Ducati Monster Forum

a day early but Ryder columns are always interesting:  http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120404rydernotes.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120404rydernotes.htm)
(esp re Biaggi's engines...)

SpeedTV, 4/8:
Moto2: 11:00am PT
MotoGP: 12:00pm PT

SpeedTV, 4/10:
Moto3: 9:00am PT
(followed by m2 and gp reruns)

Thanks for posting the airtimes!

Predictions:
1) Pedrosa sails a yacht (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=56182.0) to the race...and ends up 4th.
2) Rossi finishes 6th, complains about front-end woes, says they're "making progress."
3) Stoner makes us all yawn in the night.

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAAA

+1 though you're forgetting, Lorenzo gives us a nice little battle with Stone at the beggining, but then high sides all the way to outer orbit

i dunno.  i think it will be predictable.. and i also can see the real possibility for some surprises.

Spies overtakes Lorentho late in the race....

not for nuthin'

are you a weatherman? ;D

I bet he plays one on TV

Mostly sunny with a 50% chance of some clouds and rain.

I was going to say something more to the tune of...partly weathered with a chance of sandstorm and an occasional chance of weather...

[laugh]

tbh i just didn't feel like typing it all out...  ;)

You never know what can play out, but it does look like it will go according to script. :-\

 [popcorn]

I'd say Lorenzo battles Stoner for first for a little while (2 laps? 3?), then spends the rest of the race trying to hold 2nd from a combination of Spies, Hayden, Rossi, and Rear Admiral (Lower Half) Pedrosa.

My predictions... I will be super excited when Rossi or Hayden power to the top 5, until the first corner, then it becomes a parade to Stoner's first win of the season.

only thing is.. and it may not matter for the mighty HRC, but the repsol bikes really haven't done a lot of laps yet.  there's something going on there.

and i expect a lot more outta the ben this year.

probably...

I've heard that before.  :P If he figures out the first two laps he'll be right there fighting for the podium most days.

We shall see.

Did I read that article right? Did Aprilia go through 28 motors last year?

yup.  2 more than 1 per rider, per race.

Is this "normal" in WSBK?

Who cares?

This is a motogp thread. :-*

Stoner and Lorenzo get tangled up halfway through the first lap and both die in a fireball, opening the door for Spies' first championship.  Pedrosa decides that speedboat racing is more his cup of tea and retires from MotoGP after his collarbone gets broken for the 35th time, being torpedoed by Rossi, who takes way too many risks.  Crutchlow comes in second after running Dovi off the course in the last corner and Hayden picks up the pieces for third.  DePuniet wraps up fourth position, and Aprilia is subsequently found to be running a complete prototype machine and no longer qualifies for CRT status.

Who wants a piece of this action?   ;D

I expect a lot more dissapoontment for you this year. Last year really showed where Spies's talent level lay. He's the new Edwards.  I don't mean that in a bad way, just realistically.

I wouldn't knock on him that hard.  Spies is capable of winning a few races, whereas Edwards never quite reached that plateau.  His only real shot at a win was thrown away.  We'll see how he does when the tires get shagged.  I see some late race charges from that man.

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-motogp-schwantz-on-wind-tunnel (http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/video-motogp-schwantz-on-wind-tunnel)

Just makin' shit up here, but . . .

1)  Stoner
2)  Lorenzo
3)  Pedrosa
4)  Spies?
5)  Crutchlow
6)  Dovi
7)  Rossi
8)  a Honda
9)  Hayden
10)  DePuniet
38)  CE

I like The Ben and really, really, really hope I'm wrong, but I'm mostly in El Matador's Jester's camp.  The difference is that Spies can win a race on a rare occasion and be a reliable podium threat.  Colin never really could.  I don't see the late race charge thing being a factor.  He's always done that--even recently--but it doesn't make up for the first third of the race.

[laugh]


...all i said was that i expect more out of ben.  not that it's gonna happen.

to be fair, the 800 never suited him.  he had to remake his riding style in order to be there abouts on it.  still his stats from 2010/2011 say he's a lot more than CE2-2.

BUT.. he for sure has not been his 2009 or Laguna-2007 self in GP.  the new bike makes that more possible.  he's fast as make the beast with two backs and can battle.. we just haven't seen it lately.  maybe we will, maybe he'll be fighting for third all year.


like PI, i still assume casey will win this race tho.

And the second coming will be the highlight of the post-season. [cheeky]

I don't think the 1000 is going to be much different.  He still can't ride it like a superbike, and with the electronics and fuel limit, it is going to require largely the the same precision--both in terms of riding and set-up--as the 800s.  And an even bigger issue for Ben's riding style is the Bridgestones.  

Frankly, I dunno how Casey does it.  I think of him a ride-it-loose type of rider, ala Hayden and Spies.  But he gets through corners faster than the Spanish 250 cornerspeed demons.  I don't get it.  

Hopefully the softer Bridgestones help with his starts. That seems to be his main problem. I think he can battle with the Aliens if he can just stay with them for the 1st 2-3 laps.

yeah, i agree.  "different" is a tenth or two.. but that makes a big difference at this level.

and


^ that.

hopefully they really are better in the first few laps.  ben in particular has no problem with shagged tires at the end of a race.  if there's a couple tenths in both those factors, then...

I agree with you 11ty billion percent

As long as he gets a good jump for the front from the get go, he can hang with those guys.

