Ducati Monster Forum

WOOT! I win!  ;D


Leaving work at 2 today to drive the 7 hours to Indy. Working the Island for a couple of 2.5 hours shifts. Looking forward to renewing my friendship with the spirit of Indy.

And what are the chances, another hurricane in the area.

Looks like the 'Mur-kins are ready to race...

MotoGP FP1 Results

Po.    Name                       Team                     Gap First
1   SPIES B.           Yamaha Factory Racing         1:43.260
2   STONER C.           Repsol Honda Team           +0.292
3   EDWARDS C.       Monster Yamaha Tech 3      +0.314
4   SIMONCELLI M.   San Carlo Honda Gresini        +0.322
5   ROSSI V.                 Ducati Team                 +1.102
6   HAYDEN N.               Ducati Team                 +1.159
7   DOVIZIOSO A.      Repsol Honda Team            +1.395
8   BARBERA H.      Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP     +1.766
9   CRUTCHLOW C.    Monster Yamaha Tech 3      +2.108
10  DE PUNIET R.       Pramac Racing Team          +2.317
11  BAUTISTA A.         Rizla Suzuki MotoGP         +2.935
12  LORENZO J.         Yamaha Factory Racing      +3.100
13  PEDROSA D.        Repsol Honda Team            +3.174


I am very surprised Dani and Your-Gay are so low...even if it is FP1...

Yea, what are the odds...


mitt

Maybe they're using the oval... ;D

That would explain the home team scoring so well in FP1. ;) Stupid country of NASCRAP...

The predicted storm path shouldn't affect the weather in Indiana.

FP2 is forming up to look like normal. Although someone lit a fire underneath Colin's ass...

Er spoke too soon...Spies and Edwards currently top 5...

Getting ready to drive down to Indy so I am done doing the updates...

That crossed my mind too. Weird coincidence.

How is FP2 going? Im working. Might be able to catch the race on the night shift.

Stoner
Spies
Pedro
Lorenzo
Dovi

Thanks DP.
Im rostered on this weekend.

Seems they found some grip in the first section, but no one is really happy with the track.

Is that because of the different types of tarmac in some sections?

I guess they replaced the asphalt in the first section, as that was the worst.

It was green when they arrived and it took some time to get enough rubber down.

I guess we'll see if times continue to drop in FP3 and qualy.

Track was very slippery due to being very dirty and being brand-new pavement, had no rubber on it.

The army of Moto2 bikes has helped quite a lot on both counts.

Latest word is that the 'decent' line is about 8 feet wide.

Tire wear has been dramatic, as the grit in the pavement still has very sharp edges.

FP3:

Pos    No.     Rider                   Bike          Time     Diff     Diff Previous
1    27       Casey STONER          HONDA    1'39.538         
2    11       Ben SPIES               YAMAHA    1'39.670    0.132    0.132
3    26       Dani PEDROSA          HONDA    1'39.896    0.358    0.226
4    58       Marco SIMONCELLI    HONDA    1'40.301    0.763    0.405
5    4        Andrea DOVIZIOSO    HONDA    1'40.326    0.788    0.025
6    5        Colin EDWARDS        YAMAHA    1'40.438    0.900    0.112
7    1        Jorge LORENZO        YAMAHA    1'40.547    1.009    0.109
8    46      Valentino ROSSI        DUCATI    1'40.698    1.160    0.151
9    14      Randy DE PUNIET      DUCATI    1'40.915    1.377    0.217
10    19    Alvaro BAUTISTA       SUZUKI    1'40.916    1.378    0.001
11    69    Nicky HAYDEN          DUCATI    1'41.067    1.529    0.151
12    35    Cal CRUTCHLOW       YAMAHA    1'41.209    1.671    0.142
13    65    Loris CAPIROSSI       DUCATI    1'41.496    1.958    0.287
14    8     Hector BARBERA        DUCATI    1'41.512    1.974    0.016
15    24    Toni ELIAS             HONDA    1'41.676    2.138    0.164
16    17    Karel ABRAHAM       DUCATI    1'41.740    2.202    0.064
17    7      Hiroshi AOYAMA       HONDA    1'41.889    2.351    0.149

Cheers Sd.

Stoner's on fire.
Did 4 laps in the 38's.... only rider in the 38's.

He's roughly 1/2 sec ahead of Spies, 3/4 sec ahead of Lorenzo, and a full second+ ahead of Pedrosa.

Rossi crashed early in Qualy.
He's gridded 14th, over 2 seconds back from Stoner.

Colin's 6th, 1 1/4 sec back, and Nicky's 8th, 1.4 sec back.

