2011 MotoGP

[Klyntonius]

see Marco finally get that podium, he really deserved it and it was a much more mature ride from him. I'm surprised Lorenzo would take a punt on tires, he had a lot to lose and it bit him pretty badly. 32 points isn't panic stations but it's significant. Spies rode well despite the pain of a trapped nerve and Rossi would be more pleased less than 13 seconds from the leader - this round. A real shame for Bautista who had the Suzuki looking quite strong.

Moto2 was brilliant, an absolute bare knuckle brawl! Really happy to see Iannone back on the winners list (though I wanted Luthi to win) and Marquez and Bradl continue to prove to be the class of the field. The title should really go down to the wire.

Unfortunately I missed the 125 race but I'm really happy to hear Cortese won, it's been a long time coming.

Edit, thank christ Smith crashed out early of the moto2 race. For the so called 'World feed' the cheerleading for the pom riders is almost unbearable. Especially the 125cc class because they're ****ing useless.

Harsh there I reckon. They have a British bias, no doubt, but I would rate it only as slight, they are generally very even handed. If you want cheerleading, watch World Superbike. Jonathon Green will cause a brick to be thrown through your tv set in no time.

Edit: Those podium girls have fantastic uniforms.

The Czech GP consistently has the best grid girls I reckon.

 

[mattys123]

Edit: Those podium girls have fantastic uniforms.

For your enjoyment;

http://www.motogp.com/en/photos/paddock+girls#Paddock-Girls-Cardion-AB-Grand-Ceske-Republiky-525946

 

[rayven]

The Czech GP consistently has the best grid girls I reckon.

Really? personaly i watch the bikes

 

[Tiger_Of_Old]

Will be interesting from here on in if Honda instruct Pedrosa to help Casey secure the championship[Not that Casey really needs help].The one trophey Honda doesn,t have is the current 800 category.

 

[Klyntonius]

Really? personaly i watch the bikes

Liar.

Will be interesting from here on in if Honda instruct Pedrosa to help Casey secure the championship[Not that Casey really needs help].The one trophey Honda doesn,t have is the current 800 category.

I'd be surprised. If something goes wrong and Casey needs help in the final few rounds then it will happen but at the moment it isn't needed so Dani would be able to go for the win.

 

[Simple Jack]

Harsh there I reckon. They have a British bias, no doubt, but I would rate it only as slight, they are generally very even handed. If you want cheerleading, watch World Superbike. Jonathon Green will cause a brick to be thrown through your tv set in no time.

I occasionally watch the replay of races on the bbc iPlayer. The actual BBC commentators who are broadcasting specifically for Britian don't cheerlead a quarter as hard as the so called 'world feed'.

 

[roostersgal4eva]

FUZZBALL!!!! Finally a podium. Great win for Casey, nice to have Lorenzo 4th.
That race was pretty rubbish compared to the other two, great result though.

Edit: Those podium girls have fantastic uniforms.

See Marco - thats what happens when you dont try and run everyone off the road every race....

Dani! Dani! Dani! silly boy....enough said!

Casey looking super cool and calm

Today we had some more testing........
1. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda (1000cc) 1m 56.260s (38 laps)
2. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing (1000cc) 1m 56.306s (24)
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (1000cc) 1m 56.715s (16)
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.727s (38)
5. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 57.184s (15)
6. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (1000cc) 1m 57.264s (23)
7. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 1m 57.616s (44)
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.810s (47)
9. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda 1m 57.903s (56)
10. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 1m 58.266s (42)
11. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 58.492s (32)
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing 1m 58.927s (44)
13. Mika Kallio FIN Marc VDS Suter (1000cc) 2m 0.626s (56)

 

[Klyntonius]

I occasionally watch the replay of races on the bbc iPlayer. The actual BBC commentators who are broadcasting specifically for Britian don't cheerlead a quarter as hard as the so called 'world feed'.

For MotoGP? Fair enough. I still think the Nick Harris and Gavin Emmett are very good, don't think they cheer for Brits that much but they certainly inform us of what position they are in, particularly during boring races (ie. Danny Webb finishing in the points on the Mahindra). But then they've given us plenty of irrelevent Ant West updates too over the years and I can vividly remember them consistently talking about 15, 16, 17 etc year old Australian, Casey Stoner, regardless of where he finished.