Stoner is still going to take it away but he is still going to complain about something. He can't seem to keep the sand out of his cooter

I'd like to think that Hayden is going to step it up this year but that's probably only a pipedream

I think a bigger factor for how close Ben can get to the front is that it *should* be easier to pass with the bigger engine.  Ben starts off slow and then gets going.  But in a lot of races, he has a couple of laps where he slows down by as much as a second because he is getting held up.  We already know he is a demon on the brakes.  Hopefully, the 1000 will allow him to do superbike-esque block passes that rely on having grunt to get out of the corner.  If so, that might allow him to get put the passes on earlier and through traffic a bit faster.  That'll like have a bigger effect on how close he gets to the front than trying to find .1 here or there.  It'll be fun to watch too.

Here's to hopin'.   [beer]

Yeah Ben should be helped by the big bike, he must be 10-20 pounds over most of the riders and he's fit. Just a bigger guy.
Mladin had nothing but praise for him in a recent interview, he rated him way over Hayden. Said he was the best he ever raced against.

I am going to make a prediction that is contigent...

if Casey doesn't win, it is because he crashed due to him now having run the bike the full distance(unlike in testing at all) and either due to handling on shagged tires or him feeling shagged out, gets off race line and loses the bike in the "sandy" non race line portion of the track...and during the crash, gets ample amounts of sand in his vag....

...and even if when he wins, he'll complain about it.

FP1 about to start.  Here comes GP 2012, gang . . .   Wooohooo!!!    [thumbsup]

BIKES ON TRACK BIKES ON TRACK BIKES ON TRACK BIKES ON TRACK BIKES ON TRACK


 ;D

I think Mladin has a man crush on The Ben. I like Spies a lot, but I have yet to see him do anything on a GP bike that Hayden hasn't already done. Hayden's also been saddled with a shit bike since he won his championship.

Good thing there is no wall at Ducati.  I think its time for Rossi to start stealing Hayden's setups a'la stealing Lorenzo's setups back at Yamaha.

At some point you'd think del Torchio would tell the guy to either strap on his ball sack or get the f**k out of the garage.  You can't be a legitimate lead factory rider when your own "lesser" teammate smokes you by a second, and have a gaggle of satellite bikes, including your own factories make, in front of you.  Can't wait to see the interview and what person he blames the s**t setup on this time.

Also, the sound of the new moto1 bikes will take a bit of time to get used to.

Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:56.474
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:56.648
3 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:56.924
4 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:56.982
5 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:57.130
6 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:57.395
7 Alvaro Bautista Honda Gresini Honda RC213V 1:57.512
8 Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:57.547
9 Hector Barbera Pramac Racing Team Ducati GP12 1:57.912
10 Valentino Rossi Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:57.914
11 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati GP12 1:57.939
12 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP Honda RC213V 1:58.934
13 Randy De Puniet Aspar Team MotoGP ART 1:59.985
14 Colin Edwards Forward Racing Suter 2:00.044
15 Michele Pirro Honda Gresini FTR 2:00.322
16 Roger Lee Espargo Aspar Aspar 2:00.720
17 Ivan Silva BQR BQR-FTR 2:01.138
18 Ivan Silva BQR BBQ 2:00.261
19 Yonny Hernandez BQR BQR-FTR 2:00.276
20 Danilo Petrucci Ioda Racing Project Ioda 2:00.352

btw...I expect the times to come down a fair bit due to the track being reported yesterday as "sandy" and them having to scrub it in due to a lack of having a round of preseason testing there a week before like in recent previous years...

It will be sad this year knowing Edwards will just be more of a mobile chicane for the fast guys. I know his day was done at Tech 3... they needed to move on with new, younger talent. And I know he can contribute to his mobile chicane CRT team. Blah, blah blah. But still, it's like when Brett Farve wouldn't retire... OK, not exactly... Edwards would never be douchey like that. But CE's had his day and then some and I love him for it. I just like seeing my sports heroes go out on top. Not back markers off the pace by a couple of seconds just to say they are still racing. I'd rather read funny stories about his racing boot camp in the TX Hill Country than how he got lapped in MotoGP races this year. Prove me wrong CE! [thumbsup] [popcorn]

Rossi is pretty much looking like a mobile chicane too [thumbsdown] And that's not just bad for Rossi fans, that's bad for the sport.

FP1 top speeds:  http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120405bn.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120405bn.htm)

Shit. My street legal sport touring Hayabusa will run faster than 178! [bang] [roll]

New CRT formula?

It probably doesn't handle any worse than the Duc...

That's not saying much...

It's a 'Busa.  ;)

Hayden is 3rd in FP1  [thumbsup]

But Rossi is 10th  [thumbsdown]

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   1   Casey STONER   AUS   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   334.5   1'56.474   
2   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Yamaha Factory Racing   Yamaha   329.9   1'56.648   0.174 / 0.174
3   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Ducati Team   Ducati   334.2   1'56.924   0.450 / 0.276
4   11   Ben SPIES   USA   Yamaha Factory Racing   Yamaha   326.7   1'56.982   0.508 / 0.058
5   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   332.9   1'57.130   0.656 / 0.148
6   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   329.2   1'57.395   0.921 / 0.265
7   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   San Carlo Honda Gresini   Honda   336.8   1'57.512   1.038 / 0.117
8   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   330.0   1'57.547   1.073 / 0.035
9   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Pramac Racing Team   Ducati   337.2   1'57.912   1.438 / 0.365
10   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   334.3   1'57.914   1.440 / 0.002
11   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Ducati   336.1   1'57.939   1.465 / 0.025
12   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   330.9   1'58.934   2.460 / 0.995
13   14   Randy DE PUNIET   FRA   Power Electronics Aspar   ART   314.0   1'59.985   3.511 / 1.051
14   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Mobile Forward Racing   Suter   315.1   2'00.044   3.570 / 0.059
15   51   Michele PIRRO   ITA   San Carlo Honda Gresini   FTR   309.5   2'00.322   3.848 / 0.278
16   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   Power Electronics Aspar   ART   311.8   2'00.720   4.246 / 0.398
17   22   Ivan SILVA   SPA   Avintia Blusens   BQR-FTR   304.7   2'01.138   4.664 / 0.418
18   54   Mattia PASINI   ITA   Speed Master   ART   307.6   2'01.261   4.787 / 0.123
19   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Avintia Blusens   BQR-FTR   303.7   2'01.276   4.802 / 0.015
20   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   Came IodaRacing Project   Ioda   288.5   2'01.352   4.878 / 0.076
21   77   James ELLISON   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   ART   302.4   2'03.421   6.947 / 2.069

