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Post by colinlinz on Jul 3, 2012 8:32:23 GMT 10
That has certainly been true in the past. I think the decent satellite teams are pretty close to factory teams now. There have been factory teams this year that have struggled to beat satellite teams. I think with the right rider, they are capable of fighting for the championship now. But I do understand Crutchlow's aspirations. Nothing else says you have arrived in motogp world like a factory ride.
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Post by snowcone on Jul 3, 2012 10:05:54 GMT 10
Bridgestone tyres anyone? I believe Spies tyre finished up like Rossis as well. Bautista to get a penalty for next Moto. He will have to start at the back of the pack Whilst he obviously had a brain fart last race, his main problem is that his name is not Rossi, who got of scott free when he took Stoner out last year.
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Seanus
Admin1
2007 - CBR1000RR
Posts: 2,218
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Post by Seanus on Jul 4, 2012 8:26:50 GMT 10
Wow that's disgraceful. Maybe it's time for Pirelli to make it a trifecta.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 4, 2012 10:08:04 GMT 10
To be fair, de-lamination was a concern with Michelin too. It seems to almost be a cyclic thing, we have periods of it being a problem, then they work it out and we have less dramas with it.
I'd love to see either a few different design options from Bridgestone, or another manufacturer supplying tyres as well as Bridgestone. At the moment, there is a small compound choice, but no design choice. If your bike characteristics and chassis harmonics work well with the design and carcase harmonics of the tyre, then all is well. If not, then you are in the shit, with no option other than designing a new bike.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 5, 2012 11:46:05 GMT 10
Will Stoner equal Mike Hailwood's premier class wins this weekend? Stoner is sitting one win below Hailwood at the moment. It will be an interesting round. There will be a few riders that will still be bruised and battered from last weekend. We have a very different style of track, so it will be interesting to see how that effects the chatter and chunking tyre issues. Rossi reckons he is in with a chance of doing well, although he does say he is aiming at better results than last year. That shouldn't be hard, given the reduction of full spec bikes on the grid.
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Seanus
Admin1
2007 - CBR1000RR
Posts: 2,218
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Post by Seanus on Jul 7, 2012 17:48:30 GMT 10
I personally think Rossi has written off the whole Ducati experience as a bad mistake and will now be saving himself for next year's return to Honda.
I really hate this circuit but it certainly can produce some good racing as well as spectacular crashes.
Hopefully Spies can continue his return to form and Nicky is always fast here.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 7, 2012 18:39:49 GMT 10
It looks like another weekend of crapy weather. Hopefully it will settle for the race.
On paper, it should be good for the CRT bikes. It has a slow average lap speed, and not much of a straight. So the full spec bikes 20kph to 40kph speed advantage shouldn't be such an issue.
Edwards has said he has found some improvements. It seems the last few rounds there has been some electrical glitch that had been causing a problem with the power delivery. He thought there was something odd about it, but they have only just confirmed it. Apparently the team was at the point of dumping the Suter BMW bike, because of its lack of competitiveness.
Ducati may just be as disenchanted with Rossi, as he is with them. I think they, quite reasonably, expected more from him. As difficult as the Ducati appears to be, Rossi hasn't done especially well, even when compared to other riders on the Ducati. So far the only offer of a contract has been to Crutchlow. Ducati says that Audi do like the idea of having Rossi, but as yet, there have been no discussions about keeping him. If he does move onto Honda, he still has a lot of competition. Pedrosa is performing well, and Marquez, if he does sign with Honda, looks impressive. Mind you, it is a massive step up for him. Wether he can deal with a bike that makes double the power of the moto2's, or the intricacies of motogp bike set up remain to be seen.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 8, 2012 9:17:10 GMT 10
Stoner seems to be competitive, gaining pole. Spies was pretty quick too, in second. With some luck, he will have a race that is free from mechanical/electrical glitches. Pedrosa gained the 3rd spot. Crutchlow and Lorenzo followed up. Lorenzo was hampered by a decision to stay out too long on a tyre. Hayden was consistently pretty quick in the lead up. His form has been pretty good lately, his main problem seems to be rear tyre life.
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Post by snowcone on Jul 9, 2012 9:42:10 GMT 10
AAAAAAHHHHHH
I scared the daylights out my dog last night when I started screaming at the TV Nnnnnnooooooohhhhhhhh
I couldn't bare to watch another minute after the crash. No doubt he will admit he pushed it too hard and it was all his fault.
