QP for Donnington tonight

http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics

on foxsports 2 at 8.45pm

Peeps... this is gona be epic... Wet by the looks of it. Hopefully they'll all get through unscathed.

Stoner's on pole. Then Rossi... then Chris Chris's supers experience plus the wet could make this a Le Mans all over?

Then Hayden we've got on pneumatic valves. (told he can only keep the engine if he puts it top 4... WTF? No wonder Rossi's left Honda) This will be an interesting outing for the Kentucky Kid (even if some refuse to believe he's gone to shit)

Ant West is bringing his usual wet weather magic but yes he is riding for his future. The Kwak package is so off it can only be competitive in the wet. And even then only sort of. He'll ride the wheels off that thing hopefully wont' bin it though.

We've also got the US ring in, in the form of Ben Spies. Matt Mladin's team mate and AMA champ replacing Loris, who's nursing his hand. Interesting. BTW I used to go for Mladin in the early 90s when he was on a Kwak in Oz supers. Fark I'm old.

Lickie... The telefonica sponsorship is a bit of a funny one. I think having only sponsored teams in the minors, is not agreeing with them. Spanish Co probably wants to get back in the limelight in the majors. Even if that means slapping Giblet in the face. Dani's off limits, coz Repsol's all over that, and they won't let them muscle in (Doubtful whether they have the same depth pockets and Honda won't jump ship) That leaves you know who, riding like demon, sucking on a chuppa chup If they could I'm sure they'd sponsor him alone.

Actually watching Giblet on RPM when he got ditched from Ducati and had no ride was quite sad. It was weird b/c Casey got his seat, but watching him dejected was pretty sad. Always thought he was a bit of a prima donna, and never quite got there, but he could mix it with Rossi. Who can forget the "shoulder barge" incident?

Media Player

YouTube

Had skills by the bucketload. This is in my faves...

Media Player

YouTube

I'm going out on my sword... and impaling myself.
Chris
Stoner
Rossi

bring it on.

Sum it up, it was a pretty boring race. Rossi dicing with Pedrobot was pretty fun but after that there wasn't much to write home about.

Lorenzo probably had orders from the doctor to take it easy. Concussions are not something to mess with. Good fecking ride though

Great ride by Dovi

Edwards Typical.

Hayden - not sure what to say. He has done heaps of testing on the new engine and knows that bike better than anyone. he needs to stop looking at the bike for the problem and more at himself to solve the problem. He rode really really well, but it was like he suddenly sobered up and realized he should not be riding at the front, and then went backwards fast.

Speis - great showing.

Laszlo you were close but wrong order.

Stonefish owned the race.

I need sleep. good night

Lickie if it was a wet one I think I would have got it right

I'd have to agree Stonefish did jump well and truly out of the water and left them all behind.

The Rossi Pedrobot stoush mid race was nice but all two short and once Rossi was gone, it became a wee bit processional. The telecast picked up late on Lorenzo burning up the field. I really think they should concentrate on the mid pack more, because quite clearly up front there isn't much going on.

Dovi did well to stick up front for a while, but then decided to join Hayden going backwards, along with Chris and Westy.

Hayden was a very interesting pony out in the paddock. He seemed to carry too much speed and running wide into corners when he pulled moves on others, who then promptly took their position back. Which means the pneumatic engine is either strong, and Nicky didn't adjust, or has less power and he tried to compensate for it with braking heroics. Or maybe despite reports that he's happier with the balance on the pneumatic, he's still searching. Either way he didn't finish 4th, so remains to be seen what HRC will do about letting him have it again.

Sad Pandafase for Hoppa and Toseland. Poor King James. I guess it's back to the piano for him for some blues. Spies not bad on a first outing. Long way up the hill though and Loris was trackside like a hawk. Magic 8 ball says no.

BTW. Lickie you must be psychic bringing up Giblet... all telecast Rusty and Dazza could carry on about was the possibility of Giblet riding for Ducati, maybe even this year. He's tested the GP9. Would love to have known what the results of that were. They probably called on him as Troy no doubt told them he meant that bit about retirement. That means Melandri is on the chopping block... Still Bayliss and Stoner on the same team now that would be awesome to watch.

Kudos to Kallio on the KTM in the 250s watching Simoncelli barge Bautista sideways. Dazza called it, 2 seconds later... contact. I'm sure Alvaro didn't see the funny side. In the 125s Talmacsi stacks it, 60odd points down again. Unlikely repeat now.