Today we had some more testing........
1. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda (1000cc) 1m 56.260s (38 laps)
2. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing (1000cc) 1m 56.306s (24)
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (1000cc) 1m 56.715s (16)
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.727s (38)
5. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 57.184s (15)
6. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (1000cc) 1m 57.264s (23)
7. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 1m 57.616s (44)
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.810s (47)
9. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda 1m 57.903s (56)
10. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 1m 58.266s (42)
11. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 58.492s (32)
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing 1m 58.927s (44)
13. Mika Kallio FIN Marc VDS Suter (1000cc) 2m 0.626s (56)

So Casey and next years Honda are getting along swimmingly and The Ben will perhaps be better suited to the bigger Yamaha next year with his superbike background. Ducati is a worry as their 2012 bike is slower than the Honda and Yamaha 800s so they didn't bother testing them at Brno. They may have to start all over - again. Also, the Suter CRT bike is now within 4.5 seconds of Stoner which is somewhat promising for next year.

A couple of videos of the 2012 Yamaha M1:
Seeexxxyyy.
[YOUTUBE]C7Gb0updJ10[/YOUTUBE]

Speez.
[YOUTUBE]RZot97-BQVc[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Simple Jack]

For MotoGP? Fair enough. I still think the Nick Harris and Gavin Emmett are very good, don't think they cheer for Brits that much but they certainly inform us of what position they are in, particularly during boring races (ie. Danny Webb finishing in the points on the Mahindra). But then they've given us plenty of irrelevent Ant West updates too over the years and I can vividly remember them consistently talking about 15, 16, 17 etc year old Australian, Casey Stoner, regardless of where he finished.

Yep for MotoGP, Steve Parrish and someone else do the BBC commentary. True they do give us pointless Ant West up to 26 type updates, but if the option was what we have now vs no cheerleading and no Ant West updates either, I'd choose the latter.

No problems if you don't find it the same, but for me it's almost unbearable.

 

[RooBoyz24]

Casey Stoner is on his way to winning the World Championship.32 point lead and now back to the States.So needs to keep winning and lets hope Lorenzo has a few stuff ups.

 

[rednblacks]

It's in the bag and over the next couple of races he will be zipping it up. Still a fair bit of racing to go but the way Casey has been going the last 4 or 5 races it looks like he's just about on par with his 2007 championship winning year. He has become a smarter rider i reckon the last few races riding very patiently waiting for his tyres to get up to temperature and confident in his and the bikes ability to catch and pass any early bolters.

In a way it's a shame he is blowing Lorenzo away so easily. Is it the bike or is Casey just in a class of his own? When you look at how the great Valentino Rossi is going on the Ducati and compare that with what Casey was able to do on it is it time to start recognising Stoner as as truly great rider? He is still yet to win his 2nd world championship but he is showing he is in a league of his own right now.

 

[Klyntonius]

It's in the bag and over the next couple of races he will be zipping it up. Still a fair bit of racing to go but the way Casey has been going the last 4 or 5 races it looks like he's just about on par with his 2007 championship winning year. He has become a smarter rider i reckon the last few races riding very patiently waiting for his tyres to get up to temperature and confident in his and the bikes ability to catch and pass any early bolters.

In a way it's a shame he is blowing Lorenzo away so easily. Is it the bike or is Casey just in a class of his own? When you look at how the great Valentino Rossi is going on the Ducati and compare that with what Casey was able to do on it is it time to start recognising Stoner as as truly great rider? He is still yet to win his 2nd world championship but he is showing he is in a league of his own right now.

'In the bag' is a bit premature, it only take one John Hopkins-like crash to break a wrist and things can turn very quickly but the title is definitely Casey's to lose, I don't think the others can beat him. He put on another master class on the weekend. Whilst there's no doubt that he's got smarter and improved his racecraft over time with maturity and experience, a lot has to do with the Honda allowing him to 'ease' into things as opposed to the Ducati which is hell for leather from the drop of the flag.

I think on the subject of bikes, there's not much between the Honda and the Yamaha. It could be quite successfully argued that the Honda is the best bike on the grid especially going by results. However, small things like Spies matching Casey's pace at Indy (his race ruined by an abysmal start), Lorenzo running untouchable pace at Laguna (before his savage highside) and again at Brno until he screwed up his tire choice for the race (I know Pedrosa was the favourite but Jorge ran more fast laps in practice than Dani). So the Yamaha is right there with the Honda in my opinion, it's just Casey is always there and not making the mistakes the others have.

I think Casey is easily already amongst the greats of the sport. At only 25 years old, he has amassed more top class race wins than MotoGP legends Wayne Gardner, Wayne Rainey and Kevin Schwantz. Whilst Rainey currently has an extra 2 world titles to his name, that is still an astounding achievement. And it's not like it's all because he was on the best bike with no competition the whole time either. It's been well documented that there has only been one other Ducati race winner in 4 and a 1/2 seasons of 800cc MotoGP and that includes having 4 other grand prix world champions ride the bike.

