*SPOILERS* Motegi Rd2

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RCV600RR @ Apr 29 2009, 03:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Beattie is great, he makes relevant and interesting points. Sure, he doesn't scream into the microphone, but I don't need a commentator to excite me about a battle.

+ 1


I like him too; a good race commentator does NOT have to sound like a swarthy spruiker selling cut-price Persian rugs. We can leave that for wrestling.

What Beattie says is usually relevant, pertinent, salient and based on terrific knowledge of the business and riders.

That he also sounds like he doesn’t go a day without valium shouldn’t be an issue

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Apr 28 2009, 03:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>1 £$ That is like 50 dollars US by now.

Don't go giving Ben any ideas man. I like my free entertainment. Hahaha.

Actually that's not a bad idea. The fee could be one dollar - but membership could be linked
to one's credit card. That way if someone is just being an anti-social ....... - you could
charge his card a $5.00 fee - or . . . you could just refuse to accept his card and he would not
be able to post. Pinky may have more nick-names than Vishnu - but but at most two credit
cards.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tom @ Apr 28 2009, 10:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>If this was said to get a rise then thats cool, but if thats the view you honestly hold i have to ask what its based on.


Missing the 250cc championship by just 7 points, the fastest rookie in the 500cc and second fastest Yamaha in 2001 and single handedly developing the 990 Kawasaki to a reasonably succesfull machine.
If you look back on it actually, you could see he was pretty damn briliant on a 2 stroker. Pitty for him the 500's where at their end when he entered the championship.

Honestly, anyone saying Nakano is a bad rider clearly doesn't know what he's talking about.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (heyhuub @ Apr 29 2009, 09:48 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Missing the 250cc championship by just 7 pointsYeah, he was successful on 250s.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (heyhuub @ Apr 29 2009, 09:48 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>the fastest rookie in the 500cc and second fastest Yamaha in 2001He had a decent rookie year. OK. Still not to "excellent rider" territory.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (heyhuub @ Apr 29 2009, 09:48 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>and single handedly developing the 990 Kawasaki to a reasonably succesfull machine.Reasonably successful? He never rode it to a better finish than 10th in the championship. During his tenure Kawasaki went from 4th in the manufacturers points to 6th. It wasn't a particularly successful machine. I'm not going to blame him for the Kwak stagnating and regressing, but other than his first year on it it didn't really make any great strides so there's hardly much credit to give either. Yeah, he had some nice rides on a bike that, for the most part, wasn't very competitive. That doesn't make him an excellent rider. At most it's a reason to give him a ride on a "better" bike that's more of a known quantity. In 2007 he was 6th out of 6 Hondas (yes, honda sucked that year, but he brought up the rear.) In 2008, part of the year on a factory bike, he at least beat a couple of other Hondas. Guintoli outpointed him on Dunlops. West beat him in half a season on the Kwak he left behind.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (heyhuub @ Apr 29 2009, 09:48 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>If you look back on it actually, you could see he was pretty damn briliant on a 2 stroker. Pitty for him the 500's where at their end when he entered the championship.

Honestly, anyone saying Nakano is a bad rider clearly doesn't know what he's talking about.He had a promising rookie season followed by a long career on mostly uncompetitive equipment. Nothing more, really. Did he earn his place in GP? Absolutely. Did he have a nice start? Sure. Was he an excellent GP rider? Maybe at some point - you can't fully evaluate someone riding a bike that no one has much success on.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (heyhuub @ Apr 29 2009, 03:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Missing the 250cc championship by just 7 points, the fastest rookie in the 500cc and second fastest Yamaha in 2001 and single handedly developing the 990 Kawasaki to a reasonably succesfull machine.
If you look back on it actually, you could see he was pretty damn briliant on a 2 stroker. Pitty for him the 500's where at their end when he entered the championship.

Honestly, anyone saying Nakano is a bad rider clearly doesn't know what he's talking about.
WEll I guess that says it all. He can't adapt to a new format. Shame that the 500's are gone yes but still he is not an excelllent rider he is ...... Nocando. IF he was so excellent then why doesn't he win the WSBK races? .... Ben Spies is winning races and he never ran those tracks. At least Nakano has had time on most of them so he even has an advantage on Spies, but because he is stricken with midpack disease he won't even win a sbk event.

