rossi

how many races will rossi win this year? ive a feeling it will b his lowest apart from 2000 season, im going for 8 maybe 7 . wot u all think? i can c sete winning hayden, melandri, loris, maybe edwards, not sure on little dani but u never know..

I think your spot in. he'll lift the title but I think Melandri will get a couple and Loris a couple. I'm not sure about the new blood. Pedrosa will lift one......

I can't see Sete winning one...sorry but he just not got what it takes anymore.. and that Duc is a handful over race distance

I went round by round through the 2006 calendar and I have come up with eight wins. This will be way off but I will report my predicted winners at each round this season.

Jerez: Rossi
Qatar: Gibernau
Istanbul: Melandri
Shanghai: Rossi
Le Mans: Rossi
Mugello: Rossi
Catalunya: Gibernau
Assen: Melandri
Donington: Edwards
Sachsenring: Hayden
Laguna Seca: Hayden
Brno: Rossi
Sepang: Capirossi
Phillip Island: Hayden
Motegi: Rossi
Estoril: Rossi
Valencia: Rossi

Pretty much just all shots in the dark but those are my selections. You may sound your disagreemtns starting... now.

I will start first hehe. I think Rossi wont have a problem with Phillip Island & Assen again. He is very good at Donington & Catalunya too.
really can't wait for it. Im thinking he will win no less than 10.
He can win all but he will def struggle with Laguna, Istanbul & Sepang.

I don't think Colin can take a win. He has to beat his teamate, big psycological thing in his position. And the only place he can do that comfortably is Laguna Seca. And there he's got to tend with the Kentucky Kid, too.
I think Pedrosa's got a better chance of taking a win than Colin. I like Edwards but in a Rossi dominated sport, a win is a hard thing for any rider to come by.
I'd like to see Nakano and Vermulen take wins for their respective factories, too. It's not impossible, but it's unlikely

rossi has never been beaten over the line at donington since he started in the top class so i suppose it would be a big shock if he lost at sunny donington, im hoping it will be sunny this bloody year ooost no one can really say where the wins r gunna happen but well done for the break down its bin noted

I know it's far fetched but I had a little time on my hands with nothing else to do. Edwards is very strong at Donington, I think if anyone can beat Rossi there it's him.

Yeah, Ooost, I can tell you thought about that a lot, but Hayden taking more wins than Melandri? Think with your head, not with your heart, mate. Hayden's only ever won on his home turf. Hopefully he'll take a few more this year, but I belive that he won't be able to keep up with Melandri, who will be too busy finishing what he started in turkey, with his sights firmly set on the Doc's arse

These estimates were pretty much done with logical thinking. Hayden has already won at Laguna by a fair margin so in my mind he has to be a favorite there in 2006, Sachsenring he has improved every season and the track suits him so I see that as a fair prediction and Phillip Island has become a favorite track of his and his times reflect that. I wanted to get Melandri in there a few more times as I think him and Hayden will be VERY close in points next season but I just couldn't see where he would take wins away from Rossi. Assen will be a tough enough job for him as it is but he could surprise in Jerez, Mugello or Valencia. I just think Rossi is too dominant at those tracks, although the same is true for Phillip Island.

I kinda agree...Marco and Nicky will be at each others throats all season again....but behind Rossi...
I think the fighting for position between themselves will be great for both of them stepping their game up.

Hoping it'll be raining again at Donington and James Ellison pulls out a suprise!
Have a dreadfull feeling Sete will win at Jerez tho!

i think marco will defo b 2nd ive watched every race this week from 2005 and hes mostly pushing so i expect him up there,, hey but it aint meant to b easy is it

Yeah, I'm sad to say that Hayden and Melandri aren't as close as you might think. Last season at least, Melandri definately had the upper hand.
Speaking of Nicky, his contract expires at the end of the season, who thinks it'll get renewed. He's always declaring his love for Honda and compared to other riders that have ridden for Honda teams these past few years, they've been very patient with him, and he's definately getting better. That said, he's only taken one win in 3 years.
Now I like Nicky, and I know a lot of you do too, but try to put your biases aside. Will the Hayden-Honda love affair end after 2006?

Rumor has it Yamaha will make a serious bid for him at the end of his contract becuase they do not have any youth on their team. (Other than Ellison this upcoming year).

If you remember, Yamaha made a bid for him for MotoGP but Honda did not let him go and promoted him to MotoGP one year earlier than they were planning on they wanted him in AMA one more year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (xB Rida @ Jan 29 2006, 10:23 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Rumor has it Yamaha will make a serious bid for him at the end of his contract becuase they do not have any youth on their team. (Other than Ellison this upcoming year).

If you remember, Yamaha made a bid for him for MotoGP but Honda did not let him go and promoted him to MotoGP one year earlier than they were planning on they wanted him in AMA one more year.
He actually signed a letter of intent before the 2003 season with Yamaha for the Tech 3 ride that Melandri got his rookie season. He backed out of it to sign for Repsol Honda and the matter was eventually settled out of court. Rumor had it Jeremy Burgess made a great effort to get Hayden to Yamaha when his contract expired after 2004 but Rossi's campaign for Edwards outweighed Burgess' and HRC reupped with Hayden. After this season it's tough to tell, the reason HRC signed Hayden after a dismal 2004 season must have been because of his young age and potential. If HRC believe there is more to come from Hayden, as I do, then they will reup for 2007 and 2008. If they grow impatient and are tired of waiting on him they will put all their focus on Pedrosa and Nicky will move on to Yamaha.

But how long are they gonna class him as "Young" for? He's not a rookie anymore, he's well on his way to being a veteran.

In terms of the number of years on the track he can be called a veteran. But in terms of actual age he is still young. Compare him to Gibernau or Barros and you see why he is still young. He has alot of years left in him to race.

Aww, come on XB, Sete's not that old. Those are stress wrinkles.

Sete is over 30, 31 or 32 if I'm not mistaken. Nicky is a fresh 24.

And Stoner and Pedro are barely 20. All I'm saying is he ain't gonna be a young gun forever.