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=56221.msg1044487#msg1044487 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=56221.msg1044487#msg1044487)

 [laugh] [laugh]

It's nice to see Pedrobot piloting his boat to 5th! [laugh] [laugh]

so RDP is 1 second from the last satellite bike.  rookie vs vet, i know.  but just sayin'.

Eric Cartman - Come Sail Away (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOWK7Tam01M#)

(http://s1.visordown.com/uploads/images/medium/46846.jpg)

It's just...

It's not gonna get old.

Ever.

;D

AAAAAAH! I'm trapped in an infinite loop!  ;D

Serves me right for posting without my  [coffee]

Maybe I spoke too soon?

Or too soon to tell?

 [beer] Here's to hoping

looks like ben kept the same tires for all of fp1:

“We made our fastest lap when the tyre had dropped off with almost race distance on it."

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/178323/1/happy_ben_spies_strong_throughout.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/178323/1/happy_ben_spies_strong_throughout.html)

fp2 in 15 minutes....

Rossi 3 tenths of a second faster than Abraham  :-\

Barbera pulled a fast one and Hayden looked pretty good again

So far it's been a lot of the same old story  [roll]

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   1   Casey STONER   AUS   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   332.6   1'55.960   
2   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Yamaha Factory Racing   Yamaha   328.8   1'56.174   0.214 / 0.214
3   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   332.2   1'56.648   0.688 / 0.474
4   11   Ben SPIES   USA   Yamaha Factory Racing   Yamaha   328.2   1'56.671   0.711 / 0.023
5   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Pramac Racing Team   Ducati   339.0   1'56.678   0.718 / 0.007
6   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   331.6   1'56.697   0.737 / 0.019
7   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Ducati Team   Ducati   336.9   1'56.782   0.822 / 0.085
8   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   330.5   1'56.814   0.854 / 0.032
9   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   332.4   1'57.197   1.237 / 0.383
10   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   337.0   1'57.274   1.314 / 0.077
11   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Ducati   334.0   1'57.523   1.563 / 0.249
12   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   San Carlo Honda Gresini   Honda   334.1   1'57.668   1.708 / 0.145
13   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Mobile Forward Racing   Suter   317.1   1'58.801   2.841 / 1.133
14   14   Randy DE PUNIET   FRA   Power Electronics Aspar   ART   310.9   1'58.945   2.985 / 0.144
15   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Avintia Blusens   BQR-FTR   307.5   1'59.698   3.738 / 0.753
16   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   Power Electronics Aspar   ART   313.9   1'59.997   4.037 / 0.299
17   51   Michele PIRRO   ITA   San Carlo Honda Gresini   FTR   309.9   2'00.231   4.271 / 0.234
18   54   Mattia PASINI   ITA   Speed Master   ART   314.4   2'00.373   4.413 / 0.142
19   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   Came IodaRacing Project   Ioda   292.4   2'00.404   4.444 / 0.031
20   22   Ivan SILVA   SPA   Avintia Blusens   BQR-FTR   305.9   2'00.787   4.827 / 0.383
21   77   James ELLISON   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   ART   303.1   2'02.112   6.152 / 1.325

Rossi needs to be ashamed of himself.  Retire or pick up the pace.  He's just sucking up all that money they paid him and wiping his ass with it.  Maybe he's pouting, no confidence, whatever.  There is no excuse for his performance.  Seeing where Hayden and Barbera are, he should be 2-4 tenths quicker by default and fighting for a podium.  Rossi is turning into a joke if he can't turn it around quickly.

You have to wonder if Preziosi will still listen to him when he's the backmarker carrot for CRT's.... and what will this do for the development of that bike. 

I guess we'll see what FP3 brings.  Maybe some miracle will happen.

You can't pull a miracle like that out of your ass. I think Nicky's time is deceiving. How many laps did Stoner complete? It seems he just goes out there for 5 laps and brings it in.

Nicky's lap seems reasonable to me. 7th place...just like all of last year. Rossi is slower, but who knows why. Maybe he still has the hard tire on from yesterday!  [laugh]

could still be running a testing program, but you're right, who knows?

