Laguna Seca - Race discussion

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JohnnyKnockdown @ Jul 21 2008, 03:45 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Last year Hopkins and Hayden were taken out of their home grand prix because Stoner ran wide in turn 2.
Both of those guys were completely devestated. That's the one race where the limelight focuses mainly upon them. Quite possibly it is their biggest race of the year. Without a doubt it was for Nicky who was going into it undefeated at his home turf.
Amazingly both guys called it a racing incident and walked away without saying a word.
They could have easily ripped each other to the media.
Today Stoner finished in 2nd place and ran his mouth more than the two of them did after that incident.
I'm trying real hard to find a reason why I should have any respect for him
My recollection was that he was actually a fair way in front of them and wouldn't have impeded them, but that this was not apparent to them as stoner should not have been so quick on the line he was on going by previous experience; he also did stay on the track.

But sure, I have no trouble in saying stoner whinges more than hayden or hopkins, particularly hayden and that he would do better not to. I have no trouble personally with aggressive but fair passing moves in general (why else do we watch?). I have yet to see the race so any view I have is theoretical, but I trust no-one will complain if casey returns the favour later in the year; he is the guy who is now 25 points behind in the championship and may be more inclined to take risks if this has now been greenlighted which is partially my interpretation of his comments.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bojuhl @ Jul 21 2008, 01:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>People Jeremy Burgess has said it best:

`I think that if Casey had raced in the 80´s and 90´s with Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey and Mick Doohan, then he´d have seen that kind sort of thing every week."

nuff said


And they used to react in the same way as Stoner did too ....... there was no "PC" about being competitors back then .........

Edit: Matter of fact I don't even think they used to have a 3 way post race conference either .... I think the team merely put a leash on the rider and packed him away with all the ther stuff

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (an4rew @ Jul 21 2008, 01:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I think we know the plan now, get in front of Stoner and try to stay there by taking the defensive lines.

Obviously some tracks are a bit harder to do this but we will see, i don't think Stoner has had enough of an education yet to be able to dual with Rossi.
This has been Rossi's plan for the last 4 rounds and I agree it will continue this way till seasons end. Rossi can only make this work if he's up front from turn 1. A second or third row qualifying and its game over.

Mat Mladin said he was inspired by Rossi's ride.

"Maybe, the best individual motorcycle race I've ever seen in my life, what he did out there today. He had no business winning that race today. It was pretty impressive. Pretty hard not to be inspired by that."

I think his quote best sums up this race and I also rank his ride here as possibly the best I've seen by Vale, as he obviously didn't have Stoners pace.

."

]

Dude
This is the MotoGP race thread with spoilers not AMA Superbike.
Thanks a lot I havn't watched the ....... race yet and you just ruined it for me.
Don't post race results in non related threads.
You should know this.

Just for a bit of fun and to fire up the 'Soner whinge/was VR over the top/ etc' debate a little more.

What was different between today's racing and the Elais/VR battle last year (other than Stoner in for Elias)?





Garry

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bojuhl @ Jul 20 2008, 11:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>What kind of Leather Jacket is that Cruise has on? It better be a Langlietz or a Vanson or he needs his ... whooped.

If most of us were to get a pass to sit on pit wall and watch the race and listen to the most beautifull sound on this earth we would probabaly get kicked out from all the .... we would be spurting all over the track. This nutless freak was wearing earplugs.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (projekZERO @ Jul 21 2008, 04:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>"Maybe, the best individual motorcycle race I've ever seen in my life, what he did out there today. He had no business winning that race today. It was pretty impressive."

I think his quote best sums up this race and I also rank his ride here as possibly the best I've seen by Vale, as he obviously didn't have Stoners pace.

Many have said Mladin is a prick but he also has always called it as he sees it.

I just watched the race. The corkscrew move was ballsy, risky and over the top. Rossi almost took them both out.

Everything else was excellent racing. Rossi just mind Effed Stoner!!! He finally figured a way to get under his skin and now Stoner will win/Bin or try to prove a point to Rossi at his detriment.

Bravo to Rossi for winning.
Stoner needs to reflect and not focus on Rossi. If you focus on him you have lost your Focus on winning the race. Rossi is very good at making guys focus on him... Biaggi and Gibbers..


Word to Stoner.. The Championship is yours... just keep racing the way you are racing. No one can keep up with you..... Bring it home to Ducati.........

Julian Ryder

Noises emanating from the Fiat Yamaha camp indicate that Rossi is very angry indeed at the suggestion that he rides dirty.


Fantastic set up for the final part of the year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (sarto @ Jul 21 2008, 03:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I like Firefox, but it has issues with embedded video. It seems to work ok at first, but then dies after a while. I haven't looked it up, but just might do so.

Did anybody else have a problem with the live streaming feed from MotoGP.
I have the Hi-Res package, but it wouldn't even stream on the lower res.
I doubt they will get any money out of me next year.


i streamed hi res on firefox just fine. sometimes safari screws up the video/applets on motogp.com but otherwise ive have flawless practice, qp and race feeds.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (J4rn0 @ Jul 20 2008, 04:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>---
I think nobody expected Rossi to attack here, against a Stoner who looked from another planet. Surely I didn't. It seemed futile even to think of it.

At the beginning when Vale took the lead I thought that it was just a show of pride on his part, before the inevitable happened and Stoner imposed his superior pace. I was waiting for Stoner's pass--then he would just take off...

