Ok, finally saw the race last night.
(Side note, a humble request to mods and members, can we please refrain from posting or talking about 125/250 results since here in the States, we sometimes don't get the 250 until Tuesday, and the 125s (if we do get it) is a week later. Would it be too much to put the results or speak about it in the thread entitled: 125 and 250 GPs in the stuck in gear threads above this board.)
Onward...
Congrats to Vale. I didn't think he would win this one from the practice times, I thought it was Lorenzo's. Which makes the win all that more impressive. He worked for this win and deserved it based on his extraordinary effort.
Peders deserves a pad on his little back too, he was flying, and had open track; but still, which is what he prefers. He still couldn't get the win and I'm thinking he's probably not fully recovered because the situation seemed in his favor. (I guess that makes Rossi's win all that more impressive).
Stoner did well to finish on the podium, his first on a track that has been his nemesis. I haven't read any of the post race interviews but I'm thinking there were some issues. (Maybe, maybe not). Stoner is very mature for his age, as other riders his age might have thrown it away once Lorenzo put on some pressure. It looks like Stoner is thinking about the championship. Good for him.
Ok, other mentionables:
Randy DuPuniet has really improved his consistency. He is not only finishing races (amazing) but is doing it higher up the order. And it doesn't hurt that they will undoubtedly do a camera shot showing the bunnies in the garage when he's up in the order. (Where are all the boo birds that called for Hayden to be replaced when a satellite beat the factory?)
Not necessarily in this order but:
Capirossi is an amazing talent. I said in 06 (and this coming from a diehard Hayden fan, look it up if you don't believe me) but he was on pace to challenge for the title that year. At this point I don't think he has lost any edge either. I think what is holding this man back from winning regularly is his bike (well he's on a GP Suzuki afterall). We debate the other guys to the Nth degree, but this man has quietly been the best talent on subpar packages who really has suffered from what otherwise would have been an illustrious winning career IMHO.
Edwards is fair but I can't understand why his practices and test are so much better than he races.
Vermeulen is a good talent, and I admit, he's suffered from the same subpar package that Hopkins has been judged on, but the difference is he is being beaten by his older teammate. Viable? What happened to the awesome testing results? He's got more points than Capi ATM, but all three races he was behind by Capi (had it not been for that DNF which later was suspect of a mechanical and not rider error in Qatar). Having said this, it will please gsfan to note that he is still average despite his defense of not being replaced by Spies.
Dovi has not proven to be better than Hayden on the same machine. (At least not yet). And reading his preseason comments and after the race interview, it seems not much has changed with Honda. He got beat by LCR at Jerez, where are the resident replacement rider mantra members?
Kalio suffered from a mechanical, Hayden had 3 of those, just not one in the race. Props to Kalio for getting up to 12th before his bike took a ..... Will he be rookie of the year?
Lorenzo pushed a hair beyond the limit. Too bad for him, too bad for us in regard to the championship chase. Props and respect to him for not settling and pushing for a podium. Riders never win in this case, if they push, we .... on them for crashing, if they settle for 4th, we .... on them for "giving up and settling". Much respect to Lorenzo. He will learn and continue to fight for wins.
Ok, now for the meat and potatoes of my post:
Melandri vs Hayden
Melandri continues to be an enigma. I've taken a rollercoaster ride on the fan-wagon with Marco. Once one of my favorites, only to be disappointed with his year of crying at Gresini, then a flow of goodwill at Laguna (podiums after horrific practice crash), to then seeing him throw in the towel with Ducati mid season. I think I stick with the guy because he wears his human side on his shoulder, and we at times relate to his character flaws (well at least I do). Now I for one thought he would soon throw in the towel at Hayate/Kawak (though we can only speculate how Hopkins would have faired in the absence of perhaps an inept factory). But Marco has done a great job and despite running off track at Qatar, has proven to have some intestinal fortitude. Why?.... I don't know. I suppose we could theorize that the development has slowed among the factories because of the new rules changes for this year, or perhaps the single-tire has leveled the playing field, perhaps the shorter practice times or the changes made to breaks, something that was suspect at Kawasaki with all those crashes suffered by Hopkins. Or as I suggested above, perhaps the absence of an inept team/factory that was Kawasaki has been a turn for the better, where as we all thought not having direct factory support would be the doom of the team (has actually been a blessing). I can think of a few more reasons, but the fact remains, Marco Melandi is above the average! Asking why; may (or may not) shed some light on the plight of Hayden.
