Moto GP Round 18 - Valencia 11/06 (SPOILERS)

[Jester]

Best finish to a race in a long while. Stoner totally played Spies on those last 2 laps. Love him or hate him Stoner is freak.

I dunno, Stoner didn't make any passes on him, but the Honda came out of that last corner like a top fuel dragster.  Granted he picked it up quick and fired it out, but the bike simply made the Yamaha look slow in a straight line.  Its the most exciting finish for there being no racing in those final laps.  It reminded me of how Stoner used to breeze past the Yams in a straight line circa 2007.

[gm2]

they said several times that the last 2 corners were the most treacherous.. looked like ben was a tiny bit too careful.  0.015 seconds too careful, to be exact.  one hell of a drive from stoner, i think he was as surprised as everyone.

awesome ride from everyone, great fun to see dovi and pedro thinking they were back in 125s.

first corner was a major bummer but didn't really look like anyone's fault.  what a cherry on the season for ducati that was.   

helluva job from josh hayes as well.

[techno]

from what I read it was Dovi that hit Bautista and caused the crash. go figure Honda would take out Ducati the hard way after the promising way Ducati was in the wet. Conspiracy I tell you

Watching the video replays from several angles it is clear that Bautista's front tyre comes into contact with Dovi's rear tyre but its hard to tell who instigated it. Dovi was in front though so had the line. Classified as a racing incident. Pity that 4 bikes were taken out.

No one has mentioned Hayes brilliant debut performance (eighth from memory). (edit - GM2 now has).

Was a bit worried after seeing Takahashi's crash but apparently he is OK.

I thought all three races and the pre race memorial were a fitting tribute to Sic.  

[Triple J]

from what I read it was Dovi that hit Bautista and caused the crash. go figure Honda would take out Ducati the hard way after the promising way Ducati was in the wet. Conspiracy I tell you

You need to watch it. Dovi was in front and held a straight line the whole way...Bautista drifted into him from behind as he was braking for turn 1. Seemed like a racing incident to me...but there is no way it was Dovi's fault.

[Triple J]

Stoner totally played Spies on those last 2 laps. Love him or hate him Stoner is freak.

I don't think Stoner played anyone...he just got a better drive out of the last turn because Spies was being a tad too careful. Tough conditions for everyone, especially the guy in the lead...as evident by Stoner losing his huge lead in the first place.

[ducpainter]

You need to watch it. Dovi was in front and held a straight line the whole way...Bautista drifted into him from behind as he was braking for turn 1. Seemed like a racing incident to me...but there is no way it was Dovi's fault.

I have to disagree about who drifted...

it wasn't anyone's 'fault'.

[OT]

I'm not sure what I saw, but one view from the front of the pack shows Bautista's rear wheel an inch or two up off the ground just before the bike dropped, so he might have simply lost the front under hard braking (to avoid Dovi)?

[DRKWNG]

They actually connected.  IIRC, there was a camera shot from Bautista's bike showing his front connecting with Dovi's rear tire.

[fastwin]

That's the way baseball go.

Oh well, end of season and off to another long boring winter of no racing. Which I will spend wondering why The Ben didn't get it hooked up and running for the finish line!!! It was like he chopped the throttle for a plug check in the old two stroke days! Ah, shouldn't you keep it pinned to win... that is if you can?

Good for Stoner. Sucky for everyone else. Bring on next season. I'm done with MotoGP for 2010.

[DRKWNG]

Don't you mean 2011?   

[IZ]

Oh well, end of season and off to another long boring winter of no racing. Which I will spend wondering why The Ben didn't get it hooked up and running for the finish line!!! It was like he chopped the throttle for a plug check in the old two stroke days! Ah, shouldn't you keep it pinned to win... that is if you can?

You don't think he did?  That Honda was too much for the Yami!  Didn't he run it a bit wide too?  Can't give Stoner a millisec!

[derby]

the last two turns were catching people out in the poor conditions all weekend. ben was just a little too cautious, and i don't think stoner really had anything to lose by chancing a little more throttle.

in interviews before and after the race, both stoner and spies said it's very hard to lead in conditions like that because you don't have anybody to in front of you to "judge" the conditions.

[koko64]

Thats true, they both said that. They showed a great deal of mutual respect when interviewed and after the race, you could see the conversation between them.
Easier to chase than lead with no reference point in front of you.
Stoner had the title and thought , "bugger it I'll take a bigger risk than usual."
One commentator said they were friends, I thought Stoner and Jorge had developed a friendly rivalry also.

Jorge sounded like an ok guy in the commentary box. Why are there so many Lorenzo haters?

[Rameses]

Yeah, I was really surprised by how relaxed and personable Jorge sounded while talking with the commentators.

That's the first time I've ever seen or heard anything from him where I didn't think he came off like a douche.

[zooom]

I would almost dare say that was the best race of the 800cc era...