Saturday race at Assen!!!!! I always forget

Laszlo this is from his first test

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2008/F...20at%20Mugello

not bad for an old fellow..At least with giblet he helps with the development of the bike and can ride pretty well. I would be willing to put money on him to replace Melandri next year.

Would be good for the sport to have duals on again.

Bayliss is retiring from superbikes this year, I dont think he will be back in the motogp would be good if he was though, i rate him alot higher than stonefish.

Dp

LOL @ Toseland

I downloaded the British coverage of the GP (damn VCR didn't tape it on telly last night ) and seriously, 1/3 of the download was glorifying Toseland and how he came into the spotlight/life story/stroking his scrotum - and then he falls over on the first turn

boring race, loved Rossi playing with Pedbot, and Stoner's wheelie at end was cool!

race got me pumped, going for a ride, bbl

Almost half way through the season and there still hasn't been a race with a decent stoush for the top-step of the podium. I think I'm going to have to start watching the 250s and 125s again...

Great ride by Stoner. He looked supremely confident from the outset and didn't skip a beat, pulling away from Pedrobot and Rossi more and more with each lap.

And as far as Gibernau riding for Ducati again, they'd be better of getting Capirossi back from Ducati.

^ Couldn't agree more, I've been watching World Supers, the last few rounds have been heaps more exciting than the GPs.

Assen GP is on this saturday night..

Stoner dominating free practice sessions, bit of a surprise to see Nakano in 6th spot.

Capirossi is out of the race and spies knocked back the offer to ride in his place!

My premature predictions for top 6
1. rossi
2. stonefish
3. kentucky kid
4. pedrobot
5. texan tonado
6. dovi

Here's hoping for a good race.

Benny and the jets - I've been watching it abit lately too and agree at the moment its more exciting to watch.

Just a question:

I read an article after the Donnington GP that said the crowd was booing Casey?

why?

Thats happened for the past few years, Few different stories going around, some of the rossi fans that dont like stonefish winning a race over him and also that stonefish can come across as arrogant but then I also heard it could be a new bunch of race fans who have no clue.

Bit fecked up for people to behave like that

I guess it's the huge Rossi fan following over there..

That, and because us Aussies beat the Brits in almost any other sport

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benny and the jets

^ Couldn't agree more, I've been watching World Supers, the last few rounds have been heaps more exciting than the GPs.

Yeah, I think with all of the electronic rider aids, MotoGP has the potential to go the way of F1. Mistakes that would've sent the rider flying over the bars are over-ridden by the TC and thus the riders can push the envelope with less risk. So it's no big gamble to go hard like it was back inthe 500cc era, riders can comfortably turn out solid pace rather than just doing whatever it takes to win. When was the last time we saw a rider in 2nd place foxing and waiting until the last few laps to pounce and have a crack at the lead?

Just finished watching qualifying, Wow! Proper on the edge of my seat/nail-biting action!

Stoner and Rossi just kept throwing down quick times at each other, then Pedrosa put himself into the equation with his last lap and just lost some time on the last section. I hope the race is just as exciting tomorrow.

Grid:
1 Casey Stoner Ducati MotoGP 1:35.520
2 Daniel Pedrosa Honda HRC 1:35.552
3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Factory 1:35.659
4 Nicky Hayden Honda HRC 1:35.975
5 Randy De Puniet Honda LCR 1:35.985
6 Colin Edwards Yamaha Tech3 1:36.278
7 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory 1:36.532
8 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki MotoGP 1:36.768
9 Shinya Nakano Honda Gresini 1:36.804
10 Sylvain Guintoli Ducati d Antin 1:36.823
11 Andrea Dovizioso Honda Scot 1:36.899
12 Alex De Angelis Honda Gresini 1:36.948
13 James Toseland Yamaha Tech3 1:36.978
14 Antonio Elias Ducati d Antin 1:37.287
15 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing 1:37.643
16 Anthony West Kawasaki Racing 1:38.024

why is it on a Saturday?

Its the dutch tradition to hold the race on the last day of June. It was already on the calendar from when the first series of racing started.

$1.00 bet de Puniet will fall off the bike.

Bring on Phillip Island Moto GP.

