| Author | Message | ||
     Pwnzor |
........... (Message edited by pwnzor on April 08, 2018) | ||
| Jaimec |
Was there actual contact between Zarco and Pedrosa? It looked like they both stood up their bikes and Dani was unfortunate enough to hit a wet patch. | ||
| Jaimec |
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| Pwnzor |
Was there actual contact between Zarco and Pedrosa? Abso-freaking-lutely. Marc was definitely out of pocket yesterday, but Rossi is a whiny bitch trying to act like "he is ruining the sport". With ALL the dirty riding Rossi has done over the years, he has ZERO room to speak like that. | ||
| Jaimec |
 | ||
| Pwnzor |
OK, fair enough... Funny is funny. | ||
| Jaimec |
Just saw an interview where Marquez claims Rossi's crash was caused by "track conditions." I call BS. He had the EXACT SAME impact with Aleix Espargaro in the exact same turn earlier in the race. Once is a mistake. TWICE in the same race? That's his damned STRATEGY and he's too chicken shit to just admit it. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Marquez is a punk. It's a pattern. I hope someone hands him his ass in the paddock..and not in the bathroom this time. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
My opinion is Pedrosa caused his own crash by choosing to lay the power on instead of standing the bike up. That lean angle, those conditions. What did he think was going to happen? "Oh boy. Hope the electronics really work good this time?!??!!" He's lucky to walk away from that one with both collarbones in one piece. That was a dick move from Zarco no doubt, but I am not sure if there was actual contact. If there was contact, the contact itself didn't cause Pedrosa's demise. It was Pedrosa's brainfart after. IMHO. Anyway, I would not have wanted to be the Race Director yesterday. And my final thought: If the riders HATE Argentina so much, I know a nice racetrack in NOrthern California that the riders LOVE.... (Message edited by fresnobuell on April 09, 2018) | ||
| 46champ |
I thought the riders liked the track. It was getting there they didn't like | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Quite possibly the travel sucks too, but the commentators mentioned the track is not liked by most riders or something to that effect. Another perk of Laguna Seca is they used to put right before the summer break so many choose to stay for a couple weeks and vacation in the States. Lots went to the Bay Area. Anyhow, I believe the fans and riders alike love Laguna Seca. too bad the almighty dollar dicatated the iconic racetrack be skipped by GP. Oh the memories! | ||
| Crusty |
I remember when all the GP riders except Kenny Roberts bitched about Laguna Seca. Spectators always loved it, as did photographers who took pictures of the string of riders flowing through the Corkscrew. Then again, riders also bitched about Indianapolis. Isn't it funny that the rider who wins loves a track, but those behind him complain? | ||
| Jaimec |
Read a report of the Zarco/Pedrosa incident. Multiple camera angles revealed there was no contact between the two. Pedrosa just happened to get on to a wetter piece of tarmac than Zarco, the rear tire spun up and then he high-sided. Argentina may be an interesting track but the logistics of getting there and back apparently absolutely SUCK. Qatar attracts less than 10,000 people. WHY are those events still on the calendar but Indianapolis, which routinely drew 90,000 per race weekend was taken off the calendar? Indianapolis out drew BOTH COTA and Laguna Seca (but Laguna Seca couldn't accommodate that many people even on its best days). The problem with Laguna was the facility itself was too small to accommodate the entire MotoGP circus, which is why they never ran Moto2/Moto3 or 125/250 GP there. I think that was really the issue for DORNA. | ||
| Pwnzor |
To me, Laguna is still the best track anywhere. Qatar is bought and paid for by those guys in the white dresses. Indy being off the calendar is just flat out retarded. | ||
| Crusty |
Indy being off the calendar is just flat out retarded. On that, I think we all can agree. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Laguna drew over 150,000 fans in 2005. I am sure the number is lower the last few years GP ran there, but certainly well over 100,000. From memory I want to say 120K to 130K fans was the norm before they pulled the plug. It's not a fan attendance problem, it the fact they supposedly can't support the Moto2 and Moto3 classes. Like Chaz said on a trackwalk one year during WSBK. "Laguna Seca is a proper racetrack." He said it with a kind of emotion that you know he was being real. I know it wasn't during a GP weekend, but that afternoon at Laguna Seca is a day I will never forget. | ||
| Pwnzor |
I just got off the phone with the ticket office at Laguna Seca. Maximum fan occupancy is 52,000. They can fit up to 10,000 more but they have to arrive by bus or other means. I had thought it was closer to 70,000 but the young lady who spoke with her supervisor to confirm her numbers told me at the largest races, 52k specators is the magic number. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
