Ducati Monster Forum

...which I am sure, later on in the thread, will provide plenty of butt pictures of umbrella girls at the A-Style Gran Prix of Assen...

FP1 already occurred....

125ccFP2
09:00 - 09:40
MotoGPFP2
09:55 - 10:55
Moto2FP2
11:10 - 12:10
125ccQP
13:00 - 13:40
MotoGPQP
13:55 - 14:55
Moto2QP
15:10 - 15:55

and then ....

26 June 2010

125ccWUP
08:40 - 09:00
Moto2WUP
09:10 - 09:30
MotoGPWUP
09:40 - 10:00
125ccRAC
11:00
Moto2RAC
12:15
MotoGPRAC
14:00


the 1st FP times.....

Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Yamaha 1:35.169
2 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Ducati 1:35.180
3 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Ducati 1:35.686
4 Colin Edwards II Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1:35.699
5 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Honda 1:35.868
6 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Honda 1:35.922
7 Aleix Espargaro Pramac Racing Ducati 1:35.927
8 Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1:35.942
9 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1:36.002
10 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1:36.269
11 Randy De Puniet LCR Honda Honda 1:36.294
12 Hector Barbera Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1:36.735
13 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki Suzuki 1:36.786
14 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing Ducati 1:37.261
15 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki Suzuki 1:37.284
16 Kousuke Akiyoshi Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 1:41.332


A re-configuration of the Assen track gives the 80-year old event "new circuit" status this year in terms of a track record, etc.

Kousuke Akiyoshi is thrown to the wolves with a replacement ride on the IHM team. He replaces Aoyama who is another rider out for an indefinite period with a frightening back injury.

SpeedTV live broadcast at 9:30am ET Saturday

FP2 RESULTS...

1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Yamaha 1:34.769
2 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Ducati 1:35.088
3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Honda 1:35.451
4 Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1:35.518
5 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Ducati 1:35.576
6 Randy De Puniet LCR Honda Honda 1:35.598
7 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Honda 1:35.626
8 Aleix Espargaro Pramac Racing Ducati 1:35.640
9 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1:35.965
10 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki Suzuki 1:36.177
11 Colin Edwards II Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1:36.224
12 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1:36.297
13 Hector Barbera Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1:36.388
14 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing Ducati 1:36.944
15 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki Suzuki 1:37.190
16 Kousuke AKIYOSHI Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 1:39.379


makes me wonder...if Casey gets his pace anything near competing in a swapping battle with Lorenzo if the Interwetten backmarker will get in the way and make a difference?!?!?!?

Pole...

Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Yamaha 1:34.515
2 Randy De Puniet LCR Honda Honda 1:34.797
3 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Ducati 1:34.803
4 Ben Spies Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1:34.926
5 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Ducati 1:34.999
6 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Honda 1:35.015
7 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Honda 1:35.162
8 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 1:35.283
9 Colin Edwards II Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha 1:35.393
10 Aleix Espargaro Pramac Racing Ducati 1:35.593
11 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki Suzuki 1:35.664
12 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki Suzuki 1:36.344
13 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing Ducati 1:36.502
14 Hector Barbera Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 1:36.569
15 Kousuke AKIYOSHI Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda 1:38.198
16 Marco Melandri San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda DNQ


Italian Marco Melandri crashed out of morning practice and has suffered a damaged shoulder. He will not race at the Dutch TT, lowering MotoGP's grid number to 15.




go RDP!!!...as far as Honda's are concerned anyway...

Two races, two front row starts. Interesting...HRC must have given him some of Smurfy McDoucheNozzle's qualifying mojo.

We may get another good fight ala last race.  Expect Pedrosa to come rocketing through the field at the start.  I'd love to see Teh Ben latch onto Casey and follow him through the race.  Man, RDP's form is great so far this year.  I wonder if he can keep pace for race distance this time. 

Poor Melandri.   :'(

Looks like another good race.

i know this was talked about in the silverstone thread.. but watching qualy for that event i don't know that i've seen a more on the limit lap than when RDP threw down that half second gap on jorge.  that bike was barely on the ground.  frenchie was PUSHING.

go the ben.   [thumbsup] ;D

 [thumbsup]

RdP's problem isn't pace, it's keeping the bike upright.

