2018 PTT Thailand Grand Prix Predictions + Race Chat

povol said:

Good race, shame for Dani, he had the pace to win. If Marquez finishes ahead of Dovi n the next race the title is his

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Reminiscent of 2016 with Marc taking the title in Japan when both Yamaha’s crashed out.

I’m really hoping Dovi can hold him off in Japan (doubtful), I’m marshalling at PI again this year and would really love to witness a world championship crowning.

Since no one here will have the courage to say it, I will.
Rossi made everyone his ..... until his bike gave up on him. He is absolutely still a top rider and if Yamaha can build him a bike he deserves, he will still fight for another championship.

I just watched the post race press conference, and I really loved the points Dovi and Marc made about the Thai fans... How the fans in Europe could really take a leaf out of the Thai fans book. Giving respect to all of the riders regardless of their red or yellow preference and behaving like true racing fans should. A shame given how much effort it takes to create something and how little it takes to destroy it.

I’ve been a Rossi fan for a long time but his fans (not all but a strong majority) seem to let down the sport with their behaviour let alone my own personal opinion of the guy. Anyone who can go toe to toe with the younger and hungrier guys let alone a freak like Marc at 40 years of age is an absolute living legend and has nothing to prove and no need to condone behaviour (by not speaking out against it given his huge influence) that provokes and intimidates his younger peers (who really only look up to him and at try to emulate his greatness/achievements), regardless of his faults. But the behaviour of his really ‘low brow’ fans and booing of Marc is truly pathetic and has almost lost me now completely as a fan which is sad, and really puts a stain on the legacy he has worked so hard and so long to create.

Given his stature that behaviour is truly below him, those mind game tactics against his competitors may have worked for him in the past but they clearly aren’t now going off results alone... Now to the point where he is actually losing many of his ‘fewer’ but long time genuine racing fans in exchange for support from a multitude of dead ..... who will not even follow the sport once he retires. Leaving such a bad taste in the mouths of his competitors fans that instead of remembering him and respecting him when he moves on, will despise and even hate the guy despite all of his great achievements.

Anyway, rant over, awesome last 3 laps!!! Just watched it again.

Those last four laps were terrific. Great to see the two Yamahas up at the pointy end. Despite the heat and the abrasive surface, compounded by the newness of the circuit, there were very few crashes. Michelin (after a long long time) are starting to look respectable.

synn said:

Since no one here will have the courage to say it, I will.
Rossi made everyone his ..... until his bike gave up on him. He is absolutely still a top rider and if Yamaha can build him a bike he deserves, he will still fight for another championship.

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Both Marc & Dovi let your boy thru. If he had anything he would have cleared off. If he knew how to ride his bike like Maverick, he could have made podium. Further proof they choose the wrong rider for development.

I was pretty happy when Rossi was leading, but when that bike tanked, it tanked hard. He was still able to manage a 4th place finish and still holds 3rd in the standings. Not too bad for an old man..lol

synn said:

Since no one here will have the courage to say it, I will.
Rossi made everyone his ..... until his bike gave up on him. He is absolutely still a top rider and if Yamaha can build him a bike he deserves, he will still fight for another championship.

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Yamaha gave them a bike today that had the best times in the last 5 laps of the race. If his bike crapped out it was rider induced, the other one was flying. If Yamaha builds a championship bike , Vinales will make Rossi his ..... like Lorenzo did. Damn boppers get excited because smarter riders held back and Rossi lead a handful of laps, now he is championship material.

povol said:

Yamaha gave them a bike today that had the best times in the last 5 laps of the race. If his bike crapped out it was rider induced, the other one was flying. If Yamaha builds a championship bike , Vinales will make Rossi his ..... like Lorenzo did. Damn boppers get excited because smarter riders held back and Rossi lead a handful of laps, now he is championship material.

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Correctly put Pov! If bopper had watch the post race press conference. Bopper would have heard what Dovi said that the rest of us saw. I could not see Marc's weak points because he was behind me, say's Dovi.

Both Marc & Dovi knew flopsy was good in sector 4 so they let him by to see his lines. These guys are playing a high speed game of chess.

Little Walter said:

Those last four laps were terrific. Great to see the two Yamahas up at the pointy end. Despite the heat and the abrasive surface, compounded by the newness of the circuit, there were very few crashes. Michelin (after a long long time) are starting to look respectable.

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Well, Vinales had to pull in during qualifying because of a tyre fault.

evo9 said:

Correctly put Pov! If bopper had watch the post race press conference. Bopper would have heard what Dovi said that the rest of us saw. I could not see Marc's weak points because he was behind me, say's Dovi.

Both Marc & Dovi knew flopsy was good in sector 4 so they let him by to see his lines. These guys are playing a high speed game of chess.

