| Author | Message | ||
     Jimidan |
Shame for Hayden. I think his season is over....... Maybe Laguna will be his last chance for a top 6 finish. I don't think Nicky would agree...he was just 36 seconds out of the lead with heavy racing all around him. He made a move from 13 or 14th to 10th by the finish line in just a couple of laps. He is still trying to learn how to ride the beast that nobody has been able to master except Stoner for the last two years. Ducati is not going to give up on Nicky and Nicky is SURELY hanging with Ducati. They Yammahauls are the bike this year...and its riders are pretty good too. Credit Rossi for the development...he is the best that ever was.} | ||
| Vagelis46 |
What happened to the Ducati's HP advantage ??? Nowdays their bike is not faster than the M1. It seems that the Japanese has the same HP as the Ducati. Stoner could not get past Rossi or Lorenzo with slipstream. Ducati needs a major redesign. Since the 90degrees V gives them no HP advantage, they might as well go with a "narrow angle" engine to be able to design a bike with a "real" chassis with a long swingarm. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
The commentators were speculating that Ducati may have purposely re-mapped the engine to give more midrange for the corner exit at the expense of the top end. | ||
| Trojan |
Stoner has been complaining that the team have taken their eye off the ball by spending too much time trying to get Hayden up to speed. They spent a recent two day test purely trying new parts and setup for Nicky, and obviously Stoner is getting a little peeved at the apparent lack of attention he is getting. The team atmosphere certainly isn't as jovial as it seemed when Nicky first joined, and the mutual backslapping between them has stopped. In Mondays follow on test at Barcelona Hayden was 14th and slowest of the regular MotoGP riders (only Gabor Talmacsi was slower), and crucially was the slowest of all 5 Ducatis by a fair margin. Although you can't read too much into test times of course, this would have been an ideal opportunity for Hayden to show his employers and the world that he is making improvements, and would have kept the circling wolves at bay for a while longer at least. The one positive (?) for Nicky is that nobody else wants to ride the bike either, so he probably isn't going to be usurped by an outsider before the season ends! | ||
| Blake |
That would only be a positive for a man of integrity who intends to honor his commitment, yes? Lesser men would be looking to abandon a losing effort/ team. Rossi puts on another amazing historic performance while Stoner whines. Uncool and poor form. | ||
| Buell2001b |
Stoner was sick, honestly its to be admired that a rider that is not 100% is willing to race even though he is in hurting physical shape. It actually worries me, I would hate so see a rider get hurt and make a error during the race becuase he is not 100%. I think you guys are making to much about Ducati being a beast, you make it sound like it can not be riden. If that was the case Stoner would not have become world champion. The bottom line is that yamaha has the 2 most talented riders. Lorenzo has a heart to win and he was extremely pissed that Rossi beat him in the last turn. Did you guys also see how Rossi slowed stoner giving Lorenzo time to build a bit of a lead. Ducati needs a young guy, Nicky has passed his prime. all said It is one of the best seasons when 3 riders are tied after all these racers. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Stoner did look like a truck ran over him after the race. Can you imagine riding sick in that heat? He was definitely handicapped during that race. That being said, I doubt he could have stayed with the Yamahas even healthy. Rossi is absolutely amazing. He might be on the other side of the hill career-wise, but he is still the best rider on the planet and the best there ever was. | ||
| Trojan |
The bottom line is that yamaha has the 2 most talented riders. Lorenzo has a heart to win and he was extremely pissed that Rossi beat him in the last turn. Did you guys also see how Rossi slowed stoner giving Lorenzo time to build a bit of a lead. Ducati needs a young guy, Nicky has passed his prime. all said It is one of the best seasons when 3 riders are tied after all these racers. Yamaha may have the two top riders currently (and that also has a lot to do with the development that Rossi has put into the Yamaha over the last few years), but you forget that Ducati have had some pretty stellar names on their bike too, and they couldn't get it to work on a regular basis either. Melandri, Elias, Capirossi, Bayliss have all moved on to other teams after