Another great win by Casey. His defence of the title is now looking much more promising.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lickie

Its the dutch tradition to hold the race on the last day of June. It was already on the calendar from when the first series of racing started.

$1.00 bet de Puniet will fall off the bike.

While it wasn't of his own accord, that's a pretty awesome call there.

bring back the 990 bikes..

Bit disappointed with the race again. i'd like to see the racing toe to toe again ie rossi/giblet days.. or with anyone its all lacking the excitement

cant take nothing away from stonefish.

Yeah, it was another snoozefest, but Stoner/Ducati are obviously very much in the zone at the moment, and deserve to win with such a dominant performance.

Control ECU ploiz

^^ I 2nd that control ecu request. It is really like f1 with quals being more exciting than the race.

Tis a shame rossi locked the rear and binned it. To think that after the crash, he managed to throw down a few fastest laps (eventually lapped 3rd fastest) without a gear shift and a bent handlebar!

Gotta hand it to stonefish and his TC programmer, least he is doing standups for celebrations now.

How much of a pisser was Edwards though? Hayden running out of fuel on the last corner, thankyouverymuch I'll pop the wheel up as I go past your thirsty honda and mention karma during the post race interview.

Feck... missed it due to work. Where do I d/l it from?

Lickie you're funny... Chiastic. You can pretty much make that bet on every race during the season and if Randy's in form... you'll be well ahead by the end of the year. They call him the flying Frenchman for a different reason

Hayden ran out of jungle joice? On the last corner? Bloody hell. I appearz to be korrekt. Penumatic revving not contained by shonky inhouse Honda ECU...

Marvel4 for everyone? or bump back up to 990? Or switch channels to the bar bashing supers?

@ Spies. Yeah thanks... but no thanks. This is popping my hype bubble back in the AMA. who took his spot?

Laszlo, download the torrent from here

http://www.mininova.org/tor/1547466

bump back to the 990's and real racing. SBK I've been getting into alot lately (doubt I'd fully convert through)

Melandri on his last chance according to this website:

http://www.visordown.com/motorcyclen...ance/5039.html

Cheers Lickie... it's my first torrent d/l.

I think the 990s wiould be a good un... although I'd doubt Dorna would do such a dramatic back paddle. Expect at least one more year of 800s.

I think there's a bigger problem in terms of what to do with the minor classes. Virtually none of the major players participate these days. the 250s are all about KTM and Aprillia. The 125s have even smaller manufactuers... Two strokes are on the chopping block.

Question is what to replace them with? 600s? Too close to 800s and WSS already has them, plus super stock so that's not gonna get fans in. 400s more likely, with maybe a 250 underclass? Either way there's a lot of people that will be affected by that and they'll try and sort that out before the 800s.

One other option of course is to ditch the fuel limit... forget this momma earth peak oil efficiency rubbish. Let's see what the 800s can do when they're off the leash of fuel preservation dictated TC.

Ps. Mike Scott's about as good a source you can have for innuendo like that... Sad to say but Marco ain't coming back next year. Gibblet... well who else is gonna step up? Mid season.

how was the d/l laszlo ?

I dont think they will go back to 990's at all wishful thinking however.

Removing the fuel limit will get rid of a lot of the more complex electronics automatically (such as the Duke idling through corners), the only reason they're on the bike in the first place is to conserve fuel.

I heard awhile ago that aprilia "might" be considering a return to motogp, i think i read that they were going to start dyno testing next year. I could be wrong.

Anyhoo,

Sachsenring GP this weekend

my premature predictions are
1. rossi
2. kentucky kid
3. texan tornado/pedrobot
4. edwards
5. stonefish
6. chuppa chup

if its in the wet
rossi
kentucky chicken kid
vermuellen

The race isnt on for the winner, more like who comes 2nd & 3rd

hayden is due for a podium finish after his bad luck, stonefish is due for an offrace so is pedrobot

QP for Sachsenring

http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics

6.45pm on foxsports 3 for those with foxtel otherwise 9.50 ten HD

I predict:

1. Stoner
2. Pederosa
3. Rossi
4. Edwards
5. Lorenzo.
6. Hayden

The D/l was tip top Lickie

Thanks for the link... Rossi taking out Randy was in retrospect quite funny... Well not for Randy I guess but somewhat ironic that the most crash prone rider is taken out for a change. However the fact that Rossi rode his bike into points without his gear leaver. Well that's just plain wrong if you ask me. Freak. Genious. Quite simply WTF? HOW GOOD?