Did Gresini (Bautista) get a "factory" honda this year?

yes.

pirro - no ;]

FP3 - Lorenzo, Crutchlow, Stoner.  Ben in 11th w/ a crash early on.

http://www.motomatters.com/results/2012/04/06/2012_qatar_motogp_fp3_result_lorenzo_tak.html (http://www.motomatters.com/results/2012/04/06/2012_qatar_motogp_fp3_result_lorenzo_tak.html)


1.    Jorge Lorenzo    ESP   Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1)    1m   55.302s   
2.    Cal Crutchlow    GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)    1m   55.456s   
3.    Casey Stoner    AUS   Repsol Honda (RC213V)    1m   55.674s   
4.    Andrea Dovizioso    ITA   Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1)    1m   55.905s   
5.    Dani Pedrosa    ESP   Repsol Honda (RC213V)    1m   56.114s   
6.    Hector Barbera    ESP   Pramac Racing (GP12)    1m   56.163s   
7.    Nicky Hayden    USA   Ducati Team (GP12)    1m   56.402s   
8.    Valentino Rossi    ITA   Ducati Team (GP12)    1m   56.535s   
9.    Stefan Bradl    GER   LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V)    1m   56.751s   
10.    Alvaro Bautista    ESP   San Carlo Honda Gresini (RC213V)    1m   56.771s   
11.    Ben Spies    USA   Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1)    1m   57.030s   
12.    Karel Abraham    CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing (GP12)    1m   57.223s   
13.    Randy De Puniet    FRA   Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT)    1m   58.261s   
14.    Colin Edwards    USA   NGM Forward Racing (Suter-BMW CRT)    1m   58.310s   
15.    Michele Pirro    ITA   San Carlo Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT)    1m   58.800s   
16.    Yonny Hernandez    COL   Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)    1m   59.087s   
17.    Aleix Espargaro    ESP   Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT)    1m   59.169s   
18.    Danilo Petrucci    ITA   Came IodaRacing (Ioda-Aprilia CRT)    1m   59.517s   
19.    Ivan Silva    ESP   Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)    2m   0.035s   
20.    Mattia Pasini    ITA   Speed Master (ART CRT)    2m   0.226s   
21.    James Ellison    GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT)    2m   0.563s   

So does that mean he's going to suck early in races again?

Well, look at that. Ducs 6-8 at about 1 second off the pace.  [laugh] Deja vu

Hector being Hector.  He latched onto Lorenzo's tail and followed him around a very early hot lap at the beginning of the session and never improved after that.

i'd say those two situations are unrelated.

Stoner playing possum?

Interesting times, crutch low being the only notable difference

You sure about that?

I see it as more of the same from The Ben, he needs to learn how to get his shit together earlier

his shit was mostly tied to the 'stones, same as most.  he just had the speed to catch up with the aliens after they warmed up.

this year's tires are/are supposed to be better.  and that's capirossi's job now, or a huge part of it.

Not sayin' he ain't got the speed, just sayin' he needs to create a bigger window for himself.  Having your best times being posted on almost cooked tyres gives you a very small window to optimize your performance. So he will continue tofall prey to riders who can manage that at an earlier point in the race, and for a longer period

Nicky the day he found out he was going to Ducati:

(http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/10/30/js31moto_narrowweb__300x425,0.jpg)

^^^  [clap]  That is pretty good

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Probably a pic out there of Rossi doing the same thing! ;)

Rossi is becoming a joke.  Edwards was within sniffing distance of Rossi up until Rossi's last ditch ( hah, last ) effort at a faster 12th place time.

Especially after that QP...

2.179 seconds off the pace and just in front of Colin Edwards.

Man o man

In other news, Crutchlow looked good as did Spies and Hayden

Props to whoregay for bumping Stoner out of pole position!

The stories of qualy:  Crutchlow, Yamaha, Edwards, Rossi.  And George.  

Ben qualified well, but does he have a bike for tomorrow?  Crashed again.

Way to go Nicky. Middle of the second row.

I think we're going to have some excitement in MotoGP tomorrow.   [thumbsup]

Woot! Go Jorge! It would be si strange to see someone else win at Qatar

I found this juxtaposition... amusing:

(http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj19/DrunkenMonkey_bucket/ridewithconfidence.jpg)

I'm praying we have a start to finish battle between Casey and Jorge.  I expect the battle for third could be 6 riders deep as well.

So, qualifying...

Hayden 5^th [thumbsup]

Rossi 12^th [thumbsdown]

Are they filling Val's tires with concrete? He looks like shit out there.

My money's still on the Australian kid.

Ben looked good, but in the gravel twice this weekend.
Got his left hand caught between the right side fairing upper and the triple/clipon on that last one.

Hayden's flogging that Duc, Rossi is searching for feel.

Crutchlow and Dovi ripping on the Satellite Yamahas.

Looks like the Yamahas are dialed in. They're all up there.
Means Casey and Nicky are doing well to be among them.
Great to see Nicky up there.

Zzzzzzzzz....

Just can't get excited about GP racing anymore. WSBK is just so much better. Wonder how long the GP class racing will even hang on? Can't even believe I am asking that question given how long I have been a fan. [bang] Just no sparks and fury anymore. NASCAR on 2 wheels. :P [roll]

Dude. There's a WSBK thread somewhere out there. You don't need to remind us that you're not a fan of MotoGP.

He's just complaining for the sake of it. He'll watch ALL GP and Moto 2 races and we'll get to hear about ow much better it was in the good old days. Remember when Moto 2 started? God that was annoying.

Don't be lured in by the waving of the cane:

(http://forum.gon.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=615781&stc=1&d=1313165072)

 [laugh] [laugh] Don't pay attention to the ramblings of a fussy old fart... that is unless it's Nate doing the rambling! [laugh] [laugh] [beer] ;)

Of course I'll watch M-GP. You will just to have to endure me pregnant doging about it later! [cheeky]

At least you havent lost your sense of humour  [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]; but I guess that'll go too, eventually, along with your hair and eyesight  ;)

Just Kidding Fast, we love you  :-* :-* :-*

Now when the hell is the torrent for this thing gonna be up, I've been waiting  [bang] [bang] [bang] [bang]

It's being run at 3pm EDT...

don't hold your breath... :-*

Holy shit.  :o

Moto3 race for 3rd.  [popcorn]

Moto2 Marquez vs Ianone! [popcorn] [popcorn] [popcorn]

Race for first!!!!!! AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! [popcorn] [popcorn] [popcorn]

[popcorn] [popcorn] [popcorn]

[popcorn] [popcorn] [popcorn]

all hail the new bridgetones...  ;D

+1

I had a blast watching Moto3/2 and GP gave us some racing today!  I hope the whole year continues to shape up like this weekend.  I'm guessing Casey's chatter wore him out as much as the bridgestones went off.  Lorenzo played the cards right and Dani had some fire in him.  I hope he can get through this season healthy.

