| Author | Message | ||
     Sidepipe79 |
I can respect Stoner for this decision if that is what he does. He has already made enough money to live off of quite comfortably. Now he can hang out with his wife, daughter and be a dad. | ||
| Jaimec |
All I can say is "WWBD" (What Would Biaggi Do)? Oh yeah... 40 years old, a father, and still embarrassing a lot of those young whippersnappers over in WSBK. Having a kid seems to have made Biaggi more "human" in that he isn't nearly as arrogant and obnoxious as he used to be. With luck, the same will happen with Stoner. | ||
| Trojan |
But not on the official factory team unless Dorna changes the rules (again). Of course, Honda could always "be Honda" and give him a factory bike and put him on a satellite team (wink wink). Rumour has it that the factories (ie Honda) are pushing to get rid of the rookie rule altogether, surprise surprise. IRTA (the teams association led by Herve Poncheral) are up for a fight though and say they don't want the rule to be changed and that it is working well as it is, which I can't disagree with. Dorna will probably side with IRTA this time as the rule does seem to work well and support the smaller teams. The problem fo Honda next year will be that the rules limit the factories to supplying just 4 bikes each (two factory and two satellite bikes). This means that they will be pushed to supply Marquez with a factory bike unless someone else goes without, which of course is exactly what will happen. The prime contender to lose out would be Gresini/Alvaro Bautista, as I can't see Stefan Bradl not getting factory support next year. Gresini only got the factory deal this year because it was originally intended for Simoncelli, so I think next year they will be back to customer lease or CRT status. Marquez has probably the richest 'private' team in the paddock, so they will come in and run him as a 'rookie' on a factory spec bike in his own mega rich team, just like HRC did for Simoncelli in his first year. 'IF' Stoner decides to retire (which I seriously doubt) then there will be one extra factory Honda up for grabs until Marquez finishes his rookie season, and I would suspect either Dovi (unlikely given present form, but he does have history with Honda) or Stefan Bradl will take that seat on a strictly one year deal. If for some strange reason Marquez fails to win the Moto2 series this year he will still make the move up, but Dorna will be faced with the problem of another rider looking for a decent seat for the Moto2 championship winner. With Bradley Smith already signed for Tech 3 next year (at the expense of either Crutchlow or Dovi) then there are already too many riders for too few seats! | ||
| Trojan |
Now I know that Superbike Planet can never be accused of unbiased reporting, but this seems to cross over into positively xenophobic territory! http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/May/12050111.h tm All the jibes at 'the Brit press' seem a little freudian too. Maybe whoever wrote this was turned down for a job at MCN  Where was Cal Crutchlow for the last two-thirds of the 2011 season? Lost, to be kind. Hmmm, 4th at the final race and rookie of the year (and 4th at the first two GPs of 2012). In addition to a good winter test schedule, that doesn't seem too bad to me. Spies won a Grand Prix last season and almost beat Casey Stoner in the final race of the season, this after delivering Yamaha their first and only WSBK world title in 2009. However, those accomplishments seem all but forgotten now by Big Blue; Yamaha race boss Lin Jarvis told the Brit press in the pre-season that Spies' 2011 results were "disappointing" and that he expected more from Spies in 2012. Jarvis' comments were quite interesting given the resources Yamaha threw at James Toseland in Grand Prix, and the Brit never won a GP. I think they forget that James Toseland was in the Tech 3 team, was never a factory Yamaha rider, and only saw out what was always a 2 year contract. He had also won 2 WSBK championships so was not exactly a muppet. The assertion that Yamaha 'lavished' resources on him is a bit wide of the mark to say the least (although they did give him a grand piano, does that count?). Lin Jarvis gave his interview regarding Spies need to improve in 2012 to the whole assembled press corps, so why single out the British press? Regardless of what has gone before, blame cannot be laid anywhere other than the rider, and riders are only as good as their last results as far as teams are concerned. There is little room for sentimentality at the top (look at how Toseland was dumped as soon as his contract expired). The only person who can improve Ben Spies' season is Ben Spies himself. I hope he makes progress this weekend in Portugal, as the longer he languishes down in the midfield the harder it will be for him to keep his seat next year. | ||
| Blake |
>>> Regardless of what has gone before, blame cannot be laid anywhere other than the rider That's an odd way of looking at racing. | ||
| Trojan |
