| Author | Message | ||
     Bads1 |
As for Stoner....He looked just like he did in 2006, looking for a place to have an accident. When the Ducati doesn't work he looks pretty average I think, but at least better than the rest of the Ducati contingent (now i'll step back and wait for the response ;) ) I think after his first get off he was pushing just hard to real it back in to a good finish and just resulted in yet another get off. | ||
| Azxb9r |
The Honda seemed to work pretty well at Jerez, as well as the Yamahas. It could make for an exciting season. Glad to see Nicky going with the '08, maybe this will help with his confidence in the machine. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Sometimes you run out of luck. Stoner had no luck yesterday. But he would have finished 4rth, at the best. The second time he got out of the track, it was 100% his mistake, although Nakano released his brakes very late. Stoner should have been more patient, no-one will give him an easy time. There is still a long way for the championship. It was a very good race. | ||
| Jaimec |
So when do we start seeing the riders with elbow pucks to match their knee pucks?? | ||
| Ebear |
I'm tellin' ya.....Ben Spies probably allready has them!!! GO NICKY!!!! | ||
| Firstbuell |
didja see this? I'm no good at patching, so do a little keystroking & then enjoy: http://superbikeplanet.com/2008/Mar/080331u.htm | ||
| Jackbequick |
To save a front end wash out like that without turning it into a high side is a masterful piece of riding for sure. The replays of the Jerez motoGP are on the Speed Channel at 1:00 PM EDT today, the 250 class motoGP is on an hour earlier, at noon. If you're one that thinks the 250 and 125 class racing is boring, watch the 250 class today. It will show you how racing that is about as good as it gets. Jack | ||
| Trojan |
So when do we start seeing the riders with elbow pucks to match their knee pucks?? Already been done..Jean Philippe Ruggia used to have elbow pads on his leathers back in the '89 GP season. He was the most spectacular rider I have ever seen riding a GP bike and woud certainly have been more at home on the modern 800 MotoGP bikes than he was on the 'old' 500GP missiles of yore.  | ||
| Jaimec |
Hopkins is another who drags elbows. Hmmmm... what do Hayden, Edwards, Spies and Hopkins all have in common? Oh WAIT! They're Americans! I'll tip my helmet to the lone Frenchman in this club too (see above). | ||
| Xgecko |
the Bostroms have had them at times, same with Hopper, and Hayden. It's a rather arrogant thing to do however, saying I get so low that I need elbow pucks. I've seen Hopper drag elbows up close and personal it's truly frightening to see how much lean he gets...BTW anyone see the lean angle gauge on Pedrobot Sunday? 64degrees???? | ||
| Benm2 |
I thought Stoner's second off track was a bit of s**ty riding by Nakano. I expect that Casey expected to easily motor by, and that they would let him go. I thought it was poor form by Nakano to try to capitalize on the situation, effectively forcing Casey off track. I give Casey kudos for not taking all three down, and keeping it upright in the gravel. I'm certain that in the same situation Matt Mladin would have given another press-release tidbit about "lappers"... Nicky's save was slick, seems all the rage these days. | ||
| Trojan |
I thought Stoner's second off track was a bit of s**ty riding by Nakano. Nakano wasn't being lapped by Stoner, they were racing for position. I would not expect Nakano to give an inch and would have been disapointed if he had meekly let Stoner though for the position. I'm sure Stoner accepts this too. Stoner left his braking far too late and nearly collided with Nakano for his troubles (although he still tried to blame Nakano later). Stoner ran wide on at least 6 other occasions not counting his two off track excursions, and he had braking stability problems thoughout practice and the race itself. Only in the post race test session yesterday did he find a setup and tyres that improved his best lap time by 0.5 seconds (although still slower than Lorenzo & Rossi). Here is what Casey thought of his race: The 22-year-old, who has started the defence of his crown in superb fashion with a win in Qatar, said: “Today wasn't my day - I suppose it wasn't my weekend! ”We never found the set-up here that would let us make the most of our potential. ”Normally braking is one of the strong points of our bike but here I just didn't have the feeling with the front. ”I wasn't quite on the limit when I ran off track the first time but I couldn't get the bike stopped so it took me by surprise because we weren't doing anything differently. ”After that I had to really push to get back into the race and I was pretty happy once I caught the group. ”Just when I was passing Nakano he let go of the brakes and touched my wheel, so I had nowhere to go but the gravel. ”I think I could have finished fifth, which I would have been happy with, but instead it was a bit of a disaster. | ||
| Benm2 |
I dunno, I would have been pissed at Nakano had he done that to me. Yes he was racing for position, but when someone roars by you on the inside, perhaps its not the time to attempt the repass. I think he was trying to capitalize on the Ducati pass to get the next spot, and forced Stoner into an inside line that wasn't possible. Depending on when he saw it coming (from Nakano), he could have backed off & tried at another spot. Really, though, I would have been fuming inside my helmet at that point at having been forced to make that choice. It would have been hard for me not to close the door on him at the next opportunity. Had he made a clean pass, he'd have been 4-5 seconds ahead by the end of that lap. I've been a victim of the "oh crap someone's caught me" sudden speed up at some really lousy moments. Almost everybody that gets passed puts up a little fuss, but sometimes the timing just sucks. Its all racing, of course, but it really brings down the red mist for me. I'm pretty sure it did for Casey. Of course, he could have Pedrosa'd Nakano... | ||