Hayden did not do well in Jerez (fact). This is really our first, and 'only' look of a full race weekend uninterrupted by mechanicals and crashes. So if we are to judge his performance on this race alone, so be it. However, the debate seems to take two paths here. On one side you have those that say Hayden is .......period (really that's about the whole scope, breath, and depth of the argument). So if you are a member that thinks you will have a meaningful exchange with somebody of such limited ability to assess; then perhaps you are exactly where you need to be, in par with that line of reasoning and debate. On the other side you have those who try and make sense of the situation surrounding a rider who has proven by record that he is an above the average rider, not the best, but certainly above average. (The debate quickly turns to an attempt to re-write the record book by the other side, try as the other side may, the record stands, which just eats them up). Anyway, as to the meaningful debate on the issue, what can we reasonably extrapolate, can we?
I think so. I think a few things are definitely in play. Hayden, during Jerez was not able to find a setting that he was comfortable with and thus he had a terrible result. He has not adapted well to the unique characteristics of this particular machine (which is not a unique happenstance, fact). Every rider has certain abilities, which comes with strength and weakness. Despite Hayden's poor classification in year end points with the Honda the last two years (mainly due to DNF) he still managed to be on the podium several times, that is a matter of record. Notwithstanding, as a fan, I held my breath at the switch to Ducati, and though I was hopeful, I was not one to say it "suited his style". Actually, I don't really know what that means! I think it something we say but really its not truly defined and certainly not quantifiable. On the issue of rider adaptability, he is not making the grade (he's not alone, at least two other premier class race winners, lower class world champions, have tried). Does this make him a .... rider? Well then, is Capirossi & Melandri .... too?
So it begs the question, why didn't Hayden perform well at Jerez (alone)? Try as they may, the haters try to stretch it out to a season's worth of verdict, hell they even did so before the season even started (and many members have obliged the absurdity). Anyway, in my analysis, I'd say Hayden did not perform well as a rider at Jerez; first and foremost! Secondly, I'm looking at what is going on with the communication between his team, communicating what he is experiencing on the bike and what the team is doing to address this problem. At this point there seems to be a breakdown in both. The rider's job is to communicate what strengths and deficiencies he experiences on the machine, the team’s job is to address it. So, on top of the fact that Hayden is not adapting quickly, he is also hampered by either not adequately explaining what is going on with the bike or the team is not sufficiently solving the problem, or both. I brought up Melandri in this discussion because I think something may be extrapolated from his experience at Ducati and his subsequent good performance once he left (keep in mind now, that Melandi is on a subpar machine to begin with). As somebody said here on the thread, there is a common denominator experience by Marco and Nicky (though again, the season is still young, with really just one race to judge from in Hayden's case). I'm don't think its fair to blame the team only though, as the rider has the greatest influence on the direction of the team (except at factory Honda of course where the influence seems to come predominately from Puig). But the point is, there may be something there to look at in explaining why the 2nd factory Ducati hasn't performed well. Is this unreasonable to examine?
Having said all this, I don't really think I'm much closer to the answer (perhaps just alittle), as I think all reasonably concerned are also scratching their heads. I must add, in regards to Stoner, even Hayden has sung the Casey's praises, declaring that Stoner was not paid enough on the Ducati. So its not reasonable to point to Stoner and say the Ducati is making him better, as it seems quiet the opposite is true, he rides the wheels off the bike and should be truly admired for doing so. And he (Stoner) is in fact the benchmark for the factory effort. So as long as Stoner is winning and performing well, the other Ducati riders/teams will not have much of an excuse, they will need to up there game (that is 'if they can', as I had not thought about V's assertion that they can "only focus on one rider" at a time). Reasonable?
Anyway, I don't think there is any question that Hayden belongs in MotoGP, he does (something only questioned by the absurd person).
EDIT: updated signature.