frustrating times on the Ducati and been immediately more competitive on theoretically slower bikes. I'm sure it isn't true that Rossi deliberately slowed down to hamper Stoner and allow Lorenzo to get a lead, as he was obviously working flat out just to stay in contention with Lorenzo and fight for the win. Stoner was ill, and admits he was tempted to pull in at half race distance. However, he struggled throughout practice and qualifying, and during the Monday test session too. It is still obvious that he is the only rider capable of consistent high points scoring performances on the bike, and until they get it more 'rider friendly' they are not going to attract any of the up and coming young guns, who don't want to risk ruining their career before it gets started. Both Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli, the two hot shots from the 250 class, have rejected offers from Ducati for next year and are poised to sign for Yamaha & Honda allegedly. Simoncelli has apparently already signed a contract directly with HRC for factory spec bikes and support riding for the Gresini team in 2010. I wouldn't be surprised if Mika Kallio didn't move sideways into the official factory Ducati squad next year, as he seems to be the 'best of the rest' on the bike so far. Maybe Hayden will go to WSB, as it seems nobody is keen to return to AMA racing even after the dust has settled there. | ||
| Jaimec |
Unless Stoner, Rossi and Lorenzo ALL suffer DNFs or finish out of the points this weekend we'll have a new point leader. With Rossi and Lorenzo pushing each other, does Casey stand a chance? Or are we witnessing the MotoGP equivalent of the Mladin/Spies wars of the AMA Superbike series of the past three years? Suddenly, MotoGP is interesting again (unless, of course, you're not a fan of Yamahas). | ||
| Jaimec |
Doesn't sound to me like Casey has given up on Nicky (as Matt implies above): http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-ston er-tutors-hayden-in-barcelona-master-class/ | ||
| Trojan |
Doesn't sound to me like Casey has given up on Nicky (as Matt implies above): I think someone is trying very hard to put a positive spin on Hayden's obvious discomfort and problems at the team. Stoner only completed relatively few laps at Barcelona during the post race test session as he was still suffering the effects of his mystery stomach bug the day before, and 5 laps in front of Hayden wouldn't have achieved anything much (as shown by his slower lap times than in the race, still much slower than Kallio on the satellite Ducati). Hayden has had all season to follow people round the track, and I don't think that someone of his experience would gain anything by doing so. telemetry would have already shown exactly where Stoner was faster and where Nicky needed to improve, and the team must know every setting on both bikes, so I suspect that this is just a a bit of spin doctoring to try and keep the wolves at bay. Nicky says that he doesn't feel any extra pressure going into the next 3 rounds, but he should do as these are supposed to be his best tracks and he hasn't got a sniff of a contract for next year yet. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Assen will answer many questions...... In my opinion if Spies stays in WSBK for another year, it would be a big waste of time and talent for him. Compared to the rest of the field he looks like Superman. He does not belong in WSBK. Tech3, even with zero factory support, would be great. He will surprise many-many people as he did this year. He is a true fighter, as racers should be, and fans have a long time to watch racers with an attitude. I think we have enough of moaners (stoner), fashion victims-show offs-gay like (Rossi), robots(Pedrosa). Randy de Puniet should have a good result to boost his riding. So far he is the best satelite rider with the worst Honda. Maybe Ducati should have a look at him. He is not afraid to push&crash and he ries the bike Stoner used to ride. I hope Nicky performs in Assen, because if he doesn't Laguna will be his last chance..... | ||
| Trojan |
