| Author | Message | ||
     Xb1125r |
spies is racing his butt off now that he cant get a ride with ducati. he either gets back to yamaha tech 3 , some joke of crt bike team or back to sbk. its sad to see edwards racing fo rcrappy teams. he should have just retired. | ||
| Simond |
Bradley Smith and Cal Crutchlow confirmed at Tech 3 for 2013. | ||
| Jaimec |
Lorenzo takes the pole and breaks the track record in the process. Dovi is second followed by Pedrosa. Spies leads off the second row with Crutchlow and ROSSI. Should be a good race tomorrow... Four Yamahas, one Honda and one Ducati in the first two rows. | ||
| Crusty |
According to the Moto GP site, Crutchlow qualified second, and Dovi qualified fifth. And Rossi qualified sixth. Wouldn't it be interesting if Ducati got the bike sorted out just as Rossi was leaving to return to Yamaha? | ||
| Jaimec |
I switched Dovi and Cal. D'OH!! Maybe Rossi will gift Dovi with a ridable bike for next year. | ||
| Svh |
Have seen 2 places that are saying Spies is going to stay in MotoGP with.... sorry Jaime... Honda on a third bike. That would be interesting | ||
| Simond |
The rumour is that he has been talking to Gresini,,,,,BUT there is a question mark over whether they will actually be running a Honda next year. | ||
| Jaimec |
If the rumors are true about Ben switching to "the Dark Side" then he loses my support. I'd rather he go back to WSBK, but the latest rumor is that Haslam may remain Marco's team mate after all. | ||
| Jaimec |
Okay Matt, you can't POSSIBLE say the Brno race was "boring," can you?? The wrong Spaniard won (in my book) but it was a battle through the last lap! And Cal FINALLY "popped his cherry" on the Tech3 Yamaha too. | ||
| Simond |
Don't know about Matt but I actually fell asleep in the middle. Woke up in time for the last lap and it seems I didn't miss anything. Great result - just what the Championship needs. ........and Jonathan Rea on Stoner's bike for the next two rounds. | ||
| Jaimec |
If he rides the MotoGP bike the way he rides the Superbike, I hope Honda has a LOT of spares on hand... | ||
| Gaesati |
A well-deserved race win for Dani, a consummate display and extremely clean final pass on Lorenzo. | ||
| Svh |
Race was quite boring until the last 2-3 laps. They need to do something to tighten up the field and have less runaway wins in the future or they won't survive. | ||
| Jaimec |
To quote Mat Mladin: "What do they want me to do? Ride slower??" | ||
| Xb1125r |
he can't but a can,lol BORING SBK and AMA are wayyyy more exiting to watch then GP specially in Russia. nice | ||
| Trojan |
Have seen 2 places that are saying Spies is going to stay in MotoGP with.... sorry Jaime... Honda on a third bike. That would be interesting I wouldn't believe anything you read just yet. From what I have heard even Spied hasn't made up his mind yet what he is doing next year, but MotoGP would be the last thing he wants to do now I think. He says he is fed up with the politics of MotoGP so switching teams (to a team lower down the order as well) wouldn't resolve that. I think we will see him back in WSB or out for year sabbatical. The two Spaniards made what could have been a very boring race exciting at the front at least, and the last lap was great. However, there were still only 3 overtakes for the lead all race  Great to see Cal on the podium and signed for Tech 3 again next year. If you can't get a factory bike then the Tech 3 package is definitely next best bet. The rumour is that he has been talking to Gresini,,,,,BUT there is a question mark over whether they will actually be running a Honda next year. Gresini have fallen out with Honda this year because they wanted to run an Aprilia engined CRT bike for Pirro this year. Honda blocked that and forced them to use the CBR1000RR engined bike instead. Sine then the relations between the team and Gresini have apparently worsened to the point where they may run ART CRT bikes next year insterad of leasing Honda prototypes. That would leave a 'spare' Honda prototype for either a new team or for LCR to run a second rider alongside Bradl in 2013. It is very unlikely to be Ben Spies though and more likely to be a Moto2 graduate. Spies demise in this race was strange to say the least. The official story is that his clutch overheated as he changed to second gear, but if you look where he slowed down it was just at the point where Rossis bike spewed out oil smoke into the path of following riders. I have to wonder if SPies lack of confidence in his bike made him slow thinking it was his bike about to blow up rather than someone elses? There was after all no damage found to his clutch plates post race/post crash. At this rate I wouldn't be surprised if he leaves MotoGP before the end of this season. | ||
| Jaimec |
His clutch overheated and it took two laps for it to cool back down. Superbike Planet (which almost no one here reads) was the only site that reported Ben possibly confusing the smoke from Rossi's bike as coming from his bike (probably having flashbacks to Indianapolis). Latest rumor now has him talking to Ducati about riding for their "junior team" next year. I'd still rather see him in WSBK riding for BMW Italia with Marco, though. | ||
| Trojan |