I'm moving out of my unit tonight and I should be cleaning but I can't be bothered. Couches have left the building so all I got left is matrass and tv and puta.

Will try and catch telecast.
No predictions from me. Move meant I didn't check quali form

No fuel restrictions might get them revving to the sky and bring some extra juice to the racing. I say that's probably quite likely to rectify the sitch. ATM it's a bit ho hum like you said. 1st is usually well gone... minor tweak > than major yeah we stuffed this up. Dorna. what will you do.

Dorna wont do anything....

Anyways. Laguna Seca this weekend last race before their break.

Pedrobot might not race as he has an injured ankle and broken finger. Hayden should do well on home soil as he has in previous years. I will have to d/l this race as I am on the way to work when it starts on Monday morning DAMNIT

Too early to predict this one, doesnt normally rain at laguna the track is pretty dry and hot.

QP for Laguna Seca

http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics

its on at 6.45 tomorrow morning meh

Still tipping Rossi for this one, I dont think he has ever won there before so he is due for a win

zomg, at last, a decent fight for the lead. That was classic Rossi, riding aggressively even though he doesn't quite have the pace and fighting tooth and nail for the race. The passing was getting pretty hairy so I was hoping that stoner would just settle in behind Rossi and fight for it towards the end of the race, as Rossi didn't appear to have the pass needed to run away with it. Lucky he got back without losing a place.

DORNA at it again

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/20..._ecu_and_.html

In the midst of the olympics, MOTO GP is back at brno

QP

http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics

Looks like a wet race too. go Rossi go

Hopefully it is dry by the time the race is on. Interesting to see the kwakas big improvements but is it too late for westy to save his ride?

Is rossi running the improved electronics for this race?

21:40 on tenhd i think?

Dont read the following if you have not watched the race yet!!!!





















Not happy jan

Quote:

Originally Posted by dre00

Hopefully it is dry by the time the race is on. Interesting to see the kwakas big improvements but is it too late for westy to save his ride?

Is rossi running the improved electronics for this race?

21:40 on tenhd i think?

I read that he was testing the upgrading electronics at friday's FP1 and again after the race.

No surprise about de puniet crashing, melandri finishing 7th thats a surprise. kwaka or honda for him next year

wtf happened to vermuelen

stonefish hrrm softer tyres on the day

No surprise that melandri wouldnt be riding with ducati next year

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2008/M...+move+for+2009

95% chance that hayden will be taking his spot at ducati next year

Sorry guys been doing that whole move to the UK thing, so I fell off the wagon kinda badly.

I'm in Singapore at the moment but will have to leave on the 15th so I'll miss out on taking a trip up to Sepang Valencia or Estoril is still a possibility

Anyways. Interesting article Lickie. I think that's the pinnacle of stupidity by Dorna. It can't have its cake and eat it too. You can't go edifying and creating heroes and then try and limit them in such a draconian way. WTF are they thinking? It's like asking people to watch a world title fight with both boxers having their arms tied behind their backs.

It would be meddling to the point of making racing futile. With the 990s excitement and racing development was about getting the power down. Rider skill etc played a big part, but that's what racing development should be about. Grooved rubber. Twits.

Truth is they're chopping at the branch on which they're sitting. A quick question how much Rossi makes from merchandising, or Honda from doing Repsol replicas, will tell them they're in the wrong direction.

Chris should be applauded for his road safety campaign. The issue is that people should enjoy racing and the heroism of the guys, not try and emulate them on the road because it's completely different, and on a track it's as safe as it can be. Development of better traction control, leading to faster lap times and corner speed on smaller bikes only changed the parameters of the problem. Highsides due to cold rubber is something different alltogether.

Racers will push. Factories will push. That's the game. You can't win if you don't keep it shiny side up. Ingenuity in TC ought to be developed on several fronts with different approaches. The best system will rise to the top... manufacturers will adopt it, racing will be close and it will filter down onto roadbikes. Everyone wins.

Now did somebody say Misano???

Agreed on what you wrote laszlo. they are just stupid.

al the yamaha boys got fined for performing practice starts after the chequered flag at the end of MotoGP qualifying at Misano on Saturday. $1000 USD each. Hope the money goes to a worthwhile cause.

