| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
With his 1978 TT comeback, not only had he not ridden a bike in 7 or 8 years, save a few shakedown runs (I believe at Mallory) a week or three before the TT, he also spanned a generation when he cocked his leg over the 900 Duc. Previous to that, all else he'd raced was from an older and now departed era. Don't forget he almost won the Senior TT on an RG500 too, having never ridden one before! | ||
| Rocketman |
Actually, Mallory was a week after the TT. Previously he had ridden (not raced) one of Steve Wynn's 900SS at Silverstone the previous year. It was that ride that prompted Wynn to ask Hailwood if he fancied riding one in the TT. Matt, I didn't know of the Senior on the RG500. I think I need to read more about Mike the Bike. Rocket | ||
| 12r |
I'm 40 miles from Donington and looking out of the window right now it is 15 degrees and pouring with rain. This weekend is going to be a wet one  | ||
| Trojan |
MotoGP world championship leader Casey Stoner clocked the fastest time on a soaked Donington Park circuit this morning, as title rival Valentino Rossi was the highest profile victim of the appalling conditions. Stoner’s best time of 1.43.749 clocked with two minutes remaining was good enough to secure top spot despite a late surge from reigning world champion Nicky Hayden. Stoner’s best on his 17th of 18 laps completed under grey and gloomy skies was just 0.032s quicker than Repsol Honda rider Hayden, who clocked his best of 1.43.781 on his last lap of a 26-lap stint. The Australian’s closest title rival Rossi though was only seventh fastest this morning after he crashed his Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1 at the Coppice corner just nine minutes into the session. Rossi’s best of 1.45.825 left him 2.076 adrift of Stoner after he’d escaped injury in the early spill. Stoner first climbed to the top of the timesheets with 23 minutes of the hour-long session remaining with a 1.46.440 that moved him 0.285s clear of compatriot Chris Vermeulen who had just moved into second with a lap of 1.46.725. Vermeulen, who won the French GP in Le Mans earlier this season in monsoon conditions, then climbed to the top of the leaderboard with a 1.45.868 that moved him 0.572s clear of Stoner. But a minute later and Stoner, who defends a 14-point lead over Rossi going into Sunday’s 30-lap race, hit back straightaway with a best of 1.45.793 to edge 0.075s ahead of Vermeulen. Stoner had slipped off top spot thanks to another impressive display from French factory Kawasaki rider Randy de Puniet before his late burst thrust him back to the top. With Hayden claiming second late on for a much-needed morale boost after his struggles on the new factory RC212V, de Puniet was relegated to third place. De Puniet made the early running and after 20 minutes went to the top of the timesheets with a lap of 1.48.710 on his ninth lap. He then went faster on his next lap to register a 1.47.770, which saw him over a second clear of the field. At that time American factory Suzuki rider John Hopkins was second, but trailing de Puniet by 1.063s. The French rider was bumped down the field before reclaiming top spot with 14 minutes remaining when he clocked a 1.45.596 to move 0.197s clear of Stoner. He then posted a 1.45.453 on his next lap to edge out 0.340s clear of Stoner. The former 250 rider then held a massive advantage of 1.245s when he logged a 1.44.375 before eventually finishing third quickest, 0.553s adrift of Stoner. Rain specialist Vermeulen was fourth fastest overall with a best of 1.45.064. That came after he was the first crasher of the session when he tumbled off his Rizla Suzuki GSV-R on the exit of Goddards with barely three minutes on the clock. Boosted by his recent fourth place finish in the rain-soaked French GP in Le Mans, Pedrosa set the early pace despite on off-track excursion at the tricky Coppice double apex right-hander. He clocked a 1.50.669 on only his third lap and just before the halfway stage he posted a 1.47.748 on his 11th lap to move just 0.022s ahead of de Puniet. His best of 1.45.073 was good enough for fifth place, ahead of Brazilian veteran Alex Barros in sixth. Barros had been as high as fourth with 12 minutes remaining. New Kawasaki recruit and wet weather expert Anthony West was eighth quickest, finishing 2.173s behind Stoner with a best time of 