2009 MotoGP Round 9 - Sachsenring (Race Spoilers)

[Spidey]

You can't tell always tell if a tire's gone by just looking at it (unless it's Dovi's --that thing was toast).

WTF is it with everyone talking about whiners?  If something is going on technically during a race, I want to hear about it from the rider.  That's interesting, not whining.  If a rider says they weren't getting the feel they want from their suspension or were having chatter or their tires went, knowing that helps my experience.  If they're constantly blaming the bike for their own slowness, I might grow tired of that.  But that's not been the case for pretty much anyone in GP.

That was a fun race to watch.  I wish Stoner coulda hung with the boys up front, and I would have liked to see what Nicky could do if he'd kept his starting position.   [moto]

Someone wanna tell me why the Gresini boys finally decided to ride after they basically gave away their spots for next year with their shitty performance thus far?   

[DanTheMan]

Looks like were going to see this same four man battle for the rest of the season. With dovidioso in 5th, his bike can definitely do the business but results are inconsistent. Hayden in the 5-10 spots for the rest of the year, doing better but just too out classsed by the top 4.

[gm2]

You can't tell always tell if a tire's gone by just looking at it (unless it's Dovi's --that thing was toast).

WTF is it with everyone talking about whiners?  If something is going on technically during a race, I want to hear about it from the rider.  That's interesting, not whining.  If a rider says they weren't getting the feel they want from their suspension or were having chatter or their tires went, knowing that helps my experience.  If they're constantly blaming the bike for their own slowness, I might grow tired of that.  But that's not been the case for pretty much anyone in GP.

That was a fun race to watch.  I wish Stoner coulda hung with the boys up front, and I would have liked to see what Nicky could do if he'd kept his starting position.   [moto]

Someone wanna tell me why the Gresini boys finally decided to ride after they basically gave away their spots for next year with their shitty performance thus far?   

the only whining has been from folks saying there's been whining.

stoner was very open about the fact that stamina-wise he only had about 1/2 (dry) race distance in him.

i also like to hear about set-up woes, etc..  that's a big time science.  in a weekend where it was wet and dry leading up to the race, very few are going to get it right.

maybe the Gresini bikes finally got their '08 chassis'

and if jor-ge goes to honda, i think he'll be making a big mistake.

[Jester]

Gresini may have.  I'm curious as to why anyone would expect the satellite Honda riders to accomplish anything on lower spec engines and old chassis.  The old chassis weren't even developed for bridgestones, so you're destined for failure there anyway imo.  I also don't understand why Honda would provide inferior bikes to the satellite squads as well.  I would think you'd want quality equipment given to everyone so your brand looks better and of course the racing is better.

Yamaha gives pretty solid equipment to tech-3 minus the immediate up to date stuff, although Yamaha hasn't really farted with their package much outside of suspension tweaks and electronic maps.  Its already the top package, no need to change it this year.

Jorge would be gambling by going to Honda for sure.  You escape some of the high pressure tension related to Vale ( and gain Puig/Pedro ), but you also lose access to the best bike developing combo in Rossi/Burgess.  Money moves the world though.  Most of the time.

[gm2]

Gresini may have.  I'm curious as to why anyone would expect the satellite Honda riders to accomplish anything on lower spec engines and old chassis.  The old chassis weren't even developed for bridgestones, so you're destined for failure there anyway imo.  I also don't understand why Honda would provide inferior bikes to the satellite squads as well.  I would think you'd want quality equipment given to everyone so your brand looks better and of course the racing is better.

elias' bike is factory-spec.  the main 'not getting the new parts' problem he's been wanting all year is to be able to go back to an '08 chassis, which is what pedro and dovi are using.

[rockaduc]

Anyone else notice that Stoner was the only one in the front 4 to choose a very hard front vs hard?  Maybe it greased-up on him?  Either way, it was a very exciting race!  The more lead swaps, the better!  I am def. looking forward to the top 3 battling all the way to the finish this year.

[Jester]

elias' bike is factory-spec.  the main 'not getting the new parts' problem he's been wanting all year is to be able to go back to an '08 chassis, which is what pedro and dovi are using.

Good point and my oversight.  I forgot about Honda bungling up the new chassis.  I was thinking about when Yamaha was using the old Michelin chassis, then noticed a nice change when they finally updated to the stone's chassis.

[gm2]

....you mean rossi's?  

[Jester]

 

One other note about this weekend.  I find it comical how Gabor Talmacsi is happy to have taken his first point in GP's... first for a Hungarian, however he was lapped!

[gm2]

are you kidding?  his hungarian oil sponsors were STOKED that he got lapped... he was on tv for, like, 5 whole seconds.  =)

[derby]

One other note about this weekend.  I find it comical how Gabor Talmacsi is happy to have taken his first point in GP's... first for a Hungarian, however he was lapped!

i'd be pretty happy gettin' paid 3.5M euros to be lapped, too.

[Rufus120]

That was one of my favorite races so far this year. Too bad Nickey had such a crummy start.  Would have been fun to at least watch him and Stoner go at it some.  Maybe next week.

[Spidey]

Some random pics . . .







Jebus, look at those lean angles.   



 

[Desmostro]

Nice pics.

The slow motion HD shots from MOTOGP.COM were SO cool. Anyone catch that?

[derby]

Nice pics.

The slow motion HD shots from MOTOGP.COM were SO cool. Anyone catch that?

gotta love the germans with their super-slowmo...