I don't quite get the "Takahashi is a token Japanese rider" argument. Have any of you even been paying attention to the 250s?

Granted, some observers might be thinking "hrmmm..." when Takahashi was in when Nakano was out, but if you look at his standings in last year's championship, Takahashi managed to finish 5th, beating out other riders with pedigree on bikes that weren't four years old, like Pasini and Barbera. And correct me if I'm wrong here, but didn't Simoncelli, Bautista, and Debon (3 of the 4 riders who finished above Takahashi in the standings, the other being Kallio) say they were perfectly happy with staying in the 250s?

Takahashi may not have won world championships, but he has certainly impressed me at times I didn't think it in him, just as Dovizioso had done. Granted. some of the manufacturers could have scouted around WSBK for potential MotoGP rookies, but in all honesty, the teams could have, and have in the past, done a hell of a lot worse than Takahashi.

Seriously, fans should hope that all riders do well in a championship, not praying for a certain rider to do terrible. I guarantee you, if you watch GP racing with this approach, your enjoyment of motorsport will increase ten-fold. From Rossi to Takahashi, from Hayden to Kallio, I wish them all the best.

I guess this rant comes from the disappointment that the biggest, English-speaking MotoGP community has a majority of posters thinking that the news of Hayden signing onto Ducati is a sign of the second coming.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Agiel7 @ Apr 29 2009, 01:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I guess this rant comes from the disappointment that the biggest, English-speaking MotoGP community has a majority of posters thinking that the news of Hayden signing onto Ducati is a sign of the second coming.
Actually Hayden fans on this board are few compared to Rossi and Stoner fans, it's just that the few Hayden fans on this board speak up because Hayden takes the most abuse for reason insert yours here, none of which seem to be a fair assesment of Hayden.
Some have suggested that Hayden is the luckiest man alive, I would suggest this year so far he's been the unluckiest man in MotoGP.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Agiel7 @ Apr 29 2009, 06:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I guess this rant comes from the disappointment that the biggest, English-speaking MotoGP community has a majority of posters thinking that the news of Hayden signing onto Ducati is a sign of the second coming.
We have enough exaggeration around here already, do you need to add to it? There is a very small handful of ardent Hayden fans that speak passionately about their favorite rider, that hardly represents what you perceive as the majority.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bootsakah @ Apr 29 2009, 12:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>We have enough exaggeration around here already, do you need to add to it? There is a very small handful of ardent Hayden fans that speak passionately about their favorite rider, that hardly represents what you perceive as the majority.
I think pretty much all of us Hayden fans have been excited and hopeful over him leaving Honda and joining Ducati, but scarcely expecting the second coming. A second coming of the 990 Hayden who could consistently challenge towards the front and pull out an occasional race win? Sure, if things work out well. I don't think many were realistically hoping for or expecting more than that even later in the season, much less after 2 races.

Hayden fans in this forum are all soo damn sensitive, every little unfavorable opinion of their rider gets under their skin. They need to take a page out of their hero Nicky Hayden's book and just suck it up and quit complaining.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SuperShinya56 @ Apr 29 2009, 07:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Hayden fans in this forum are all soo damn sensitive, every little unfavorable opinion of their rider gets under their skin. They need to take a page out of their hero Nicky Hayden's book and just suck it up and quit complaining.
LOL again another glaring admission of not knowing what your saying and just spewing out the mouth. OK hayden fans are sensitive? DUDe Rossi fans are the worst. While watching justin tv and when Rossi made a pass for second the girl valentina46 wrote in the shout box "oh I love you Valentino!". That is just out there. SOme stoner fans are sensitive but if anything you guys who think these crappy japanese riders will EVER amount to anything despite their occasional decent finish are out of your minds. Taki is a token Jap rider since if he wasn't there we would actually have someone who is better but I guess DORNA wants a Japanese rider. Just like Randy Depuntya should have been gone years ago. But he is still there cause there wouldn't be a french representation. Get your collective heads out of your ..... and realize it is a much of a business/marketing decision as it is anything and really nothing more. Taki has no business being there just like Nakano didn't in the beginning. Hayden won a championship period. At the end of the day no matter how HE got it done he did it. No one else gave it to him. He had to remain consistant all year and he did. You can't take it away from him no matter what. Same thing with any champ. But as far as the crappy midpackers like Taki and the lot of em. They are just taking someones spot who may actually have a chance at winning.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ROCKGOD01 @ Apr 29 2009, 07:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Taki has no business being there just like Nakano didn't in the beginning.