FP1 looked like throwing up no surprises until the final minute, when De Puniet snuck a fast time in to put him at the head of the field in the final timings. I would imagine that he was the only one to try a super soft tyre to try and get at the front though, as the other top guys remained quite constant during the last few minutes. Rossi & Lorenzo look joined at the hip again, separated by just a hundreth or so, and I can see that staying the same right through FP and Qualifying. Hayden still languishes down the field with the other Ducati riders (Stoner excepted), and I cannot understand how Talmacsi and Canepa are allowed to continue in MotoGP given that they are so slow. Pos Rider Bike Time Gap 1. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda 1m37.842s 2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m37.847s + 0.005s 3. Casey Stoner Ducati 1m37.877s + 0.035s 4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m38.061s + 0.219s 5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m38.092s + 0.250s 6. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m38.194s + 0.352s 7. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m38.205s + 0.363s 8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1m38.350s + 0.508s 9. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1m38.379s + 0.537s 10. Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1m38.429s + 0.587s 11. Alex de Angelis Gresini Honda 1m38.495s + 0.653s 12. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m38.928s + 1.086s 13. Mika Kallio Pramac Ducati 1m39.464s + 1.622s 14. Marco Melandri Hayate Kawasaki 1m39.597s + 1.755s 15. Toni Elias Gresini Honda 1m39.642s + 1.800s 16. Sete Gibernau Hernando Ducati 1m40.151s + 2.309s 17. Yuki Takahashi Scot Honda 1m40.185s + 2.343s 18. Niccolo Canepa Pramac Ducati 1m41.020s + 3.178s 19. Gabor Talmacsi Scot Honda 1m41.380s + 3.538s | ||
| Jaimec |
I tend to think Ben is better off exactly where he is. Rossi being the exception, MotoGP is more of a series for MUNCHKINS. Ben would have a hard time wrapping his Texas-sized body around those miniature race replicas they currently run in MotoGP. Expect to see even more Oompa-Loompas like Pedrosa in the coming years. "Normal" sized people like Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden and Sete Gibernau are on the way out. | ||
| Trojan |
Expect to see even more Oompa-Loompas like Pedrosa in the coming years. "Normal" sized people like Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden and Sete Gibernau are on the way out. Simoncelli is an exception of course! | ||
| Jaimec |
Haven't seen any photos of him in relation to other riders, but he appears to be built like Valentino... tall and really skinny, right? Valentino REALLY wanted to snag him for Yamaha. Looks like Honda was able to close the deal first. | ||
| Trojan |
I think we have enough of moaners (stoner), fashion victims-show offs-gay like (Rossi), robots(Pedrosa). I think Rossi can get away with pretty much anything  If he was coming 20th then maybe a fashion victim, but from his position he is more a fashion setter (How many Rossi replica helmets/leathers/boots etc do you think they sell every year?). Lorenzo is slightly more serious than Rossi but still very similar in personality. When Simoncelli arrives it should be a hoot watching the three of them try to better each victory celebration!  Latest hot rumours.....(some with more than a little truth I think) Capirossi to sign for Ducati (again) to partner Stoner in 2010 Melandri to sign for Gresini (again) to partner Simoncelli on full HRC supported Hondas. Toseland, Edwards, Vermuelen, Hayden ALL to WSB. Repsol to drop Honda next year, leaving new sponsors Red Bull free to choose a non Spanish rider in place of underperforming Pedrosa (Message edited by trojan on June 25, 2009) | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Capirossi back at Ducati ??? Great news, if it is true, then Ducati must have realised they were a@#$holes to drop him like this. Also the Ducati pits will have the hotest women in GP. Great for the fans......   I am sure Spies will fit a GP bike just fine !! No problem !! He will "kill" many primadonas... | ||
| Trojan |
Things look to have hotted up in Holland this morning, even though the weather wasn't quite as nice with overcast skies. Lorenzo managed to open up a gap of 0.4 seconds over the rest of the field with a late lap on soft tyres, although Rossi was fastest through most of the session. Both Yamaha riders apparently concentrating on long distance race simulation on hard tyres for most of the period. Stoner was second with Dovizioso 3rd and Rossi 4th, some 0.7 seconds off the front. Both Edwards and Hayden show improvements in 5th & 7th places, whilst Toseland also looks better in 8th. This afternoons qualifying hour looks like it will be very very close once more, but I would think a Yamaha/Ducati/Yamaha front row is pretty much assured barring surprises from qualifying specialists such as Edwards. A number of riders had 'off track' excursions at the final chicane so a repeat of the Edwards/Hayden last corner shenanigans looks likely | ||
| Trojan |
