Why he'll win it...why he won't...

Who will be hailed MotoGP world Champion 2008?

<u>WHY CASEY STONER WILL WIN:</u>
He's got the Ducati running how he likes it. And don't forget the critics which will motivate him to show them. Some preferred tracks coming up too.
<u>WHY CASEY STONER WON'T WIN:</u>
Pressure and mind games from The Doctor may force errors, or his over-enthusiasm to take revenge for Laguna Seca. Don't forget, Yamaha are promising more power after the summer break.

<u>
WHY VALENTINO ROSSI WILL WIN:</u>
What ??!!! ... His name is VALENTINO ROSSI !!!: 5 times MotoGP WorldChampion with 2 manufacturers in 2 capacities, then why not 3 capacities and 2 tyre and bike manufacturers. He is the master of the psychological aspect to the game, compounded with his 2 year championship drought which will motivate him so so much.
<u>WHY VALENTINO ROSSI WON'T WIN:</u>
Vale is not a robot and does feel the pressure despite all his very very well talented skill. Another mistakes like Valencia '06 and Assen this year could open the championship right up. If Yamaha are unable to come with more power than Vale can kiss goodbye to the title.

So, in my opinion the 2008 MotoGP World Champion will be....
Casey Stoner...
(what...hey...hold on....)
Valentino Rossi...
(mmmm....)
(Damn...I have to choose...)
I go with <span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:100%VALENTINO ROSSI!!!



His experience (maturity), cunning, race craft and a real hunger ( long drought ) to regain the title combined with the best all-around bike and tyre package will see him through.
Sorry Casey,you are the great rider, the true fighter to challenge the MotoGP living legend and you're the TRUE REAL RIVAL for Rossi, Unlike Biaggi & Sete you (almost) don't crank under pressure. but this time Vale will back on top.
.........
And I bet the final standings will be very very close!!!...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (#46 @ Aug 6 2008, 05:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Who will be hailed MotoGP world Champion 2008?

<u>WHY CASEY STONER WILL WIN:</u>
He's got the Ducati running how he likes it. And don't forget the critics which will motivate him to show them. Some preferred tracks coming up too.
<u>WHY CASEY STONER WON'T WIN:</u>
Pressure and mind games from The Doctor may force errors, or his over-enthusiasm to take revenge for Laguna Seca. Don't forget, Yamaha are promising more power after the summer break.

It will take more than some mind games for Stoner to loose. It could possibly be a factor but only a very small one. The real contributing factors would be other things.

Rossi has it this year. Whoever wins at Laguna wins the Championship (Except 2005, but that was the first year back so its an outlier). Rossi has his mojo back and we will see him in his old winning form.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (#46 @ Aug 6 2008, 04:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'><u>WHY VALENTINO ROSSI WILL WIN:</u>
What ??!!! ... His name is VALENTINO ROSSI !!!

When I first read the title of the thread, that was exactily what I was going to say

For me, Valentino Rossi is going to win. Let's see how they will develop the bike during this weeks but I think the Ducati will continue on top. Stacey (oops)... Casey will put up a strong fight. Vale just has to do what he did in Laguna Seca: Try to put his bike in the first row and don't let Casey go away. And let's see what Dani does in the 2nd part of the season

Who's going to win the title?
I don't know and that's why the season is fascinating.
Sure we haven't had a lot of close racing, but the fight to win the title has been enormous for all the contenders. Who ever wins will have earned it for sure.

I voted that i think Stoner will win.So far Rossi hasn't had any technical problems forcing him to abort the race like Stoner has.
If Ducati is finding more ways to be better.In braking for instance,and even catch up on the Yamaha in that area.Then Stoner has an advantage over Rossi on just about every track that is left this season.
Laguna Seca is very tight and with not so many places to pass which helped Rossi to stay ahead eventhough he did a really good race.Maybe the best by any rider this season.

Brno is wide and a good Ducati track.

Misano could go either way.A set up race.Best team wins.

Indianapolis also a set up race.Best team wins.

Motegi a good Ducati track.

Philip Island a good Ducati track.

Valencia i have no idear but the Ducati works well there too.

In the end the one with the most determined mind will win i think.I hope Stoner get the championship.

Why Stoner won't win would be that he simply settles for second place,and by that i mean he maybe doesn't gamble on the set up even if he really has to for instance.Or the preassure to win every race pushes him to make mistakes.
I think it is going to be quite decisive how comfortable/happy Rossi and Stoner are with their upgraded bikes already from Brno and on.

Rossi surely has to be favoured given that he is 25 points ahead, and I agree may be helped by the fact that he is valentino rossi (ie is fairly good ).