Latest rumor now has him talking to Ducati about riding for their "junior team" next year. I can't see the logic behind a move like that. He is currently riding for the best team in MotoGP and having huge problems, both mechanically and mentally I believe. I really can't see him moving to a team or bike he simply cannot have a chance of winning in, but would see him moving back to a series where he is the 'big fish' and can win again. He has spent his career at the front of the pack in every series, so it is very hard for a rider like this to then accept he is not the fastest/best rider every week. This messes with riders heads far more than crashes or other factors, and happened to Toseland in his second MotoGP season too (I'm not comparing Toseland to Spies in terms of skill but simply to show how they have dropped form in MotoGP despite dominating WSB). Moving back to WSB would be the best option for Ben simply to rebuild his confidence and start having a chance at winning again. Superbike Planet (which almost no one here reads) was the only site that reported Ben possibly confusing the smoke from Rossi's bike as coming from his bike (probably having flashbacks to Indianapolis). As I watched the race that was the first thing that entered my head. The official line was that the clutch started slipping as soon as he selected 2nd gear, but that was a long way before he raised his hand after turn one, and coincidentally at exactly the same time the smoke appeared around him. When a rider is confident in his machine he sees smoke and expects it to come from somebody else. When he is not confident and has suffered a series of major mechanical failures he sees smoke and immediately assumes it is his bike that has failed. This is what I think happened to Ben despite the offical clutch story He certainly seemed to speed up pretty quickly afterwards and had no other clutch issues until he threw it up the road later in the race (which again could suggest he was angry at making a novice mistake on lap one in assuming that his bike was about to fail). I may be wrong but........there is no smoke without.... something or other.. | ||
| Rasta_dog |
So from the comfort of your sofa, your speculation is the World Champion aboard the 250 hp machine lost confidence because of smoke from another machine which obvious to him had to mean his own mechanical? Maybe he had a mechanical unrelated to Rossi's? I dunno, like a problem with his clutch? | ||
| Simond |
....that only manifested after the bike in front of him puked oil smoke over him. It would be totally understandable if Spies was a bit jumpy about his bike after his season so far. He has shown (in patches) that he still has the speed but the level of mechanical issues he's had and a less than sympathetic team would screw with anyone's mind. | ||
| Trojan |
So from the comfort of your sofa, your speculation is the World Champion aboard the 250 hp machine lost confidence because of smoke from another machine which obvious to him had to mean his own mechanical? Maybe he had a mechanical unrelated to Rossi's? I dunno, like a problem with his clutch? Spies is not the World Champion, he is another ex WSB champion having difficulties living up to his own expectations and those of his team in MotoGP, and having a nightmare season punctuated by major mechanical failures....a big difference. And like I said, it is a confidence issue rather than any purely mechanical one. I have raced and worked with racers for a long time and know how they think. If you are confident in your machine then you can do anything and have no worries. if you have no confidence in your machine (or your team) then you are just waiting for something/anything to go wrong. A puff of smoke or a slight wobble will appear to be the precursor to a major disaster rather than a minor glitch or even someones elses problem. I have seen racers complain about poor handling to their crew when they come in. The crew have then said they have made adjustments (but in reality haven't touched a thing) and then the rider puts in great times and says the bike is transformed. It is all in the mind, and it is clear than Bens mind is currently not in the correct frame to achieve good results. Having blown his engine in Indianapolis it is entirely conceivable that when he was suddenly surrounded by smoke and oil fumes in Brno that he may think it was his bike once again that had let go. The fact that he slowed down at exactly that moment (rather than when first selecting 2nd gear as officially explained, which would have been a lot earlier on the track and certainly before turn one) does give me some cause for suspicion. Now we hear that after signing a letter of agreement with BMW for WSB next year he has changed his mind and decided he wants to stay in MotoGP. I don't thin he knows what he wants in reality, and it will be a brave team manager who signs Ben for next season at the moment. He may be better of taking a year out to get his head together. | ||
| Trojan |
