rd2, jerez... race rants........SPOILERS

Tom said:

I agree, but the determination appeared very controlled. He wasn't touching grass and missing apexes etc. I'm impressed by that. Slightly concerned that the Stoner/Ducati combination have lost the edge they had before but its too early to be drawing such conclusions so we'll have to wait and see

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Totally agree. His performance was 100% professional, That pass he tried on the outside, man that was a gutsy move. Imaging the extra corner speed needed to pull that move off.

 



As for stoner, well new bike, new season so to early to tell. I personally have a gut feeling he has had his day at the top. I( think he will win races and get plenty of poles but just top 5 over the next couple of years. Yes im bias but as i said it's just a gut feeling.

chopperman said:

Totally agree. His performance was 100% professional, That pass he tried on the outside, man that was a gutsy move. Imaging the extra corner speed needed to pull that move off.

 



As for stoner, well new bike, new season so to early to tell. I personally have a gut feeling he has had his day at the top. I( think he will win races and get plenty of poles but just top 5 over the next couple of years. Yes im bias but as i said it's just a gut feeling.

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Yea man i think he quite fancied doing Pedrosa Por Fuera just like he did back in 03!



I kind of agree about Casey, I think this year we'll find out if he is to be one of those riders who seems to make themself a contender regardless of circumstance (like Lorenzo and Rossi seem to) or be the kind that has the speed but gives the impression they are waiting for things to unfold in their favour (Like Dani or Nicky for example).

Fantastic race. Congrats to jorge for a great ride, to dani for showing some fight for a change, to vale for the damage limitation ride to 3rd, to nicky for outshining his teammate once again though i'm still a bit gutted he didn't make it to the podium, and the rest of the field. On to Le Mans!

Tom said:

I agree, but the determination appeared very controlled. He wasn't touching grass and missing apexes etc. I'm impressed by that. Slightly concerned that the Stoner/Ducati combination have lost the edge they had before but its too early to be drawing such conclusions so we'll have to wait and see

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It's Jerez. Apart from some one off scorching laps in the pre-season TV showdown the other year, this really is the bogey circuit for Stoner and his crew. They aren't too clever at Le Mans either. After that, Casey's quick everywhere. Although he owns Losail, (despite the fact that he threw away the front in the race), I think we saw during the weekend that the Stoner/Ducati combination hasn't lost the edge. That combination still has World Championship potential, and I'm certain we'll see him string one of his runs together, albeit minus the comparative ease that he seemed to have previously enjoyed.



Lorenzo came to Moto GP and hit the ground running. In fact he hit the ground an awful lot, but he found his speed immediately. I've said all along, if he finds some consistency and eradicates the errors, he'll be unstoppable. He's come a long way mentally as a rider since his petulant two stroke days, unlike most of his rivals, and like the GOAT himself, I can't think of anywhere that he doesn't have the potential to win.



HRC have found something...possibly. Credit to Dani and his crew, amid an exponential matrix of set up variablesand possibilities, they made it work on race day, but Repsol Honda are traditionally strong here, and Dani did what he likes to do which is to get away and race himself. Problem with shadow boxing is that you only have yourself in the ring, alternatively when there's someone in the other corner....







...the sucker punch arrives. Usual story, although he held his guard this time, Dani was swatted aside like a fly(weight). Sure he can get a bike off the line, and the stop start nature of some circuits really favours him as it did today, but there's no engraving marked 'Dani Pedrosa' being made any time soon on that vase until he stiffens up that glass jaw and learns to fight again.



Once more Pig is feeding false timings to his puppet via the pit board. That's outrageous, and that's a ....... disgrace at this level. He could have cost Dani his career at Sachsenring in '08, if not his life.

The California Kid said:

NIcky is Looking Good because even when he was with Honda he never was too strong at these circuits. Im Really looking foward to how He does at Assen Sachsenring Laguna and Indy where he has been strong in previous years.

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Add PI and Valencia to that too.

Jumkie said:

GO NICKY!!! GO NICKY GO MOTHATFUKIN NICKY!!!!!

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Exactly my sentiments... + 1 my friend

It's funny how some are praising dani for fighting , Not the way i saw it. All pedro did was hold his line. Lorenzo was the one fighting to find a way past which he did. Did not see dani fight back. Fast rider he is, hard racer / fighter he is not imho.

Arrabbiata1 said:

It's Jerez. Apart from some one off scorching laps in the pre-season TV showdown the other year, this really is the bogey circuit for Stoner and his crew.



