Valencia - Race

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Franco Fangio @ Oct 29 2006, 10:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I think we all were stunned to see Rossi make a mistake. I was really shocked. I guess Rossi is human after all


Yeah I agree. It's no more bad luck. He made a mistake at a crucial moment which cost him the title. And the throne has been handed over to the new king.
Congrats Nicky.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'> HAYDEN
ROSSI
CAPIROSSI

haha, love it!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (pacman @ Oct 29 2006, 03:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Believe it or not I had a feeling Rossi would fall off.
Alot of people i spoke to before hand had a strange feeling about Rossi..

The funny thing is.. Dani knocking Nicky off was one of the best things that could have happened to Nicky.. it essentially took most of the pressure off him and placed it firmly on Rossi.. and imo, caused Rossi to crash and generally give a pretty lacklustre performance all in all..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Orrmate @ Oct 30 2006, 12:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The funny thing is.. Dani knocking Nicky off was one of the best things that could have happened to Nicky.. it essentially took most of the pressure off him and placed it firmly on Rossi.. and imo, caused Rossi to crash and generally give a pretty lacklustre performance all in all..

That's a very interesting theory you got there. I thought Nicky should feel more pressurized as he's on the 5th position 2nd row while Rossi is on pole and ahead by 8 points.

What a race. Well done to Nicky. I'm pleased for him. He's worked really hard and his consistency paid off.
Troy was incredible. You should've heard the Italian commentary on tv!!
Rossi interviewed on Italian telly just after the race. He seemed disappointed but not particularly upset. His explanation, roughly translated, was he made a mistake at the start, bike heated up a bit more than he'd have expected it to do if he'd managed to stay out front. He did mention the tyres performed differently today to yesterday but ultimately took full responsibility for the result. That's a champion with class.
Bring on the 800's!!!!
Loris is raring to go, Marco will be on bridgestones (not sure about how good an idea that is but seems to think he'll get more attention from them than Michelin).
Ah! And FINALLY Alex De Angelis managed to clinch a top spot on the podium after 131 races!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ros @ Oct 29 2006, 12:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>That's a very interesting theory you got there. I thought Nicky should feel more pressurized as he's on the 5th position 2nd row while Rossi is on pole and ahead by 8 points.
have to agree with orrmate the pressure was on rossi. after estoril all nick could do was just go out & win it & it looked like he was on his way to doin it, goin balls out till he saw the rossi p20 sign. then he just went into cruise mode. rossi has never had to deal with this situation. he's always won the championship with races to spare in the past. at the start he was just goin backwards then simply made the mistake. pressure mistake? i have to think so.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dazza @ Oct 29 2006, 01:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>^ Im guessing u r from Italy Bikergirl....but I see no flag

Nope. But I speak read and write Italian - I actually translate the diary for Marco on his website. I follow GP on Italian telly as they have it so well organised with an actual studio at each racetrack, and obviously they root for the Italian riders who I love. They also get all the Italian riders into the studio for extended interviews after each race so best place to watch according to me

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (frosty58 @ Oct 30 2006, 12:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>have to agree with orrmate the pressure was on rossi. after estoril all nick could do was just go out & win it & it looked like he was on his way to doin it, goin balls out till he saw the rossi p20 sign. then he just went into cruise mode. rossi has never had to deal with this situation. he's always won the championship with races to spare in the past. at the start he was just goin backwards then simply made the mistake. pressure mistake? i have to think so.

Yep Nicky felt less pressure only after Rossi's crash. IMO Nicky should feel more of the pressure as he's clinching the title for the very first time in his life. Surely the feeling of the man doing so for the first time should be greater than the man who have done so several times.

Wow, what a finish to the season. Maybe not the most exciting race in terms of racing, but it certainly had drama and tension!

Congratulations to Hayden. Rode a smart race, and looked like he might've had the pace to go with the Dukes if he needed to. Fantastic race by Bayliss. Maybe Ducati have the wrong Aussie for next year

Bad luck for Rossi, horrible way to lose a championship. Very gracious of him to shake hands with Hayden on the slow down lap--just as he was gracious in defeat last time out at Estoril, even though he'd been beaten by a mere .002 of a second. He's a class act.

But what if...

I wonder if his bike might've been damaged in the fall. Looking at the lap times, if Rossi had been able to do consistent laps in the low to mid 1:33s (as he'd done in practice) I think he could've got up to eighth place--but then maybe Hayden might've pushed harder, so... who knows.

And speaking of the .002 of second loss in Portugal, you could say that Rossi lost the 2006 championship by that margin. 5 extra points for a win in Estoril would put Rossi level with Hayden on points right now, and I believe the tie-breaker is race wins in a year...

It was that kind of a season. 7 different race winners. Great stuff.

How many days until the first race next year?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rising Sun @ Oct 29 2006, 05:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Wow, what a finish to the season. Maybe not the most exciting race in terms of racing, but it certainly had drama and tension!