That was a good race.  Some good passes throughout! Great riding by the top 3.  [bow_down]

Nice to see Crutchlow ride well too, as well as Hayden.   [thumbsup]

Spies & Rossi?

Irrelevant...apparently. It's painful to think of the GOAT running around in 10th.

Now that the in-laws have finally left after Easter lunch and the rest of the family is off to this evening's Rangers game looks like it's time for a cold adult beverage and some Moto-GP race watching. [thumbsup] [drink] [popcorn] Sounds like some good racing!

... see, I don't pregnant dog all the time. [laugh] ;)

Did not watch moto3, but heard it was good.
 
Moto2   :o

I would have been happy if they left the camera on turn 1 the whole race.  [bow_down]

GP was actually entertaining, at least the last few laps. Crutch trying to get past Dovi was just hilarious. Spies and Rossi going backwards was sad. Nicky had to fight for that 5th, but I'm happy he had a decent showing.

Overall  [thumbsup]

I can't even say that I'm dissapointed anymore, as that bike has broken and discarded many good racers.  Rossi is clearly not "all in."  

Its not like you can say "oh well the other guys are riding it ok," as they finished 28+ seconds behind the winner.  Its arguably a bigger piece of shit than last year and the finishing time would definately say that.

True. Sometimes you talk about guns.   :D

Hayden got 6th. Cal and Dovi 4th and 5th (good battle).

...and he didn't look very happy about it.

ben says:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/latest+videos#Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Ben+Spies (http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/latest+videos#Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Ben+Spies)

nicky says:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/latest+videos#Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Nicky+Hayden+1 (http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/latest+videos#Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Nicky+Hayden+1)

rossi says:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Valentino+Rossi (http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Valentino+Rossi)

and the paddock girls look like this:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/MotoGP+Paddock+Girls+in+QATAR+2012 (http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/MotoGP+Paddock+Girls+in+QATAR+2012)

cal:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/latest+videos#Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Cal+Crutchlow+1 (http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/latest+videos#Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Cal+Crutchlow+1)

dovi:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Andrea+Dovizioso (http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Andrea+Dovizioso)

colin:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Colin+Edwards (http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2012/Qatar+2012+MotoGP+Race+Interview+Colin+Edwards)

Rossi:

"I can't ride this bike, I can't make the difference, I can't even keep up with Hayden's pace, who I used to go quick against in comparison. In theory, with new tyres I should go quicker. Nicky managed to do a good race with the other works Ducati, but he still ended up only sixth."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98678 (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98678)

The expression "in the shit" (which Rossi was supposed to have said to Burgess, first time he tried the bike) might seem to apply.

My take is it's a 50/50 split between the bike having problems and Rossi being unwilling to let it hang out to try and race around those problems.

Crappy bike aside - gotta wonder if Rossi's griping (yes I used that word) isn't an obvious shot across the bow of the Ducati Corse yacht...

At least he hasn't collapsed with a mysterious illness

Stoner has to be loving this with Rossi!  [laugh]

Great Moto2 race. That move by Marquez on Luthi was pretty harsh though.

I wanted to see Marquez get punted after that.

Here's Pedrosa's trophy for second place:
(http://img3.etsystatic.com/il_fullxfull.279604607.jpg)

With only 6 factory rides, it would be hard to find a seat at the end of the year. If he begs, he might be let back on the Yammie. I would love to see the super ego garage, Stoner/Rossi @ Honda.

Are we delving into Silly Season again? OK, I'll bite:
1) MotoGP becomes CRT/NASCAR.
2) Marlboro decides that $18mm is a bit much to pay for a backmarker.
3) The 1199 Panigale is finally ready for combat
4) Rossi sees the writing on the wall, goes to the great WSBK retirement home in the sky...
5) Troy gets miffed, comes out of retirement.
6) We all forget MotoGP.
7) Ezpeleta cries.

Moto2

Turn 1, Marquez vs Lothi.

Dick move?

Or just racing?

dick move

Now that's funny!

And yes, it's been more fun to post in the gun stuff thread than the M-GP stuff. But it was nice to see Lorenzo battle back for that win. I would have guessed it would have been the usual Stoner parade. Nice for a change. And nice for Pedrobot to pilot his yacht past his teammate! [laugh] There will be no end to that joke! [laugh]

When will the posts start about Stoner's whining again? Waaaaa, my arms hurt! [roll] Man up and grow some balls dude. My personal, un-official opinion of Aussies are that they, men and women, are a tough/no bullshit crowd. If he starts whining again when he's not winning they should take a switch to his ass behind the barn! [roll] Just sayin'....

Look forward to the Moto 2 race maybe tonight. [popcorn]

+1

Just racing if he would have left him some track...but pushing him well onto the rumble strip was BS IMO.

C'mon...biggest whiner of the week award definitely goes to Rossi!