We are talking about a full weekend's attendance, correct? 52,000 a day (plus 10,000 overflow) sounds about right on and it falls in line with the quote below regarding the '05 GP event. "Of the new events, the return of the US GP at Laguna Seca was an overwhelming success with a total of 153,653 fans attending the event - and a consistent three-day split of 40,520 fans on Friday, 55,201 on Saturday and 57,932 on Sunday. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday were sold out in advance." To compare to Indy: "The three-day attendance figure for the 2015 Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix was 145,558, according to Dorna, in spite of a forecast calling for a significant chance of rain on Sunday. That’s the most spectators the event has drawn since 2009, when it attracted 146,680 fans over three days. In 2008, the event’s inaugural year, 174,052 spectators came through the gates." However, I'll bet ALOT on money which track would get the nod if the riders were asked. Indy is not a "proper" racetrack. It's an oval with some curves on the infield. No comparison. (Message edited by fresnobuell on April 10, 2018) | ||
| Pwnzor |
It occurred to me after I posted that you must have been referring to an entire weekend. In any case, I had read somewhere that there were two reasons they dropped Laguna Seca from the GP calendar: 1) low capacity 2) not enough room for Moto2+3 | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I heard no room for Moto 2/3. Just read a local news articlefrom when they announced the cancellation and the CEO of Laguna Seca stated an increase of $800,000 from Dorna & the fact the event had lost money for the prior 4 years... I will read between the line and say if this is a true statement, that the event was close (enough) to breakeven the prior 4 years and the $800K increase in Dorna fees was the dealbreaker....so I will blame this firmly on Dorna. The entity that runs Laguna is a non-profit organization so breakeven (or reasonable loss) was probably acceptable when looking at the big picture...ie hosting a world class event and the millions of dollars that went into the local economy. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Agreed, Dorna is the problem. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
COTA sucks. Great track design to have less than 90 degree corners at the beginning an end of all three straights. Hope Schwantz didn't have a hand in the design. Don't forget about the awful bumps and cement dust. Hard to believe they didn't the foresight to grind the track earlier and/or get a handle on the issue during the weekend. The on-track dust was a factor (plus not healthy to inhale I would guess.) Haven't seen a good race there either...ever. There's only one track in America worthy of a GP. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Yeah, literally no excuse for that track to be as filthy as it was... huge dust clouds rising up behind the riders. After a total bullshit penalty, it was gratifying to watch Marquez walk away from the pack and open a 6+ second lead and hold it. The idea that people are supposed to have eyes in the back of their heads and somehow not occupy certain areas of the track during an out lap is ridiculous. They were just looking to penalize Marquez for any little thing. No matter, the King has retained his crown, undefeated on American soil. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Marquez was touring with his head up his ass. You can bet if the shoe was on the other foot, he would have been livid as well. It wasn't purposely done like his dive bomb race tactics, but Marquez needs to get a clue. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
For the King's court:  | ||
| Pwnzor |
You can bet if the shoe was on the other foot, he would have been livid as well. I disagree. He doesn't whine. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
So you are trying in some way to defend his consistent dive bomb tactics? Because that is what everybody is "whining" about. Even the last corner dive bomb shots at Dovi could have ended up with Dovi on the ground, but Dovi was somehow was able to avoid the contact, let Marquez run wide then outdrive him to the line. Sorry dive bombing corners knowing you are either a) running into another rider OR b) running wide if by chance the other rider manages to get out of the way is BS. | ||
| Pwnzor |
That's some dream world you're living in. Can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen. | ||
| Shoggin |
MotoGP would suck if they all waved each other forward with a gentlemanly "Please sir, you first". Good racing is gonna be aggressive, and a bit of bar bumping is ok by me  | ||
| Pwnzor |
Agreed. Just watch the WSBK riders, they're down and dirty all the damn time... nobody getting penalized for piddly-ass crap... |