| Jaimec |
Racing Rule #1: The guy in front has the right of way. | ||
| Benm2 |
Surely. But when being passed by someone a whole lot faster a little courtesy could be used. Nakano wasn't racing for a podium spot, and Stoner was alongside both of them before half the straight was gone. Nakano was a bit of a ***k. I was hoping for more from Edwards, and was surprised by Rossi's riding. He looked more conservative than the stuff-it-in-make-it-stick Rossi of years past. He's too young to be old... | ||
| Rocketsprink |
to finish first, first one must finish. I believe Rossi may be maturing a little. Better to finish and stay in the hunt than crash out of the race. He wasn't going to catch Perdrosa, so why risk it? | ||
| Littlefield |
They had a shot of Pedrosa's clutch hand. On a couple of occasions he held the clutch in for what looked like a couple of seconds. Hard to imagine why you'd want to do that. | ||
| Trojan |
They had a shot of Pedrosa's clutch hand. On a couple of occasions he held the clutch in for what looked like a couple of seconds. Hard to imagine why you'd want to do that. Pedrosa slips the clutch manually when downshifting, in addition to using the slipper clutch. Maybe he has the slipper clutch set differently (with less slip) than Hayden? If you look closely Dani is not holding the lever right in but releases it around half way until the bike settles into the turn. He must prefer the smoother gear changes this gives and it would certainly keep the bike much more stable going into corners. | ||
| Jaimec |
Benm2, the higher you finish, the more points you get. Nakano wants as many points as he can get because I'm sure his contract awards more money the higher he finishes. I don't know about you, but you don't get to the highest level of motorcycle competition by being a "Nice Guy" on the track. This isn't "Cricket," it's RACING. Impeding the progress of your competition is all part of the game. As long as he didn't deliberately elbow Stoner into the gravel (a la Biaggi) all's fair. | ||
| Benm2 |
Nakano's field filler. If I were in his shoes, I would intuitively understand that I wasn't there because I had a legitamate shot at a top three unless Pedrosa took out all the leaders in turn one. Would I be glad to be there? Dang right, and I'm sure he'd still beat my a** around a track even if I pulled off 3 of his sparkplug wires. I haven't been at the highest level of motorcycle competition, and I've never raced for money. I've raced a lot of things, some of which are fairly dangerous, and have had other racers do some dumb-a** things while being passed, introducing unnecessary risk for the possiblity of some finish line swag. When I'm being passed, I try to stay on my line & let them through. I won't be the club racer who stuffs Kevin Schwantz into turn 1 and then brags about it later. Being a "nice guy" at the track will go further than being a jerk. Even the fastest jerks will find themselves without contracts after a while. It's not coincedence that Colin Edwards is still in MotoGP and Biaggi's not. | ||
| Trojan |
I've raced a lot of things, some of which are fairly dangerous, and have had other racers do some dumb-a** things while being passed, introducing unnecessary risk for the possiblity of some finish line swag. You are assuming that it was Nakano that made the mistake, whereas I am not convinced it was his fault at all. Stoner had trouble braking throughout the race and ran off track completely because of this not once but twice (as well as running wide numerous times). When he tried to overtake Nakano & Capirossi (?) he came from way back and was only level with them on the entry to the braking zone. No way had he passed Nakano already before the braking area, and all three riders were fighting for position in the race so no holds were barred. In my view Stoner was not only impatient in trying to come from too far back, but was riding dangerously because he knew already that his braking performance was below par to start with. Stoner is very quick to blame anyone that is around him when he has a bad performance, and he even aimed a kick at Capirossi in qualifying because he 'got in his way'. The bottom line is this: Nakano had every right to hold his line and defend his position, regardless of who the rider behind him may be. If the following rider is faster/better then he will find a way past on his own ability. | ||
| Benm2 |
I don't think Nakano made a mistake, I just think it wasn't a cool move. Bottom line is right, leading rider has the right of way. Considering the performance of the other Ducati's though, I guess he's better than some said last year. Sure its fast in a straight line, but it seems a bear to ride round the corners. The season so far has been more interesting than I expected. | ||
| Smoke |
there should be some interesting racing today at Estoril!! i would like to see a dry race, but a wet race will muddy the waters well and should really shake up the points race. looking for Nicky and Jorge Lorenzo to do well in the dry, Vermuelin and Stoner in the wet. GET IT ON!!! tim | ||
| Teddagreek |
I'm a Casual watcher of Moto-GP.... I record the races and watch them when I get the time. I watched all last year as Stoner and that bad ass Ducati dominated? What happened? Did the other teams do something with their bikes... I remember reading their was talks of different valve systems... | ||