Well, they don't sugar coat much...and it's easy for that to come off as whining...then again, that can be fun too:
(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/p480x480/560993_3526731934472_1457372514_3133595_288852916_n.jpg)

Oh shit! That's awesome!! [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Again, not to throw too many rocks at Casey (I do admire his on track abilities) but he should should just shut the make the beast with two backs up when he takes his helmet off! Someone should stuff a glove in his mouth any time a reporter is near. Granted, even if his arms pumped up, his tires went off, he needed to pee, etc. just shut up, smile and say we'll do better next race. How hard is that?

It's like deja vu all over again. [roll]

"We ran out of hope last year. More than hope we need a better bike," Rossi said. "But I wouldn't want to expose myself like I did last year, by thinking and hoping that the second chassis development would be an improvement.

"I tried to be a professional. When Barbera pushed me out I even considered returning to the pits, but then I stayed out in order to give our technicians some data to study so as to improve things."

damn.  that's just...rough.  really, really rough.

someone at Audi is having a hell of a day however.

Are we delving into Silly Season again? OK, I'll bite:
1) MotoGP becomes CRT/NASCAR.
2) Marlboro decides that $18mm is a bit much to pay for a backmarker.
3) The 1199 Panigale is finally ready for combat
4) Rossi sees the writing on the wall, goes to the great WSBK retirement home in the sky...
5) Troy gets miffed, comes out of retirement.
6) We all forget MotoGP.
7) Ezpeleta cries.

Oh please, please, please let you crystal ball be working perfectly on this one.
Even with the "close" racing we had Sunday, I'm just not feeling the love for MotoGP I used to.

I think WSBK is an option with Ducati as opposed to languishing in the premier class another two years.  I don't think Rossi wants to end his GP career this poorly though.  I think there is a bigger chance of him securing personal sponsors and chasing a satellite factory backed squad with one of the big two.. most likely Honda.  The problem with Honda is that Marquez will be in line for the same thing, and Yamaha seems really stingy when it comes to leasing bikes.  Rossi's name will start to lose its pull at some point, so who knows what will play out.

Its kind of like watching Schumacher.  Its clear the guy can still drive, but he can't put together a race, makes mistakes, and isn't in top flight machinery.  The problem is that its difficult to get yourself back in that top end machinery the older you get, unless you own the team or agree to move categories.  That's most likely Rossi's only shot.

...not to mention the wildcard of CRTs and Dorna's clear intent to make the GP class more like Moto2. I suspect that will drive great riders like Rossi into WSBK.

I think the correct answer involves the word "and"

Dick move and just racing.

Lose or win, he'll still whinge. ;D

I'm still waiting on the rumored 'OneHD' rip of Moto2 and Moto3 to get uploaded, but GP was actually reasonably entertaining.

Last few laps were fun, and while Hayden was hardly at the "sharp end," it was nice to see him in the pack and at the front of the Ducs.

Yes, dick move.


PedroMcDoucey Jr.?

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120409nottriedthis.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120409nottriedthis.htm)

Ouch

make the beast with two backs all the Rossi bullshit. We all already know he can't ride the bike. Let's get over it and move on  [popcorn]

More importantly...

What happened with Spies?

And slammin' race for Hayden. Even though it was only 6th place, he was pushing very hard

I don't know! He actually even got a good start! It's not the bike, Jorge is obviously doing fine. Maybe he's just not as good as we thought?

Don't get me wrong. I love me some elbowz, but I'm getting tired of making excuses for him.

Gm2?

I heard mention of big crashes in practice/qualifying that may have played a part in shaking him up on race day.  He could've very well been hiding an injury or one that did not affect him until full race pace/distance.

Spies got some big chatter.

Rossi says that Ducati 'didn't follow his direction in building the GP12 MotoGP bike. Rossi stated that the bike was unridable, and it has most of the same problems that it did last season, at least for him'.
Certainly there's some Italian-English lost in translation.
But... what was his 'direction'?
I'm sure they didn't throw it out, I'm sure they tried to give him what he wanted.

I've yet to watch the race again, with more info on an un-polluted EuroSport feed, as I watched it on Speed.
But, IIRC, Nicky was fighting for position nearly the whole race, in a pack.
and, IIRC, Rossi was running pretty much solo.
Barbera pushed him off, and he lost five seconds, but if he was running solo, he should have been turning better times than Nicky was, dicing in a pack.

Rossi almost pulled off?
make the beast with two backs, sack up and finish the race, fight 'til the end.
It's what you're getting paid for.

Marquez is a dick. He needs to be hit up side his head with a shovel. I'd gladly volunteer for the job. How many pricks does REPSOL want to have as it's premier racers? I'm now (reluctantly) a fan of Moto2 racing but I still don't why it replaced 250GP. What's the point? What the make the beast with two backs... have you saved the planet or something? Yeah sure, it's still decent racing (except for Marquez [roll]) but what is the point? Why the change? :P

Yeah, that's still me shaking the cane and yelling at kids to stay off my lawn! [laugh] But damn, where is GP racing going? It's like a headless corpse. Is it all going spec motor? Spec tire? Spec bathroom and concession? How stupid can stupid get?

I like this angle.

I realize there wasn't the "history" there, but Marquez's move made me think of Senna/Prost. Kinda that "I'm gonna take this line and you have the option of crashing us both, or running wide. Either way, I've just make the beast with two backsed you."

Spies claimed he was getting a lot of chatter...and it sounded like he thought it was because the bike had been crashed twice during the weekend. He said something like that's what happens when you race a bike that's been crashed twice.

So many topics...

Rossi won the whining award by a country mile. Stoner will enjoy these next few weeks watching Italian news coverage.

It was a dick move, but as the commentators stated, within the rules. Rubbing is racing.

