| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
AND another reason to hate Honda and their riders. Someone tell Rea it's racing and NOT BOWLING?? Melandri and Haslam were ROBBED in Race 2. Both races VERY exciting... far more so than anything in MotoGP so far. Just unfortunate the way Race 2 ended. Should've seen that coming by the first time he bulled his way past Melandri and didn't even bother to raise his hand in apology. Didn't like Rea before... REALLY detest him now. | ||
| Fast2win |
Rea definitely robbed the beemers, pissed me off. Haslem and Melandri should be furious. It was other wise one of the best two races I have ever seen. | ||
| Simond |
I didn't think there was too much wrong with Rea's move. The whole thing was started by a wildly over optimistic attempt at a pass by Melandri. This forced Haslam to sit up on the way in to the corner to avoid a clash with his team mate thus leaving a gap that any rider would have gone for. I haven't heard what the riders have said but that just looked like a bit of an own goal by BMW to me. I feel for Leon he deserved a win yesterday. | ||
| Trojan |
Rea definitely robbed the beemers, pissed me off. Haslem and Melandri should be furious. BMW will be furious, but not with Rea. The whole last lap debacle was caused by a stupid schoolboy error/red mist by Melandri, starting at the Melbourne loop hairpin and ending in the most ridiculously ambitious attempt I have ever seen at the last corner at Donington. Melandri has raced at Donington countless times in 125,250 and MotoGP in addition to WSB so really should know that corner is an adverse camber turn that throws you out onto the grass if you go in too fast and too shallow. He came from miles too far back and forced Haslam to sit up to avoid him. Melendri had no chance of making the corner or of taking the win, so should have defended his and his team mates places at the last corner, not removed his brain and gone Kamikaze. His move left a huge gap that any racer following would have jumped into and taken advantage of, so Rea is not guilty in my opinion. Melandri has attracted a lot of criticism for his habit of making other riders sit up mid corner, not least from his ex team mate Eugene Laverty and Johnny Rea (not to mention Max Biaggi!). Melandri did it to other riders about 5 times in race 2 alone, and I thought he would come to blows with Rea after the race even without the last lap incident. Melandri should have settled for a second BMW 1-2 again, which would have been great for the team and given both riders a great points tally from the weekend. Instead he was selfish, made a hopelessly amateur move and ruined both their races. I hope he got a good slapping when he got back to the garage (I'm pretty sure they would have had to hold Ron Haslam back!). Overall though, what a great race day and so much better than MotoGP at the moment. Sam Lowes got his first WSS win too, with some good results from the domestic WSS wild card riders just to put the icing on the cake  Quote of the weekend (and of the season so far) goes to Tom Sykes after his unexpected race two 3rd place... ' I'm from Yorkshire so I'm not the sharpest tool in the box, but even I know that 5 minus two equals podium' | ||
| Jaimec |
Matt's just standing up for his fellow Englishman... to be expected. Is Rea still using that (as far as I'm concerned) illegal ride-by-wire system? Or did Honda (like Aprilia) give up on the unobtainium race parts? I don't see how that system could be any more legal that Aprilia's gear-driven cam... at least Aprilia made the token effort of making the part available OTC (even if the price was ridiculous). | ||
| Trojan |
Matt's just standing up for his fellow Englishman... to be expected Rea is actually Irish, but it wouldn't matter to me if he was my home street. If I thought he was to blame I would blame him Take a good close look at the last two corners and you'll see that Melandri was pretty much out of control. He stated after the race that he would have been happy to finish second, but that doesn't gel with what he did on the last lap at all, and certainly not the last corner. He could have covered both his and Haslam's backs with a simple block move to keep Rea behind them both, but he didn't and decided to go for broke with a run from so far back it was obvious he couldn't make it stick, so ruining the race for spectators and BMW alike, stopping what would have been a certain BMW whitewash of both races. Goddards (The last corner)is well known for being a 'difficult' corner as it is off camber and slightly down hill, so sucks you into it and onto the grass if you get the entry even slightly wrong. There is also a sharp bump on the entry that can make corner entry more difficult on the limit. It is an error you usually see in novice club racing at Donington (and used to see in 250GP of course!), not something you expect of a 'world class' rider (although Jonathan Rea made the same mistake 3 laps earlier!). Take a look at the quotes from the weekend and you'll see that BMW are being quite diplomatic, and blaming 'a rider from another team' for the accident. However it is very noticeable that Leon Haslam is staying very quiet about it, and I'm sure he thinks very differently indeed The atmosphere in the BMW garage will surely be a bit more frosty when they reconvene at Miller. As for the Honda 'illegal' ride by wire, they are allowed to change the throttle actuation in WSB so it isn't illegal. I think every team uses ride by wire now? (Message edited by trojan on May 14, 2012) | ||