Speaking of Ducati, they are in a right mess at the moment. Not only their results, but their direction. There was a very poignant moment during the Indy race where Rossi ran off the track (he was having gearbox issues) and he looked confused about where to go to get back on track. It is indicative of where Ducati are at the moment, completely lost. They came into this season with, at worst, a regular podium getting bike that has become a mid-packer. Then they brought forward the 'improved' 2012 model with destroked motor to get a development jump on the competition and are still behind. It has been nothing short of a disaster with little to no improvement despite the input of the 'super development team' of Rossi, Burgess and co. Now there is talk of yet another change of bike for next year all the while Honda and Yamaha have produced bikes faster than their current 800cc models. I wonder is Phillip Morris will throw double Rossi's wage at Casey to get him back...

 

[Simple Jack]

^^^^
Even if they did, why the hell would he go. He had to ride that Duc to within an inch of it's life and had no feel in the front end, he would win races but crash out half the time with no chance of a title and also being labelled a 'crash kid'.

Now he can sit back in the first couple of laps, let the tyres warm and then demolish everyone else like they're riding postie bikes. Ducati didn't think he was worth much effort. He's going to be number 1 at Honda next year and help develop the bike to suit him more, and they will be very happy with him delivering their first and only 800cc title (looking likely). Ducati didn't want him, didn't appreciate his ability, and now they are suffering for it.

I think after helping to develop the 1000cc bike, Casey is going to be even more dominant next year.

He's got the wins, now he needs the championships.

 

[Klyntonius]

^^^^
Even if they did, why the hell would he go. He had to ride that Duc to within an inch of it's life and had no feel in the front end, he would win races but crash out half the time with no chance of a title and also being labelled a 'crash kid'.

Now he can sit back in the first couple of laps, let the tyres warm and then demolish everyone else like they're riding postie bikes. Ducati didn't think he was worth much effort. He's going to be number 1 at Honda next year and help develop the bike to suit him more, and they will be very happy with him delivering their first and only 800cc title (looking likely). Ducati didn't want him, didn't appreciate his ability, and now they are suffering for it.

I think after helping to develop the 1000cc bike, Casey is going to be even more dominant next year.

He's got the wins, now he needs the championships.

I reckon Casey would love Ducati to come crawling back to him with a huge offer just so he can decline them! Also, I'd limit the lack of appreciation to the Ducati hierarchy too, the mechanics and engineers loved him. Definitely agree on the championships side of things, they will come.

On next year, Pedrosa will still be regarded equal number one as Repsol are still paying the bills. Dani is a super talent and the fastest in absolute raw speed in my opinion but Stoner is a better all-round rider. I won't be underestimating Lorenzo and Yamaha next year either, the 2012 M1 was very fast on debut.

 

[Simple Jack]

I reckon Casey would love Ducati to come crawling back to him with a huge offer just so he can decline them!

Yep

Also, I'd limit the lack of appreciation to the Ducati hierarchy too, the mechanics and engineers loved him. Definitely agree on the championships side of things, they will come.

Yes, I was talking about the hierachy, not the guys on the floor.

On next year, Pedrosa will still be regarded equal number one as Repsol are still paying the bills. Dani is a super talent and the fastest in absolute raw speed in my opinion but Stoner is a better all-round rider.

Yep, fair point. What I meant is that this year, Casey stepped onto a bike designed entirely for Dani and won straight up. Casey will have the chance to have input into next years bike which is what I meant.

I won't be underestimating Lorenzo and Yamaha next year either, the 2012 M1 was very fast on debut.

Fair enough, I actually don't rate Lorenzo anywhere near as much as others do. He's clearly an alien, but imo the other 3 are all better than him.

 

[Ruddeger07]

Zarco finds a new way to lose the 125cc race

 

[Klyntonius]

Fair enough, I actually don't rate Lorenzo anywhere near as much as others do. He's clearly an alien, but imo the other 3 are all better than him.

Of the four "aliens", if they were all hypothetically on the same machinery I'd personally have Lorenzo second behind Stoner then Rossi and Pedrosa though after this season Rossi would be lucky to have extra terrestrial citizenship anymore.

Zarco finds a new way to lose the 125cc race

That was bizarre. He's learning but he's finding every possible way to lose so he has a real in depth knowledge before he cracks it for a win...

Moto2 (as always) was very good. Marquez is kinda like Rossi on fast forward (Rossi took a year to learn then dominate the next, Marquez take four or five races to learn then dominate!) and it's going to be extremely difficult for Bradl to defend his points lead til the end. I really hope he does coz Stefan has been very impressive this year and even when Marc is winning, Bradl is generally right behind him.