That's an odd way of looking at racing In this case, not at all. In racing if the results aren't coming you need to examine exactly what is wrong with the individual components of the bike/rider/tyre/team package, and the team will have all the data available. The Yamaha is a winning package that is doing well with Lorenzo, Dovi and Crutchlow right now, and Ben Spies showed well all winter in testing, so the current problem is almost certainly confidence related, seeming to stem either from the two heavy front end crashes he suffered in practice for Qatar, or to the change in atmosphere in the garage, which is much harder to pinpoint. Either way it appears to be confidence that is lacking rather than mechanical issues. When racers crash they like to know the reason behind it, so can adjust/adapt in future so that it doesn't happen again. When you start crashing and don't know the reason it really knocks the confidence and the rider starts to doubt his own ability. Even world class riders suffer from this and of course it reflects in lap times and results. Both Toseland and Crutchlow suffered from this exact problem is their first GP year with differing outcomes, as have other riders over the years. You don't lose speed or ability overnight but confidence in your ability and in the bike is a huge factor in going fast every lap. A bit like the situation Valentino Rossi currently finds himself in if you like. If you compare it to Rossi, he has tried all sorts of setups on the Ducati to no avail, but has now realised that he needs to use Haydens base settings and change his style rather than trying to change the 'unchangeable' Ducati in its current form. Either Ben needs to change his riding style to suit the bike/tyres or find a way to adapt and use a setup like Lorenzo and the others use (Ben has a completely different setup to ALL of the other Yamaha riders) that is more front end friendly. If all the Yamahas were uncompetitive or suffered similar front end issues then maybe the reason could be laid elsewhere, but at the moment it is only the number 11 Yamaha that isn't working, and the only significant difference between that and the 99 bike is the rider  | ||
| Jaimec |
Matt, after the lousy way Honda treated Dovi, I can't seriously see him going back... He finished AHEAD of the Spanish dwarf last season... third behind Stoner and Lorenzo (who are both on another planet compared to the rest of the field) yet Honda continues to stick with Pedrosa. Dovi got "Hayden-ed." | ||
| Jaimec |
Here's a good (non-Superbike Planet) article comparing Spies and Rossi so far this year: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-rese t-button-backfire/ | ||
| Firstbuell |
BOMBSHELL !! there's no longer any need to discuss MotoGP races - just watch these...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrIgFbE8ulg&feature =player_embedded | ||
| Trojan |
Matt, after the lousy way Honda treated Dovi, I can't seriously see him going back... He finished AHEAD of the Spanish dwarf last season... third behind Stoner and Lorenzo (who are both on another planet compared to the rest of the field) yet Honda continues to stick with Pedrosa. Dovi got "Hayden-ed." Hondas decision to stick with Pedrosa was pretty much made by Repsol and their insistence on having at least one Spanish rider in the team, otherwise I think they would have kept Dovi based purely on results last year. However Dovi has kept pretty quiet about it and hasn't given Honda too hard a time in the press, so has left the door slightly ajar for a return to HRC if the opportunity arose. He has made no secret of his disdain for being in a 'satellite team' and sees it just as a temporary position to enable him to step back into a factory team next year. This could of course backfire when Poncheral has to decide between Crutchlow and Dovi for next years available Tech 3 ride, and gratitude and comittment may sway his decision just as much as results. Dovi has been pretty vocal in his desire for Spies' factory Yamaha seat (although his results don't make that move likely yet!). Unfortunately for him and everyone else eyeing up a potential factory Honda ride, Marc Marquez is almost certainly the next Honda/Repsol Spanish star and I really can't see any scenario (barring serious injury) which will prevent him joining Stoner in 2014 in the factory Honda team at the expense of Dani. If HRC don't take Marquez then they are very likely to lose Repsol as a major sponsor as they will follow their new rising star wherever he rides. IF (and it is still a huge IF) Stoner were to retire, then it could conceivably be an all Spanish rider setup at Honda in 2014 with Pedrosa and Marquez together. Next years rider market could get pretty exciting towards the tail end of this season, simply because there are going to be far too many good riders chasing too few good rides, and all the top guys are out of contract. If the lower ranked customer/CRT teams continue to employ 'pay per ride' jockeys of a lesser calibre like Hernandez, Silva and Ellison there really isn't much room for manoevre for the middle ranked riders like Dovi, Barbera and Bautista, not to mention those hoping to step up from Moto2 next year like Scott Redding and Iannone. | ||
| Trojan |
Well...Stoner has 'categorically denied' he is going to retire, syaing at the Estoril press conference that he will continue racing for as long as he still enjoys it. He then went on to say in response to another question, that if they changed the rules he would stop enjoying it! He also said he is only looking at signing one year contracts in future, so read into that what you will FP1 was a bit of a waste of time with mixed conditions and most riders spending very little time on the track they all dislike. Almost everyoje left it until teh last ten minutes of the session before venturing out , and some (Lorenzo and Barbera) never left the garage at all. Ben Spies will be relatively pleased to have the fastest FP1 time nonetheless, even though the session was pretty meaningless in terms of times it will bolster his confidence I'm sure. Second was Nicky Hayden and third Valentino Rossi (Yonni Hernandez was 9th, which maybe shows how little track time most riders got!). If the weather continues to dry the track FP2 should produce a better picture but I'll bet the usual suspects fill the top 5 places 1 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 1'40.813 2 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 1'41.086 0.273 / 0.273 3 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1'41.502 0.689 / 0.416 4 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'41.943 1.130 / 0.441 5 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1'42.230 1.417 / 0.287 6 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'42.291 