I have been longing to attend a race out at Laguna Seca or Indy for a long time now. Now that there is a circuit so close to me, I finally get to go. I'm so excited. I have not even followed GP for a few years...gotta catch up. Is Hayden still riding for Ducati? Who are the Honda riders now, Pedrosa still around?

Anyone planning on attending?

 

yup, hayden is still at ducati (with dovi as a teammate).

ben spies and iannone are the satellite ducati riders


pedrosa and marc marquez (who was maybe in 125cc when you were watching) are your repsol riders.


bautista and bradl are your honda satellite riders


rossi and lorenzo are yamaha factory riders




crutchlow and b. smith are monster yamaha riders







colin edwards , de puniet, and some other older popular riders are now CRT riders

 

oh, and there are a few other members who are also planning on attending

 

I looked it up after I asked. I found it interesting Rossi went to Duc for one year and Stoner was with Honda the last year before he retired from GP and went to V8 Supercars.

 

it was funny with rossi... i mean, he didn't even consistently finish in front of hayden... and they almost never finished in front of any other factory bikes. everyone says the duc is hard to ride, and rossi certainly proved that. i think motogp - everyone in motogp - is glad to see him back at yamaha and hopefully at the sharp edge of the spear.


it's like micheal jordan. he brought so much money to NBA alone, everyone benefited from him doing well. it's the same with rossi. he brings so much to the racing, that even the GP management wanted him back on a bike that was competitive. the NBA didn't get the "Jordan bump" in money when he was on the wizards.... motogp didn't get the "rossi bump" from him on a ducati after the first few races when it was made obvious it was not going to be successful



i still don't understand stoner's departure. i think motogp called his bluff. he couldn't stand the CRTs and some of the other rules (which i agree with him on that) - but to threaten to retire over it is stupid. especially when FIM doesn't listen...

 

I find that funny, because Stoner tore it up that first year on that new Duc and everyone thought (knew) it was because the bike was faster. I guess Stoner did have a little talent behind the bars. Hopefully Hayden is competitive again. Things sort of fell off for him with Honda after he won that miraculous season. They should have given Pedrosa the boot.

 

Got J stand tix at indy in august. Cant wait.

 

I'd be very interested to hear about the experience of anyone going to the Cicuit of the Americas this year. I've been to GP races all over Europe but it's hard to top the experience at Laguna Seca. Access to pit area and riders is incredible there. There's great viewing all around the circuit and some great entertainment put on in the infield. Only a couple of circuits sell pit passes to the general public and I'm curious to know if they will have them at COTA. From what I can find, they aren't available online.

Anyone know why Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP all go to COTA and Indy but only MotoGP goes to Laguna Seca?

 

well, the bike has changed since then plus the other bikes have gotten better. now, the problem is with the frame and angle of the motor. stoner definitely has talent - but he also said in the last few years that he couldn't ride THAT ducati fast. no feel in the front end.


and i couldn't agree more about pedrosa getting the boot instead of hayden.... and i think the fact that he has always been consistent and pretty fast on the ducati (comparatively speaking) shows just how much talent he has.

 

Being from Houston I can't wait.