Hayden

<div align="centerI know everyone thinks im totally against Hayden, but I just love vale! Anyway I dont want to start up old arguments but where do you think he'll be this year? He's not had the experience on the 250's like the other riders + although he was developing the bike last year he's done nothing sparkling in testing. Opinions anyone?
xx

Gibernau and Kawasaki do well in testing. The fact of the matter is, You can't look into test times too much, they'll only decive you. Honda might be down now, but they're never down for long, and despite the advantages given to his teammate by the dimensions of the new RCV, Hayden is still at the sharp point of the very long Honda sword, meaning he's the fastest man on the RCV right now. I wouldn't rule a defending champ out as a contender to start with. I think Rossi and Pedrosa will better him this year, but I can't see bridgestone-shod riders like Melandri, or Capirossi beating Hayden. I wouldn't rule him out as a contender. It's a long season, and Hayden's newfound consistency may prove a valuable lesson once again.

On top of that, Someone's gotta win at Laguna

I agree with richo. That's why teams "test" the bikes, because it's not perfect...because you have to work out details and check certain parameters, etc. If a team went good on a test, then so be it, good for them. If not, like the current situation of Honda, then I suggest they use every day and hour of testing to the maximum to perfect the bike before the Qatar race.

I expect hayden to be a serious contender this year, maybe even stronger than last year. As for Pedrosa being better than him, i am not so sure. I was previously convinced he would be, and that anything wrong with him last year will now be gone, and the new bikes will help him out. But Hayden is world champion, hes still improving, and he's gonna take it to Rossi again. I can't see anyone else being better than him.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tinks @ Jan 29 2007, 01:56 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'><div align="centerI know everyone thinks im totally against Hayden, but I just love vale! Anyway I dont want to start up old arguments but where do you think he'll be this year? He's not had the experience on the 250's like the other riders + although he was developing the bike last year he's done nothing sparkling in testing. Opinions anyone?
xx

were you expecting essays of opinions?

i actually think pedrosa will do well .. and rossi

Hayden will be reading "The Doctor" logo on Rossi's ... for most of the season i reckon. Thats if he has worked out what it says yet.






<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (4..louzi..2 @ Jan 29 2007, 04:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>were you expecting essays of opinions?

i actually think pedrosa will do well .. and rossi

Thats if he gets close enough to read them Mick!!

Hayden will not be a contender this year.

How can you count out the world champion riding a works Honda?

question is, will he be The Kentucky Kid this year? by winning races
..or The KenLUCKY Kid again? and profit fromn other misfortunes?

actually i don't care...as long as he does his best!
also he needs to beat his "team-mate" more than anyone else.

I do expect to see Hayden challenge for wins, but I'm not too sure if he will be one of the big title contenders this season. I personally think it will be between Vale and Dani. Of course Nicky's the champ, and that's great, but I'm just not convinced if he has what it takes to beat Vale in a straight fight time after time (then again who is???). He won the title, but he didn't exactly beat Vale on track in a real battle. That's what we've missed last season, I didn't see him actually beat Vale. I hope he and Vale will have great battles this season.

At the very least I expect Nicky to be consistent and score many podiums. He may very well turn out to be a different animal this season; he was the best rider on the track in Valencia until Rossi crashed. Hopefully he is motivated to run hard this year just as he was in Valencia. He took all the anger and pain suffered in Portugal and turned it into an impressive drive at the next race. Hopefully he is driven to prove himself and silence his critics by winning at least 3 non-Laguna rounds and the title. Call me stupid for believing in Nicky, but after what happened in Valencia, who really knows anything?

Here's what Rossi needs to do to regain the title.. Keep his "The Doctor" patch on the back as well as keeping his #46 colors in the bright yellow we know and love.

Here's what Hayden needs to do.. fight aggressively as apposed to conservatively like last year. I'm sure he'll do that since he already has the title.

For Pedrosa, regain his 250 talent and keep out of trouble in front. For the little guy, he can't afford to battle out with the bigger boys.

Capirossi: stay mentally young.. the Bridgestones are better and better each year.. with excellent front end feel, I can see the Ducati taking some wins 4.. in fact.

Melandri- a tough year for this guy as Bridgestones don't have much data for Honda except for the Tamada years.. I see some trouble in Michelin-based tracks and fighting Ducati and the Suzuki in the Bridgestone tracks..

Kawasaki will have an off year due to management restructuring.. Yoda is good but the riders on their team are relatively inexperienced compared to the paddock.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mr. Shupe @ Jan 29 2007, 12:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Hopefully he is motivated to run hard this year just as he was in Valencia. He took all the anger and pain suffered in Portugal and turned it into an impressive drive at the next race.

i'm sure he'll be motivated for more 3rd's...

Tom' post='46675 said:

Hayden will be reading "The Doctor" logo on Rossi's ... for most of the season i reckon. Thats if he has worked out what it says yet.

Click to expand...

Lol i agreee!

Yamahamer-AL' post='46693' date='Jan 29 2007 said:

question is, will he be The Kentucky Kid this year? by winning races
..or The KenLUCKY Kid again? and profit fromn other misfortunes?

actually i don't care...as long as he does his best!
also he needs to beat his "team-mate" more than anyone else.