| Simond |
JamieC. Pretend it's not a Honda and watch it again  . | ||
| Daves |
Still an awesome race! I agree Matt, it was mostly due to Melandri. If he would've just held position BMW(you know, his team) would've had 1st and 2nd. But, he went for it, forcing Haslam to sit up,leaving the gap, Rea went in, then all hell broke loose! Every one of them thought what they were doing would work. Some were wrong. Great racing! | ||
| Simond |
Any rider given the opportunity of a win at the last corner that doesn't go for it is not a racer IMO. Melandri's move was the worst but I'm sure BMW would rather have a rider (particularly one that is perceived by some as their No1) that has a go........a little moderation when it is your team mate might be appreciated next time though! Haslam tried to cut back and close the door but found that Rea was already there. Rea had least to lose as he was on the inside. I can't imagine that Gerrit ten Kate was overly concerned about the BMWs! | ||
| Jaimec |
Just clicked through these photos. STILL see it as being Rea. http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-racing-news-ws b/haslam-melandri-crash-sequence/20632.html That wasn't the first time that weekend he bulled past a rider making contact either. I think "all the bikes have ride-by-wire now" because all of the PRODUCTION BIKES you can buy off the showroom floor have ride-by-wire EXCEPT the aging Honda design. (Message edited by jaimec on May 14, 2012) | ||
| Simond |
It's all over before that sequence starts. | ||
| Jaimec |
Still not seeing it. Marco was well past and didn't even have to force his way through (there was PLENTY of room). Rea just came right up on Leon too damned fast and slammed into him: | ||
| Fast1075 |
That was some really good racing! | ||
| Xb1125r |
its called racing. shit happens , just move and stop crying like babies. its nice to see bmw fighting for top spots. sad to see ducati droping dough come on checa and kick some butt | ||
| Simond |
The more I see that the more I think well done Johnny Rea. It would be great to see him on a more competitive bike. | ||
| Jaimec |
We are obviously seeing two completely different things when we look at that. The fact that FIM didn't penalize anybody means they don't see anybody doing anything wrong either. I guess "bumper cars" it is. Just like NASCAR. | ||
| Trojan |
We are obviously seeing two completely different things when we look at that. You need to look at the distance that Melandri had to make up into the final corner, and more importantly his closing speed. There was no way in this world that he was going to get the bike stopped and turned to get ahead of Halsam at the final corner, and he knew it. he was either hoping to 'bounce off' the inside of Haslam or cause both of them to miss the corner and then have to fight for the win. Either way it was a novice error and one that was grabbed eagerly with both hands by the following bikes. Melandri said he would have been happy with 2nd? I don't think so. He was shit or bust  The FIM obviously think that team mates taking each other out cancels out any wrongdoing | ||
| Gaesati |
I agree with Jaime, Rea came in too fast trying to exploit an opportunity and took the BMW out. Using people as a berm doesn't always work. Rea deserved to go down himself. | ||
| Trojan |
Using people as a berm doesn't always work. Rea deserved to go down himself. Rea went for a gap that opened up after melandri went in like a scud missile and forced Haslam to sit up to avoid him. Rea went for gap that Haslam was trying to close and they collided. That part was a racing incident, no more. The whole incident though was caused by Melandris stupidity in thinking he could force his way through to first place in the last two coners when he obviously couldn't! If you haven't visited Donington park I can see why you would think otherwise, but stand at Goddards for ten minutes and you'll see exactly why it was Melandri's fault and his alone that this happened. I've seen it happen at this corner on countless occasions at lower ability levels, but never expected to see it in a WSB race between two team mates Marco has enough experience to know how things work, and when he can push for a win and when he should back off. On this occasion he got it