2008 MotoGP Round 9 - Assen (RACE spoilers)

[OT]

i'm somewhat concerned that his newfound level of comfort on the pneu-motored honda will figure in to the reportedly-done-but-evidently-not ducati deal.

Heard the announcer comment during the race that Nicky had signed with Ducati, but can't find any online articles confirming it.....

"...only for his bike to slow at the final corner after consuming more fuel than expected, allowing Colin Edwards to demote him to fourth...." -- I think this says he ran out of gas....FWIW - Nicky's relationship with HRC was out-of-gas a year ago....

[derby]

I can't believe he's shown so much loyalty in a company that does not reciprocate.... they must be paying him very well.

he hasn't really had an opportunity to do the opposite since he signed his 2-year extension in '06.

then, he had a big-dollar choice between the two "big reds" and chose honda because "you know what you're gonna get."

unfortunately, he didn't get what he thought (fromt he bike or the team). the rc212v(a) completely missed the mark and the team seemed to favor dani more...

the rc212v(b), especially with the pneu-motor, seems to be the bike honda should've debuted last season.

so... nicky is going (went?) into the '08 silly season with his eyes more open.

i guess a good question to ask is "how important is he to honda?"

the repsol team has always had a favor for spanish riders and dani isn't going to go anywhere. popular opinion is that dovi is going end up on nicky's bike.

dont' forget, ducati still has melandri contracted for '09 and will have to figure out a way to deal with that if they pull him off the bike (after laguna) and he went well on the rc212v. it honestly wouldn't surprise me one bit to see a marco/hayden trade.

[Triple J]

I see what you're getting at, but I wouldn't call edwards running the entire grid to finish on the podium and the battles for 4-7th as "boring"

Edwards moving through the grid was cool, but hardly made the race a good one.  Watching guys shift positions for a non-podium spot doesn't excite me...it just makes the race a little less boring.   

Maybe I'm just bitter after watching the 2 WSBK races right before.  Now those were good! 

[mikeb]

Thought the race was boring as hell.  Some good battles further back but I can't get excited about the race for 4th, 5th, and 6th.

The biggest event of the race was Rossi going down.  Other than that nothing exciting really happened.  Rossi has to be kicking himself.  He just handed a boatload of points back to Pedro and Stoner.  Considering how they've been riding lately  this crash may come back to haunt him......

[sbrguy]

that stoner kid really can ride, always looks like the ducati is on a verge of being unrideable, maybe that is his style to get all the speed he does but damn that bike is all over the place comingout of turns and such more than other riders.

in a way its good that rossi did finish down the liast, afterall stoner did the same thing early in the season and now the points is a 3 way race wtih a legitimiate shot that it could be close at the end, ie. f1 last season, so long as stoner wins 3-4 more races which looking like he is right now could be possible to set up a great final 3 races.

i don't know do you really think that hayden is the answer for teh second duc bike? do you think his riding style is most like stoner's to really be able to get that ducati to ride like that? bc others are riding the bike and are nowhere near as fast as he is going, where with the yamaha's and the hondas are at least qualifying close to each other with thier riders.

[TiNi]

Really?  Did we watch the same race? It was a friggin' parade.  Some excitement in the 1st lap with Rossi going down...then Nicky ran out of gas at the end.  Other than that it was boring as hell.

I'll admit the points race is exciting now though. 

yes really... for me anyway.

just because the race isn't for first, doesn't mean it can't be enjoyed...
the first lap action along with the heartbreaking finish, made it eventful for me.

[derby]

i don't know do you really think that hayden is the answer for teh second duc bike? do you think his riding style is most like stoner's to really be able to get that ducati to ride like that? bc others are riding the bike and are nowhere near as fast as he is going, where with the yamaha's and the hondas are at least qualifying close to each other with thier riders.

hard to say... they both had similar early careers (dirt/flat track) and nicky likes the bike very loose under him. i can't recall stoner saying the same thing, but he's obviously comfortable riding a bucking bronco.

one concern is that nicky tends to like the electronics dialed down on the rc212v and, when they are, he seems to run faster. or at least that's the way he sees it...

i think i saw a comment from him after the donington race where he said that he didn't realize how much he was using the electronics until they failed on him mid-race. i'm pretty sure i didn't imagine that, although it'd be tough for me to track down a source.

[TiNi]

...

it honestly wouldn't surprise me one bit to see a marco/hayden trade.

interesting... is that allowed with marco's contract in place?

[derby]

interesting... is that allowed with marco's contract in place?

i'd expect for ducati to be on the lookout for very creative ways to get out of paying melandri for another "stellar" season.

besides, i doubt melandri is going to put up much of a fight if they're dealing him to a team with a capable bike. 

[gm2]

i'd expect for ducati to be on the lookout for very creative ways to get out of paying melandri for another "stellar" season.

besides, i doubt melandri is going to put up much of a fight if they're dealing him to a team with a capable bike. 

he's already apologizing to ducati, throwing his hands up.  and the summer break after Sachsenring and Laguna would be a perfect time to make some changes.

at this point i bet marco would pay someone to be able to get back on a honda.

[RodeoClown]

Nicky Hayden - Seventh Donington

    `We learned a lot this weekend. We could've done with another day in the dry to really understand things. I´m actually pretty positive, we´ll try to put everything we've learned to good use at Assen. We didn´t really know what to expect here, everything went smooth until this morning when we had to switch bikes. The first few laps of the race went okay and then about lap nine I had a dash light come on. I didn´t know what it was for, but if a sensor goes bad you realise just how much you use traction control, engine braking control and things like that. It was nothing serious but I lost some confidence for a couple of laps, so my lap times fell and it upset my rhythm while I got my confidence back. The guys are looking into it now. It would´ve been nice to finish higher up, because I´ve got a lot of English guys in the box. The bike was pretty consistent at the end and I got back into the 29s. We learned a lot about fuel, tyre life and so on, we got a lot of information. We knew the first race might not be easy, so I hope we can build from here. Thanks to the team and to HRC for all their hard work.´

[derby]

i knew i wasn't crazy. 

[RodeoClown]

He also was quoted saying this Sunday...

`It is frustrating because we have the system and it should never run out of fuel. We should always make it across the finish line. On the starting grid a light showed up and I knew something wasn´t calibrating right. The bikes have so much electronics now, sometimes it is not the guy who rides hardest that wins it is the guy who hits the right buttons on his computer.´

[OT]

<snip>The first few laps of the race went okay and then about lap nine I had a dash light come on. I didn´t know what it was for<snip>

My vote is for the Low Fuel warning......

[derby]

My vote is for the Low Fuel warning......

that might've been funny if it'd been a quote from after the assen race.