Qualifying has just finished, and the 'gang of four' occupy the front row once more. Final finishing order was: 1. Rossi 2. Pedrosa (I'd forgotten all about him!) 3. Lorenzo 4. Stoner 5. Edwards 6. Capirossi 7. Vermuelen 8. Dovizioso 9. Toseland 10. De Puniet 11. De Angelis 12. Kallio 13. Hayden (unlucky for some) 14. Melandri 15. Elias 16. Gibernau 17. Canepa 18. Takahashi 19. Talmacsi (3.4 seconds off the pace!) Looks like it is shaping up to be another thriller | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Casey was the fastest with the hard tires. I hope he wins in Assen. Prediction - hope : 1. Stoner 2. Pedrosa 3. Lorenzo 4. Rossi Who said the 800cc are boring ?? | ||
| Trojan |
Casey was the fastest with the hard tires. I hope he wins in Assen. Stoner complained of 'struggling for grip' throughout the session and abandoned a hot lap even though he had time to spare at the end of the session, because he had another scary 'tank slapper' wobble on the main straight. He then complained to anyone that would listen in the paddock about slower riders 'following him' and 'getting in his way' (he had a similar churlish outburst at De Puniet in the morning session). Stoner: “Things are going pretty well for us in terms of race set-up. When I put the qualifiers on I had so many riders in front of me it wasn’t funny. We had Sete Gibernau in the middle of the track in a sixth gear area, he looked around and saw me coming and didn’t bother to get out of the way.” He continued, “It has happened to me about six times this weekend and I’m starting to think it’s ridiculous. I’m not the only one it happens to, it just seems like the riders running towards the rear of the field have no care and no worries about the guys setting the faster lap times. I’m pretty disappointed about qualifying but our race pace is looking ok.” That's racing Casey, stop moaning like a schoolboy. Funny how there are no complaints from Rossi or the other front runners. I hope Stoner gets his arse handed to him on a plate Tomorrow will be another Yamaha benefit (Message edited by trojan on June 26, 2009) | ||
| Jaimec |
Lorenzo/Rossi/Edwards! | ||
| Trojan |
Lorenzo/Rossi/Edwards! That would be nice, but I suspect it will be more like... Rossi/Lorenzo/Pedrosa Edwards will storm to back of the field on lap one then spend the rest of the race fighting back to 6th (again). | ||
| Vagelis46 |
"I hope Stoner gets his arse handed to him on a plate" It is not going to happen. Stoner will be 1st. I will wait for a straight battle between Stoner and Rossi. Rossi fans should start praying that is not going to rain tommorow, since their idol will either end up 6th or crash. Lorenzo will have a go at Rossi, that is for sure. If Lorenzo beats Rossi, then Rossi will get back to miserable as in Muggelo, Motegi, Le'mans..... What happened to Mr. personality at those races ?? | ||
| Jaimec |
Rossi shows more class in losing than most of the rest of the grid shows in winning. I don't know which races you've been watching that shows otherwise. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
That is not always true. Lately he is upset if he looses, especially by Lorenzo. As a Stoner fan, I must say he is also a bad looser. On the other hand, Lorenzo has my 100% respect as a rider and a peronality, after Catalunya, the way he took Rossi's overtaking move. I am not surprised for his character, since he said that he is really inspired by the "300 of Leonidas" film. A true Spartan is heart.... Go Jorge !!! | ||
| Trojan |
I must admit that I agree with you about Jorge. He has changed from he self obsessed peacock of his 250 days and is now a serious player for the MotoGP title. He is also very mature and if he makes a mistake isn't too proud to admit it (unlike Stoner..boo hoo). I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow. Not because I want Rossi to win (he can do that without my support!) but because I want another thrilling close race and not just a wet/dry lottery again. Unless one of the Assen specialists such as Edwards can throw a spanner in the works I can't see Rossi/Lorenzo being troubled. It appears that Pedrosa managed his fast time by latching onto the back of Rossi and getting a tow around the final quarter of the lap. I'm sure Rossi will pay a nocturnal visit to his motorhome to express his displeasure rather than moaning to the press about it  | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Honestly I would like De Puniet on the podium. It will be a great race.... Even Hayden and Toseland look good for a good performance today. | ||
| Trojan |
Great result, and a Rossi masterclass to the young pretenders. Not the most exciting race at the front but a great battle for 6th - 11th places went on all race. Commiserations muct go to Mike Kallio who fought his way through to 6th place only to throw it away at the last corner  |