1.45.922 that he clocked on his 24th lap. He looked like springing a major surprise on his first competitive outing on board the factory ZX-RR when he jumped to the top of the timesheets on only his seventh lap. A 1.48.927 moved him 0.351s clear of Pedrosa. He was back on top again with 25 minutes of the session elapsed with a 1.46.975 that moved him 0.751s clear of Stoner. LCR Honda rider Carlos Checa was the other crasher this morning when he baled out in a treacherous opening few minutes. STANDINGS 1. Stoner 1.43.749 2. Hayden 3. De Puniet 4. Vermeulen 5. Pedrosa 6. Barros 7. Rossi 8. West 9. Hopkins 10. Hoffman 11. Elias 12. Checa 13. Nakano 14. Edwards 15. Capirossi 16. Kurtis Roberts 17. Melandri 18. Guintoli 19. Tamada | ||
| Jaimec |
GO NICKY! | ||
| 12r |
"I wish I had one of those hats..."  "Care to tell us what happened, Pedrosa ?"  "Jesus I'm bored"  | ||
| Trojan |
After second (very wet) practice... Dani Pedrosa underlined his growing confidence in wet weather conditions to set the fastest time in this afternoon’s rain-soaked second free MotoGP practice session at Donington Park. Pedrosa has previously had a nightmare adapting to wet weather conditions, but he produced a brilliant late charge this afternoon to post a best lap of 1.43.870 in the dying moments of a rain-hit session. His performance showed his ability to ride in the wet has drastically improved, building on his recent breakthrough wet display when he claimed fourth place in last month’s French MotoGP in Le Mans. Dani Pedrosa’s best, which followed his fifth position from this morning’s opening session, beat Repsol Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden into second place. The American briefly held top spot when he clocked a 1.44.344 lap on his last lap. But Dani Pedrosa’s late surge saw him deny the reigning world champion by 0.474s as the Spaniard goes in search of his second successive premier class victory at Donington Park. Pedrosa’s best time was still only good enough to secure the third best time overall on the opening day of the British MotoGP. Casey Stoner’s (Ducati) time of 1.43.749 set this morning was the fastest overall time Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden’s burst proved a welcome boost for both Honda and Michelin. Honda is still to claim a victory in the new 800cc era, while Michelin has so far struggled to match the pace of Japanese rivals Bridgestone in the rain. That trend looked certain to continue for large parts of this afternoon’s session, with Aussie trio Chris Vermeulen, Anthony West and MotoGP world championship leader Casey Stoner figuring prominently at the top of the timesheets. Vermeulen finished third fastest with a best time of 1.44.371 that came on his last lap of a 23-lap stint. That left him 0.501s slower than Pedrosa but Vermeulen again lived up to his rain wizard tag. Italian Valentino Rossi recently dubbed the factory Suzuki rider rain wizard after his maiden MotoGP success in a rain-lashed French GP in Le Mans. A time of 1.44.867 set with 26 minutes of the session still remaining looked good enough to secure top spot until a late flurry of action. Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen, who crashed on the exit of Goddards corner this morning, first made his move with 22 minutes elapsed when he logged a 1.46.136 that got him to within 0.591s of team-mate John Hopkins. Fourth place this afternoon went to Texan Colin Edwards (Fiat Yamaha), who ended the session with a best of 1.44.445. That had briefly put him top after he’d gone second earlier in proceedings with a lap of 1.45.062 that at the time was only 0.195s slower than Chris Vermeulen. In the closing stages he clocked a 1.44.789 to move 0.078s clear of Chris Vermeulen before eventually being relegated to fourth. Fifth quickest was the impressive Anthony West (Kawasaki). Though regarded as something of a wet weather specialist, today was Anthony West’s first competitive outing on board Kawasaki’s factory ZX-RR. He needed only 11 minutes to show his wet prowess when a lap of 1.48.846 fired him to the top of the timesheets, 0.129s ahead of John Hopkins (Suzuki). He was knocked off top spot for a while by Casey Stoner but reclaimed the fastest time with 16 minutes gone when he posted a 1.46.253 to edge 0.140s ahead of Stoner. He then swopped placed with John Hopkins a couple of times – the American being the first