Elbowz looked like he really wanted to race Rossi at the back, but if the bike was that messed up, you can't fault him for more than crashing it himself twice.

Unless Ducati can come up with a contender within the next 2 races, Rossi will be gone. I see him running his own team rather than dealing with the factories. Maybe go with Gresini.

there was a glimmer of hope with Rossi at the beginning of either the 2nd or 3rd lap going into turn one where he went up the inside and passed like 2 or 3 people...and I was like..okay...

on the Stoner Arm Pump thing...I though he had compartment surgery for that 2 years ago?

Nicky was looking good for riding a bike that was what it was...

Barbera is getting results because he is doing his version of Stoner in terms of just riding around the bikes issues as much as he can...something that Rossi seems less willing to do...which is sad....because if there was one thing he should have gleaned from his dear friend Marco is that you can't always have the machine catered to you and sometimes you just have to hang it out and ride the wheels off it anyway...and not having Marco is make the beast with two backsing his mojo up it seems...or at least it brought about a major amount of mortality thoughts he hadn't previously had on the forefront of his mind it seems from how he is riding and commenting...


makes the most sense of anything to me....

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98677 (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98677)


=)

http://motomatters.com/news/2012/04/10/marquez_and_luthi_issued_formal_warning_.html (http://motomatters.com/news/2012/04/10/marquez_and_luthi_issued_formal_warning_.html)

I'm kinda curious. Why isn't CRT listed as a separate category? In Gt racing they have GT1, GT2 and GT3 as well as Prototypes racing all at the same time. there is an overall finishing place but there is also a 1st/2nd/3rd in each category.
I haven't read where MotoGP is saying who got 1st-3rd in the CRT category. I never expect them to place in the top 3 of the race (bar a crash fest) so recognizing them as a separate category would be cool.

apparently CEII was invited to the Winners Circle to celebrate the 1st place CRT along with the regularly scheduled podium celebrations...

a CRT bike could very well be a prototype.  only a technicality since the OEMs will never sell a prototype for CRT use, but technically it's all the same class.

besides, with the lead CRTs already being within a second of the satellites..

point is they are different category of bikes. no way one could win a race straight up

edit: yeah yeah i know Ducati is in that same boat right now too  [roll]

OH...and 2 other comments about the race....

it was cool seeing the carbon brakes glow orange in the night races on the Tech3 bikes...

and is it just me, or did Casey's bike look like a bucking bronco to a degree in the beginning of the race when he was fighting to get around Pedrobot and Yorghey?...

has a satellite bike won since estoril 2006?

You know...I find it funny that at the WSS race at Imola, they were giving ride throughs and black flags left and right for shit that wasn't all that bad. I mean like Sofuoglu's DQ. The guy ran it wide in the chicane and went into the run off. The rules state he is supposed to give up 1 position when re-entering the track but he gave up 3. He was in the lead, he dropped back to 4th and re-entered the track in the substantial gap between 3rd and 5th. He re-entered safely and was not a danger to other riders. Yet he was given a ride through penalty which his team then failed to communicate to him for 2 laps and then he was black flagged for ignoring the ride through.
The second part, I think they were right to black flag him for ignoring the ride through. But the crux is, the ride through was extremely harsh considering the reason.

It makes me wonder wtf FIM/DORNA are thinking. Marquez was FAR more of a danger to Luthi than Sofuoglu was to his colleagues yet Marquez is told he was borderline too aggressive while Sofuoglu is given what equates to a kick in the balls.
But then I guess Marquez is another Spanish golden boy backed by Repsol who holds their influence over the head of FIM/DORNA like a big fat baseball bat daring them to use it.

Sorry...just frustrated to see Luthi get hosed like that and I am not even really a Luthi fan. Right is right and wrong is wrong and Luthi got shit on while FIM said oh well.

they specifically covered the re-entry process for that chicane in the rider's meeting that morning.  that's why they gave him the ride through.   

just like the biaggi thing 2 years ago. 

I wish I got a briefing on the re-entry process every morning...

wink wink, nudge nudge....say no more, say no more

The second YouTube video that queued up for me when I searched "Luthi and Marquez" was this cartoon:

Moto 2 Qatar 2012, Dernier tour Luthi - Marquez... No comment ... (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLaloKYFOnI#)

That was pretty awesome.

And overall, a better season opener than expected...  but it's really sad to see Rossi down so far back.

Pretty sure those comments are just the precursor to seeing Rossi on another yam or honda next season.  Though you would have to wonder... if it came down to it... would yamaha choose spies over rossi?

TOUGH CALL....depends on the results Ben has this year...

honestly...if Rossi ends the season so discontented...maybe he goes and races an Aprilia in WSBK?!?!?!

last year i would have said no way in hell would he leave MotoGP without winning again.

now, after the ducati failure, and after marco, i really have to wonder.  he may just be over it and decide to go have fun in WSBK.

however if he does come back to GP next year there's a very strong likelihood it would be with his own new factory team.  regardless of honda or yamaha, the existing seats would be safe.

i just can't see Rossi going up against Jorge/Casey on the same Yamaha/Honda factory bikes.

Too big a risk to his rep.

Factory Ape or Factory BMW.

...or factory Yamaha

His ego might get in the way of reason.

I could see Aprilia taking their CRT to full MotoGP next year with Rossi onboard

Or the Panigale in WSBK...

that's exactly it.  last year, for sure.  he wanted to go out and prove it all over again.

this year.. i'm sure he expected to kill it on the ducati all over again.  and you can't underestimate the effect of being one of the 2 people who actually ran over marco.  he may be kinda broken.

i think the ongoing unspoken assumption now is that it would NOT be with ducati.