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bowler
True Stormer
No more 1998 Yellow Storm but a 2016 Triumph Tiger 800XCx instead
Posts: 1,383
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Post by bowler on Jul 9, 2012 13:49:44 GMT 10
Yeh , me and Nudie watched it , mite have annoyed the neighbours after yelling at the screen when he fell . Ive never felt so pissed off after watching a GP , I hate the pedrobot so i blamed him, and that Spanish anthem is getting played far too often Graham
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Post by Sharpest1 on Jul 9, 2012 14:48:09 GMT 10
I too was disappointed but just shows that he hasn't backed off because he's retiring. Top ride by Jack Miller in the Moto3 race.
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spitfire
Honourable Member
2004 - Blue
Posts: 993
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Post by spitfire on Jul 9, 2012 14:53:10 GMT 10
Yes I too screamed & ranted at the tv so disappointing on the final corner but then I switched to the F1 to see Weber take out the British GP so all was fine
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 9, 2012 17:40:16 GMT 10
I read a quote from Stoner, he said that wasn't supposed to be his win or bin it corner, It was supposed to be the one after It was a shame, but with only half the season gone, now isn't the time for conservative riding. He had a great chance of putting another rider between himself and Lorenzo; it didn't work out, but he had to try. There is still a long way to go, and as we have seen over the last couple of rounds, anything can happen.
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Post by theblueracer on Jul 9, 2012 20:22:47 GMT 10
He also said that the marshals wouldn't let him get back on the bike even though there was nothing wrong with it.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 9, 2012 21:38:15 GMT 10
They let him get back on, but wouldn't help him restart it. They are a little inconsistent with that rule. Stoner has been on the wrong side of it a couple of times over the last two seasons, while others have been assisted.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 11, 2012 10:09:23 GMT 10
A quote from Rossi, after meeting the Boss of Audi on Monday.
"I spoke directly with the boss of Audi and they have a strong intent about supporting Ducati in the future to regain its competitive edge. It's a very ambitious project and I'm happy about it."
"And they're counting on me" added Rossi when prompted about how his own future fitted with those plans, hinting at the idea of taking his association with Ducati beyond the 2012 season.
Rossi also stated that Ducati doesn't need to scrap its current MotoGP project and build a brand new bike in order to be back at the front of the MotoGP pack: "It's much more clever to try and improve gradually the bike we have at the moment, because starting from scratch would mean spending too much time on setting up a new machine. We have to focus on the positives of our bike and improve on the negatives: me and my crew gave some clear indications over the past few months and we need to work in this direction."
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Seanus
Admin1
2007 - CBR1000RR
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Post by Seanus on Jul 12, 2012 18:53:49 GMT 10
If Rossi wants Ducati to start doing well then he should go to Honda.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 12, 2012 23:16:56 GMT 10
It looks like Rossi will stay with Ducati. Pedrosa and Marquez have been confirmed as signed by Honda. Rossi has stated that he will try extra hard at the next italian round!?
Bridgestone are offering teams some special tyres for the next round, alongside their normal offering.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 13, 2012 9:28:20 GMT 10
It looks like Honda will be supplying some new bikes for Stoner and Pedrosa for the post Mugello test session on Monday. They are completely new bikes, originally intended as prototypes for next years race bikes. The continuing concerns of tyre chatter has seen Honda decide to bring them forward for use in the remaining rounds, if Stoner and Pedrosa are happy with them. The bikes not only feature a new chassis, but the engines have been revised as well.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 14, 2012 10:30:47 GMT 10
Wow! What a day of practice! It is looking like Lorenzo will have it all on his own, unless the other riders can improve. It's not only Lorenzo's speed, but he was super consistent with that speed. Stoner is struggling. He can't get the tyre up to temperature. Pedrosa had the same problem, but later seemed to have found a fix for it. Rossi also is struggling with the tyre, but his problem is chatter. Hayden was pretty quick.
Stoner is making headlines again, and being compared to Mick Doohan by a number of the press. It seems he aggressively closed out a CRT bike. He didn't make contact, but he didn't let him have any room either. Apparently it was payback. The lead up wasn't captured on live feed, but track footage from more cameras do show the incidents that lead to Stoner's behaviour. As it stands race direction has had a little chat to both riders.
