stoner was at a different level at this test. He seems to really like Qatar and the carbon fibre frame&swingarm seem to work. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
"Hayden was faster than any of the Hondas" Pedrosa was not riding. Is he really fragile, or unlucky ?? I am sorry for the guy. | ||
| Kenneth |
As long as Hayden is faster than Dovisioso, I'm good. Looking back at past lap times, Stoner just doesn't seem to have slowed down as much as everyone else... probably has to do with track conditions. | ||
| Jaimec |
I want Hayden faster than ANYONE on a Repsol bike. Bastids! | ||
| Benm2 |
He certainly seems to be adapting to the Ducati better than Melandri, but the GP09 is a different bike too. Maybe Stoner really is that good? | ||
| Jaimec |
The wreckage in the Honda garage from 2006 would say otherwise... I still think the real reason is that Ducati's electronics are good enough to tame his wild riding style... | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Stoner is really good. Hayden, after riding the Ducati for the first time, said that Ducati should double Stoner's salary. All the top riders are having a lot of crashes in their rookie year in motoGP. Rossi, Stoner and Lorenzo had big crashes in their first year. It seems that no matter how fast Stoner is, some people will not give him credit for it. I think that Stoner would be even faster on a M1, but this is only theoretical. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Lets not forget the motogp ! After Stoner being fastest in Jerez, it is clear that it is going to be a great 09' season, with Rossi vs Stoner. Hopefully Lorenzo will fight for wins as well. | ||
| Jaimec |
Latest news seems to imply that DMG isn't the only racing organization capable of making STUPID decisions: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2009/Mar/090329a.ht m | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I think that the rule for no rookie to sign to a factory team is good. It gives satelite teams a chance to sign big names and get publicity and sponsorship. For example, if Spies goes to Tech3 or Gresini, it will be great for the team and they will get a lot of attention. Maybe Suzuki decides to have a 3rd bike just to sign a good rookie like Spies or Simonceli. | ||
| Jaimec |
But some of the other rules are just plain STUPID. Outlawing variable intakes? They're already used on STREET BIKES!! They outlaw something NOBODY uses (ceramic brakes) but they still allow Carbon brakes that have no application in production bikes? Dumb dumb dumb dumb... | ||
| Jaimec |
Season begins this weekend in Qatar!! In the States, Speed is broadcasting at 10:00 PM Sunday night. |
