| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
Okay, I've stepped into the "Twilight Zone" here... | ||
| Rocketman |
What happened so great between 88 and 93? Was it televised back then!!!!!!!! Rocket | ||
| Gaesati |
1988-1993:Shwantz, Rainey, Lawson, Gardner, Doohan in the first string; Sarron, Cadalora, Barros, Puig in the second string. | ||
| Gaesati |
I was also trackside at Phillip Island a year or so ago when Pedrosa tried a practice start without switching his launch control on. Now that was embarrassing!! The kind of thing I would probably do. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
But this was before the race ! Got it ?? | ||
| Jaimec |
Second day of practice and Spies is already running with "the aliens." 2010 is going to be an interesting year for sure! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
The new Kenny Roberts Sr ?? | ||
| Jaimec |
Ben is a bit "low key" to be compared to the flamboyant and outspoken King Kenny Roberts. Maybe more like Wayne Rainey in his hey day? | ||
| Vagelis46 |
USA attacks motoGP !! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
An old motoGP myth that just got busted : "250's riders adapt to GP bikes easier and they are faster than Superbike riders " Spies, so far, proved this wrong by "killing" Simoncelli, Ayoama, Barbera and Bautista, during the Valencia tests. | ||
| Jaimec |
Did you notice, Spies hasn't made any changes to Toseland's bike, he's using the same settings. Instead, he's changing his own riding style. He seems (so far) to be a lot more adaptable than either Colin or Nicky, because neither one of those guys have adapted to the 800s with such alacrity (and they've been riding them for a couple of years now). The 2010 season can't start soon enough. We have to wait till February for the next test session?? Jeez, are these guys going to remember how to ride with that long a lay off?? | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I am sure they are ridding somewhere.... I think there is no comparison between Spies and Hayden-Edwards. Spies adaptability is phenomenal. Watching him in the race, you could see him learning the bike corner by corner and improving. I think if he was close to Hayden and Edwards at the end of the race he could make a pass. Spies could give us another huge surprise next year. I am very optimistic about Spies. Definately the best rookie next year, possibly 4th, ahead of Pedrosa. It took Ducati 3 years in the 800cc era to try a "big bang" engine, s h i t - heads. So far the new engine seems to be better for Stoner and Hayden. Maybe the "screamer" engine was the reason the bike was moving around so much. Ducati is back to the aluminium swingarm, so the carbon fibre was a wrong direction. Yamaha makes small steps forward each year, so they will be difficult to beat. I still think the 2010 title is Rossi's. He is the most experienced and consistent rider at the moment, riding the best bike. Stoner and Lorenzo might show great speed, but they are always doing mistakes under Rossi's pressure, or sometimes under no pressure at all !?!. Maybe Spies proves to be really tough under pressure and consistent, we shall see. | ||
| Jaimec |
Spies shared a garage with one of the toughest competitors out there in his four years in the AMA. Compared to Mladin, the MotoGP paddock will be a cake walk (as was the WSBK paddock). And I wouldn't put it past Lorenzo to surprise his teammate next season either... | ||
| Gaesati |
800's may be boring but we seem to be in a golden age of topline racers. Whoever wins it will be an epic season. | ||
| Liquorwhere |
I agree, Spies test times were amazing, the second day he was much faster and during the race you could see him improve. I also agree being teamed with Mladin may have sucked for him, but look at the results, his natural talent was polished by the pressure and presence of Mladin. I wasn't a fan of Mat, but I sure like Spies and I have to be grateful for the training he gave Ben. We just might see another American champion!! I am jonesing already...bring on the Season!!! | ||
| Jimidan |
Go Ben! Go Nicky! Go Colin! All 3 Americans have a bright future lined up next year. | ||
| Dentguy |
800's may be boring but we seem to be in a golden age of topline racers. Did someone say golden age? This is great racing by great riders on bikes that HAD to be ridden without a bunch of BS. Enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed727YpsIRE | ||
| Sycho |
Thank you Dentguy!! I sure do miss the sound and raw power of the two strokes. Rainey was such an amazing racer. | ||
| 46champ |
Does anyone know how Trojan (Matt) is doing he hasn't posted since Oct 29. I know he was going in for some kind of surgery hope it went ok. | ||
| Rocketman |
I didn't know that, but I believe he moved premises recently and did he not say somewhere for that reason he would be posting less for the foreseeable? Rocket | ||
| Trojan |
Does anyone know how Trojan (Matt) is doing he hasn't posted since Oct 29. I know he was going in for some kind of surgery hope it went ok. I'm Back! We moved premises recently and had no internet connection for a while. After that we had very limited availability until today, so it has been very difficult to access forums etc during that time. My back surgery went very well, and I am only sorry that I didn't get it done years ago! Thanks for your concern  On the subject of racing.....Spies did an excellent job at the last race and dutring testing. He is obviously going to be competitive, although whether or how fast he can bridge the gap every week between the 4 'aliens' and the rest of the field will be interesting to see. Testing times are interesting and make good headlines, but you never know what people are testing or even how hard anyone is trying until race day comes around. We have to remember that Toseland arrived from WSB full of vim and vigour, and qualified 2nd for his first GP eventually finishing 6th. Since then his career went backwards, so I hope that Spies fares better. | ||
| Dentguy |
Trojan, Welcome back. Glad things went well. Was that your bike spread I saw in Performance Bikes (I think) magazine? Looked great. | ||
| Imonabuss |
Dentguy, Thank you for posting the Rainey/Schwantz race. What an unbelievable battle on dead even bikes. The 500 four cylinder 2 strokes were certainly there own golden age. | ||
| Trojan |
Trojan, Welcome back. Glad things went well. Was that your bike spread I saw in Performance Bikes (I think) magazine? Looked great. Yes that was our XR1200 project bike that is an ongoing labour of love | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Good to read your posts again ! Glad that the surgery went OK ! | ||
| Dentguy |
"Thank you Dentguy!!" "Thank you for posting the Rainey/Schwantz race." Glad you guys enjoyed. I'm a big Rainey fan. Best time in 500 (or all of) GP for me. Rainey on the back tire a lot with Schwantz right next to him and looking at each other down the straights. A lot of lead changes between the two. Great stuff. (Message edited by dentguy on November 16, 2009) | ||
| Court |
Matt . . . next time you are going to be out of touch . . can you give us a bit of an advance warning? I get antsy when I have no one to argue with! Court | ||
| Trojan |
Matt . . . next time you are going to be out of touch . . can you give us a bit of an advance warning? I get antsy when I have no one to argue with! How do you think I felt with no internet at all  Cold Turkey would be easy compared to that Even now we are still experiencing problems with our internet provider and are relying on mobile connection (dongle), so will be migrating to another supplier in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully that get the thing back up to speed at last! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Aprilia is not racing in the new moto2. Their decision makes sense, since they do not want to use a rival manufacturer's engine. So why spend money in moto2 ? But does this mean that they will join motoGP when it turns to 1000cc ?? Let's hope so !! Actually they can start where they stopped....  I also hope they get Casey Stoner to ride this bike, since they say it was so powerfull that everyone else failed.....Stoner is definately not the most likable rider, but he is definately able to control bikes with wild power deliveries. | ||
| Jaimec |
I wonder if Colin Edwards still has nightmares about that bike? |