RDP, Dovi, Nicky and Ben all pushing really hard.

Qualy definitely worth watching if you can.  [beer]

well, looks like I know what I'm doing tonight.   [thumbsup]

looks like its lorenzo's year. I predict his dominance for the rest of the year with the other big story of Spies hitting the podium semi regularly. Looks like he almost got it figured out.

Is this race on TV?  When and what channel?

Dunno...all I know is that it's on at 3PM at a bar 100ft from my front door [thumbsup]

god damnit speed! i hate when i miss a race!

It was on at 8:30am cst for Speed.  I watched it via motogp though.

[thumbsup]

http://www.speedtv.com/schedule (http://www.speedtv.com/schedule)   :)

+1!   >:(

the Assen GP is always on Saturday.

Whats really bs is how late they are showing the wsbk races and the fact they aren't showing the Valencia F1 gp until tuesday.

It was on FOX today.  ;)

boo

I've yet to watch the race and the temptation to click on this was too great.

 No one saying anything about results makes me think that Lorenzo took it and wasn't particularly interesting.

A strong lack of OMG THE BEN !!!!111!! Prob means, he took 5+ or fell.

I'm off to see the races now. I hope I don't get to have to eat my words later.

 [cheeky]

Quoted. 


Before you go, you want us to tell you how it turns out?

Stoner doesn't win. Neither does Capirossi. Stoner whinges about something.

Just finished watching. My predictions weren't that far off, Lorenzo again putting on a masterclass and a pretty impressive robot. I guess I'll be the first to say it: OMG THE BEN!!!1!111

That boy will be impressive next year on a factory ride.

I wish I could find the video of Lorenzo showing Thumbelina the real way to do the robot.

And here it is:

Jorge Lorenzo celebrating 2010 Assen win by planting his flag (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGsNUROAzxQ#normal)

Lorenzo to Pedrosa: No, no no, thizz here izz how you do it, Dani

Any one know where i ca get a Lorenzo land flag  [thumbsup]

http://www.grandprixlegends.com/bike-merchandise/featured-products/lorenzo-land-flag.html (http://www.grandprixlegends.com/bike-merchandise/featured-products/lorenzo-land-flag.html)

loved it when he went through that whole charade and then broke the flag stick

If I didn't want to kick Pedrosa in the johnson so passionately, I'd dislike Lorenzo more.

i just have no feeling about him.  i respect the hell out of his riding, and especially how he has turned his GP career and potential around so thoroughly.  it's just that everything about him off-track causes me to forget i'm watching.  not that that really matters.

You guys are rough! I like Lorenzo quite a bit. He's a great rider, seems to have a sense of humor, and is clearly enjoying himself out there.  [thumbsup]

Didja every watch him in 250s?  He was such an arrogant prick.  He's been a ton better since he hit the MotoGP grid, but I still have a bad taste in my mouth about him.  Thankfully, there's douchebot out there for me heap spite upon, so Lorenzo basically gets a pass.  I do find his 'celebrations' a bit silly.  Only Rossi gets to be Rossi. 

One of things I find amazing about him is his form on the bike.  It can sometimes look a bit 'off' in some pictures, but if you watch him ride on video, his back is perfectly parallel to the centerline of the bike.   

I saw him in the 250s every so often, but I didn't follow that series closely so never saw him being arrogant.

he camped at all the events b/c he couldn't get his head through any standard doorway.

I've followed his career since he started. I used to dislike him waaay back when he started because he has the life I wish I had. The dude is my age and we come from very similar backgrounds and upbringings, as well as personalities (anyone who has met me can attest to the fact that I am a pompous ass). But he has an incredible work ethic and a shit ton of heart. I mean, the dude rode with two fractured ankles and a severely sprained wrist and still managed fourth. He has trouble communicating in english, if you heard him in spanish you would realize he's a lot more laid back than what he comes off as in English. And truly, if anyone is enjoying himself on the paddock is him, and RDP and Kallio. The rest of the riders make it seem like a job, they look like they're actually having fun.