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Without a doubt they let Rossi through and then put pressure on him after a while so he would make mistake which he did by lighting up the rear.

p4p1 said:

Without a doubt they let Rossi through and then put pressure on him after a while so he would make mistake which he did by lighting up the rear.

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Mav commented that when he received a pit message for map 3 half way through the race that he was already in map 2 after lap 4 and laughed. At a guess I’d say it was based of his tyre temp sensor and dropping maps is s way to conserve it. Maybe Rossi didn’t manage the tyre as conservatively and burned it up with his stint at the front. Like some have touched on, new track and tyres... Maybe he thought it would hold up better or maybe the Honda and Ducati’s by design aren’t as agressive on the rear. Doesn’t make him slow or bad, he just didn’t manage it as well as Mav who hung back and pulled the trigger closer to the end.

EDIT:
As Mav said, he had little to no chance of taking MM and AD, he was more concerned in defending his podium from behind. The fact both Yamahas finished 3 and 4 close behind each other tells me both where at the limits of their bikes and tyres regardless of what order they finished in. The big positive is that they are at the pointy end, whatever Yamaha are working on is in the right direction. Just hope they can maintain it in Japan and that it wasn’t a Thai fluke.

evo9 said:

Both Marc & Dovi knew flopsy was good in sector 4 so they let him by to see his lines. These guys are playing a high speed game of chess.

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Twas good to watch. Not only did they sus out lines but it looked like neither of them wanted to blow it so they let rossi lead at a reduced pace. To be honest I think they wanted him in front longer, but he could hack even that pace and blew it.

povol said:

Yamaha gave them a bike today that had the best times in the last 5 laps of the race. If his bike crapped out it was rider induced, the other one was flying. If Yamaha builds a championship bike , Vinales will make Rossi his ..... like Lorenzo did. Damn boppers get excited because smarter riders held back and Rossi lead a handful of laps, now he is championship material.

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Rossi didn't have the stamina to finish what he started. Great ride for a guy his age - but if I wanted to see guys his age doing what they do best, I could hang around the office of a prostate doctor.

p4p1 said:

Well, Vinales had to pull in during qualifying because of a tyre fault.

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People's memories are short. B-Stones were less than perfect too.

Keshav said:

Rossi didn't have the stamina to finish what he started. Great ride for a guy his age - but if I wanted to see guys his age doing what they do best, I could hang around the office of a prostate doctor.

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Shouldn’t you be commenting on things more within your area of expertise, like say, breaking a hip doing laps on a couch?

Keshav said:

Rossi didn't have the stamina to finish what he started. Great ride for a guy his age - but if I wanted to see guys his age doing what they do best, I could hang around the office of a prostate doctor.

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You know this is the in bottom feeder is looking for to mock up this thread.

evo9 said:

You know this is the in bottom feeder is looking for to mock up this thread.

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Itd be a shame for folk not to be able to say stuff just to appease the yellow sooks.

I was thinking exactly what Keshav posted. The bike is fine its rossi.

With 3 bikes in the top 5, in what has been a fairly dismal year, Yamaha should be pretty happy with the result.

I wonder if they have found something? I recall on Saturday a commentator saying that Maverick finally got a setting he has been asking for all year?

Anyway, it is good for the sport to have as many manufacturers as possible firing for wins and podiums.

Barbedwirebikerr said:

With 3 bikes in the top 5, in what has been a fairly dismal year, Yamaha should be pretty happy with the result.

I wonder if they have found something? I recall on Saturday a commentator saying that Maverick finally got a setting he has been asking for all year?

Anyway, it is good for the sport to have as many manufacturers as possible firing for wins and podiums.

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They changed up their electronics team, that includes their WSBK guy who is ex Ducati.

Too early to say if that is a permanent step forward, but the fact that the 2018 and 2017 bikes both improved suggests more than mechanical settings. Especially when Maverick has a radically different setup than Rossi and Zarco.

BarryMachine said:

Itd be a shame for folk not to be able to say stuff just to appease the yellow sooks.

I was thinking exactly what Keshav posted. The bike is fine its rossi.

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Personally I don’t see a problem with how Mav or Rossi rode, they finished behind each other a poofteenth apart and closer to the front than Yamaha have in a long time. I just find it odd how when the yellow and anti yellow team banter starts it degenerates into a diatribe session that lowers the quality of any meaningful discussion.

The old fart couldn’t beat mav on the same bike, but there was .... all in it.... Nothing more to say really.

I did find Mavs comments in English overheard by the cameras in Parc ferme to what looked like a Japanese corporate / engineering type quite interesting. Something about moving the weight further back? Given all the rumours and speculation about under-weighted crank mass and being late to jump on the advanced IMU (with processor and senor inputs) bandwagon. Maybe shifting the weight of the engine back is their strategy of damage control to get around engine and electronic shortcomings for the season remainder.