Yes Misano. QF

http://www.motogp.com/en/Results+Statistics

rossi ftw
stonefish then chupa chup
e-shit de puniet on 2nd row, I'd be a tad worried for the guys on the front row, lets just hope that they take off quick from him so he doesnt inflict any damage on them.

Foxsports 3 from 7pm

Excited for this race - the crazy italian fans know how to support their heroes. Looking forward to a rossi & caparossi dogfight to the finish. How good are suzuki atm? Supposedly due to a chassis change.

I suspect stonefish will fall down the oder as the pain killers wear off and the wrist starts hurting again. Agreed, that they will really need to watch out for the two kamakazi riders, but it certinly should make for good racing.

Interesting interview with rossi here --> http://www.cycleworld.com/article.as...article_id=859

From what he says, kind of makes sence to look at the option of going with a cable throttle, rather than by fly by wire.

Free to air plebs - 21:30 start

Good call guys...
Rossi won Lickie, and Dre00 Stonefish just fell off.

Felt sorry for Stonefish, he's gone out rather well, but then it was a pretty simple lay down. The telecast i got in singapore showed him in the pits indicating that the front tucked under him. He was gesticulating quite vigorously. Sadly for him that means unless Rossi has a stackfest or mech meltdown, he's not going to repeat... Still riding with a broken thumb. You gotta give it to him. That's wanting it.

The race other than the tussle near 6th was very processional and ho hum. Kudos to Chris. He's revitalised. Westy was ahead of Hoppa but Kwak is in all sorts of trouble. Westy's out, Marco's going accross... his spot to be taken by Nicky. 09 is looking up...

Pedrobot ran out of patience with the fat french man, and is switching to bridgies... That's going to leave Michies in a tough spot.

At the end of it all though how good was it for Rossi to equal Ago on his home turf, in a year he's probably going to take the crown... Love him or hate him... you can't deny the man's achieved it all. Ditto for Loris... henceforth "Il Professore" that sticker cracked me up. It was all about Italy and kudos to Elias for flying it for Borgo Pannigale.

The 250 race was something else. Once again they upstaged the big boys

Oh and Lickie... Randy was like clockwork

congrats to rossi on his win and equaling ago. Did anyone catch diego maradona at the track ? seriously thought he was going to ram his tongue down rossi's throat.

three rumours abound about stonefish. 1 he says it was his front tyre and lack of grip that made him crash, 2 his wrist was still playing up and 3 rossi recons the pressure of him racing behind got too much for him. Who knows.

hayden confirmed for ducati 09 should make for interesting racing, good partnership between him and stonefish

pedrobot effective immediately on the bridgestones.

good to see chupa chup back on the podium

as for de puniet centrebet should start having bets on which lap he is going to crash, its just become to predictable.

indianapolis in 10 days. fark only 5 races left in the season.

laszlo are you making it to valencia at all seeing you will be based in the UK ?

Yeah. Have not been to spain or portugal yet and I'd like to but I'm guessing the ticketing might be an issue. Ie sold out already. when I land in London I'll look into it. Next season I'll deffo go to at least one Euro round

Indianapolis should be interesting... I think it's important for Hoppa and Nicky more than anything, which is kind of weird... because it's purely marketing excersise... Who knows might be a bit of a funny one with actual close racing given nobody's been on the track.

Ditto for Pedrobot. Didn't he just spit the dummy rather far.
I guess it's only the competitive nature, wanting to have every edge the other guy has.

Quali should be fun...

Bloody Hell. 125s redflagged...
250s about to start... the BMW safety car took off on a sighting lap, and literally it splashed gallons of water with the front wheel...

The umbrella girls are busy, well the ones that walked out on the racetrack...

Chris and Westy should do well in the wet... *crosses fingers*

Jason is on his way to Phillip Island now. Fcuk yeah.

i hate jason right now.

hopefully stoner can repeat last year's performance at philip island. Dunno if he will though since his wrist is fucked and rossi has been pretty competitive lately. Even pedrosa & lorenzo are in with a chance

stoner wins again! Great ride from Rossi going from 12th to 2nd. I bet Hayden was spewing that he lost 2nd place on the last lap. He'll be one to watch next year on a Ducati

^^

haha

Yeah it was a good weekend down there, sun was out all weekend. Stoner raced well. Great come back from Rossi. Bring on the Superbikes in March.