1.478 / 0.061 7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 1'42.343 1.530 / 0.052 8 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1'43.078 2.265 / 0.735 9 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 1'43.256 2.443 / 0.178 10 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 1'43.265 2.452 / 0.009 11 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 1'43.277 2.464 / 0.012 12 51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 1'43.511 2.698 / 0.234 13 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 1'43.527 2.714 / 0.016 14 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 1'44.909 4.096 / 1.382 15 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 1'45.148 4.335 / 0.239 16 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 1'45.636 4.823 / 0.488 17 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 1'46.004 5.191 / 0.368 18 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 1'46.271 5.458 / 0.267 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 1'52.429 11.616 / 6.158 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha | ||
| Crusty |
Well; That was a snoozer. | ||
| Smoke4ndmears |
Yeah it was. Moto2 race wasn't half bad though. | ||
| Jaimec |
It is getting pretty damned frustrating watching Ben's season fall apart like this. What the heck is going on?? He was SUPPOSED to be better on the 1000cc bike! How many "reset switches" does he get?? There did appear to be some life returning to Rossi's eyes for a change. Maybe by the halfway point of the season he'll regain his "Alien Status?" Damn shame about Colin Edwards. Second year in a row. I doubt he'll be back at the next race contending for a podium, though... not on a CRT. | ||
| Bads1 |
I shut the race off 3/4's through. Watched a movie instead. This is boring to the hilt!!! | ||
| Bigblock |
( WARNING, thread drift) AMA was NOT boring this weekend! | ||
| Trojan |
Ho Hum, I'm glad a swithed over to watch the Superbikes, evenif it was rain shortened! MotoGP needs ALL the factory riders and bikes to be at the top of their game at every round if it is to survice in its curent format. At the moment we have 2 Ducati factory bikes/riders struggling midfield because the bike isn't good enough, and Ben Spies struggling through some strange confidence/motivational problem further back still. That leaves just 3 factory bikes to share all the podiums for the rest of the season unless something drastic happens. Crutchlow and Dovi may get a lucky podium if Stoner/Lorenzo/pedrosa fall off or it rains really hard, but other than that the year looks pretty well planned out already Get rid of all the factory bikes and run a full CRT grid for 2013 and at least we will have some exciting racing. OK it may be 10mph slower on the straights, but TV fans won't even notice the speed difference. Thankfully Moto2 was great as usual, as was the shortened WSB race 2, WSS and BSB | ||
| Xb1125r |
Stoner won again, told ya | ||
| Davegess |
Matt, you need to find the AMA races on your "telly"  | ||
| Xb1125r |
motogp is great, but i ahve to say that AMA has me more exited about watching. I already know stoner is going to win the title. al least in AMA there is more equal talent and the bikes seemd to be more equal. in moto gp, all the CR are just wasting money, they have no chance to win a race much less a title | ||
| Jaimec |
...THIS season. | ||
| Xb1125r |
and next season, and next. the only bikes that have a chance are the factory teams. and what ever factory gets stoner, will win the title. if yamaha had stoner. they would still win the title. | ||
| Xb1125r |
Rossi is retiring at end of season. he is done no guy less Stoner will have to embarase | ||
| Jaimec |
Yeah, about Rossi retiring: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/99440 | ||
| Jaimec |
xb1125r: What makes you so sure there will be factory bikes on the grid in 2014? | ||
| Xb1125r |
look at visordown on rossi, he is gone. without factory bikes, whats the point of motoGP! moto 2 and 3 no one pays attention. when they come to america, people see the motogp race and totally risreguard 2 and 3 AMA & WSBK already runs the 1000ccs. AMA is def more exiting to watch now with 6 brands finishing in top 10. Moto GP can only exist if the factory teams are racing and the bikes are prototypes. | ||
| Doerman |
MotoGP exists because we believe we are watching the races between the worlds best of machines and men. Our perception is why they are successful. Making MotoGP the venue with the best machinery is key. That means it is exclusive. The best machinery commands world class riders. CRT is a step on the wrong direction (disclaimer: that is not my personal opinion - however the masses want their brand on the podium). Without serious factory effort and involvement, the series will diminish in prominence. I personally like Moto2 better. Much more racing going on. So personally, the CRT concept appeals to me. However, it would not be MotoGP premier class any more. | ||
| Jaimec |
This from earlier today: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM 5izT7rorNj5QuLVVzOhT1wK4wqATQ?docId=CNG.f06b3f115d a0bd54c843b2d1d70de8f8.531 | ||
| Jaimec |
CRT may use production-based engines, but I believe they are far freer to modify those engines than they are in any Superbike series. They are also using prototype frames. Aprilia has already found the "loophole" in the rules... how long before you think the other manufacturers will figure it out too? | ||
| Simond |
but I believe they are far freer to modify those engines than they are in any Superbike series ....but the engines have to last longer with the current rules so will always be less powerful than they are in a superbike. The best CRT bikes were 20mph down on the prototypes at the last race. The Kawasakis are only putting out about 185hp. That's got to be 30 odd hp down on Tom Sykes' bike. |