Nakano did have the right to be on Moto GP in the beginning. He finished the first season 5th for ..... sake!

Takahashi isn't the best possible choice and obviously got the place due to being Japanese, so I agree with you there. He could develop into being a decent rider though I guess. Time will tell.

Concerning Randy, I expect that he will be thrown out on the moment when Di Meglio get's a GP ride.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Wander @ Apr 29 2009, 08:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Nakano did have the right to be on Moto GP in the beginning. He finished the first season 5th for ..... sake!

Takahashi isn't the best possible choice and obviously got the place due to being Japanese, so I agree with you there. He could develop into being a decent rider though I guess. Time will tell.

Concerning Randy, I expect that he will be thrown out on the moment when Di Meglio get's a GP ride.
Well as far as it goes for Nakano he did finsish top 5 so that wasn't bad. But even a blind squirrel finds a nut in the forest from time to time. I just don't think he is of the caliber needed to be in the hunt from week to week. Surely this is the case or else he would still be there.

WHen you look at the body of work Taki has it does not compare. He just shouldn't be there. So we have token Japanese. That is cool cause he will become an embarrasment just like Randy.

As far as Dimeglio he just got to the 250's so I don't expect him anytime soon.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Agiel7 @ Apr 30 2009, 12:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Seriously, fans should hope that all riders do well in a championship, not praying for a certain rider to do terrible. I guarantee you, if you watch GP racing with this approach, your enjoyment of motorsport will increase ten-fold. From Rossi to Takahashi, from Hayden to Kallio, I wish them all the best.
You are absolutely correct on this point.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Agiel7 @ Apr 30 2009, 12:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I guess this rant comes from the disappointment that the biggest, English-speaking MotoGP community has a majority of posters thinking that the news of Hayden signing onto Ducati is a sign of the second coming.
You are absolutely incorrect on this point. Taking a cue from your previous point: If you can distinguish between the obnoxiously vocal minority and the well reasoned majority, your enjoyment of Powerslide will increase tenfold.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Mick D @ Apr 29 2009, 08:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>If you can distinguish between the obnoxiously vocal minority and the well reasoned majority, your enjoyment of Powerslide will increase tenfold.
+1 Well stated Mick

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Wander @ Apr 29 2009, 08:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Concerning Randy, I expect that he will be thrown out on the moment when Di Meglio get's a GP ride.
Cluzel would be a somewhat more apt replacement, like Randy he does all his own stunts.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Agiel7 @ Apr 29 2009, 06:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Seriously, fans should hope that all riders do well in a championship, not praying for a certain rider to do terrible. I guarantee you, if you watch GP racing with this approach, your enjoyment of motorsport will increase ten-fold. From Rossi to Takahashi, from Hayden to Kallio, I wish them all the best.

You know I think you've got something there...that's a great angle..let's try it.

From Lorenzo to Vermuelen, (yeah that's good); from Edwards to Dovi - like it; from Loris to Sete..sound! from Melandri to Pedr.....ah ....!!!!!!

Oh, I forgot to add...I saw Puig in the paddock right after the race and yelled Me cago en Poooooge! He laughed and kept walking, high off his podium clintch.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (clarkjw @ Apr 29 2009, 02:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Me cago en Poooooge!
Pure Gold!

It just occured to me that Lorenzo's motegi victory was his first win since 2006 where he hasn't started from pole position!