MotoGP 2012 - Round 1 - Qatar (SPOILERS, race: 4/8)

[lazylightnin717]

Hopefully the softer Bridgestones help with his starts. That seems to be his main problem. I think he can battle with the Aliens if he can just stay with them for the 1st 2-3 laps.

I agree with you 11ty billion percent

As long as he gets a good jump for the front from the get go, he can hang with those guys.

Stoner is still going to take it away but he is still going to complain about something. He can't seem to keep the sand out of his cooter

I'd like to think that Hayden is going to step it up this year but that's probably only a pipedream

[Spidey]

yeah, i agree.  "different" is a tenth or two.. but that makes a big difference at this level.

and

^ that.

hopefully they really are better in the first few laps.  ben in particular has no problem with shagged tires at the end of a race.  if there's a couple tenths in both those factors, then...

I think a bigger factor for how close Ben can get to the front is that it *should* be easier to pass with the bigger engine.  Ben starts off slow and then gets going.  But in a lot of races, he has a couple of laps where he slows down by as much as a second because he is getting held up.  We already know he is a demon on the brakes.  Hopefully, the 1000 will allow him to do superbike-esque block passes that rely on having grunt to get out of the corner.  If so, that might allow him to get put the passes on earlier and through traffic a bit faster.  That'll like have a bigger effect on how close he gets to the front than trying to find .1 here or there.  It'll be fun to watch too.

Here's to hopin'.  

[koko64]

Yeah Ben should be helped by the big bike, he must be 10-20 pounds over most of the riders and he's fit. Just a bigger guy.
Mladin had nothing but praise for him in a recent interview, he rated him way over Hayden. Said he was the best he ever raced against.

[zooom]

I am going to make a prediction that is contigent...

if Casey doesn't win, it is because he crashed due to him now having run the bike the full distance(unlike in testing at all) and either due to handling on shagged tires or him feeling shagged out, gets off race line and loses the bike in the "sandy" non race line portion of the track...and during the crash, gets ample amounts of sand in his vag....

[desmoquattro]

I am going to make a prediction that is contigent...

if Casey doesn't win, it is because he crashed due to him now having run the bike the full distance(unlike in testing at all) and either due to handling on shagged tires or him feeling shagged out, gets off race line and loses the bike in the "sandy" non race line portion of the track...and during the crash, gets ample amounts of sand in his vag....

...and even if when he wins, he'll complain about it.

[Spidey]

FP1 about to start.  Here comes GP 2012, gang . . .   Wooohooo!!!   

[gm2]

BIKES ON TRACK BIKES ON TRACK BIKES ON TRACK BIKES ON TRACK BIKES ON TRACK


 

[Triple J]

Mladin had nothing but praise for him in a recent interview, he rated him way over Hayden. Said he was the best he ever raced against.

I think Mladin has a man crush on The Ben. I like Spies a lot, but I have yet to see him do anything on a GP bike that Hayden hasn't already done. Hayden's also been saddled with a shit bike since he won his championship.

[Jester]

Good thing there is no wall at Ducati.  I think its time for Rossi to start stealing Hayden's setups a'la stealing Lorenzo's setups back at Yamaha.

At some point you'd think del Torchio would tell the guy to either strap on his ball sack or get the f**k out of the garage.  You can't be a legitimate lead factory rider when your own "lesser" teammate smokes you by a second, and have a gaggle of satellite bikes, including your own factories make, in front of you.  Can't wait to see the interview and what person he blames the s**t setup on this time.

Also, the sound of the new moto1 bikes will take a bit of time to get used to.

[zooom]

Pos. Rider Team Bike Time
1 Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:56.474
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:56.648
3 Nicky Hayden Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:56.924
4 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha M1 1:56.982
5 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team Honda RC213V 1:57.130
6 Cal Crutchlow Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:57.395
7 Alvaro Bautista Honda Gresini Honda RC213V 1:57.512
8 Andrea Dovizioso Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha M1 1:57.547
9 Hector Barbera Pramac Racing Team Ducati GP12 1:57.912
10 Valentino Rossi Marlboro Ducati Team Ducati GP12 1:57.914
11 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati GP12 1:57.939
12 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda MotoGP Honda RC213V 1:58.934
13 Randy De Puniet Aspar Team MotoGP ART 1:59.985
14 Colin Edwards Forward Racing Suter 2:00.044
15 Michele Pirro Honda Gresini FTR 2:00.322
16 Roger Lee Espargo Aspar Aspar 2:00.720
17 Ivan Silva BQR BQR-FTR 2:01.138
18 Ivan Silva BQR BBQ 2:00.261
19 Yonny Hernandez BQR BQR-FTR 2:00.276
20 Danilo Petrucci Ioda Racing Project Ioda 2:00.352

[zooom]

btw...I expect the times to come down a fair bit due to the track being reported yesterday as "sandy" and them having to scrub it in due to a lack of having a round of preseason testing there a week before like in recent previous years...

[fastwin]

It will be sad this year knowing Edwards will just be more of a mobile chicane for the fast guys. I know his day was done at Tech 3... they needed to move on with new, younger talent. And I know he can contribute to his mobile chicane CRT team. Blah, blah blah. But still, it's like when Brett Farve wouldn't retire... OK, not exactly... Edwards would never be douchey like that. But CE's had his day and then some and I love him for it. I just like seeing my sports heroes go out on top. Not back markers off the pace by a couple of seconds just to say they are still racing. I'd rather read funny stories about his racing boot camp in the TX Hill Country than how he got lapped in MotoGP races this year. Prove me wrong CE!

[desmoquattro]

It will be sad this year knowing Edwards will just be more of a mobile chicane for the fast guys.

...
I just like seeing my sports heroes go out on top. Not back markers off the pace by a couple of seconds just to say they are still racing.

Rossi is pretty much looking like a mobile chicane too And that's not just bad for Rossi fans, that's bad for the sport.

[gm2]

FP1 top speeds:  http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120405bn.htm

[fastwin]

FP1 top speeds:  http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120405bn.htm

Shit. My street legal sport touring Hayabusa will run faster than 178!