| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
Keeping my fingers crossed that Nicky at least cracks the top ten. It would be difficult to do any WORSE than Marco did on the bike last year... | ||
| White79bu |
Go Nicky!!! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I would predict a top 6 for Hayden. He did well in the test in Qatar 1 month ago. He needs pschycological boost. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Melandi !! He is back and he could do damage in the race !!! | ||
| Jaimec |
Odd how he seems to be doing better on an essentially UNSUPPORTED motorcycle than he did on the factory Ducati... This could be VERY interesting. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
His psychology was ruined last year! If he is stress free this year, he will do damage. He used to be the last on the brakes than anyone. I hope Hayden's psychology is OK. But 12th ? Why? | ||
| Jaimec |
Casey's on the pole (there's a shocker) but the really shocking news is that Nicky had a pretty bad crash during qualifying and is now questionable for tomorrow's race!! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Ducati better fix their motoGP bikes, otherwise people wil start to get hurt, trying to get to the top. Stoner will crash too. The bike is crap. Stoner should go to HRC. Hayden is a hero! He did not give up, tried to match the Yamahas and Hondas and he nearly killed himself. Look at Capirossi and Melandri!. They left Ducati and they are going forward with their riding | ||
| 46champ |
Global warming strikes again rain in the desert. Wonder if the brought rain tires? | ||
| Jaimec |
What a STRANGE start to the season! Torrential rains in the desert!? At least it gives Nicky an extra day to heal... | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Hayden looked very puzzled yesterday. I hope he has a decent race today. | ||
| Trojan |
Normal business has been resumed...........so much for closer racing under the single tyre rule. Any fool (including me) could see that it wasn't going to suddenly make racing closer than it was before. The only way to get closer racing is to have more closely matched riders, and until Rossi & the Stoner/Ducati combination retire that isn't going to happen I don't think. Congratulations to Mikka Kallio though. He made a great job of 8th place the Pramac Ducati (especially after a rubbish start dropped him to 12th) and may even be the only other rider to get to grips with the 800 GP9 so far other than Stoner.  Stylish too  | ||
| Jaimec |
Excepting Casey Stoner, it would appear as though Yamaha has the strongest package in MotoGP at the moment. And what the heck is going on with Honda? They were once the dominant factory but you couldn't prove it lately despite them having more bikes on the grid than anyone else?? | ||
| Vagelis46 |
It is too early to draw conclusions for the single tire rule. Qatar is Stoner's strongest track, and it is going to be a long season. People are now starting to realise what a great rider Stoner is, and he is fast because of his talent and not because of the tires-Ducati-electronics---etc | ||
| Trojan |
People are now starting to realise what a great rider Stoner is, and he is fast because of his talent and not because of the tires-Ducati-electronics---etc I disagree. Stoner has yet to prove that he is a Great rider (good yes, great no). He has proved that he is the only rider so far capable of riding the Ducati fast, but then the bike was built around him so he should be good on it. He has also shown that he can adapt to advanced electronics better than other riders, which is different to being a great rider. When he rode the Honda he crashed at almost every corner, so he needs to show that he isn't just reliant on advanced electronics to keep him on track. I would like to see him back on a bike with less advanced electronics to see just how good he really is. UNliek Rossi, SToner was never head and shoulders above the other riders in 125 and 250cc racing, so I don't believe he is that much better than the rest of the MotoGP field either. Also unlike Rossi, I can't see Stoner changing manufacturers and still being at the top of the pile. Hayden and Toseland are the exceptions that prove that it is the complete rider/bike package that needs to be good, not just the bike or rider. | ||
| Amafan |
You should do a little reaserch on Stoner's carrer . In 2005 he almost won the 250 championship over Pedrosa on a private Aprilia ,and in 2006 on a team in their first year in MotoGP he was instantly fast winning poles,and getting on the podium on a private Honda . You are probably one of those British fans that booed Stoner after he beat Rossi at the British GP . I really enjoyed the 2006 Valencia GP when Rossi crashed when he was in 7th place ,and Nicky Hayden was in 2nd only .1 of a second behind Troy Bayliss ,and then Nicky was able to cruise to the 2006 title , and all the Rossi fans cried . | ||
| Rasta_dog |
