Ducati Monster Forum

1st evening times.

1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.271s (41)
2. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.414s (32)
3. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 56.444s (59)
4. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.563s (38)
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.682s (60)
6. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 56.742s (42)
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.780s (56)
8. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 57.038s (57)
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 57.137s (57)
10. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.143s (39)
11. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 57.226s (57)
12. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 57.302s (61)
13. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar Team 1m 57.325s (69)
14. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.437s (56)
15. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 57.499s (49)
16. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.737s (51)
17. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 58.250s (65)

 ???

Oh wait...he's on a Honda.

So is Elias.

I guess the world really *is* upside down.

8:15pm.. stoner, spies.   

http://motomatters.com/results/2011/03/14/2011_motogp_qatar_day_1_test_times_815pm.html (http://motomatters.com/results/2011/03/14/2011_motogp_qatar_day_1_test_times_815pm.html)

Pedrosa just went fastest, 1'56.112.

Looking like the same issue in Qatar.  The Hondas are turning up the wick, now firmly in the 1:55's and the Duc's making backward progress.... and everyone else playing catch up as well.

Val picked up a spot. What's up with the turd? Is he testing some weird settings?

9:00 pm

1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 1m 55.745s (27)
2. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.183s (20)
3. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.420s (21)
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 56.439s (32)
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.707s (21)
6. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 56.931s (35)
7. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 56.990s (37)
8. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 57.056s (32)
9. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 57.228s (27)
10. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar Team 1m 57.313s (21)
11. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 57.381s (31)
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.398s (35)
13. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.405s (40)
14. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 1m 57.512s (34)
15. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.730s (28)
16. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 58.659s (22)
17. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 58.929s (31)

the only 2 satellite hondas out there, also.  so Aoyama's time is still pretty impressive.

I hope they're not testing race time setups, cause the Ducs are indeed going backwards.

Hayden back up to 7th as of 21:25.

Roughly 26 seconds behind the pace over race distance.   :P

INTERESTING ANALYSIS HERE...

 http://motomatters.com/analysis/2011/03/14/the_tale_of_the_tape_a_look_at_the_lap_t.html (http://motomatters.com/analysis/2011/03/14/the_tale_of_the_tape_a_look_at_the_lap_t.html)

So by far Casey and Whoreghey have posted the best lap times. The flying laps are more for preparing for qualifying.

exactly.....and race pace maintained overall isn't being measured either...so one of the guys who maybe is puttering as far as times, who is laying down what they are doing consistantly is likely to be potentially further up the pecking order maybe...

My prediction is that either Casey or You'regay will crash during the first race. You heard it here first. (unless someone else already said it)

final (published, best) times: casey, dani, ben.  rdp ahead of george.  =)

http://motomatters.com/results/2011/03/14/2011_motogp_qatar_day_2_test_times_final.html (http://motomatters.com/results/2011/03/14/2011_motogp_qatar_day_2_test_times_final.html)

Maybe Rossi is pulling the greatest mind-F of his career by sand bagging until the race where he'll win it by several seconds.  :-\

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/167413/1/rossi_explains_13th_place_at_tough_final_test.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/167413/1/rossi_explains_13th_place_at_tough_final_test.html)

Maybe.  But as good as he is at playing mind games on folks, he is still in the recovery process of shoulder injury/sugery.  Couple that with the fact that the Desmo is known to require a lot of rider input to load up the front end and get it to respond well into the turns (which requires a decent amount of upper body strength), it wouldn't be too surprising if this will be a learning (first half of a) season for him.

wow. The comments, particularly the negative ones, after that article are completely irrational. No consideration of how development time and tire changes affect the bike. I don't worship rossi, but give the man half a season at least.

Lots of trolls under the bridge at Crash!.....

it's less fun to be rational.  or to remember that he's got a still-healing shoulder, or that the last time he rode a non-japanese bike was 1999, etc..

This pic struck me as totally descriptive of the Ducati pre-season:

(http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/MotoGP-Qatar-test-day-two-Scott-Jones-2.jpg)

could be a new thread, but whatever.  great article.

http://plus.autosport.com/free/feature/3351/why-motogp-2011-will-be-an-epic/ (http://plus.autosport.com/free/feature/3351/why-motogp-2011-will-be-an-epic/)

this as well:  http://motomatters.com/report/2011/03/16/2011_motogp_season_preview_the_factory_r.html (http://motomatters.com/report/2011/03/16/2011_motogp_season_preview_the_factory_r.html)

Considering the way things are in Japan I'd say the season will be interesting rather than epic since moto racing isn't exactly high on the pecking order right now.

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2011/nakamoto+interview (http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2011/nakamoto+interview)

From HRC

" . . . Another problem is related to our suppliers. Many of them cannot work at the moment, and this is a potential problem for the racing activities in the coming weeks. So far we have all spare parts we need for Qatar and Jerez races, but after that, if the situation does not change, we will have to manage this carefully. . . ."