totally wrong for himself, his team mate and his team. There are usually some pretty solid team orders in racing, one of which is 'don't take your team mate out', and another is usually 'if your team mate is leading into the last lap then you don't risk overtaking him!' Marco failed on both counts The bottom line is this....If Melandri hadn't made such a stupdly wild stab at taking the lead (twice) in the last two corners and forced to run Haslam wide at Goddards then the BMW team would have finished in a relatively comfortable 1-2 and Rea would have finished 3rd at best. Haslam had no choice but to try and cut back to protect his line, and collided with Rea who was heading for a gap in the traffic. Melandri was the 'can opener' that opened up the whole can of worms and allowed Rea to make a move, simples | ||
| Jaimec |
Looking around on the web at various sites, it is pretty consistent that anyone with UK citizenship are quick to blame the Italian and give the Northern Irishman and the Brit the benefit of the doubt... wonder why that is? All I have is the video to go on. Haslam left a gap for Marco big enough to drive a HUMMER through and Marco took it. Rea was foolish enough to think he could squeeze through the closing door and he was DEAD WRONG. | ||
| Crusty |
I also see it the way Jaime does; and I hate BMWs. If it was the little rat weasel instead of Melandri, I'd still put the blame on Rea. He pretty clearly knocked down the Teutonic toilets. | ||
| Xb1125r |
give it break guys, its over who cares. you guys are starting to sound like whining little girls. | ||
| Trojan |
All I have is the video to go on. Haslam left a gap for Marco big enough to drive a HUMMER through and Marco took it. Rea was foolish enough to think he could squeeze through the closing door and he was DEAD WRONG. Wrong. Haslam had to sit up simply because Melandri let the brakes off and forced his way past, just as he had tried at the previous corner. If Haslam had stuck to his line then Marco would have collected them both on the entry to the corner. The BMW garage are now acrimoniously split, and Leon Haslam hasn't spoken to Melandri since the race. The little he has said has been pretty scathing about Marco, and he has attached no blame to Rea at all. Pretty much every commentator I have heard has also blamed Melanri for the incident. It is easy to blame Rea simply because he was the one who made contact, but the whole debacle started well before that because Melandri couldn't settle for second place. Apparently Ron Haslam had to be physically restrained from assaulting Melandri after he got back to the garage, and he wouldn't have been the first or the last I don't think. | ||
| Gaesati |
Melandri's "ambition may have been greater than his talent" but Rea was the man whose overtaking manoeuvre made the contact. I agree Melandri started the incident but Rea finished it. | ||
| Jaimec |
Ron Haslam was understandably upset that his son missed his chance at his first win... but his anger was misdirected. It's a "Father/Son" thing and sometimes emotion wins out over reason. | ||
| Xb1125r |
"Using people as a berm doesn't always work. Rea deserved to go down himself" if GOD would have wanted him to go down he would have , guess god did not see anythgin wrong. | ||
| Jaimec |
Just a matter of time, I think, before Hopkins wises up and calls it a day: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/May/120516b.ht m | ||
| Davegess |
I'm with Matt, Marco forced Leon off the line and left a big hole. He was well into the spot when Leon came back down and hit him. All Marco's fault. | ||
| Jaimec |
NO contact between Melandri or Haslam. The door opened, Marco took it. What, the Honda doesn't have brakes, or Jonny just doesn't know what they're for? | ||
| Trojan |
NO contact between Melandri or Haslam. The door opened, Marco took it. I hate to keep repeating myself, but the door didn't open for melandri, he forced it open by letting off the brakes adn forcing Haslam to sit up (something that seems to be a Melandri speciality and already commented on by various riders before last week). Melandri did the same in race one and again at the previous corner in race two. If he had held station then there is no doubt at all that BMW would have scored another 1-2 position in race two and Melandri would be just a couple of points behind Biaggi. His ridiculous lack of race craft cost BMW heavily. Rea jumped into the resulting gap caused by Melandri's mistake, so cannot be balmed for starting the whole sorry chain of events. maybe Leon should have sat up again for Rea and settled for 2nd, maybe he just didn't know he was there. Either way, Melandri is certainly the villain of the piece. Ron Haslam was understandably upset that his son missed his chance at his first win... but his anger was misdirected. There were plenty of other people in the garage that wanted to give Melandri a slap, not just Ron |