I think there may be a lot of truth in that.

It would make me wonder why I was doing what I was doing.

+1 Just after 1 race and he's rolling them under the bus. If things continue the same way, it's very doubtful we will ever see Rossi on another Duc.

What exactly was it? He wasn't allowed to re-enter until he was in last place or some shit? He made a completely safe re-entry and didn't kick gravel all over the track like a certain rider who crashed in that same chicane and spread gravel all over the track. Granted Cluzel didn't re-enter the track after the crash because his bike was busted but...

Just seemed like a crap call to me. Maybe if he woulda strafed someone coming back on or something but damn.

basically yeah.  the rule is that if you blow that chicane you go straight and ride through the pits. 

~logic being that it's too tight there and too fast heading into it.  it's not really a safe place to be looking completely over your shoulder and making a split second decision about getting back on track.  cuz if you don't do it quick, you're behind the wall.  and if you do it quick, you might likely be torpedoing somone else.

multiple people got ride-throughs that weekend, at least 1 other got black flagged.  it's just that they weren't leading races.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/12041034x34.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/12041034x34.htm)

"little Georgie boy"   ;D

i agree with him on both

Lots of on target comments in that editorial.

here's the flipside.  what if he carries enough power with sponsors to shake up the team

Downfall video parody: Hitler on Valentino Rossi's qualifying in Qatar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly4m-o9wUIg&feature=youtu.be#)

First off.  that is not Ducati red

 [bang]

True.

The GP bike hasn't ever been "Ducati red," has it? Marlboro red, and now whatever that neon/day-glo red is.

HELL...that isn't even Marlboro red...look at a pack of their cigs lately?....looks more like like a fashion runway color of red then any of the related products flagship colors...

It's "Catch-Up" red.    ;D [laugh]

http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/839/12728/Motorcycle-Article/MotoGP-Qatar-Insider-2012---Ducati.aspx (http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/839/12728/Motorcycle-Article/MotoGP-Qatar-Insider-2012---Ducati.aspx)

Understeer is not the only issue that Valentino Rossi believes is preventing him from moving the Ducati GP12 closer to challenging Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo’s recent domination of the MotoGP world championship. After he ended practice with the eighth-fastest time in Qatar (eventually going on to finish 10th in Sunday’s race), the 33-year-old said taming Ducati’s aggressive power delivery would help him reduce the gap to the front in the new 1000cc premier class.

Same old shit, different day.

SuperSport WSS 2012 Round 02 Italy Imola (HD) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAVdGz2aZbQ#)

Watched it again and I can see the reasons behind the ride through. He hosed himself by not doing it. A ride through could have possibly kept him in the points.

ducati and ferrari haven't used the "product" marlboro read for quite some time... it doesn't show well on video/tv...

Between the rampant speculation and the vagaries of Google Translate, this is a pretty amusing read - speaking for those of us who don't read Italian. Because I've only read it in machine translation and it's in the Italian moto-media, I'm sharing it here with the caveat "For Entertainment Purposes Only."

http://www.tuttomotoriweb.com/2012/04/11/motogp-2012-valentino-rossi-e-ducati-separati-in-casa-il-divorzio-e-solo-rimandato/ (http://www.tuttomotoriweb.com/2012/04/11/motogp-2012-valentino-rossi-e-ducati-separati-in-casa-il-divorzio-e-solo-rimandato/)

Are there any cliffnotes.... in English.

open it up in Chrome and it'll automatically translate.

basically: they're fighting, they're separated, divorce is inevitable.

 freaking google translate sucks for copy and pasting....

you're not supposed to do that anyway    :P

oooh, the drama.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120411rydernotes.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120411rydernotes.htm)

this is really interesting (thx derb)

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/178467/1/qatar_motogp_rider_times_800cc_v_1000cc.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/178467/1/qatar_motogp_rider_times_800cc_v_1000cc.html)

The leaders, if I read this right, were generally 2 seconds down from last year? New class rules, etc...not sure it surprises me.

The track also had less grip compared to the previous year due to the lack of car racing (and the rubber they lay down) this year prior to the GP event.

You mean Moto2 bikes don't lay down enough rubber? ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly4m-o9wUIg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=56221.msg1046407#msg1046407 (http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=56221.msg1046407#msg1046407)

late to this party bro.  ;D

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [clap]

You guys always crack me up! [laugh] [laugh]

holy chchchchchchatter.  check out ben's bike early on in this vid
(you'll have to click through to youtube to watch)

Qatar - Yamaha in Action (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cVfHqIo8TU#)

That's insane.  You can watch the front and back tires jumping across the pavement.  That has to be hell to hang on to.

I read somewhere a comment from a Bridgestone rep where he said it didn't look like "usual" chatter.  He descibed it as low frequency (?) chatter where the tire grips and lets go and grips and lets go.  Lemme see if I can track it down.  

Found it:

(http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=391410&d=1334256140)

well of course that's what the bridgestone rep said   =)

I *hope* he's right.  Cuz if that's what "usual" chatter looks like, I'm certain that'd get off the bike immediately, curl into a ball at the nearest flag station and cry for my mommy til they brought the scooter to cart me off to my shrink.  I certainly wouldn't ride it race distance at speeds over 200 mph.  

no shit.

ben was quoted as saying the bike felt like it had knobbies on during the race.  yiiiikes.

That crash didn't look nice where his hand got caught in the fairing.  :o

I remember seeing Rossi's bike have that kind of chatter in one slow-mo sequence last year.

Except it was the front, and the tire bounced about 4 times then folded.  :P