While the TV coverage of all true motorsports in the U.S. is weak, I have been a huge Moto GP fan since Speed Channel became available to me @ 2003. I love Valentino and could not make a case against the champ being the best ever. However, the lengths that the Doctor's fans (a.k.a. non racers) go to discredit any other active rider in the series is comical. Casey Stoner is a great MotoGP racer. | ||
| Trojan |
In 2005 he almost won the 250 championship over Pedrosa on a private Aprilia ,and in 2006 on a team in their first year in MotoGP he was instantly fast winning poles,and getting on the podium on a private Honda . It is very easy to say somebody ALMOST won a title, but actually winning it is something else entirely. Fact is that he failed to win either the 125 or 250 titles because he was inconsistent and crash happy, as he was on the Honda in his first year in MotoGP. I also remember watching Stoner in Bemsee club racing and British 125 action before he moved to Spain, and he was hardly a shining star compared to other talented youngsters in the same series. He progressed because he had the right people behind him who sacrificed everything to get him into the right place at the right time. Of course he is a hugely talented rider, but is he great? Only time will tell, but it is far to early to start comparing him to Rossi, who has won titles in every class he has entered so far and for more than one manufacturer at that. I would certainly not boo any rider regardless of my personal opinion of them. However, the reason Stoner got booed at Doninington was because he was rude and extremely arrogant towards fans at the 'Riders for Health' meeting the week beforehand (which went largely unreported). What goes around comes around. As for Hayden 'cruising' to a world title, I think you must have been watching s different series than me, because I remember Hayden inheriting a title more than winning one, and he has certainly not shown a glimpse of doing the same again has he? How many times has he won a race (or even finished on the podium) since? | ||
| Jaimec |
Nicky is one of MANY riders who've had a hard time transitioning from the 990s to the 800s. It didn't help that he was given a bike designed around a MIDGET on which to campaign... And it was GREAT watching him "go for broke" last year in Indianapolis. He finished in second only because of the race being called (Lorenzo was busy sniffing his exhaust the last couple of laps) but even if the race ran the distance, I'm pretty sure he would've been on the podium. (Message edited by Jaimec on April 16, 2009) | ||
| Amafan |
Trojan , Nicky Hayden was a consistent podium finsher in 2005 ,and 2006 when he lead in points most of the season until Pedrosa took him out in Portugal ,and almost gifted the title to Rossi,but Nicky put the preasure on Rossi ,and Rossi crashed at Valencia giving Nicky Hayden the title he deserved ,and earned . (Message edited by amafan on April 16, 2009) | ||
| Buell2001b |
I don't think 5'10 is a midget | ||
| Buell2001b |
I dont know why you guys are talking about 2005. Its 2009 whats the piut in looking back. It comes down that Yamaha and Ducati are very competetive brands and Buell seems to be following the same ideals in AMA. Honda is going down big time, ever since Rossi left them they have sucked. I think Spies with yamaha is proving the same and Eslick with Buell. The big Giant Honda is falling!!! | ||
| Jaimec |
There is no way in hell Dani Pedrosa is 5'10" Maybe if he found a pair of Gene Simmons' old KISS boots perhaps... | ||
| Jaimec |
Rossi fastest in the first practice in Motegi with Stoner second and Lorenzo third. Colin was right up there too. So far, it's Stoner vs. Yamaha this season. | ||
| Rex |
Nicky can really ride. I watched him at Daytona one year, have some bad, luck and then rode the wheels off of the bike and made it back to the front. No one else was riding like that. Then on flat track. we were at del mar in san diego one year, when nicky was a kid. He came from out of no where and was tearing people up on the dirt track. i think Nicky has raw ability to ride a bike without all of the electronics. He would probably go off and out run everyone if electronics went away. REXr | ||
| Snowscum |
Poor Nicky. Bad luck again!  | ||
| Jaimec |
Damn, that's some shot! Didn't get much of an idea what happened watching the race on Speed last night. And congratulations to Lorenzo! He rode a flawless race. Vale will have to watch his own garage for his latest title threat! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I think for Jerez : 1. Lorenzo 2. Pedrosa 3. Rossi 4. Stoner 5. Dovi Ducati needs a major redesign in their setup. Their bike simply does not work. I hope none of the Ducati riders get injured during the season. | ||
| Jaimec |
Lorenzo on the pole, Rossi demoted to lead the second row. I think it'll definitely be a Spanish battle from start to finish between Lorenzo and Pedrosa (and I so want Lorenzo to beat Pedrosa again in convincing style!). | ||
| Rocketsprink |
well looks like Rossi won. Good on him!! Hayden? Stick a fork in him....he's done. I will bet the farm this is his last season in MotoGP. Can't even beat the guys on the satellite teams. |
