Ben Spies. F%^K YEAH! and maybe some spoilers

[gm2]

Haga has ridden very solidly this year and incredibly consistent.  He deserves to be leading at this point and I agree deserves to be getting more press and attention as a result.

agreed.  he's 'suffering' from the fact that he's been in this series for a long time, and up front for a long time.  but mainly from the fact that this is what everyone expected from him this year, on that bike.

doesn't make it any less spectacular tho.  it's just that ben's pass on him in assen was much moreso. 

[tufty]

but mainly from the fact that this is what everyone expected from him this year, on that bike.

Really? A lot of stuff I read preseason was that they expected him to struggle with the Duke.

Haga, doesn't like to keep the bike on its side and likes to square off the corners, not the ideal way to ride a Ducati. I'm amazed that he's riding it like he is, not only is he smoother than ever but he doesn't even seem to be pushing the bike to the ragged edge either. have you seen the close ups of his tires after the races? They look pretty fresh.

[gm2]

in pre-season he crashed the hell out of that thing.  looks like he's finally grown up some and adapted his way of riding.  it's working.

when troy bayliss wins portimao race 2 the way he did, gets off the bike and says, "that was the best bike i've ever ridden"... you need to just get on it and figure out how to ride it.

[derby]

Really? A lot of stuff I read preseason was that they expected him to struggle with the Duke.

Haga, doesn't like to keep the bike on its side and likes to square off the corners, not the ideal way to ride a Ducati. I'm amazed that he's riding it like he is, not only is he smoother than ever but he doesn't even seem to be pushing the bike to the ragged edge either. have you seen the close ups of his tires after the races? They look pretty fresh.

haga went very well on the (very privateer) renegade ducati in 2004. he even had a shot at the championship going into the final round. his biggest problem that season wasn't crashing, it was bike reliability.

i, for one, have been saying since he was announched to the team that he was going to be very, very hard to beat on the factory duc.

[tufty]

when troy bayliss wins portimao race 2 the way he did, gets off the bike and says, "that was the best bike i've ever ridden"... you need to just get on it and figure out how to ride it.

Hmm, just playing the devil's advocate here, but, that begs the question why several MotoGP riders struggle with the GP 09 and the M1. Not to mention why Shakey and Fabrizio aren't running closer to the top 5.

I still say no one expected or even knew that Nori could ride that smoothly.

Don't get all snarky, i'm just yanking your chain

[gm2]

 


and who struggles with the M1 (besides JT)?

[Spidey]

Hmm, just playing the devil's advocate here, but, that begs the question why several MotoGP riders struggle with the GP 09 and the M1. Not to mention why Shakey and Fabrizio aren't running closer to the top 5.

Uh, cuz the 1098 is a totally different bike from the GP9.  And cuz Fabrizio and Shakey are donkey balls, along with JT.   

[tufty]

and who struggles with the M1 (besides JT)?

pregnant dog!! (You know i had high hopes for James.)

As I remember, Mr Edwards and Mr Lorenzo had sucky last halfs of the season last year. it could have been Michelin, who knows?

[tufty]

Uh, cuz the 1098 is a totally different bike from the GP9.  And cuz Fabrizio and Shakey are donkey balls, along with JT.   

My point is just because 1 guy says a bike is the dogs bollocks doesn't mean everyone can agree with him.

Shakey and JT are "donkey balls"? Is this the same JT who has 2 WSB championships versus Haga's or Biaggi's 0. 

You guys are dismissing the hell out of JT because he's struggling in GP's. As for Shakey, ok he's not doing well in WSB at the moment, but if he gets it together we'll see him up there trust me.

[gm2]

i didn't dismiss JT at all.  just noted that he's struggling.  he is.  i really hope he gets it together.

and my point with the bayliss thing is that he's not "1 guy".  he's bayliss.  i'm not saying the set up is going to be the same, yadda yadda.  just that if he says it's the best bike he's ever ridden, it's got... plenty of potential.

[derby]

it could have been Michelin, who knows?

whatever would makes you say that?

....other than colin's shockingly out-of-character critical remarks about a company he'd basically spent his whole career with.

i'd say colin quit making excuses for michelin when they completely disregarded the weather report for laguna last year and brought the wrong tires. it went downhill from there.

[Spidey]

Shakey and JT are "donkey balls"? Is this the same JT who has 2 WSB championships versus Haga's or Biaggi's 0. 

You guys are dismissing the hell out of JT because he's struggling in GP's. As for Shakey, ok he's not doing well in WSB at the moment, but if he gets it together we'll see him up there trust me.

Yup, that JT.  I was pulling for him initially.  Then he showed himself to be teh suck. 

As for Shakey, I loved that guy when he put out that half-hour long vid of a coupla Brit riders doing triple digit wheelies while lanesplitting.  They crashed and killed two out of hte three bikes they were testing.  It was awesome.  But I've since changed my mind.  I have only a limited number of British riders I permit myself to like, and now that Shakey keeps crashing and riding like dogshit and now that I discovered Haslam's girl's boobies, I see no reason to not consider Shakey donkey balls.  If he grew some boobies, that might change my mind, but only cuz of the entertainment value of watching him highside the hell out of some DD knockers. 

[Spidey]

Shakey might be make the beast with two backsed.  Ben just got his sponsor: 

http://www.crash.net/World+Superbikes/News/146408/1/sterilgarda_to_yamaha_what_about_byrne.html

[gm2]

Wins as of Round 5:
Nitro  -- 4
Elbowz -- 5

[Spidey]

I was 100 meters from being down 4 to 6.