Motorcycle Forums

Good luck to everyone tommorow especially the Yamaha guys (Spies) hopefully the conditions aren't like last year thats my only fear.

Welldone Alvaro. Good stuff. Really seems to be gelling with that Honda now.

Still think Stoner is the fast man and he will ride away tomorrow.

WHEN WILL IT EVER STOP? (2) ...

Two points here: a good few years back, Oprah Winfrey completed a Full Marathon. The time was irrelevant - her personal challenge just to finish, overcome & achieve the 42.2 kilometre distance. A horde of negative naysayers immediately denigrated this - making all sorts of comments like, “Well – it’s easy for her, with her money & access to “personal trainers” etc & what was the big deal?” This obviously came from envious non-achievers - people who couldn’t run around their own block or challenge themselves past the Hamburger stand! And to start comparing a middle-aged, obese, African-American woman to the likes of sylph-like, young & uber-athletes & World’s Best rocket ships like Paula Radford or Greta Waitz et al was not only patently ridiculous – the criticism missed the entire point – no-one ran it for Winfrey & she did it all by herself - without jets or any other aids in her running shoes. So did Batista with his very first Pole...

Another fact to consider: Looking at 2 x GP tragedies & their aftermaths – Daijiro Kato’s record shows that Marco Simoncelli didn’t hold a candle to him - insofar as their respective records & therefore their future, albeit sadly truncated, potential shows – Kato’s 250cc record makes ‘Simo look almost “ordinary” & his brief Senior Class record very much the same & all without the negatives of being a serial wrecking ball for other riders... After his fatal crash @ Suzuka in 2003 - the FIM retired Kato's number - 74 not being used by any rider since. The FIM also quite rightfully named him a Grand Prix "Legend".

But here’s a totally hypocritical peculiarity for you: - In 2006, the Misano Circuit honoured Kato, who lived part of the season in the area, by naming a new access road to the circuit “Via Daijiro Kato”. That circuit's offices are located on the road named in his memory.
 

So – ‘Super-Sic gets the ENTIRE circuit named after him in 2011-12 as a mark of respect - but a guy who Simoncelli, quite frankly, couldn’t tie the laces of the shoes of – Daijiro Kato – ONLY gets an access road there named after him. Really – there is no “justice or equity” – just shallow, media-confected & “nationalistic” nonsense!
 

Maybe it helps one’s post-mortem reputation, cachet or mana to have had big hair & be Italian? Over to you for your own thoughts, & opinions, OK?
Cheers
 

Half agree with you aquarius

I agree that Oprah could do a better job than Vale, but I'd like to see Alvaro wear an afro to honour Marco's hair style.

Oh, and two thumbs up for Alvaro.  I didn't see the sector times at the end, but he must have been fastest in the last sector.  Was over 0.1 down at the third, but stormed it.  Also wished Nicky could have finished his hot lap which would have been hard to beat.

FACTS & NOT “OPINIONS”, BB (2)...

Daijiro Kato: Not a lot to say about this absolute “wizard & magician” of the 250cc Class because we all know (or should) about him. His first BIG race was the 1996 Japanese GP which he entered as a “Wild Card”- he came home 3rd. He won the 250cc Japanese GP in 1997 & 1998 too – which must have caused the “established GP guys” much angst – as he was merely an allegedly “humble” Wild Card in all of them! Then – won @ Suzuka again in 2000 & 2001 too – but these 2 as a fully-fledged 250cc GP Factory rider. In 1997 he had finally got serious by entering his National Championship – also winning the Title there. In 2000 Kato became a full-time GP rider, winning 4 x GP’s & coming 3rd overall in the Championship.
 

Then the magic in 2001: 11 x 250cc GP Wins & 322 Points – both of these absolute all-time records for the Class. Daijiro didn’t just win the Title – he was Doohan-esque in smashing all rivals & running-away with it! The fabulous Tetsuya Harada, another “master” of the 250cc Class was no slouch – winning the Title in 1993 along with 17 x GP’s & 10 “other” Podiums & 11 Poles. Harada on a ridiculously fast Aprilia works bike couldn’t get within 49 points of Kato to finish 2nd overall – despite winning 3 x GP’s & getting 10 “other” Podiums!
 

In his first Senior year on a Honda NSR 500 (& an RCV5 from Brno in Round 10 – immediately taking a 2nd there on it) through 2002, Kato looked ultra-promising – getting 2 x 2nds (one on each type of Honda) , 3 x 4ths & 1 x 5th against a very strong field to finish 7th overall & in front of far more experienced & established Honda riders such as Capirossi, Harada & Ito. Kato had either retired or crashed-out of 6 x GP’s for zero points – so 7th was some kind of miracle, really. You can teach a FAST rider not to crash – but you can’t teach a SLOW rider to go FAST in the first place. He also Won the Suzuka 8 Hour with Colin Edwards in 2002.
 

It all looked really good for 2003 but fate played a cruel hand in the opening Round @ Suzuka with Kato crashing & 200 kph into a barrier at the Casio Triangle & passing-away several days later. There is still no agreed "reason" for the crash & mechanical failure is strongly suspected, although the bike was so badly damaged & any evidence difficult if not impossible to identify. Given his background of repeated success there & intimate knowledge of the Suzuka circuit - it is almost inconceivable that Kato made a catastrophic mistake or positioning error. A serious F1 crash had happened at exactly the same spot in 2002?
 

In the final wash-up, Kato has to be regarded as clearly the superior rider and far more deserving of the “Great” label. That he was so “clinical & clean” compared to the reckless & erratic Simoncelli was a massive bonus to his fellow competitors. Cheers