Click to expand...

Noo i think this year theyll put it into Dani more Haydens been on a honda since vales last year + unless he keeps puts in a better/equal performance to last year he wont be on it for much longer

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mr. Shupe @ Jan 29 2007, 07:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>At the very least I expect Nicky to be consistent and score many podiums. He may very well turn out to be a different animal this season; he was the best rider on the track in Valencia until Rossi crashed. Hopefully he is motivated to run hard this year just as he was in Valencia. He took all the anger and pain suffered in Portugal and turned it into an impressive drive at the next race. Hopefully he is driven to prove himself and silence his critics by winning at least 3 non-Laguna rounds and the title. Call me stupid for believing in Nicky, but after what happened in Valencia, who really knows anything?
I don't think anyone will call you stupid for believing in Nicky, and what happened in Valencia is all part of racing, so yeah, we never know what will happen, but that's the beauty of the sport, ain't it?

If Nicky will win the title again this season I will be kinda surprised to be honest. Last season was a strange season. Nobody expected to see Vale make that amazing comeback, and after Estoril we didnt expect to see Nicky win after all. I guess that's also cause we didn't think Vale would screw up like he did in the last race. I don't expect to see Vale screw up again this season, he will be very determined to show who's (still) the best.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Franco Fangio @ Jan 29 2007, 05:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I do expect to see Hayden challenge for wins, but I'm not too sure if he will be one of the big title contenders this season. I personally think it will be between Vale and Dani. Of course Nicky's the champ, and that's great, but I'm just not convinced if he has what it takes to beat Vale in a straight fight time after time (then again who is???). He won the title, but he didn't exactly beat Vale on track in a real battle. That's what we've missed last season, I didn't see him actually beat Vale. I hope he and Vale will have great battles this season.

As someone who is 100% valentino the only way fans would accept Nicky could "beat Vale" in a race would be if they went head to head start to finish + Nicky won. Hel'll never have vales legendery status but people like me would view him as more deserving of the championhip x

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tinks @ Jan 29 2007, 07:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>As someone who is 100% valentino the only way fans would accept Nicky could "beat Vale" in a race would be if they went head to head start to finish + Nicky won. Hel'll never have vales legendery status but people like me would view him as more deserving of the championhip x
I guess nobody will ever have Vale's legendary status. Rossi is just one of a kind. He's simply the best out there at the moment, eventhough he didn't win the title last year. It's hard to say who the more deserved champion was last season. Vale really screwed up big time in Valencia. He could have won and he should have won, but even the best ones make mistakes. Hayden had a very solid, consistent season. I just think it's a shame he never beat Rossi in a real fight, but that's ok, that's why I can't wait for this season. Eventhough he didn't beat Vale, he still deserves the title.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Franco Fangio @ Jan 29 2007, 06:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I guess nobody will ever have Vale's legendary status. Rossi is just one of a kind. He's simply the best out there at the moment, eventhough he didn't win the title last year. It's hard to say who the more deserved champion was last season. Vale really screwed up big time in Valencia. He could have won and he should have won, but even the best ones make mistakes. Hayden had a very solid, consistent season. I just think it's a shame he never beat Rossi in a real fight, but that's ok, that's why I can't wait for this season. Eventhough he didn't beat Vale, he still deserves the title.

That bike was all over the place in Valencia it wasnt right

Hayden will be tough to beat in 2007. Obviously Rossi will be very competitive, he's Rossi after all. In addition, the Yamaha appears to be the most complete package at the moment so he should be very hard to beat.

Capirossi will be very hungry but he and Stoner are saying that the GP07 is having major teething problems. Until Ducati sort their electronics package, Capirossi will be just the smallest margin off of the front runners.

Pedrosa is still learning and has a weapon designed and built around him in the 212V. He will be very tough to beat but at this point I feel Hayden will have him covered as well. The 212V suits Pedrosa perfectly yet he still has been following Hayden in most of the tests. This while Hayden has been using less protective fairings up until very recently and Hayden's shoulder is still not 100%.

Hayden will continue to improve as will the 212V, he will be a force at the front for another season.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (tinks @ Jan 29 2007, 06:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>That bike was all over the place in Valencia it wasnt right

Lets not forget who is responsible for setting up this bike? Its not like it was someone elses fault he had no race setup.

And whats all this talk of Nicky not beating Rossi in a straight fight? The only person who did beat him was Elias, and he obviously isn't a better rider than rossi. I have no trouble saying who was the more deserving champion because i have the gift of being able to read two numbers and working out which is biggger (championship points).

My point is, Hayden is a fast and consistent rider, he is determined as ever and he is still improving. Honda will obviously be up to speed in no time and Afterall we are talking about the current world champion. I'm not saying its going to be easy, Rossi is obviously going to be a real pain in his .... And i don't doubt that Pedrosa is going to be the other strong guy. But to win the title you need to make no mistakes and be fast every weekend, no matter what the weather does and regardless of setup troubles, injuries, tracks and tires. recently only Rossi and Hayden have shown they can do that. (I don't expect to see mistakes from Rossi very often)