Ok, will throw my thoughts on the race.
Pedrosa - sensational first few laps which amounted to nothing. In all fairness he was probably pushing way harder than necessary but for a guy often accused of lacking in some areas, those few laps were gutsy and damn good to watch (IMO). The guy has what it takes, just maybe not quite yet (time will tell on that one).
Stoner - Masterclass or magnificent? Can't really decide but he did what was needed, cut the quick laps at the right time, kept the machine upright and bought it home where he needed to be. A damn good days work and shows that he is well back and in business.
VR - damn good ride. Appeared to realise early that to lose 5 points to CS was better than 25 and rode sensibly for second whilst never really appearing to look at first. In fairness though with his experience he did what would have been expected, no more or less but as with everyone who finished in those conditions a great effort.
CV - if only every race was wet (us Aussies would love that). His ride does show that the Suzuki certainly is lacking in some areas as with the levelling caused by rain he was again a threat. Easy to say that he is a rain master but to me the bike looks to be the issue not necessarily his riding. Was good to see a bit (even slight) of agression but will need to see more of that to be at threat going ahead.
DeAngelis - good impressive ride chasing the Rainmaster which certainly surprised this poster but good to see. Showed courage and ability and also that maybe his Honda is not the equal of the others, although with the first 4 on Bridgestones it could well have been the tyres. Like CV, time will tell but that was a damn good mature ride for the MotoGP rookie.
Dovi - good solid ride although didn't see enough of him (or the rest of the field beyond the top 4 - 5 being fair). Still on the leraning curve and still looking good for the future.
Guinters - this was unexpected. Is he getting to grips with the Duke or was he here because of the wet and crashes? Given after race reports that he rode with no TC I am veru comfortable giving him the benefit of the doubt and saying that his day was impressive and a good day in terms of his career. He has made steady progress the last few races and may well be coming to terms with whatever the Duke requires, or could be lucky. Judgement call after Laguna.
As for the others.
West impressed in the times he was able to cut, crash and get going again for a creditable tenth, but it still won't save his career. Shame really as whilst we all hear about Hopkins injuries the commentary I was hearing was saying that West has a cracked vertebrae in the back and was still out there. Gutsy stuff.
Hayden worked hard, did little but was hampered with teh early problems but still makes the ffort to go out and try to claim a point whilst being laps down. Kudos in my book.
Edwards - well what can be said that likely hasn't already? Having easily his best year the nearly man fell victim to the conditions and really (IMO) deserves no slagging as he was one of many. Will be back for more top 5 places, just doubt that he will win one.
Lorenzo - good to see he was ok but the learning curve is getting steeper. No problems though, he has the talent but we didn't see it.
Melandri - on the positive, he was in seventh.
Garry
