MotoGP Round 12 - Indy (SPOILERS)

[Speeddog]

Track was very slippery due to being very dirty and being brand-new pavement, had no rubber on it.

The army of Moto2 bikes has helped quite a lot on both counts.

Latest word is that the 'decent' line is about 8 feet wide.

Tire wear has been dramatic, as the grit in the pavement still has very sharp edges.

FP3:

Pos    No.     Rider                   Bike          Time     Diff     Diff Previous
1    27       Casey STONER          HONDA    1'39.538         
2    11       Ben SPIES               YAMAHA    1'39.670    0.132    0.132
3    26       Dani PEDROSA          HONDA    1'39.896    0.358    0.226
4    58       Marco SIMONCELLI    HONDA    1'40.301    0.763    0.405
5    4        Andrea DOVIZIOSO    HONDA    1'40.326    0.788    0.025
6    5        Colin EDWARDS        YAMAHA    1'40.438    0.900    0.112
7    1        Jorge LORENZO        YAMAHA    1'40.547    1.009    0.109
8    46      Valentino ROSSI        DUCATI    1'40.698    1.160    0.151
9    14      Randy DE PUNIET      DUCATI    1'40.915    1.377    0.217
10    19    Alvaro BAUTISTA       SUZUKI    1'40.916    1.378    0.001
11    69    Nicky HAYDEN          DUCATI    1'41.067    1.529    0.151
12    35    Cal CRUTCHLOW       YAMAHA    1'41.209    1.671    0.142
13    65    Loris CAPIROSSI       DUCATI    1'41.496    1.958    0.287
14    8     Hector BARBERA        DUCATI    1'41.512    1.974    0.016
15    24    Toni ELIAS             HONDA    1'41.676    2.138    0.164
16    17    Karel ABRAHAM       DUCATI    1'41.740    2.202    0.064
17    7      Hiroshi AOYAMA       HONDA    1'41.889    2.351    0.149

[koko64]

Cheers Sd.

[Speeddog]

Stoner's on fire.
Did 4 laps in the 38's.... only rider in the 38's.

He's roughly 1/2 sec ahead of Spies, 3/4 sec ahead of Lorenzo, and a full second+ ahead of Pedrosa.

Rossi crashed early in Qualy.
He's gridded 14th, over 2 seconds back from Stoner.

Colin's 6th, 1 1/4 sec back, and Nicky's 8th, 1.4 sec back.

The only glimmer of hope for anyone not named Stoner is that he was giving both tires a *really* hard look when he came back in from the last run.
But he's still got over half a second in hand. 

[Drunken Monkey]

QP:

1		27		Casey STONER		AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda		323.5		1'38.850		---
2		11		Ben SPIES		USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha		316.4		1'39.373		0.523 / 0.523
3		1		Jorge LORENZO		SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha		316.3		1'39.629		0.779 / 0.256
4		26		Dani PEDROSA		SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda		320		1'39.947		1.097 / 0.318
5		4		Andrea DOVIZIOSO		ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda		320.3		1'40.024		1.174 / 0.077
6		5		Colin EDWARDS		USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha		314.4		1'40.098		1.248 / 0.074
7		58		Marco SIMONCELLI		ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda		316.6		1'40.204		1.354 / 0.106
8		69		Nicky HAYDEN		USA Ducati Team Ducati		322.5		1'40.244		1.394 / 0.040
9		19		Alvaro BAUTISTA		SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki		318.5		1'40.333		1.483 / 0.089
10		8		Hector BARBERA		SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati		322		1'40.360		1.510 / 0.027
11		35		Cal CRUTCHLOW		GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha		314.8		1'40.620		1.770 / 0.260
12		14		Randy DE PUNIET		FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati		317.3		1'40.815		1.965 / 0.195
13		7		Hiroshi AOYAMA		JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda		319.8		1'40.925		2.075 / 0.110
14		46		Valentino ROSSI		ITA Ducati Team Ducati		318.2		1'40.975		2.125 / 0.050
15		24		Toni ELIAS		SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda		319.2		1'41.030		2.180 / 0.055
16		17		Karel ABRAHAM		CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati		317.5		1'41.085		2.235 / 0.055
17		65		Loris CAPIROSSI		ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati		316		1'41.092		2.242 / 0.007

               


Stoney broke the lap record and Rossi was running nearly last for the whole QP...

[koko64]

Thanks DM. Im outa the loop. Good info.

[kopfjäger]

The golden boy looked strong

[redxblack]

There were 4 bikes spending time in the pit and one that crashed right at the end. All were Ducatis. I'm sure there's going to be some shit hitting a fan somewhere this afternoon.

[Speeddog]

Nearly all the Ducs seemed to have front tire problems, IIRC DePuniet and Barbera were the only ones not to pit.

[Raux]

Ducati should really campaign to allow two tire manufacturers and get Pirellis on their bike

[positivecarry]

Is it the tires or the chassis design or both that are causing front-end grip and front-end communication problems?

[duccarlos]

Still being debated 

[redxblack]

The SPEED commentator pointed out that Rossi kept blowing his lines and running wide today. Considering that wasn't much of a problem for the Hondas, Yamahas or Suzukis on the track using the same tires, I'd go with the actual front end of the bike as a culprit.

[duccarlos]

The Ducs sucked ballz today.

[positivecarry]

Sounds like a confluence of errors today:

Hayden: “It was a really tough day. We thought the soft front tyre could be a good option for the race, but unfortunately it only worked for seven or eight laps. Then I began to steadily lose ground until it even began shaking on the straightaways, and I had to come in."

Rossi: "...the crash yesterday in qualifying, which robbed some confidence and was part of the reason we had to start so far back on the grid, and today there was a problem with the gearbox. The bike stuck in neutral six or seven times, and the first two caused me to go straight and lose time."

[thought]

good recovery by ben

and i wonder if they could make a tire that would be able to overcome the duc cf issues.  i can see how having a spec tire could be a huge issue when they are basically tuned for the average as opposed to the outlier design.