rider to log a sub-1.46 lap with a 1.45.545 that left him 0.454s clear of Anthony West. John Hopkins eventually finished seventh fastest after a late off-track excursion at Coppice, the same corner that Rossi crashed unhurt at this morning. Casey Stoner was sixth fastest this afternoon but quickest on overall times. He went to the top of the timesheets with a 1.47.224 on only his third lap moving him 0.326s clear of Anthony West. He only held top spot on one more occasion during the session. The closest he got to regaining top spot came with 12 minutes to go when he posted a 1.44.916 that was only 0.049s slower than Chris Vermeulen’s best at that point. Despite the treacherous conditions the session was relatively incident free, though Alex Barros and Randy de Puniet also joined John Hopkins in running off at the Coppice double apex right-hander. French rider Sylvain Guintoli was the only crasher when he lost the front of his Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 under heavy braking going into the Foggy Esses. He escaped unhurt. STANDINGS 1. Pedrosa Honda 1.43.870 2. Hayden Honda 1.44.344 3. Vermeulen Suzuki 1.44.371 4. Edwards Yamaha 1.44.445 5. West Kawasaki 1.44.498 6. Stoner Ducati 1.44.513 7. Hopkins Suzuki 1.44.716 8. De Puniet Kawasaki 1.45.158 9. Melandri Honda 1.45.684 10. Rossi Yamaha 1.45.718 11. Barros Ducati 1.46.100 12. Capirossi Ducati 1.46.811 13. Hoffman Ducati 1.46.838 14. Nakano Honda 1.46.926 15. Elias Honda 1.47.178 16. Checa Honda 1.47.754 17. Roberts KR212V 1.48.464 18. Tamada Yamaha 1.53.261 19. Guintoli Yamaha 1.54.026 I would expect that order to change significantly after tomorrow's qualifying session. | ||
| Blake |
What is young Nick Hayden thinking? He doesn't have the skills to run ahead of so many other superior racers like that? Rain, the great equalizer. Rossi is having serious trouble. His skills are apparently not so super-human as some imagine? | ||
| M1combat |
I don't know Blake... he's damn good for sure. I think he's a little peeved this season about Ducati's power and Yamaha's apparent lack of ability to do anything about it without a big kaboom. You're right about the rain though... Rossi hasn't really ever been THAT great in the rain. | ||
| Jaimec |
It's actually typical of the "Rossi mind game" to be only mediocre during practice, then snag the pole in spectacular fashion and go on to podium (if not win outright) during the race itself. NEVER take a poor performance by Rossi during practice as a sign of what will happen in the race. | ||
| Trojan |
What is young Nick Hayden thinking? He doesn't have the skills to run ahead of so many other superior racers like that? Rain, the great equalizer. Rossi is having serious trouble. His skills are apparently not so super-human as some imagine? Don't gloat so soon Blake. This is just the first day of practice, and Rossi and his crew are invariably down the order on the first day simply because they have a tried and tested plan that involves getting the race setup and tyre choice together on Friday & Saturday morning. By the time qualifying comes around he will be on the pace. Both of the Hondas have just come from 3 days extensive testing in Spain where they have apparently made great improvements to the bike, so it is no surprise to see them up there so soon this weekend. However I suspect that they may have already shown everything they have and won't improve too much over qualifying. Edwards always looks good at Donington, as does Anthony West and De Puniet on the Kawasakis. Tomorrow the weather looks to be wet all day and Sunday doesn't look too great either, with very low temperatures as well. Given that I would expect a Bridgestone dominated race with the both Suzukis and Kawasakis scoring well. Pedrosa always goes well at Donington and Hayden is due some luck too. Stoner of course will be up there as well but don't write off Rossi yet. Interestingly, Stoner is the least happy of the leading riders and has been less than complimentary about the levels of grip available (nor surprising given the amount of rain!), so maybe his confidence isn't as high as people imagine. I think that we are in for an interesting weekend. | ||
| Jaimec |
Nicky led Practice 3 ahead of Hopkins and Pedrosa. Stoner 4th! Go Nicky! | ||
| Jaimec |
Edwards on the pole, ahead of Rossi and Pedrosa. Nicky leads the second row! Matt, what's the weather look like for tomorrow? | ||