The only glimmer of hope for anyone not named Stoner is that he was giving both tires a *really* hard look when he came back in from the last run.
But he's still got over half a second in hand.  :P

QP:

1		27		Casey STONER		AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda		323.5		1'38.850		---
2		11		Ben SPIES		USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha		316.4		1'39.373		0.523 / 0.523
3		1		Jorge LORENZO		SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha		316.3		1'39.629		0.779 / 0.256
4		26		Dani PEDROSA		SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda		320		1'39.947		1.097 / 0.318
5		4		Andrea DOVIZIOSO		ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda		320.3		1'40.024		1.174 / 0.077
6		5		Colin EDWARDS		USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha		314.4		1'40.098		1.248 / 0.074
7		58		Marco SIMONCELLI		ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda		316.6		1'40.204		1.354 / 0.106
8		69		Nicky HAYDEN		USA Ducati Team Ducati		322.5		1'40.244		1.394 / 0.040
9		19		Alvaro BAUTISTA		SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki		318.5		1'40.333		1.483 / 0.089
10		8		Hector BARBERA		SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati		322		1'40.360		1.510 / 0.027
11		35		Cal CRUTCHLOW		GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha		314.8		1'40.620		1.770 / 0.260
12		14		Randy DE PUNIET		FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati		317.3		1'40.815		1.965 / 0.195
13		7		Hiroshi AOYAMA		JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda		319.8		1'40.925		2.075 / 0.110
14		46		Valentino ROSSI		ITA Ducati Team Ducati		318.2		1'40.975		2.125 / 0.050
15		24		Toni ELIAS		SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda		319.2		1'41.030		2.180 / 0.055
16		17		Karel ABRAHAM		CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati		317.5		1'41.085		2.235 / 0.055
17		65		Loris CAPIROSSI		ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati		316		1'41.092		2.242 / 0.007

               


Stoney broke the lap record and Rossi was running nearly last for the whole QP...

Thanks DM. Im outa the loop. Good info.

The golden boy looked strong

There were 4 bikes spending time in the pit and one that crashed right at the end. All were Ducatis. I'm sure there's going to be some shit hitting a fan somewhere this afternoon.

Nearly all the Ducs seemed to have front tire problems, IIRC DePuniet and Barbera were the only ones not to pit.

Ducati should really campaign to allow two tire manufacturers and get Pirellis on their bike

Is it the tires or the chassis design or both that are causing front-end grip and front-end communication problems?

Still being debated  [thumbsdown]

The SPEED commentator pointed out that Rossi kept blowing his lines and running wide today. Considering that wasn't much of a problem for the Hondas, Yamahas or Suzukis on the track using the same tires, I'd go with the actual front end of the bike as a culprit.

The Ducs sucked ballz today.

Sounds like a confluence of errors today:

Hayden: “It was a really tough day. We thought the soft front tyre could be a good option for the race, but unfortunately it only worked for seven or eight laps. Then I began to steadily lose ground until it even began shaking on the straightaways, and I had to come in."

Rossi: "...the crash yesterday in qualifying, which robbed some confidence and was part of the reason we had to start so far back on the grid, and today there was a problem with the gearbox. The bike stuck in neutral six or seven times, and the first two caused me to go straight and lose time."

good recovery by ben

and i wonder if they could make a tire that would be able to overcome the duc cf issues.  i can see how having a spec tire could be a huge issue when they are basically tuned for the average as opposed to the outlier design.

Glad I spent my afternoon at the theater seeing the Aryton Senna documentary. I'll watch the recorded race some day but it didn't really result any differently than I would have guessed. Hey, when's the next WSBK race? [popcorn] ;)

Next week.  Along with the final AMA Superbike & Daytona class races. All, of which, should be far more entertaining than this MotoGP shit.

Has anyone ever bothered to ask the Ducati brass why they even bother with MotoGP racing? At least in these recent times. I have never compared the lap times in an apples to oranges manner but I bet the WSBK Ducs (Checa & Co.) lap better than the factory MotoGP bikes. Besides, don't they sell 1198 SBKS and Monsters, etc. instead of street legal MotoGP bikes?? Desmo 990 race reps are long gone. What does bad MotoGP results race after race with a racing God like Rossi do for your image? It puts it in the dumpster which negatively effects the "race on Sunday, sell on Monday" FORD motto.

I know Nicky made a bad front tire choice but to see the solo Suzook doing so well was an insult. I'm surprised Suzuki even knows it has a MotoGP team! You think Rossi wants back on the Honda team? Hell Kawi is better than this! [bang] Dream team my ass. I feel sorry for Rossi and Burgess. OK, forget the racing nonsense, I hope Burgess' wife is doing well with her breast cancer. Hits close to home. First things first, bike racing crap is a very distant 2nd, 3rd, etc...