1 99 Jorge LORENZO YAMAHA 1'48.076 2 26 Dani PEDROSA HONDA 1'48.107 0.031 0.031 3 69 Nicky HAYDEN DUCATI 1'48.157 0.081 0.050 4 8 Hector BARBERA DUCATI 1'48.254 0.178 0.097 5 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO YAMAHA 1'48.308 0.232 0.054 6 1 Casey STONER HONDA 1'48.527 0.451 0.219 7 11 Ben SPIES YAMAHA 1'48.540 0.464 0.013 8 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW YAMAHA 1'48.650 0.574 0.110 9 46 Valentino ROSSI DUCATI 1'49.017 0.941 0.367 10 6 Stefan BRADL HONDA 1'49.022 0.946 0.005 11 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA HONDA 1'49.208 1.132 0.186 12 41 Aleix ESPARGARO ART 1'50.015 1.939 0.807 13 14 Randy DE PUNIET ART 1'50.269 2.193 0.254 14 51 Michele PIRRO FTR 1'51.130 3.054 0.861 15 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ BQR 1'51.322 3.246 0.192 16 54 Mattia PASINI ART 1'51.384 3.308 0.062 17 5 Colin EDWARDS SUTER 1'51.857 3.781 0.473 18 77 James ELLISON ART 1'51.966 3.890 0.109 19 9 Danilo PETRUCCI IODA 1'52.109 4.033 0.143 20 22 Ivan SILVA BQR 1'52.558 4.482 0.449
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 14, 2012 23:22:28 GMT 10
Rossi was well and truly beaten in qualifying by not only his team mate, but a satellite Ducati as well. Barbera did a sensational job of getting on the first row of the grid. It looks like Stoner will struggle in the race tomorrow, but Pedrosa and Lorenzo seem on top of it. Things are still not going well for Spies. He showed some good speed, but had some bad luck with a fall at the serious end of qualifying.
1 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 342.5 1'47.284 2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 342.7 1'47.423 0.139 / 0.139 3 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 342.1 1'47.545 0.261 / 0.122 4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 343.4 1'47.671 0.387 / 0.126 5 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 338.6 1'47.689 0.405 / 0.018 6 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 340.2 1'47.749 0.465 / 0.060 7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 339.1 1'47.751 0.467 / 0.002 8 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 339.2 1'47.857 0.573 / 0.106 9 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 340.4 1'48.149 0.865 / 0.292 10 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 341.8 1'48.502 1.218 / 0.353 11 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 338.6 1'48.894 1.610 / 0.392 12 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 327.7 1'49.387 2.103 / 0.493 13 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 326.7 1'49.450 2.166 / 0.063 14 51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 321.5 1'50.263 2.979 / 0.813 15 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 318.7 1'50.610 3.326 / 0.347 16 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 320.2 1'50.812 3.528 / 0.202 17 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 318.7 1'50.953 3.669 / 0.141 18 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 319.2 1'51.242 3.958 / 0.289 19 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 325.9 1'51.348 4.064 / 0.106 20 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 303.3 1'51.473 4.189 / 0.125
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 15, 2012 10:29:23 GMT 10
Stoner says that the longer corners are his main problem. He can't get the bike to turn well enough, and he is getting chatter on exits. He doubts he will do any better than 3rd in the race, and says that Pedrosa and Lorenzo are in a class of their own at this track.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the 2 Ducati's go. Hayden believes his race setup is good, and Barbera is certainly fast. Dovi and Crutchlow were both quick right through qualifying, so I'm hoping for a tight race between these guys.
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 18, 2012 18:44:15 GMT 10
It looks like there might be a chance of Rossi, Yamaha, and Marlborough teaming up next year.
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Post by snowcone on Jul 25, 2012 9:39:55 GMT 10
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Post by theblueracer on Jul 25, 2012 18:08:42 GMT 10
Didn't Rossi already sign on with ducati for another 1-2 years?
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 25, 2012 18:33:35 GMT 10
No. With Audi taking over, they didn't sign anything. The only confirmed offer of a ride was to Crutchlow, but he hasn't got the paperwork on it yet.
I doubt that Rossi's loss to Ducati (if he does go) will be that bad. He is a good marketing tool, but for how much longer at his current performance level is questionable; and he hasn't given them any progress with bike development, despite Ducati's investment in a massive bike developmental program tailored specifically on Rossi's requests.
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Post by snowcone on Jul 26, 2012 9:37:58 GMT 10
Rumour mill says Ben Spies to BMW WSB. Rossi to Yamaha Moto GP All speculation but fun to listen to
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Post by colinlinz on Jul 27, 2012 21:21:14 GMT 10
You have to love Colin Edward's quotes. When describing his experience with his CRT project this year he replied "we had our ass smacked and our balls tickled and it just hasn't come to fruition." He also described his bike, the Suter/BMW as a "piece of shit".
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Post by theblueracer on Jul 27, 2012 22:07:51 GMT 10
Least he's honest!
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Seanus
Admin1
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Post by Seanus on Jul 28, 2012 0:13:32 GMT 10
I'd be stunned if Rossi went back to Yamaha with his tail between his legs. Spies after all that momentum has lost his mojo. Stoner is half asleep, Pedrosa is boring as bat shit and everyone hates Lorenzo. Good times for MotoGP.
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