According to respected and long serving racing journalist Mat Oxley, Honda are threatening to withdraw their factory MotoGP team in protest against the spec ECU rules being proposed by Dorna and to pitch their support at WSB instead. My first reaction would be to say yippee and please close the door on your way out Mr Honda, although I do think it is just a foot stamping exercise to get Dorna to bend to Hondas will (again!). To be honest, the only way to make MotoGP secure in the future is to get rid of the factory bikes, or limit their development to the point of being only as quick as CRT machines. Honda have had the leading role in moulding GP rules for decades now, and must bear most of the responsibilty for the blind alley it now finds itself careering down. To complain now about rules designed by Dorna to fix what is a very broken series is just ironic in the extreme. I would much prefer to see an all CRT grid than the current situation of only 6 factory bikes capable of winning a race, and if tha means Honda, Yamaha and Ducati leaving as factory teams then so be it. If we have an F1 style MotoGP grid with factory supplied prototype engines in customer chassis it would open up the Gp grid to many more teams and would give a much more level playing field for more riders, without being any less exciting than it is now (in fact it would almost certainly be more exciting for spectators and technicans alike). See Ya Honda  | ||
| Jaimec |
Matt, Honda did announce a project to build "Customer versions" of the RC213V which they would sell outright, rather than lease. If Yamaha, Ducati, Kawasaki, Suzuki etc. would do the same, make the bikes AFFORDABLE (relatively speaking) and get out of the leasing business altogether... that might make the series more interesting again (and get those slug-slow CRTs OFF the grid). I like that idea better. | ||
| Firstbuell |
a thoughtful explanation of why Bens Pies may find the WSBK paddock [& a BMW] so appealing: World Superbike Grows Up Twenty-five years of full grids, close racing and value for all involved. http://www.cycleworld.com/2012/08/23/world-superbi ke-grows-up/ | ||
| Trojan |
Matt, Honda did announce a project to build "Customer versions" of the RC213V which they would sell outright, rather than lease. That was a few weeks before their current spate of throwing their toys out of the pram because they can't have everything their own way in respect to ECU's in future. To be honest I can't see Honda or Yamaha leaving the series, regardless of the rules imposed on them, but it is good to see them squirming because they no longer control the whole sport. CRT's are not actually slug-slow. 3 seconds per lap behind a MotoGP lease bike for the leading CRT bikes isn't exactly slow, just slow in comparison to the factory bikes. Unfortunately with only 4 competitive factory bikes in the series this is neither sustainable or entertaining. Remove the prototype factory bikes and the CRT idea wouldn't appear slow at all. With more resources behind them development of CRT would accelerate hugely. Also you have to remember that, with a few notable exceptions, most CRT's are ridden by riders who are simply not good enough to be in MotoGP in the first place. Colin Edwards is riding a bike that is just no good regardless of his ability (although his team are changing to Aprilia bikes from the next race) and Hernandez, Silva, Pirrot and Ellison simply shouldn't be racing at this level at all. Put some good current factory riders on the best of the CRT bikes and the times would drop significantly I think. | ||
| Jaimec |
Other than an occasional satellite Ducati, has ANY CRT rider bested a prototype?? Even the WSBK bikes are faster than these things due to the engine reliability requirements in MotoGP/CRT vs. WSBK. | ||
| Trojan |
Even the WSBK bikes are faster than these things due to the engine reliability requirements in MotoGP/CRT vs. WSBK. But that doesn't matter. Comparing speeds between different series isn't important and is just a smoke screen. WSS was faster than Moto2 when they first started too remember. The important thing to remember is that we need a full grid of GP bikes that are capable of racing each other (regardless of relative speeds to WSB etc), so we either need a lot more prototypes, which isn't going to happen, or more CRT equivalents. The CRT route is the only one that is plausible at the moment given that nobody can afford tolease full factoyr bikes and the rules only allow 4 bikes per factory anyway (Allowing the factories to build more prototypes won't work either, as they have been able to do this for years and haven't done it!). Like it or not CRT is the immediate future for MotoGP and rather than finding reasons to dislike it we should be looking at ways to improve it, otherwise we may not have anyone to cheer for period | ||
| Jaimec |
It doesn't matter in the long run. Even if the entire grid were CRT, you'll ALWAYS have a Lorenzo or Pedrosa making the rest of the field look lame. I watched the Moto2 race at Indy, and despite the IDENTICAL engines, Marquez ran off at the front and no one was even close. Even in AMA Superbike, where the bikes are more like Superstock, Josh Hayes has been running away at the front while everyone else jockeys for second place. It ain't the bikes... | ||
| 46champ |
Maybe the only way to have truly close racing is the best rider has to be on "slightly" inferior equipment. | ||
| Sparky |
I think they ought to run the MotoGP series like the ALMS where there are separate classes all racing at the same time and the racers vie for the top 3 spots in their respective class. That would make for one race with more exciting passing situations rather than watching 3 separate (relatively) boring races, LOL. |