I'd put Edwards on that list too.

I almost put him, but the last few races he geniunely seems like he does not want to be there. I know he's been having some setup issues but he's starting to look like 2010 Haga, would rather be anywhere but there.

he knows he's one of the old dogs but any racer at that level has a pretty healthy ego.. sense of self-worth, whatever you want to call it.

last year he was the #1 satellite guy.  this year the guy sharing his garage is also drinking his milkshake.

which is enough to piss a guy off... ;)

but I disagree with Jesus about him seeming like he doesn't want to be there.

All do respect Jesus but I agree. I think Colin has his head screwed on right. He's an old pro, been there, done that. He'll soldier through it all and at the same time help mentor The Ben. He has always come across as that kind of guy. Rossi loved him as a teammate (from what I read) and assuredly helped him stay with Yammyhammer on Tech 3. He, like Stoner, is having no fun on the track this year but I doubt they'd rather be somewhere else. I see Edwards there for at least a couple more years on some team. After that I want to go to his central TX ranch and do one of his "camps"!!! [thumbsup] [clap] [bacon]

I really hope you're right. I'd hate to see him end up like Haga. And I really, really want to go to one of his camps as well.  [thumbsup]

+1
And the thing I like best about Lorenzo is that, unlike the vast majority of the other riders, he doesn't appear to be intimidated by Rossi. That may just be because Vale hasn't had time to break him yet   :D     Or he may just be that tough.

or he's that good.

Well, he's that good, but Vale just hasn't broken him yet.  Rossi almost broke him by forcing him to highside and crash himself into oblivion for a year or two.  He'll be the toughest to break though.  Harder than Max, Sete, and Stoner, who in retrospect, looks kinda fragile.  Which is why Rossi is the GOAT--he makes great riders just fold up and die.

Colin's fine.  He's just having a not great year so far.  He'll either pick it up as the year goes on or maybe retire if he doesn't want to keep up the grind.  <shrug>  He's not broken by having Ben as a teammate, or riding around scared like Haga.   

Not that I don't agree with you, but please 'splain what's the difference between forcing someone to push themselves hard enough to highside their ass into the stratosphere (R->L) and pressuring someone to push themselves so hard that they highside their ass to a hospital for a couple of months (L->R)?

It's debatable whether Rossi's current condition was caused by him pushing hard to keep up with Lorenzo.

However, the real key IMO is that Rossi applies the pressure during races, which is different than in practice or qualifying (like Rossi's accident). It seems you can always point to a specific race incident where Rossi "broke" his competition (Laguna '08 for Stoner).

That, and Rossi's been on top long enough that he can't be broken.

Not much difference, in my mind.  If Rossi keeps make the beast with two backsin' himself up trying to keep pace with Lorenzo, then Lorenzo will be in the process of breaking Rossi.  But it takes more than just a coupla crashes.  Look at what Rossi did to Biaggi.  Now that's breakin' someone.

Intersting point.  The elbow for Max, and the "vow" with Sete (and the much-later punt-off-the-track in the last turn of . . . uh . . . don't remember).

i don't think so either.  i just think he's taking his lumps a little as the ben shows him up a bit.

i also don't get the impression he's ready to retire.

jerez  :)

"Colin Edwards Texas Tornado Boot Camp. Or. What Did Col' Ever Do With That $3 Million Aprilia Paid Him?" (http://superbikeplanet.com/image/archive/colinedwards/bootcamp/1/)

OMG I WANT!!!!!

I'd chuck babies into traffic all day long to attennd one of those gm, you might be interested too, spies is a guest instructor ;)

...or you could just pay the entry fee. heheheh.

http://www.texastornadobootcamp.com/ (http://www.texastornadobootcamp.com/)

What is all this bs talk about Rossi highsiding, trying to keep pace with Lorenzo.  I've seen Rossi highside a handful of times in his career, and in all honesty part of his mystique is also luck.  He just didn't happen to break anything when it happened before.