Do you have a point in all this?

Talk about all over the map.  ???

You know what the greatest thing about TV is? the on and of switch, if you don't like Moto GP turn it off

Shocker of a race...

Stoner was dominant, Ben got a shit start but recovered, and the Ducatis sucked!  [laugh]

Stoner was impressive though...amazing to see him lose the front right after passing Pedro, but gather it up and keep pushing.  [thumbsup] I just wish someone would challenge him so we'd get a race.

The XR1200 race was very good.  [thumbsup] Crazy last couple laps.  :o

...anyway...

too bad Ben got mugged in that melee into the first few corners.

He had the pace to dice with Stoner.

...yep.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Aug/110828msquotes.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Aug/110828msquotes.htm)

And since when did I ever have a point and being a shotgun fan of course I'm all over the place! [laugh] [laugh] Note to self: don't watch recorded races with friends while drinking then post on the DMF board! ;D [drink] [beer] [wine]

Which one? There was one on Saturday that was a serious bumper bike crash fest...I think the only podium requirement in that race was to finish the race. Seriously...like 4 out of the 12 bikes that started actually finished. But I will contend that it was far more interesting to watch than the MotoGP race.

The Moto2 race was another good one...well except for Marquez crushing everyone but the method in which he got his lead was very entertaining.

Whichever one Speed aired!  [cheeky] I have no idea, but O'Hara won it at the very end. It was a great finish.

That was a great race.  I got to see all the elbows flying in Turns 2-5 while working parking on the Duc Island.  The first Harley race at IMS in 102 years, and a privateer wins it... just a fantastic story.

This is probably blasphemy, but the XR1200 series was the best part of the whole weekend.  When it was time for those guys to prep, they'd have to move all their crap in and out of the pits on scooters and quads... so you got a whole parade of drivers and staff slide past you with gas cans and stands.  Mechanics pushing bikes that were about to race, just three feet away from you.  The guy that won left the pits after the race with the trophy in one arm and a floor fan under the other one while riding in the back of a Kawasaki Mule... it was all so home-grown that it was just awesome.

[thumbsup]

I was working gear check but we had 4 guys and nobody was coming or going so I kept ducking around the fence. Got to see the turn 2 pile up first hand. Of course, there were the obligatory "must have slipped in his own oil" jokes but for all of the picking on the Harleys, those and the Moto2 race were the best of the weekend.

Anyone else notice Kevin Schwantz' prediction of the new track surfacing helping to make it a more multi line race fail to come true? I was wondering through qualifying and the race what happened. Checked out the BBC broadcast and was shocked to see this

(http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/47908/2098744270103104223S600x600Q85.jpg)

It was even more prevalent in other sections of the infield...holy crap.

Yeah sorry, why do they race at that track? Bad viewing, narrow, no passing zones, fake curbing. Im sure the guys at indy know how to host an event, but its a shit track.

Yep it pretty much looked like an F1 race.  The surface completely covered in marbles except the racing line.  It makes passing under brakes virtually impossible.  I think that's part of the reason most of the passes had riders stuffing their bikes into one another since there was so little room to work with.

Just wait until the track at Austin is finished and ready to go! 

I'd have a hard time believing the Austin track will be a bad facility, plus it will actually get used so the surface conditions will be pretty good by the time the bikes arrive.

think that's what he meant.

the Austin circuit from what I've seen is incredible. totally planned for everything.

 [thumbsup]

For what it is worth the GrandAm series will start running the Indy road course next year, so at least it'll get some more use and rubber down before the MotoGP weekend.

If MotoGP comes back next year. From what the parties involved are saying, it doesn't seem like they're trying very hard to make a deal.

Indy will have a 2012 GP.
The biggest reason is the fans.
You are going to alienate a large fanbase by only having one race next year and having that clear at one end of the country.

Indy is convenient for a LOT of people. The track isn't awesome by any means and I can think of several other tracks I would rather see MotoGP at but it also has the infrastructure in place already. The track is obviously better than it has been as is evident from lap records not just being broken but literally shattered.
And while it still isn't perfect, there were far less bikes being tossed around than in previous years due to track conditions.

If does come back next year then it'll be the last.  I'm gonna hate to see it go, Indy is a great venue.  The race itself may suck but everything else is good.  I'm not going to summer race in Austin.  Sitting in 100 degree heat isn't fun. 

