Sepang Test (spoiler?)

[Spidey]

   Fack . . .

[Speeddog]

That's a really good pic. 

[desmoquattro]

^^ That's f'in awesome. Is that Bubba or Casey?

Wait nevermind...just noticed the 27 on the helmet.

[derby]

^^ That's f'in awesome. Is that Bubba or Casey?

back of the helmet says 27 and hump on the leathers says stoner.

[desmoquattro]

back of the helmet says 27 and hump on the leathers says stoner.

I know...it's late and I'm tired

[Jester]

Great picture.  Notice the black stripe from the rear and the tucked front.  

Stoner: "maybe if I push it just another half second per lap, Rossi can't catch me.... I sure do hate racing.  He bumps into my fairing and endangers us all."  

[BastrdHK]

Great picture.  Notice the black stripe from the rear and the tucked front.  

What do you mean tucked front?  He is riding like that through the corner.  The front is turned and tracking in the direction of the slide(proper technique).   I'm not 100%, but from what I read Stoner did not have a get off, Hayden did.  I am sure Casey rode that one out and promptly duplicated that slide on the next left hander to even out the tire

[Turf]

Boy you blokes are hard on your own countrymen, Hayden has been on the bike 10 minutes, give the boy a chance.
Don

He lost me back when he proclaimed that he nicknamed himself 'Trick Daddy'

and his stupid hat

[Big Troubled Bear]

Hayden`s battling, get over it

[gm2]

the slacker isn't even out of shape.... 

[Jester]

What do you mean tucked front?  He is riding like that through the corner.  The front is turned and tracking in the direction of the slide(proper technique).   I'm not 100%, but from what I read Stoner did not have a get off, Hayden did.  I am sure Casey rode that one out and promptly duplicated that slide on the next left hander to even out the tire

Maybe you're right... but man that sure looks like the recipe for a crash in that picture.  his bike is darn near pointed into the grass.  I can see how he could be drifting through the turn, but I can also understand how he has those handful of crashes where he claims he doesn't know what happened.  Yeah maybe you can ride like this, but it isn't going to result in staying upright all the time.

[desmoquattro]

Maybe you're right... but man that sure looks like the recipe for a crash in that picture.  his bike is darn near pointed into the grass.  I can see how he could be drifting through the turn, but I can also understand how he has those handful of crashes where he claims he doesn't know what happened.  Yeah maybe you can ride like this, but it isn't going to result in staying upright all the time.

I suspect that if you looked at photos of a sequence of top GP riders going through that same turn at Sepang, you'd see many of them sliding and sideways like Casey. It may just be that particular turn, like turn 2 at Infineon, where the back wheel just naturally sort of drifts. And the D16 probably does it more than other GP bikes

[gm2]

Maybe you're right... but man that sure looks like the recipe for a crash in that picture.  his bike is darn near pointed into the grass.  I can see how he could be drifting through the turn, but I can also understand how he has those handful of crashes where he claims he doesn't know what happened.  Yeah maybe you can ride like this, but it isn't going to result in staying upright all the time.

no one [in the media] has mentioned him crashing in sepang.  i don't think he did at all.  besides, he was only doing a handful of laps at a time and never did a race simulation.

stoner buddy chaz davies has talked about casey's very unique way of riding that bike, which is basically pick it up really early and leave your body out in the next county.  since so far he's 1-for-9 in terms of who can successfully ride that thing (the 800), seems he's got it figured out.

crashes where he claims he doesn't know what happened -- you mean on the LCR or mid-last year?

there's a somewhat boring '2009_MotoGP_Febuary_Pre-Season_Testing_Sepang.avi' floating around the interweb that shows all the riders go through the same 3 turns.  on a fairly low speed corner exit, nicky is the only guy who looks like he's riding a rag doll... 

[COWBOY]

  Fack . . .

Pics like this along with the continued struggles of others on the bike just confirm for me that it's Stoner making the Ducati successful and not the other way around. 

Claiming he's just along for the ride now just sounds nuts to me -  not that I agreed with it before  .  The boy can ride his ass off and to make the Duc competitive for the front he pushes it to the razors edge.  Sometimes that bites him in the ass like it did last year.   Who's to say though that if he's not on that edge that the Duc remains a viable threat given the times of everyone else on the bike?

YMMV of course but that's my View of the World.

Let me add in closing,   Hayden rules!   He'll come around.  I predict a finish in the 5-6 range with 2 or 3 podiums. 

[derby]

there's a somewhat boring '2009_MotoGP_Febuary_Pre-Season_Testing_Sepang.avi' floating around the interweb that shows all the riders go through the same 3 turns.  on a fairly low speed corner exit, nicky is the only guy who looks like he's riding a rag doll... 

ha! i just downloaded that today but haven't had a chance to watch it yet.