| Trojan |
Weather for today looks very changeable. Sunshine and heavy storms, so it should make for an interesting race  | ||
| Heads |
Looks like a wet race today | ||
| Heads |
GO Casey,getting a handy points lead now. 8 races 5 wins, not to bad  | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Maybe it is too soon...... There are still 10 races left...... DUCATI 2007 MOTOGP CHAMPIONS It seems that a great rider like Stoner was the missing element for the Ducati MotoGP team. | ||
| Heads |
True there is still 10 races left but one would have to say on form casey is the favourite at this stage of the season. hmmmm my predictions are looking promising. http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/406 2/197479.html. look at the last post but maybe it is to soon. you have to stick the knife in to the nockers when its availiable... hahaha | ||
| Trojan |
I must say that was the most boring motorcycle race that I have ever watched. By lap 10 it was obvious that the Michelin riders' tyres were shot and that they were just hanging on for whatever they could get. Edwards had no answer to Stoner when he breezed past, and neither did Rossi when Vermuelen went past him. As for the Hondas...no comment. Well done to Casey Stoner, but it was not really a race, more of a tyre durability test. The telling fact to me was that the fastest laps of the race were done in the very closing stages by Marco Melandri & Loris Capirossi, both running soft compound Bridgestones. All of the Michelin guys were running hard compounds and they still disentegrated within half distance. And what was Hayden doing!! OK, he came into the pits after dropping the bike, but had the pefect opportunity to switch bikes and risk trying dry tyres or cut slicks as he had nothing to lose, and there was a definite dry line showing. Instead he just cruised around looking like he reallly didn't want to be there, just to finish 4 laps off the leaders. He would have been just as well pulling in and taking an early bath. | ||
| 12r |
I must say that was the most boring motorcycle race that I have ever watched I agree. With 10 laps to go I went out to watch Shrek The Third. Far more entertaining  | ||
| Heads |
Trojan: it was a very boring race... Would have been interesting if Ant West had of stayed upright.. Trojan: they say that the suzuki will do well at assen,whats your take on that? | ||
| Trojan |
Trojan: they say that the suzuki will do well at assen,whats your take on that? Hard to say really, as the Suzuki has been the surprise package of the season. If it is wet then they will no doubt go very well. In the dry I think Colin Edwards, Rossi, Stoner, Pedrosa will be the men to beat as usual. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
"I must say that was the most boring motorcycle race that I have ever watched. " For Rossi fans, unless Valentino wins watching motoGP is boring????? "By lap 10 it was obvious that the Michelin riders' tyres were shot and that they were just hanging on for whatever they could get. Edwards had no answer to Stoner when he breezed past, and neither did Rossi when Vermuelen went past him. As for the Hondas...no comment. " The package Ducati&Stoner is in much better shape than Edwards&Yamaha, and the best in motoGP at the moment. Why is this so difficult for some people to accept? For me, after Stoner took charge of the development, Ducati is the best bike on the grid, by far. When it comes to racing Ducati is the best team. They have dominated WSBK, now they will do the same at motoGP. They 100%deserve it, after the commitment and efford and money and passion they have invested in moto racing all these years! Edwards said that he chose hard compound wet tires. What did the other Michelin riders choose? Maybe they went for softer tires and that proved a mistake? Rossi had a lot of battles and wasted his tires. Also he made mistakes that kept him behind. Then he had to push really hard to catch up, and his tires got wasted. Simple.... I think Rossi fans should look into Vale's own mistakes. Actually the race was FANTASTIC. A lot of overtaking, a lot of crashes + remount, brave riding, a lot of time gaps disappearing...... I feel good for Edwards. He deserved a good racing weekend like this. | ||
| 12r |
I really don't care who wins, providing it's a race and not a procession. Watching the top guys tippy-toe round with seconds between them is dull, dull, dull. | ||