Sure he can get a bike off the line, and the stop start nature of some circuits really favours him as it did today,

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Yes i know Stoner/Ducati aren't great here so i'm not gonna make any conclusions yet, but i'm definitely wondering. He got beaten by Nicky, that is far from ideal.



Also, Jerez is really quite a flowing circuit and not especially suited to Dani, especially when you consider changing direction at high speed is a weakness of his

chopperman said:

It's funny how some are praising dani for fighting

, Not the way i saw it. All pedro did was hold his line. Lorenzo was the one fighting to find a way past which he did. Did not see dani fight back. Fast rider he is, hard racer / fighter he is not imho.

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Well, to be honest, there was nothing more he could have done (except for avoiding running wide when Lorenzo finally passed him). It wasn't like he just gave up easily. It wasn't like Rossi could do anything against Lorenzo today either.



Good race by the Spaniards. Hayden as well. Rossi was alright, I guess 3rd is good enough for him here. Stoner and Dovi maybe a bit disappointing. Kallio did a good job rising from 17th to 7th which I'm happy about. Shame about Spies.

Wander said:

Well, to be honest, there was nothing more he could have done (except for avoiding running wide when Lorenzo finally passed him). It wasn't like he just gave up easily. It wasn't like Rossi could do anything against Lorenzo today either.



Good race by the Spaniards. Hayden as well. Rossi was alright, I guess 3rd is good enough for him here. Stoner and Dovi maybe a bit disappointing. Kallio did a good job rising from 17th to 7th which I'm happy about. Shame about Spies.

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Dani held his pace while under attack , he fended of 2 pass attempts that he may not have been that aware were happening. sure he would have heard lorenzos bike but as i said all he did was ride his line, it's not like they have mirrors on these bikes and lorenzo was behind dani. On the third attempt lorenzo out braked him and held him out for that split second that caused him to go deep. There was no counter attack from dani at all. Dani did not fight, on the contrary. he got beaten up.



As for rossi, Rossi was clearly early on his brakes compared to lorenzo and even dani. This he claims was due to his shoulder injury. I would not say rossi let lorenzo through as he did not move over but he did not particularly guard his line or block his team mate.Rossi new he did not have the pace to catch dani and because of the time covered by lorenzo in the laps leading up to him being pushed by lorenzo he was clearly faster. As i said, rossi rode a strategic race.

Great days racing today,elated that Nicky has found some form but gutted for the Pie after such a good start.Puig???? Complete .....,we could have been looking at Dani binning it again because of that prick.

All I'm saying is that at that point Lorenzo had a pace 0.5s faster than Dani, I don't think there are many riders that can fight against someone going that much faster. Maybe Pedrosa isn't the best "fighter" of the grid but I don't think that is why he lost to Lorenzo today. It was the difference in pure pace during the closing stages.



In fact, I was surprised about how hard it was for Lorenzo to find a way around Dani with the advantage he seemed to have. But maybe that's just me.

Tom said:

Also, Jerez is really quite a flowing circuit and not especially suited to Dani, especially when you consider changing direction at high speed is a weakness of his

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Disagree - to me it never gets going. Assen, PI and Silverstone are great examples of flowing circuits. In fact Jerez, is quite stop/start at points, which Dani likes.

The California Kid said:

Awesome Race at the front Jorge was Brilliant! Good Job from Nicky But it seems The Duc didn't have enough juice to compete for the podium, whatever they are doing is working for Nicky but Not casey. Better Race than a few years ago when Pedrosa just took off and no one ever cought him. Cant wait to see some more racing.

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I think Jerez is a bogey track for Casey. Casey was securing points at Jerez and not trying to over cook the front and crash out two races in row.

I will go out on a limb and say that Casey is getting ready to jump ship. I do believe his contract is up this season.

Casey is clearly the fastest/second fastest man on two wheels. I can't wait for the silly season. All manufacturers will have some serious thinking to do.



Look for Casey to be back soon enough...

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Hayden.. Way to go.. I am over the moon that he is finally gelling with the bike. I think he is right where he was in 2006. The only difference now is that the competition is much stiffer. Hayden can't just have a good race and autmatically get the podium - Dovi, Casey, and Pedrosa prevents that.

Good Race Nicky!



Kallio: Good race!

Aleix: last in line for upgrades?



Team Italy: I like melandri/simoncelli dicing..Good stuff.



