Ducati Monster Forum

Planning on going there with the wife.  Anyone else thinking about it?

We all think about it...until about June 12th, then we just buy our tickets and show up!

Be diligent about securing lodging early on. It gets very booked and very expensive around race time.

Wife booked lodging already.  Was there in 2010 and it was a blast.  Perhaps we can get a DMF group together at the Duc tent?
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ZhMDRjY37ts/ToM5w78i-7I/AAAAAAAACO8/Q64KCA59w-g/s800/39800_134961359872911_100000771423992_153327_8066536_n.jpg)

It's a bit hard to herd the cats, but we do run into each other a lot...we tend to congregate around the annoying tigerbike ;D

  Already booked my room two weeks ago, most hotels are already booked for that weekend.
I booked a few rooms at different hotels, on different days, it's too far out to make final plans (wife and kids trip or just me) I just cancel my reservations of the unused rooms by the posted no penalty date for a full refund , usually a couple months out.

Can anyone suggest one of the better camping spots at the track?

In! Got tix for Sat and Sun. We rented a lil house. Some folks around Monterey rent their place for the event as the town becomes taken over by thousands of cyclists.

Fri and Sat night on Canery Row in Monterey is Bike posing lane. Show bikes and some race bikes. It gets packed but you can always park a bike if you ride in. They close the street and it becomes a block party.
The scene is pretty outrageous actually. Worth bringing a camera.

We could meet for diner around there. There's great seafood.

I won't make it this year, as I'm working in (and in the process of moving to) New Hampshire.  But I went in 2005, 2008, 2009, and 2011, and it's well worth it.  My favorite plan is to motorcycle camp on Fox Hill.  There are usually spaces available until quite close to the race.  It's $150 for the whole weekend, for a space for up to two bikes and four people.  The campground is for bike camping only, no 4-wheel vehicles.  It's actually inside the track; if you set your tent up right you can see Turn 6 without getting out of your sleeping bag.

I'd suggest everyone go who can; this may be the last year before Ezpeleta destroys the series completely.

PhilB

I went in 2009 and got to meet Phil. I stayed with my brother, who was stationed in Monterey at the time, but other friends stayed in very overpriced hotels. I'm sure I met some people from here while working the hospitality tent on the Island, but don't ask me who was who. 20/20 hindsight, I should have organize some sort of meeting.

+1 on Fox Hill if you can still get a spot. Me and 2 friends camped there last year with our bikes and it was cool.  [thumbsup]

PS hotel prices are pretty low there usually. As you get closer to the race they go up many times normal price. 
Book now if you have a hope. Also look at Solinas as a last resort. Not very far away from the motorcycle entrance to the track actually. Not a fun town but close to the track.

This will be interesting...

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/Attack+Performance+CRT+project+USA+races (http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/Attack+Performance+CRT+project+USA+races)

Huntington Beach, California, based Attack performance, spearheaded by owner Richard Stanboli, has tasked its AMA rider Steve Rapp to contest both the Laguna Seca and the following Indianapolis round on-board its ambitious CRT project.

I will be there with the family. Usually go to Indy but wanted to visit SF anyway so figured we could kill two birds with one stone  ;)

Staying in Monterey - booked a the hotel 6 months ago. I heard there was going to be a Ducati meet-up at a restaurant called "The Cantina"? I dont have any details so if anyone knows please post!

The camping spot sounds fun and the price is right too but it is not practical for those flying in.

 [beer]

Flying in and camping.... ;D

I'll be there working at Ducati Island on Sunday doing parking. Riding up saturday most likely big sur. Still have to find out where to sleep. Might be camping it somewhere.

I'm down to meet some of you guys!  [thumbsup]

I'm in San Francisco tonight and heading down to Laguna Seca tomorrow.  I snagged a room in Monterey woo hooo.  Looking forward to an amazing weekend.

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/Bradls+MotoGP+Run+in+San+Francisco (http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/Bradls+MotoGP+Run+in+San+Francisco)

is it me or does it look like they told him to "go slow or else"

no doubt.  however i bet brick is not too grippy =)
 

Leaving today at 5PM. Camping on Fox Hill.

lucky dog you! did you have to fork out major $$$$. Been looking the past 2 weeks and its gotten worse and worse. Most likely leaving 4am on sunday [bang]

FP1 is under way...

the engine in Stoner's bike is only his THIRD of the year.

someone wanna spoiler tag this thread?  or we can start a new one..

Lorenzo already very close to the pole record.  in FP1.

top 11 from FP1.. usual suspects.  but everyone going very fast for FP1.