Lorenzo was immaculate in the main race, churned out the fast laps at will now he has his comfortable setup back again and made the title chase interesting. Casey's fading has raised question marks about his fitness, particularly after 2009 but I take him at his word from his lack of training with his neck injury and a lack of sleep (which doesn't bode well for 2012 - babies aren't renowned for helping sleep patterns very much...). I'd still favour him in the run home though. Pedrosa ran a strong if non-descript race and the battle for fourth was really good with Simoncelli probably sealing his seat at Honda because he finally beat Dovizioso this year after 12 attempts... And Rossi is being confusingly praised because he managed to run with the pack for fourth for half a race before fading to finish a distant 7th.

 

[Klyntonius]

The 125 race was ok today, Terol really rising to the top and Zarco must surely break through for a win before seasons end. Disappointed for Faubel, he rode well but made a tactical mistake leaving it too late.

Moto2 was unbelievable! Marquez was predictably unbeatable but also tactically very astute, slowing the pace early so that Bradl would have to fight with the pack when Marc cleared out. I'm gutted for Bradl who clearly had significant issues, the onboard footage vibrating so my I thought my tv screen would crack. I really want Bradl to take the title, he's lead the points nearly all year and I really think he'd be a deserving champion (though obviously Marquez would be too but I'm annoyed the preferential treatment he gets from Suter). Iannone is coming good, finally got his Suter sorted and Corsi rode a nice (and aggressive) race for the podium. Smith and Luthi were almost rides of the race after poor starts to finish 6th and 7th and I'm really happy to see Ant West making progress on the MZ and score 11th, Warren Willing clearly doing wonders for him. Poor ol' Scott Redding, great start and had me thinking he's back, then plummeted like a stone.

MotoGP was not particularly spectacular as a race, at least at the front, but there were some good battle through the field and we got to see some guys we don't normally get to view racing. Stoner was just brilliant and continues to prove to be the class of the field. The way he broke the back of the field from lap one is just amazing to watch even if it did mean the contest itself wasn't overly thrilling. Pedrosa was typically good but a level below Casey and took a solid 2nd in front of his home fans. Gotta hand it to Lorenzo, really rode like a champ today and lifted himself to a podium result he didn't look capable of during the practice days. Despite a couple of mistakes, Simoncelli rode quite well and really looks to be learning as the year progresses, getting the better of Ben Spies. Bautista continues to impress and prove that the Zook isn't all that bad a bike and I like to see the fight from Hayden to beat Barbera, even if reality suggests the factory bike should beat the privateer. Dovizioso has picked a bad time to crash with contract time arriving with a really odd looking crash exiting the second corner on the first lap and Karel Abrahams crash after the first corner was really nasty, he slapped the ground terribly hard and he'll be pretty bruised and sore for a while.

Stoner now has one hand on the title and Lorenzo can only retain it if Stoner lets go.

 

[JUBJUB]

Good win by Stoner
The Moto 2 race was a ripper.The 6 or so lead riders were chopping and changing every 2 seconds.Blink and they'd all changed spots.

 

[rayven]

So Stoner can finnish fourth in the last 4 races and if Lorenzo wins all 4, stoner still wins on a countback?


Edit; Stoner will probably win phillip island (having taken out the last 4) and be at least 51 points clear with 75 points available...Then he'll need to win one of the last three or finnish fourth twice.

 

[Simple Jack]

If Stoner leads Lorenzo by 50 points at the end of the Phillip Island race he wins the championship. He has 8 wins and if Lorenzo wins all remaining races he will only have 7.

Stoner is currently 44 points ahead, so if he can outscore Lorenzo by 1 point at Motegi he'll come to Phillip Island with the situation of win race, win championship. I think that'd be pretty good.

 

[imadodgyumpire]

Stoner is currently 44 points ahead

Is that all? Gee, if anything he's been just as dominant as Vettel and he's less than two races ahead, Vettel being more than four, with a similar points allocation...hmm

 

[Simple Jack]

Is that all? Gee, if anything he's been just as dominant as Vettel and he's less than two races ahead, Vettel being more than four, with a similar points allocation...hmm

2 reason for that.
Motorcylce grand prix racing points go 25 20 16 f1 is 25 18 15

If MGP used the F1 scoring system it would go be:

CS - 278
JL - 227

51 points.

Also Horhey has been pretty consistently 2nd/occasionally 3rd to be the 1 main challenger for the title where Webber/Alonso/Pramilton/Buttun have all been taking points off each other and are all incredibly close together fighting for 2nd which has just helped Vettel immeasurably.

 

[imadodgyumpire]

Yeah, fair enough. Thanks for making the effort in explaining

 

[Klyntonius]

Would love for Casey to win two more races and finish with 10 wins for the year, equalling his 2007 tally. I don't think he'd have a list of his heroes including Valentino Rossi on his title winning shirt this time though...