Team Texas: My interest is not Spies right now it's What's up the Edwards? Has is thrown in the towel knowing this is his last year in Motogp? What's going on with CEII?



Suzuki: Comon Capirex for all the talk that the bike is so close You should at least be fighting for 6th - 8th..

Had i not watched the race this morning, i would be ....... insanely livid right now. The race is supposed to re air now on speed and it is being prempted by a ....... truck race.Thats not the worst part, the truck race is under red flag for rain, and they still didnt switch over to the GP race. Just when you think this sport is getting a little respect, you find out where it stands over here. Instead of watching a world championship bike race, we are watching track dryers roll around.

Too much talk about the future. Casey's done for.....Lorenzo is the next thing........Rossi is fading..............We don't even know what the rules are going to be for 2012. If they go back to 1000s (depending upon fuel and what not), Lorenzo could be done for. Nicky, Casey, and Spies could be the front runners. Much too difficult to tell what will happen in the next few years b/c of the rules, imo.



Anyway, the race was quite good. Dani and Lorenzo had a good scrap, but it was a bit like a comedy of errors. Dani was showing quite and bit of race craft, and I suspect he might have taken that race had he been tidier at the end of the back straight. Lorenzo was strong, but he wasn't putting his bike in the right positions, imo.



Strange to see Nicky finish in front of Stoner. Jerez is a known bogey track for Casey, but I still expected him to be challenging for a podium.



Too bad for Spies, he was looking racey. I wonder what the issue was.



This season has been nice so far. Plenty of storylines and good racing to boot. Can't ask for much more, though I do hope Casey gets his act together. The championship needs a 3 way fight at the front, not just 2 Yamahas. I know Rossi was injured, but he looks a bit vulnerable. Nothing for Casey at Qatar, nothing for Dani or Lorenzo at Jerez. LeMans will tell us a lot.

mylexicon said:

Too much talk about the future. Casey's done for.....Lorenzo is the next thing........Rossi is fading..............We don't even know what the rules are going to be for 2012. If they go back to 1000s (depending upon fuel and what not), Lorenzo could be done for. Nicky, Casey, and Spies could be the front runners. Much too difficult to tell what will happen in the next few years b/c of the rules, imo.



Anyway, the race was quite good. Dani and Lorenzo had a good scrap, but it was a bit like a comedy of errors. Dani was showing quite and bit of race craft, and I suspect he might have taken that race had he been tidier at the end of the back straight. Lorenzo was strong, but he wasn't putting his bike in the right positions, imo.



Strange to see Nicky finish in front of Stoner. Jerez is a known bogey track for Casey, but I still expected him to be challenging for a podium.



Too bad for Spies, he was looking racey. I wonder what the issue was.



This season has been nice so far. Plenty of storylines and good racing to boot. Can't ask for much more, though I do hope Casey gets his act together. The championship needs a 3 way fight at the front, not just 2 Yamahas. I know Rossi was injured, but he looks a bit vulnerable. Nothing for Casey at Qatar, nothing for Dani or Lorenzo at Jerez. LeMans will tell us a lot.

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Thats a very good point & i did say my comment were bias

mylexicon said:

Too much talk about the future. Casey's done for.....Lorenzo is the next thing........Rossi is fading..............We don't even know what the rules are going to be for 2012. If they go back to 1000s (depending upon fuel and what not), Lorenzo could be done for. Nicky, Casey, and Spies could be the front runners. Much too difficult to tell what will happen in the next few years b/c of the rules, imo.



......



This season has been nice so far. Plenty of storylines and good racing to boot. Can't ask for much more, though I do hope Casey gets his act together. The championship needs a 3 way fight at the front, not just 2 Yamahas. I know Rossi was injured, but he looks a bit vulnerable. Nothing for Casey at Qatar, nothing for Dani or Lorenzo at Jerez. LeMans will tell us a lot.

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I completely disagree. I have been pulling for Lorenzo since the 250's. If the Factories decide to move to the 1000's instead of remaining on the 800's Lorenzo will be in the same position he is right now.. Favored for the Championship. Lorenzo is just that fast.. he is faster than Nicky, Spies, Pedrosa and everyone else in the paddock except for Casey and Vale. Nicky's style is vulnerable always to an inside line. He is just where he would be if Motogp returned to 1000 cc.. BEHIND Rossi, Lorenzo,Pedrosa and Stoner.





People hate Predrosa.. I don't quite know why. He is FAST. Very very fast.. he was fast out of the gate on the 1000cc and 800cc. He is in the top 4 riders of the world.