Ped, Lor, Sto, Spi, Dov, Cru, Ros, Brd, Hay, Bau, Edw

Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:21.424
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:21.498
3 Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:21.829
4 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:21.939
5 Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:22.609
6 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:22.672
7 Valentino Rossi Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:23.216
8 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP Honda RC213V 1:23.249
9 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:23.310
10 Alvaro Bautista Honda Gresini Honda RC213V 1:23.537
11 Colin Edwards Forward Racing Suter 1:23.905
12 Aleix Esparago Aspar Aspar 1:24.905
13 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati GP12 1:25.169
14 Mattia Pasini Speedmaster ART 1:25.215
15 Toni Elias Pramac Racing Team Ducati GP12 1:25.816
16 Yonny Hernandez BQR BQR-FTR 1:25.904
17 James Ellison Paul Bird Racing ART 1:25.931
18 Danilo Petrucci Ioda Racing Project Ioda 1:26.125
19 Michele Pirro Honda Gresini FTR 1:26.421


Steve Rapp : 1:29.814.

about 15:00 left in FP2.. cal just destroyed one of his bikes in t10.  moving slowly but walked away, looks ok.

valentino just tossed the duc into a big "Yamaha" wall in t3... [laugh]

red flag while they clean up but he's ok

10:00 to go in FP2, bikes back on track

tweet from dean: "Man, for Rossi, riding that bike must be like the movie Groundhog Day. Push, lose front, crash. Push, lose front, crash. Push, lose fr..."

http://motomatters.com/results/2012/07/27/2012_laguna_seca_motogp_fp2_result_pedro.html (http://motomatters.com/results/2012/07/27/2012_laguna_seca_motogp_fp2_result_pedro.html)

Why no moto 2/3 at leguna?

$

just 'cause.. hahaha!

laguna has always had the ama series as support races for both the motogp and worldsbk events.

i used to chalk that up to the expense of bring the smaller class teams to the states, but the fact that they'll be at indy doesn't really support that (anymore)

that said, the ama doesn't run at indy.

Not entirely true...
XR1200 series was there last year in a support role. Best racing of the entire weekend.

And there is always the Mile...AMA flat trackers.

yeah, but that's also a support race for the 1000s and 600s in the ama. the latter don't run at indy.


completely different series.  ;D

anything to do with the fact that the two classes used to be 2 strokes and Laguna is in Kalifornia?

We just had our house re-roofed due to recent hail damage. The goofy roofers moved our Directv dish and unconnected it. We haven't TV service since Wednesday and I can't get Directv techs out here for love of money... blown off day after day. But you know what? Sad to say but I don't even care if I miss the Laguna MotoGP race. That tells me a lot about the series and my interest in it. I'd be pissed to miss a WSBK race but don't give a shit about MotoGP... but I do miss watching the evening news and Walking Dead re-runs! [laugh]

(http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_sWJv3gnvA5AwcsAWkB3Zj3uxyCTWjEHbG8KkIIiJHzm0eYNRtLQ8Ny6S6Q)

Nope. Although given the climate out here (no pun intended) it's a good guess.

Even back in the day they wouldn't run the 125s, I think mostly because they want to cram more local events (AMA, e-bikes) into the venue.

Seems a silly decision. Even the commentators were commenting how epic it would be to see moto2 & 3 going through the Corkscrew...

The hell is goin' on with the weather out there gm?

I think it was mainly cost, since Laguna Seca was the only U.S. round for a long time.  There was talk a couple years ago of bringing Moto2 and (then) GP125, but it didn't happen.  Now that the Laguna Seca and Indy rounds are close together on the calendar, and with the (hopefully) additional Texas round coming, they'll see fit to give us the whole set at LS soon.

PhilB

MMF?  ;D

[Monteray Morning Fog]

for a minute there I thought I was on my fav porn site

24:00 to go in QP.  aliens, ben in 4th.  lots of jockeying around to avoid being held up by the 600s.

ben 1.21:0, into 3rd

...then tossed it.  he's ok.


1.20.693, new pole record from george.


ben back out with 5 to go

stoner got it.. then george got it back.  1:20.554.  fastest ever lap here.

QP: lor, sto, ped, spi, cru, dov, bau, hay, brd, ros, rdp, esp, ce2

good to see Hayden got into the 21s

and sad sad sad to see 2 Ducs in the middle of the CRT pack.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jul/120728cvrf.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jul/120728cvrf.htm)

dean's final comment = [laugh]
 

Ben on crutches after a visit to dr ting but plans to race

I saw this guy at Ducati Island today
(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc190/stankbone/Laguna%202012%20day%202/DSC01397.jpg)
(http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc190/stankbone/Laguna%202012%20day%202/DSC01398.jpg)

looked like his bell got rung... :-\

From the far-off video that Speed had, the rear stepped out and caught, but at least he hung on and got spun around the front rather than over the top.
He looked pretty wobbly walking through the gravel.

Speed's announcer crew are nitwits.
Something like "These bikes have traction control, they shouldn't do that, maybe it was an electrical problem."
 [roll]

Pretty much a parade.

Stoner shadowed Jorge for the first half, dropping back slowly.
Then started reeling him back in, and then with 10 to go, passed him like he was tied to a tree on the front straight.
Stoner gambled on a soft rear tire, apparently that was a good plan.

Ben was doing well, holding down 4th, then highsided at the bottom of the corkscrew.
Rough weekend for The Ben.