Congratulations to Hayden. Rode a smart race, and looked like he might've had the pace to go with the Dukes if he needed to. Fantastic race by Bayliss. Maybe Ducati have the wrong Aussie for next year

Bad luck for Rossi, horrible way to lose a championship. Very gracious of him to shake hands with Hayden on the slow down lap--just as he was gracious in defeat last time out at Estoril, even though he'd been beaten by a mere .002 of a second. He's a class act.

But what if...

I wonder if his bike might've been damaged in the fall. Looking at the lap times, if Rossi had been able to do consistent laps in the low to mid 1:33s (as he'd done in practice) I think he could've got up to eighth place--but then maybe Hayden might've pushed harder, so... who knows.

And speaking of the .002 of second loss in Portugal, you could say that Rossi lost the 2006 championship by that margin. 5 extra points for a win in Estoril would put Rossi level with Hayden on points right now, and I believe the tie-breaker is race wins in a year...

It was that kind of a season. 7 different race winners. Great stuff.

How many days until the first race next year?

Good point about the second place at Estoril, that will be Elias off the xmas card list!

Pete

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ros @ Oct 29 2006, 04:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Yep Nicky felt less pressure only after Rossi's crash. IMO Nicky should feel more of the pressure as he's clinching the title for the very first time in his life. Surely the feeling of the man doing so for the first time should be greater than the man who have done so several times.
Yeah but today was a first even for Rossi. Going into the last race with the championship still to play for is something even he hasn't experienced.

Yep. Those 5 points were all he needed. If you think those 5 points went to Elias and he was the one who knocked him off at Jerez..I'd say Elias won't be getting a xmas card for a long while yet!!

And yes, the bike was slightly damaged in the fall. Vale said something about the clutch lever being bent and the gear lever not being quite ok. He commented it was very tiring for both hand and ankle to change gears.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bikergirl @ Oct 29 2006, 12:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Yep. Those 5 points were all he needed. If you think those 5 points went to Elias and he was the one who knocked him off at Jerez..I'd say Elias won't be getting a xmas card for a long while yet!!
sure he will! from ol saint nick!!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Bikergirl @ Oct 29 2006, 05:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Yep. Those 5 points were all he needed. If you think those 5 points went to Elias and he was the one who knocked him off at Jerez..I'd say Elias won't be getting a xmas card for a long while yet!!

And yes, the bike was slightly damaged in the fall. Vale said something about the clutch lever being bent and the gear lever not being quite ok. He commented it was very tiring for both hand and ankle to change gears.

It made the day a bit of an anticlimax really, but how many riders would have got back up and tried? Like Rising Sun says, Rossi is a class act, and next year, he's going to be a VERY motivated one!

Pete

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (basspete @ Oct 29 2006, 04:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>It made the day a bit of an anticlimax really, but how many riders would have got back up and tried? Like Rising Sun says, Rossi is a class act, and next year, he's going to be a VERY motivated one!

Pete
I'm not so sure ya know.. i think his confidence may well have taken a substantial knock today.. he might not be the same rider next year.. like what Micheal Schumacher went through in 2005..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (basspete @ Oct 29 2006, 12:57 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>next year, he's going to be a VERY motivated one!

Pete
& to think at 1 point he was considering leaving for fnone! i think he'll have a fire burnin next year!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Orrmate @ Oct 29 2006, 05:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I'm not so sure ya know.. i think his confidence may well have taken a substantial knock today.. he might not be the same rider next year.. like what Micheal Schumacher went through in 2005..


We'll just have to wait and see, and a lot depends on the new bikes. I still think he'll be a hard guy to write off, yes he made a mistake under pressure today, but the reason it's the first time a title has gone to the wire for him is he's normally destroyed the opposition by half way through the season! I agree about Schumacher, but he is 10 years older than Rossi.

Pete

Congratulations to Nicky. It's been a long time coming. Not the best of races though, much like Estoril. My advice for Nicky is to win more races next year so he doesn't have to rely on teammates and other rider's DNF's. It'd be great for him if he could wrap up next year's championship before the last race of the season. If he did that, he'd gain an enormous amount of respect from all the Hayden haters. Even much more than this season. He's definitely a good addition to the list of MotoGP champions though.

Although I think the real winner is richo. Everyone in here didn't give Bayliss a chance about winning and we did so in our own right, but richo definitely proved us all wrong...or is it Bayliss that proved us all wrong.

Yeah Props to Richo for a spot on prediction..I guess we will not hear the last of it

Tony Elias done well again. I hear the team mention he was riding on a special compound on his front tyre, which suits his style.

I agree with most of the comments that Rossi cracked under the pressure, remember he has never had to fight the championship to the end and has always won with a comfortable margin.

He will be back Im sure, but what a fantastic season.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>Yep. Those 5 points were all he needed. If you think those 5 points went to Elias
i was thinkin the same, but man he has had a bad season: his engine failure at le mans, then the tyre tear at china, then laguna with tyre and engine failure. Definately not his year. i was just watchin highlights of valencia and notice that dani signaled with his leg for hayden to pass him, thats good team work. I dont think that this will break rossi's confidence, it will make him stronger. But i still want to see what he says about this race, becuase i dont think he fell because of pressure,but lets wait and see.
as for bayliss i wish he was back in ducati instead of stoner