I saw the dice btw he and Lorenzo as as a good fight. He does have race craft. Give the man credit. No one outside of 4 people in the world may be able to beat him on 2 wheels.

Even Hayden had to give him his props on his pole position and race pace. Pedrosa put a unstable bike on the pole and podium. Dovi was nowhere to be found. Where were the other Hondas...





I don't necessarily like Puig but he is respected for his grooming of young talent. He seems a bit of a A$$ but how many of us really know the man personally enough to make that call accurately?

Moto2 is the class to watch this year.

Awesome racing.



Makes MotoGP kind of Boring

Duc999 said:

I completely disagree. I have been pulling for Lorenzo since the 250's. If the Factories decide to move to the 1000's instead of remaining on the 800's Lorenzo will be in the same position he is right now.. Favored for the Championship. Lorenzo is just that fast.. he is faster than Nicky, Spies, Pedrosa and everyone else in the paddock except for Casey and Vale. Nicky's style is vulnerable always to an inside line. He is just where he would be if Motogp returned to 1000 cc.. BEHIND Rossi, Lorenzo,Pedrosa and Stoner.





People hate Predrosa.. I don't quite know why. He is FAST. Very very fast.. he was fast out of the gate on the 1000cc and 800cc. He is in the top 4 riders of the world.

I saw the dice btw he and Lorenzo as as a good fight. He does have race craft. Give the man credit. No one outside of 4 people in the world may be able to beat him on 2 wheels.

Even Hayden had to give him his props on his pole position and race pace. Pedrosa put a unstable bike on the pole and podium. Dovi was nowhere to be found. Where were the other Hondas...





I don't necessarily like Puig but he is respected for his grooming of young talent. He seems a bit of a A$$ but how many of us really know the man personally enough to make that call accurately?

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Good post. I also think that the best riders will be at the front no matter what capacity bike or under what rules they are riding. Obviously some riders are affected but I think ultimately the best of the lot will always stand out.

Duc999 said:

I completely disagree. I have been pulling for Lorenzo since the 250's. If the Factories decide to move to the 1000's instead of remaining on the 800's Lorenzo will be in the same position he is right now.. Favored for the Championship. Lorenzo is just that fast.. he is faster than Nicky, Spies, Pedrosa and everyone else in the paddock except for Casey and Vale. Nicky's style is vulnerable always to an inside line. He is just where he would be if Motogp returned to 1000 cc.. BEHIND Rossi, Lorenzo,Pedrosa and Stoner.





People hate Predrosa.. I don't quite know why. He is FAST. Very very fast.. he was fast out of the gate on the 1000cc and 800cc. He is in the top 4 riders of the world.

I saw the dice btw he and Lorenzo as as a good fight. He does have race craft. Give the man credit. No one outside of 4 people in the world may be able to beat him on 2 wheels.

Even Hayden had to give him his props on his pole position and race pace. Pedrosa put a unstable bike on the pole and podium. Dovi was nowhere to be found. Where were the other Hondas...





I don't necessarily like Puig but he is respected for his grooming of young talent. He seems a bit of a A$$ but how many of us really know the man personally enough to make that call accurately?

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That's all well and good, but none of us actually know whether or not Lorenzo can adjust to point and shoot.



It is certainly possible Lorenzo could be just as good if they move to 1000cc b/c adding displacement without adding any fuel may end up creating the exact same cornerspeed game. However, if MotoGP goes a bit point and shoot as a result of the 1000cc regulations, Lorenzo will have to adapt his style. The same can be said for Pedrosa who never really learned to ride point and shoot, instead, Michelin made him a special spec front tire (something Rossi still ....... about to this day). MotoGP is a control tire now so it remains to be seen if Pedrosa can adjust. Pedrosa ain't exactly great at dropping the anchors either.



All of the 250 kids who've joined since the 800cc formula will have to learn to ride a new machine if 1000cc engines drastically change the fastest racing line. It doesn't have anything to do with hating on anyone, it's just a fact.

mylexicon said:

Lorenzo was strong, but he wasn't putting his bike in the right positions, imo.

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I agree. Lorenzo' first few attempts at passing Dani were poor and to me showed poor race craft and no strategy to set it up. I do respect his ride though and will one day respect the rider when and if he can do it on a bike that is not the class of the field.



Funny how people are writing Stoner off. I suggest they will be eating their words soon enough just as those that did the same to Rossi had to do.