Motorcycle Forums

First Race.....

It's only the first race and the Qatar circuit has always produced strung out races. It was a dirty track, with most of the rubber that had been laid down being washed away. Setup's were done for a different time of day etc, many riders are still adjusting to the new tyres. Well done to Casey on his 3rd win in a row at that circuit, and well done for putting in a superior ride. I remember the days when Rossi would do the same thing and people would always say he was putting on a masterclass for the rest. It seems Casey is maturing, and Rossi might be a little shaken up. His post race interview, body language and facial expression said it all really. He couldn't hide how upset he was at not winning that race. And so he should be, because if he was to try for the mental edge over Casey, he needed to wini that one Bad.  

Just lets see what happens at the next few rounds as Motegi has held success for both Stoner and Rossi before we start calling MotoGP boring. There is so much more to it than just the on-track antics that makes the anticipation of each race just about unbearable. 

As for the rest of the field................... Well, nice one Colin Edwards. 4th place is outstanding, and where did your team mate finish???? I see he new crew cheif is working out for him then. And Dovi! I think Pedrosa will need to put in a super human effort this year or I think we'll see Dovi becoming the number 1 at Repsol.  i don't think De Angelis can be blamed for the incident with him and Pedro either. Pedro ran wide, De Angelis went up the inside and there was contact, simple as that.

Not sure how it was all boring. I can't wait for the coming season! It'll be a fight between Casey, Rossi, Lorenzo for sure, with the odd surprise in their mainly from Dovi or Capirossi. Pedro might be up there but I think he will have too many problems with his health to be a serious contender.

lost contact

Well after a super annoying delay (i had to call in sick so i could watch it live at 2 pm canada time) casey did his thing.  As a very loyal rossi fan I was extremely disappointed to see that there was no battle between the two best riders in the world.  We all know casey is devistating on his own, but makes mistakes when pressured.  Unfortunately all the other road pylons want to beat rossi and so got in his way early making him waste precious rubber getting through the pack.  This allowed casey to manage his tires and cruise to victory.  Dont get me wrong casey is an incredible rider, but he is only 93% as good as rossi, when in an actual battle.  Rossi's problem is that he sucks at starting and this was never a hindrince before but now that there is someone almost as good as him it is proving very difficult to claw back 2 sec during a race when stoner excels at being alone.  After looking at the times in practice it was a two horse race and it is unfortunate that riders like lorenzo and dovizioso got in the way. Capirossi was not a problem as he will move out of rossi's way if he knows that he cant maintain the pace.Quality chap that.  However the young guns are all young, dumb, and full of cum, and they all think they deserve it even if the proof is in the proverbial pudding.  Take lorenzo for example; he's fast but it is not his time yet, and he was a real pain in the ass to rossi who was obviously faster all weekend.  Pick your moments horhay and dont decide the outcome for your betters.  Rossi needed to pressure casy right from the start, and was not able to for the above reasons.  But all props to casey for riding a brilliant race.  Its just too bad that we didnt get to see what he's made of under pressure.  Other notables- Way to go colin edwards; its good to see that the "fast on monday" rep has finally paid off.  Also dani-fucking brilliant to stay on your bike after being t-boned by deangelis.  I'm sure that didn't help his sore left knee at all.  What a warrior.  Hopefully we will see a better battle in motegi in a couple of weeks.  that should be a better battle as there are shorter straights and heavier braking zones to bunch up the riders more.  Finally good comeback for sete, and great heart from nicky. cheers all and please resond if you have a legit comment.  I welcome the banter.

Racing is Racing

Sorry vfr750, but there was a battle and Rossi lost (this time). Stoner & Rossi may not have been swapping paint, but in terms of the mental struggle, it was huge. Casey wasn't looking after his tyres either. When Rossi closed to within 2 seconds, it was because Casey had to reduce his fuel consumption to make it to the end of the race. If you look at his times, he was consitently lapping in the mid 1.56's and only dropped in the later stage of the Race. Yes Rossi had traffic to pass, but racing is racing and I sure as hell wouldn't let someone by just because they are a good bloke, or a legend etc. Rossi is in a race with 17 other riders who all want to win. I'm sure if Rossi had won (even with the start he got and having to pass riders) everyone would be hailing him a hero again. 

As for Casey being rubbish under pressure, I cast your mind back to 2007 when Casey went head-to-head with Rossi in a few titanic struggles, and won. Same as last year, he won 6, Valentino 9 and they both battled. Yep, Stoner binned it in Laguna, and yep, he binned it in Brno, but how did Rossi lose the 2006 crown??? Thats right, he binned it under pressure and Hayden won.

Across the Sea

Wow! I just do not understand all the Stoner hate on this board. Is it a British thing? Fact, the young man rides that Ducati quite well. I kinda like the fact that he does not 'toy' with the other riders like someone a few posts below said Rossi used to do to keep racing 'exciting'.

You can bet that had  Rossi been out in front like Stoner was in this race, he would have not been coy....he would have wiped the track with the other riders.

I wonder if we will see the end of Rossi's track-side shows this year. Mentally, this has got to be his toughest racing year yet. He has almost a decade of racing at the GP level.

Shout-out to Collin Edwards! And encouragement to Nicky Hayden! Good to see Southern Boys competing at this level.

I think this season will not be 'boring' at all. And I think the racing is going to be a lot closer than last year.

Greetings From Arkansas!

Qatar

Hope this isn't a sign of the racing to come the gaps up front seem to big to get any good racing , you have to go back to 6th and beyond to see any racing , think bsb and wsb might be the better option for any excitment this year