| Trojan |
I watched all last year as Stoner and that bad ass Ducati dominated? Everyone else has pretty much caught up with Ducati this year in terms of technology and almost caught up in top speed, so now Stoner has to rely on bad excuses and blaming others for poor results ;) Last time it was because the nasty people fighting for position wouldn't let him overtake, and this time it was because his on board camera came loose. I can't wait for the next excuse, although in China he will have a speed advantage again, so should have no excuses at all. Well done to Jorge Lorenzo though, he rode a perfect race and is the man to beat this year for sure. Also well done to Steve Bonsey (The next American MotoGP star) and Danny Webb in 125GP. Steve qualified on the front row and finished a great 4th place, whilst Danny recovered from early mechanical problems to follow his team mate home in 5th. (Message edited by trojan on April 14, 2008) | ||
| Jaimec |
Lorenzo ran a PERFECT beauty of a race. The kid is on FIRE. Three consecutive pole positions in his first three races. He worked himself up the podium ladder one step at a time. 3rd, then 2nd and then 1st. Unbelievable racing from that kid who's only 20 years old. He's going to have a long, fruitful career in MotoGP. Unlike Pedrosa, he is also more animated and more of a charismatic character which is good because it looks like the "Rossi Years" are slowly on the decline. I wonder at what point The Doctor will admit strong armming Dorna and Yamaha to give him Bridgestone tires was a BAD idea, and simply a knee-jerk reaction to getting pushed off the top step for the second year in a row? I can't believe he didn't think Michelin wouldn't step up their game during the off-season to be on par with their Japanese rivals. Certainly Yamaha has stepped up their game in the off season. With Lorenzo, Rossi, Edwards and now Toseland, they are consistently in the top five or six nearly every weekend. The front two rows are populated by Yamahas and then everyone else. By the way, I DO believe Casey had a legitimate reason to be ticked yesterday. A camera coming loose and jamming up his steering and clutch is a BIG deal. Another rider might've run off the track and crashed so I will give him kudos for that. But just like Rossi losing the title to Hayden in 2006, "that's racing." | ||
| 12r |
Last time it was because the nasty people fighting for position wouldn't let him overtake lol I enjoyed his handbags-at-dawn hissy fit with Lorenzo during practice. Stoner's hand/foot signals have their uses during my daily commute  | ||
| Trojan |
I wonder at what point The Doctor will admit strong armming Dorna and Yamaha to give him Bridgestone tires was a BAD idea, and simply a knee-jerk reaction to getting pushed off the top step for the second year in a row? I can't believe he didn't think Michelin wouldn't step up their game during the off-season to be on par with their Japanese rivals. Estoril has always been a bad circuit for Bridgestone runners, and all of the Bridgestone teams knew that before they raced on Sunday. Rossi performed better than every other rider using Bridgestone tyres in both qulifying and race conditions, so I don't think he will be too downhearted with consequtive podium positions and with the 'Bridgestone circuits' to come next. Michelin have indeed improved, but I doubt that we have seen the end of the Doctor or Bridgestone just yet. By the way, I DO believe Casey had a legitimate reason to be ticked yesterday. A camera coming loose and jamming up his steering and clutch is a BIG deal. Another rider might've run off the track and crashed so I will give him kudos for that. What I can't understand is why he didn't just rip the cables out and throw the camera away instead of trying to jam it inside the fairing every lap. Stoner qualified badly and I think the camera issue was just another convenient peg to hang his poor peformance on. It will be very interesting to see just how close the other teams have got to Ducati in top speed terms and to Bridgestone on the faster curcuits that are coming up next. Yamaha have certainly stepped up their game, but they have also given the Tech 3 team decent equipment this year, unlike in previous years when they were saddled with outdated bikes and poor Dunlop tyres. tech 3 have announced that they are keeping Toseland for 2009, which will be good for him, but no indication yet as to who will be his team mate. Edwards has said that he will return to AMA in 09 so there will definitely be a space in the team. On a lighter note, Kawasaki have said that they will be approaching Rossi to ride for them in 2009, and reckon theyhave a great chance of signing him up  Obviously the recreational drugs have taken their toll on the Big Green team manager's state of mind ;) | ||
| Jaimec |
It's funny, I just read an article that quoted the Kawasaki team has NEVER approached Rossi for their team. I think once Hopkins gets fully acclimated to the ZXRR they'll be more than happy with their decision to sign him. | ||
| Benm2 |
I imagine it would be a bit of a challenge to tear wire in half with one hand on a moving motorcycle, much less the risk of tearing loose something like the engine wiring. I'd guess his first few attempts to fix the camera were aimed more at your solution than the "stuff it in the fairing" one he had to use. Didn't get to see this one though, busy installing a toilet. The move to Kawasaki doesn't seem to have worked out for Hopper. Maybe they're hoping Rossi will be cheaper next year? I'd venture a guess that Lorenzo's contract price will be higher for next year. |