Rossi was holding down 8th, then appeared to lose it on the brakes in T7.
I think he bumped his head, he was wandering around in the gravel outside T8, like he didn't know where he was.

Cal chased Dovi from around 2 lengths back for the whole race.

...and Nicky passed Bradl... ;D

Forgot that.
Nicky is a bulldog.

Correction on Spies, not a highside, per se.
His swingarm broke.  [bang]

you just couldn't make this stuff up.

@YamahaMotoGP: Ben had a technical failure causing the swing arm to collapse, totally not his fault...unbelievable bad luck for his home race...

I think Jarvis paid someone.... ;D

<cough> Rossi <cough>

17M Euro?

That's the report of what Del Torchio offered Rossi to stay.

I'd say that's a tough one to walk from... ;)

Yep

Rossi has to be jumping ship after that

That's unbelievable. Talk about bad luck!

I'd be shocked if Rossi stays, $17M or not.

Yeah... If Rossi stays I think everyone will be pretty shocked.

And seriously... that's ridiculous that his swingarm collapsed.  I cant imagine what else can really go wrong for Ben this year.

I believe that Rossi will stay...

There is only one thing he can do at Ducati....move forward and win, which he will eventually do if Audi gives him carte blanche. He already has the money and fame.....pretty much like Schumacher in F1.

On the other hand, moving to Yamaha: he will be No. 2 and what will happen if he doesn't win again? Is he going to blame the bike then?

Well, there's 8 more races, and IIRC, Ben hasn't been torpedoed by Bautista yet.

Sounds like Rossi is getting tired of his head bouncing off the track in pursuit of 8th place.

Speaking of Rossi... if you look REALLY close, you can see his shattered pride.  If only my phone had a zoom on it's camera.

(http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/221404_10101676095727658_2037076268_o.jpg)

I'm glad I got a good spot on the corkscrew.

i had a great seat on the corkscrew but i walked over the top just in time to watch stoner make that incredible pass on lorenzo!............. oh, wait - that was last year.

How the hell do you snap a swingarm? Could Ben have any worse luck? At this moment I will stop speculating as to where Rossi goes. Before Germany everyone thought he would leave, then after Mugelo everyone said he would stay, now he's gone again.

maybe it was damaged in the QP off and it was overlooked?

did you happen to catch their public answer of the criticism of Ralph Mouth's pronunciation of Lorentho vs. Lorenzo?...I mean really?!?!?!

i would actually pay money to have shaheen banned from motorcycle announcing.

I'll contribute to that deal! Those guys have been taking advanced wanker classes for years! [roll] [bang] [thumbsdown] My dog could do a better job.

Valentino Rossi gets a lift from team-mate Nicky Hayden (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTfv4Xsc5Ag&feature=context-gfa#)

Here is a video of Rossi talking "off the record"  negotiates with Yamaha
Rick Astley - Never Going To Give You Up (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb_hqexKkw8&feature=youtube_gdata_player#)

2 passes all race.

No moto2/3.

Top 3 places separated by seconds.

Rossi and Spies having strange outs.

Leguna sucked this year!

Mitt

Really hope Rossi leaves Ducati.  That's still my wish.
Glad Dovi did good job again.
Awesome job by Stoner.  I do like his go for it 100% style as opposed to Lorenzo's riding style AND way too calculated about overall championship.  That's where Stoner is awesome and a true racer.
That cork screw - how the f do they do it.  Just amazing.

Looking forward to actually going to Indy and watching my first GP race in person ;)

This articles could be posted on the Silly Season, Rossi or Ben threads, but since it mentioned Laguna explicitly I thought it best to add here:

http://www.motomatters.com/analysis/2012/07/30/2012_laguna_seca_motogp_post_race_round_.html (http://www.motomatters.com/analysis/2012/07/30/2012_laguna_seca_motogp_post_race_round_.html)

Masao Furusawa in Ducati?

rather than try to relay the whole thing, look up tweets from this guy: @akyranishimura

Furusawa went to ~consult in some capacity, but more likely in a supportive let's-work-together sense than in a here's-what's-wrong-with-your-POS-bike sense.
 

Anything to prove to Val that their willing to do anything or bring anyone they need.

From @akyranishimura:

"Like someone said on his tweet, it is very unlikely that retired engineer will help rival manufacturer, especially in Japanese mentality."

I spent over a decade with Japanese nationals at Yamaha USA.
The company loyalty of that generation is monumental.

I still question why even make the trip, unless he felt that he owed something to Rossi.

he calls rossi his best friend.

How about the graphics on Hayden's Helmet?  :-)

I liked the graphics, but the transparent spoilers on the front and back of it were a bit weird to me...

(http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/2012/motogp/laguna/tim03/p01_6863.jpg)
(http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/2012/motogp/laguna/tim02/p11_6316.jpg)

I did like Nicky's helmet  [thumbsup]  [Dolph]


mitt

Looks like Nicky has the Easy Rider/Captain America look going on with his helmet.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=591388&page=2 (http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=591388&page=2)