I waited, but it didn't happen. Rossi kept his lead like his life depended on it. Slowly it dawned on me... He's actually TRYING to WIN this one!? Naaaah...

This race reminded me (as well as many others I guess, including Stoner himself...) why this young man with a funny face has won so many world titles. Winning today took EVERYTHING Rossi has, including the traditional bit of luck, of course. Stoner WAS faster. Rossi was at the very limit all the time.

But he managed to irritate Stoner by keeping him behind,--no dirty tactics IMHO, just a masterful and ruthless application of all the tricks of the trade (and of an immense talent)--until Stoner finally MADE a mistake.

Pity, I would have preferred to see the scrap go on until the last corner, and it could have ended any way. Actually, Stoner would have probably won it if he had kept his cool.

But here is where Rossi has always been an alien--he ENJOYS it. Others get stressed, (understandably!) but not him. Immediately after the race he declared to italian TV "I really had a lot of fun!". He wasn't pretending, you could see he was excited like a little kid.

Pity Stoner expressed some sour feelings afterwards, but that's understandable. He has been squarely beaten at the very race he thought he would win hands down. That's bruising. But Casey is really fast and tough, he kept that throttle open in a furious way and never gave up. The superiority of the Ducati desmo is still there, and he's the only one who can make it visible. The battle for the title is not over...

This is the kind of duel we have been waiting to see between Rossi and Stoner, the two strongest riders in activity. I can only hope we'll see more. Next time it might be Stoner's turn to smile, and maybe Vale's to whine a little.

BEAUTIFUL

GOLDEN post again!!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Austin @ Jul 20 2008, 06:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>And it's been touched on a couple of times that Ducati had a faster bike. Frankly, I didn't really see that. Stoner made ground onto the front straight but his line through 11 was far different from Rossi's. Every time he was behind Rossi coming through 11 he squared it up and got a big drive onto the front straight while Vale defended the inside (as he should have done), thus it looks as though the Ducati is far faster but in reality the difference comes down to the different lines each was on.

I had a perfect seat to watch the different entries onto the straight from Rossi and Stoner. I was just pointing out to my wife how Casey would get the drive onto the straight, saying watch his line into this turn and BAM Casey goes wide and into the gravel. My wife and I had a weird moment then.

Other than that the atmosphere at the race was amazing. People were very pumped up the whole race. I got some great pics and even a short clip of Rossi dirt tracking it for a sec, although the angle is ...... and its from my camera its still mine Hopefully get that to you guys soon although I am heading down to San Diego for the week and need to get some rest tonight after one hell of a day at the track. I also have a pic of mamola wheeling or getting real heavy on the gas, down the track when he was 2upping it but I don't think that one tuned out really well either.

....... good race and I need to change my favorite track now

The battle


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Not sure how long it will remain up.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Frizzle @ Jul 21 2008, 07:29 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The battle


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Not sure how long it will remain up.

Those two laps were just crazy stuff indeed.


Can't wait to see the rest of the season although it's hard to believe that any remaining race could top this in excitement.

But Stoner/Ducati combo still seems faster Rossi/Yamaha combo. Rossi will have to continue to push to the limit if he wants to win the championship this year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kngadrok @ Jul 20 2008, 09:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>barring engine malfunction from haydens bike, I expect him to reel in the two from riders as it takes @ 7 -10 laps from the michelins to get some heat in them


That is a good one...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kngadrok @ Jul 20 2008, 09:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>barring engine malfunction from haydens bike, I expect him to reel in the two from riders as it takes @ 7 -10 laps from the michelins to get some heat in them


That is a good one...

I got this e-mail this morning:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>Hi My name is Casey Stoner, I like it when you have to race but if that involves someone overtaking me and winning then I feel it has gone to far. I accept i binned the bike because i am a little australian koala but i completley blame Vale for trying to race me, how dare he.

Anyway i am going now as it is past my bed time and my mummy will ground me.

C STONER

1. Valentino Rossi ITA - THE LEGEND Continues!
2. Casey Stoner AUS - TRUE CHAMPION and Titanic Fighter
3. Chris Vermeulen AUS - Still getting more success from Suzuki than Hopper ever did.
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA - Michelins, Spring Valves, Rookie and never raced at a Laguna? PURE CLASS
5. Nicky Hayden USA - Well done to finish fifth and not end up behind RDP....
6. Randy de Puniet FRA - Give him some bridgetones on his Honda and he would be fighting for 3rd
7. Toni Elias SPA - Out classed the Americants, well done tiger tony
8. Ben Spies USA - Hate to say it but this is was an average ride consider he know the track and bike now.
9. James Toseland GBR - Disappointing but Good.
10. Shinya Nakano JPN - TJ.
11. Jamie Hacking USA - Give this man a Yosk Suzuki and he would beat MM and BS
12. Sylvain Guintoli FRA - Not bad ride...should be given another year in GPs just to see if he can improve
13. Alex de Angelis RSM - Shame about the injuries...
14. Colin Edwards USA - Best Looking bike on the grid
15. Loris Capirossi ITA - Time to retire...IMV
16. Marco Melandri ITA - Welcome to the dole!
17. Anthony West AUS - Wow even Marco beat you!

DNF:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA - FACKING HELL that looked horible...speedy recovery dude!