I am obviously a stoner fan, and I believe he and /or ducati will have at least equal pace for the rest of the year, but one more low point finish will just about finish his title defence, whilst he probably needs rossi to have a problem in a race or for pedrosa to take significant points to catch valentino.

even tho rossi has a 25 point lead i think it's to close to call. good tracks for stoner comming up & 25 not that big of a gap at this point in the season. if both avoid big mistakes & have no mech issues roosi should be able to pip stoner. but it's just too close to call.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Aug 6 2008, 02:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Rossi surely has to be favoured given that he is 25 points ahead, and I agree may be helped by the fact that he is valentino rossi (ie is fairly good ).

I am obviously a stoner fan, and I believe he and /or ducati will have at least equal pace for the rest of the year, but one more low point finish will just about finish his title defence, whilst he probably needs rossi to have a problem in a race or for pedrosa to take significant points to catch valentino.

I'm surpriced you don't have more faith in your man. The Ducati is flying in the hands of Stoner right now and I'm pretty sure he will have the most wins from now on and out.
My expectations is that he will have one or two low point finishes that enable Rossi to fight him off.
My hope is that the two fight it out on top swapping between wins and fight all the way through valencia.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Babelfish @ Aug 6 2008, 03:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I'm surpriced you don't have more faith in your man. The Ducati is flying in the hands of Stoner right now and I'm pretty sure he will have the most wins from now on and out.
My expectations is that he will have one or two low point finishes that enable Rossi to fight him off.
My hope is that the two fight it out on top swapping between wins and fight all the way through valencia.
I have a great deal of faith in him, it is just that rossi and the yamaha are looking very good as well, and the yamaha has also appeared very reliable. If stoner and rossi finish 1-2 in every race and stoner wins 6 of them, they will finish equal on points and stoner will have won more races and hence the championship. I think dani pedrosa and the honda pneumatic engine may have a say in this, but nobody else looks likely to at the moment. 6 of the last 7 races would have been a big ask for casey last year.

(EDITED My arithmetic is usually reasonably good but it was late.)

Head to head it's very close. It will come down to mistakes. I think Stoner potentially has the pace to win the most races in the closing rounds. But executing that pace in traffic has proven problematic for Stoner this season (see Laguna and Jerez). Push come to shove, he may fall down. But Rossi's invincibility from pressure has become transparent in the past season or two and could easily find himself in the same situation Stoner will be in for the next few rounds. It's going to be quite the finish. Rossi by a hair.

Very close to call right now because both riders are really at the top of their game. You have to realize it comes down to who sets it up the best for the remaining races AND WHO WANTS IT the MOST!

I agree that it'll propably be a close call, but I'd say that by 51% propability, Rossi will be able to hold on to the lead and win the championship.

42% chance of Casey winning, 6% for Pedrosa and 1% for other.

It will be a tie.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Aug 6 2008, 04:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I have a great deal of faith in him, it is just that rossi and the yamaha are looking very good as well, and the yamaha has also appeared very reliable. If stoner and rossi finish 1-2 in every race and stoner wins 5 of them, they will finish equal on points and stoner will have won more races and hence the championship. I think dani pedrosa and the honda pneumatic engine may have a say in this, but nobody else looks likely to at the moment. 5 of the last 7 races would have been a big ask for casey last year.
I have a great deal of faith in Rossi, but agree that (assuming Pedrosa doesn't come back into this) Stoner looks as (if not more) likely as the WC at the end.

This is what makes the rest of the season at least look fascinating from here. Maybe Stoner will go out and dominate the end game, or maybe it'll be a bit more equal with Rossi turning in some of his classic races. Or Yamaha may find some great advantage during the summer break. Either way I hope for more close racing like Laguna and a close championship end.

---
After the end of the Laguna race, I told my friends who had been watching the GP with me: "let's see how Casey reacts to this. If he says it was a great race and he hopes to have more duels like that and be the winner, it is a sign of strength on his part. If he takes it badly, then Rossi has a real chance to take the WC back."
Well, he has taken it badly, hasn't he. So I am inclined to say that it looks good for Rossi.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (J4rn0 @ Aug 7 2008, 12:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>---
After the end of the Laguna race, I told my friends who had been watching the GP with me: "let's see how Casey reacts to this. If he says it was a great race and he hopes to have more duels like that and be the winner, it is a sign of strength on his part. If he takes it badly, then Rossi has a real chance to take the WC back."
Well, he has taken it badly, hasn't he. So I am inclined to say that it looks good for Rossi.

That might be a too simplistic approach. I think that Stoner has yet to fall apart due to pressure from Rossi despite a fair amount being applied last year.

At the end of the day, as Stoner said, "we'll see".

BTW, I wonder who voted "Other".... And who's the "Other" ?...

If I had to bet, my money would be on Valentino. I just hope it will be up in the air till the last race of the season

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yamaka46 @ Aug 6 2008, 05:11 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>That might be a too simplistic approach. I think that Stoner has yet to fall apart due to pressure from Rossi despite a fair amount being applied last year.

At the end of the day, as Stoner said, "we'll see".
Like I mentioned before, to make Stoner react they way he did, I think Rossi has found a crack in Casey's armor.

Let the mind games begin.....just hope Casey can keep it together.