Also, from what I've seen of the proposed Austin track, it doesn't look much better.  A lot of straights with only a few passing zones.  The same guy that is responsible for all the terrible F1 tracks lately designed it.  I'm hoping they shorten up the track for MotoGP but they keep saying how the track was designed to be run at full length for both F1 and MotoGP.  I just see another spread out single file race with little to no passing.

It was actually Hellmund and Swantz who had the most track layout influence on CoTA not Tilke.  Tilke's job role is to pen the design into reality, which he has a lot of experience doing.  They've also designed the straights such that they widen out at the ends to enable more lines through the corners.

If you look at the number of fans, Indy is keeping up with Laguna Seca.   Not that harleys are the best indicator but I noticed a big difference in how they were passing in the Sat vs Sunday race.  On Sunday there were multiple 2-3 wide passes.  If it comes back next year I think track will be better.... but even if stoner wins by a 60 seconds he's still going to pregnant dog about the us tracks.

"....when MotoGP comes to Austin, Texas. That race will either take place in early spring or late autumn, as the searing Texan summer would be a terrible time for a motorcycle race. ...."

http://motomatters.com/analysis/2011/08/29/2011_indianapolis_motogp_post_race_round.html (http://motomatters.com/analysis/2011/08/29/2011_indianapolis_motogp_post_race_round.html)

The Austin track just announced that they will have F1 in 2012 now instead of 2013.  This may make it easier for Dorna to dump indy next year  :(

I think Dorna keeps Indy for at least one more year until Austin has proven itself. 

I'd hate to see it go (it's in my freakin' back yard, fer Pete's sake...) but once Austin shows that it can put on a good race then the only edge Indy will maintain is proximity to the population bases on the East coast.  Anyone commuting from the NE is probably looking at an additional 16-18hrs of riding time.  That's scheduling extra days off of work for a high percentage of the fans, or choosing to fly to the event.  That may or may not be a deal-breaker for many of the fans, but I spoke with a lot of NY and PA people that were thrilled with being able to ride in.  I'm not sure that's a big enough consideration to keep Dorna interested in IMS, though.

IMS would have no one to blame but themselves if the event didn't renew.  Complaints voiced by the teams and riders are unchanged from Year One of the event, and the only action IMS took was to re-pave a portion of the infield.  IMS has done absolutely nothing to endear the MotoGP event to the people here... promotion has been non-existent, outreach hasn't occurred - this event has been completely taken for granted by the IMS braintrust.  The things that would embed the event in the local lore - track days, meet'n'greets, bikenights (how about a bike night inside the track to kick off the MotoGP week?) - nothing like that happened. Half the people I work with live within five miles of the track, three of them ride, and none of them knew MotoGP was coming until I asked for time off to work at the track.

Thanks, I haven't read anything on the proposed schedule. 

Stating a fact is not pregnant doging. In fact I hope Stoner pregnant doges more, it give this board something to pregnant dog about [laugh] 

IMS is now selling 2012 tickets... but no announcement on the race being renewed  :-\
NM they just posted the reorder notice on the main page.  Tickets ordered [thumbsup]

IMS has done nothing and will continue to do nothing to keep MotoGP. The assistance has steadily declined since the innagural. You can't compare Laguna and Indy because Laguna is relatively small anyway and it's diffcult to get to and stay in a hotel. The infrastructure is simply not there to handle large crowds. IMS and Dorna would be more than happy to completely forget about this past few years.

Austin will be the next best place to see MotoGP in the US and regardless of what the locals think about Indy, it is still a shitty venue for any road racing series.

My race reaction: "Meh... yeah, that's about what I expected."

The race was less of a snoozer than Brno, but still nowhere near as interesting as Moto2.

And while Moto2 was more interesting than GP, the Indy race was nowhere near as exciting as the last round.

No matter how much enthusiasm the commentators put into their voices, it's hard to make a seventeen bike field on a lackluster track interesting. Hondas to the front, Yamahas after them. Everyone else to the back of the bus. Business as usual.

I think the less riders the MotoGP has the Meh it's going to be.   Yam and Ducati need to figure out Honda's "clutch" if they ever want to be in front, other issues not withstanding.

they have

Figure out as in find a solution to.   After Indy Rossi would say have some work to do.   The announcers "who I know are not engineers" were saying the honda's were saving .5-1 second a lap due to the new transmission.

Ducati already has a similar gearbox they introduced on the 11.1.  Its not going to make any difference when the bike can't handle worth a darn.  Yamaha I dunno on the gearbox, but I believe they are still down on top end power and lose out a few tenths a lap because of that.  Otherwise the Yamaha is still a fantastic bike.  1 second per lap is really stretching.  2-5 tenths is probably a more realistic number depending on the circuit.  Stoner commented on it earlier in the season.