| Jaimec |
Catalunya was an exciting race, even though Rossi didn't win. Donington was a boring race, even though Rossi didn't win. Get it? | ||
| Trojan |
Edwards said that he chose hard compound wet tires. What did the other Michelin riders choose? Maybe they went for softer tires and that proved a mistake? Rossi had a lot of battles and wasted his tires. Also he made mistakes that kept him behind. Then he had to push really hard to catch up, and his tires got wasted. Simple... All of the Michelin runners chose hard tyres the same as Edwards. I think he gave his tyres an easier time than Rossi, but even then his were knackered by mid distance and he had to watch Stoner cruise past him without even trying to put up a fight. Rossi didn't waste his tyres by battling. Every time he tried to push hard the tyres let him down. I don't think any other rider would have made the save that Rossi did when he ran onto the grass. Nobody is saying that Stoner isn't a great rider. What I am saying is that the season is being ruined by poor tyre regulations. | ||
| Blake |
Michelin has to abide by the same tire regulations as Bridgestone. A Michelin rider led much of the race and took 2nd. But Rossi didn't win. The horror. If Michelin/Rossi were dominating, would it still be a ruined season? Probably not from the perspective of the Rossi hyper-fans. Kudos to Bridgestone and Ducati. | ||
| Jaimec |
Under the old rules, Michelin did have a bit of an unfair advantage. BUT I agree with Matt that it is LUDICROUS to lock down the tires the riders can use on Thursday before the riders have even had a chance to check out the track, let alone have any idea what the weather may be like on the actual race day. I believe they should be allowed at LEAST one practice session so as to make a more informed decision on what tires to reserve for the weekend. Right now, it's a crap shoot. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Tire regulation are the same for EVERYONE, except Dunlops. Wet race tires are UNLIMITED. The rules are rules, and all the teams have to play with the given rules? Get it? It seems that Yamaha and Honda on Michelin were actually cheating all these years. The new rules are fair and great. Bridgestone have invested a lot of time and efford to be competitive in motoGP. Well done to them. I think the race results we had so far, would have been the same if Yamaha and Ducati switced tires. The Ducati GP7 with Stoner is flying. I think that everyone have missed the actual point. We are entering the DUCATI ERA in motoGP. The Japs should have seen it coming. As far as Rossi's tire being wasted and Stoner's being perfect......Stoner said that he actualy saved his tires by entering wet patches. Rossi always has to push extra hard because all the ridders wants to fight him, and not let him through easily. Staying at the top is not easy, even for Rossi. He might still get the title this year, but he has to realy go 100%, maybe for the first time in his carrer. Stoner is doing for Ducati & Bridgestone what Rossi did for Yamaha and Michelin. Developing the bike, in the right direction. The efford of Chris Vermulen catching up Rossi from -5sec behind was really interesting. | ||
| Trojan |
As far as Rossi's tire being wasted and Stoner's being perfect......Stoner said that he actualy saved his tires by entering wet patches. All of the leading runners did the same thing, you could see them going off line down the main straight to get some water on the tyres. Bridgestone have done a much better job this year than Michelin, that is for sure. Unfortunately that takes away the sport and makes the championship into just a tyre war, which is a shame. There are riders such as Hayden, Pedrosa & Rossi whose ability is not able to show through simply because Michelin cannot provide them with the best tyres. I agree that Ducati have done the best job on the new 800 bike, but am still disapointed that it isn't down to a straight fight between the leading protagonists. The gap is still not un-bridgeable between Rossi and SToner, and if you look at what Rossi did in the second half of last season it is still very possible that the tables may yet be turned on Stoner. I hope that by the end of the year Michelin get their act together and it comes down to a straight fight between them. |