Rossi is 9/10 fast and 10/10 racer.  His career has been built on the fact he is excellent when the lights went out.  He has never been a superb qualifier ( great but not the best ).  He has the gift of going fast during a race and being able to understand race tactics better than almost anyone that has participated in motorcycle racing.

Most great careers, be it any sport, are marked with two things.  Talent and luck.  Rossi has had both and fortunately for him his luck ran out near the end of his career if we're speaking about injury.  Now everyone wants to say he's done and I disagree with that completely.  His results on the Duc and his physical condition will impact his legacy little in the long run.  Whether or not he wins another championship is to be decided, but I guarantee he will give a Ducati to future generations that someone else can ride outside of a bin it or win it attitude Stoner.  While that kind of style might impress us race fans, it doesn't necessarily mean he had more talent.  Just balls.... and that style is exciting, but lacks consistancy.  We all know consistancy wins, and Rossi has had a whole hell of a lot of that for a really long time.  Lorenzo is similar in that vein ( lately ), but lets give him time and see how his career pans out.

I enjoy the taste of Rossi's balls, and so should you.

Make no mistake, they are deliciously salty with an aftertaste of nutella.

I agree with just about everything that you said, except for the fact that he wasn't pushing harder than usual because of the pressure of having Lorenzo. The fact of the matter is that Jorge has been the toughest challenge for Rossi in his entire carreer. The fact that he was being beat consistently on equal machinery could not have done anything but make him push harder, hence the highside.

really?  rossi won the championship in 2008 and 2009. 

and after the 2nd race of 2010 he wasn't healthy -- he had what has been a career ending shoulder injury for others.  he's still recovering. 

then he broke his leg.  a lot. 

and later on he still spanked george all over motegi.


i'm not taking anything away from george.. the kid is super fast, has a talent for making up many spots in the final laps of a race, and he deserved the 2010 title.  but a fair fight with rossi it was not.

When was the last MotoGP title that was decided in a fair fight?

2009?

i was speaking more to 'toughest challenge for Rossi in his entire career.'  i don't think you can use 2010 as a measure for that and the years previous, he won.

Sorry to nitpick but if we're talking "fair fight" (and I don't know what that means), Lorenzo was riding around with a buncha broken bones for half that season IIRC.

yeah, you're right.  i shouldn't really even try to quantify 'fair'.. there's always something going on, to nick's point. 

maybe you can measure his 2010 results against the previous 9 considering he missed (only?!) 4 races and somehow got 8 more podiums after the motox accident.  but.. not really.

I guess you could probably say 2003 with Vale and Sete on the same machinery.

year... won by... who was next/won

2001 106 (Biaggi)
2002 140 (Biaggi)
2003 80 (Gibernau)
2004 47 (Gibernau)
2005 147 (Melandri)
2006 -5 (Hayden)
2007 -126 (Stoner) (3rd to Pedro by 1 point)
2008 93 (Stoner)
2009 45 (Lorenzo)
2010 -150 (Lorenzo) (3rd to Pedro by 12 points)

Sete was never really a threat to Rossi. He was a slightly above average rider that never had the consistency or talent to win a world title.

Kinda what I was thinking by 'fair' was with Rossi and his competition healthy through the whole season.

The other factors of who had Bridgestones/Michelins/Hotter Girlfriend/Faster Bike/Better Tuner/More Stylish Haircut..... that debate can go on for years.  :P

Folks say the only reason Stoner won in '07 was how fast the 800 Duc was.... but Capirossi finished 6th on the same scooter....and in '06 Capirossi finished 3rd.
From a quick perusal of Wiki...


Folks with a good memory of the last ~decade of MotoGP feel free to chime in.

this is the deadest horse of them all but it wasn't the only reason..  :)

I was just referring to same machinery throughout the season and no major injuries.  No, Sete was never a threat, but the fight was fair.

Stoner won because he didn't toss the bike down the track once that season.  It doesn't matter how fast you are unless you can keep the bike upright.  He managed to accomplish that.  Amazing considering how bad that bike bucked around, but he did it none the less.