2013 MotoGP - Assen (SPOILER)

[Jester]

Why would anyone be eating crow? Dani still stands on top of the title chase... Doesn't the person with the most points at the END of the season win the title?

+1

I'm in Pedro's corner and I'm not eating crow.  That's not the first or last time MM has or will pass Dani.  However, Pedrosa is currently leading the championship.  MM is not.  If MM can get by Pedro he will.  If he can't, don't say Pedro is blocking him.  Its racing and its bs.

[duccarlos]

He just threw away a huge opportunity to put pressure on Lorenzo. That shoulder will take a few races to get back to 100%. Rossi had this race won, there was no one on that grid that could have prevented it, but The Turd should have latched onto the back of his back. The more he went backwards, the more Lorenzo could settle into a painful rhythm. You need to exploit weakness, which means you don't let Lorenzo settle. You force him into pushing the bike, which in turn puts pressure on the shoulder until the pain is too much and he retires.

[derby]

He just threw away a huge opportunity to put pressure on Lorenzo. That shoulder will take a few races to get back to 100%. Rossi had this race won, there was no one on that grid that could have prevented it, but The Turd should have latched onto the back of his back. The more he went backwards, the more Lorenzo could settle into a painful rhythm. You need to exploit weakness, which means you don't let Lorenzo settle. You force him into pushing the bike, which in turn puts pressure on the shoulder until the pain is too much and he retires.

i'll agree that this was a missed opportunity for pedro, but lorenzo's whole plan was running his own race and settling for whatever points he could get.

[OT]

MM isn't playing teammate at all; he just can't get past Tiny [fill in the blank] until later in the race.  Proof will come when MM torpedoes Tiny trying to force an inside/on the brakes pass, which seems more and more to be his signature/one-really-natural move.  Funny when Cal almost did it to him yesterday at the start of the last lap  

[Jester]

MM isn't playing teammate at all; he just can't get past Tiny [fill in the blank] until later in the race.  Proof will come when MM torpedoes Tiny trying to force an inside/on the brakes pass, which seems more and more to be his signature/one-really-natural move.  Funny when Cal almost did it to him yesterday at the start of the last lap  

   Cal was joking with him about it after the race.  Its what Pedro has to deal with every week.   

[MadDuck]

I think this race nicely showcased lots of stuff:

ROSSI!!    Good to see him win! That will do wonders for his self confidence & hopefully he will win more but doubtful that he will be in championship contention this year anyway.

Crutchlow....... screwed up the start something fierce and almost wrote him off but the guy has a huge heart and fought back. Could have actually placed better but kept messing up in a few corners that set him back.

Pedrosa ..... super talented, fast as all get out until he gets consistently pressured and if he gets passed it's like stabbing him and hard for him to fight back.  If he had Crutchlow's heart he'd be a champion already.

Marquez .... better than Dani but trying to be a team player until it's obvious that Dani is just not going to hold a fast enough pace so he has to pass him.  There's being a team player and then there's beinga team player but if your teammate is going to fold then what can you do?

Lorenzo....... Big balls and kudos to him for even showing up to race let alone race as hard as he did. Absolutely deserves all those points and then some.  But......... even though he was totally spent at the end of the race you cannot tell me that he didn't have enough left in him to pull up to his teammate Rossi and congratulate him on a race win.  No,  the guy just doesn't have enough class to do that.  It's only that.. class & sportsmanship and I think he needs more.  He can be dour just like Pedrosa, who gives a real rip but if he could finish the race and the give Rossi a fist pump on the track that would really show something.  He just doesn't have that something.

[derby]

Lorenzo....... Big balls and kudos to him for even showing up to race let alone race as hard as he did. Absolutely deserves all those points and then some.  But......... even though he was totally spent at the end of the race you cannot tell me that he didn't have enough left in him to pull up to his teammate Rossi and congratulate him on a race win.  No,  the guy just doesn't have enough class to do that.  It's only that.. class & sportsmanship and I think he needs more.  He can be dour just like Pedrosa, who gives a real rip but if he could finish the race and the give Rossi a fist pump on the track that would really show something.  He just doesn't have that something.

i don't think jorge moved his arm at all after the flag, even when he got back to his garage and his team rolled him inside to help him off the bike.

[ducpainter]

i don't think jorge moved his arm at all after the flag, even when he got back to his garage and his team rolled him inside to help him off the bike.

He at least owes Rossi and Crutchlow dinner.

[derby]

He at least owes Rossi and Crutchlow dinner.

 

[Greg]

Thought this was great from Rossi 


Rossi also joked that he gained extra motivation during the race from the heroic performance of injured team-mate Lorenzo.

“At one moment I saw on the big screen that Lorenzo was very close to me and I thought, 'make the beast with two backs! If he arrives in front of me with a broken collarbone it is a big problem!' That gave me 0.2-0.3 every lap!” he smiled.

[Privateer]

I don't think I saw a Ducati the entire race.

someone has to lead the battle for 9th.

[1.21GW]

From Assen:



...just like Qatar:



Nice to see these hypercompetitive guys genuinely congratulating each other.  Gotta appreciate a rider who enjoys himself on the track, even as he's trying to beat everyone else out there.

[Speeddog]

 

 

Image credit to mesinbalap.com.

[MadDuck]

Exactly my point.

[zooom]

someone has to lead the battle for 9th.

which was actually won by Bradley Smith on the Tech3 Yammy bike....