seriously....

no one can deny that HRC is easily the most prepared this season.... they're dead set on winning a championship under the 800cc rules, and i have to be honest, i'm pretty sure they have the best chances.

but i liked the fight in spies and hayden... they both fought their way to where they finished.

how bad is bautista's luck? success has a restraining order out against him. broken femur right? that's not a 4 week recovery like de puniet's was

too bad for toni elias.... maybe he's just a small bike guy.

 

Yeah that wasn't good for Bautista, it opened the door for John Hopkins, he got to return to MotoGP.

 

Honda has always been prepared. Predosa has to produce this year. If not I'm betting the chopping block. I still won't write off Rossi. I don't see a championship from him this year but I do see a strong finish in points. Pretty much all the teams are riding bikes in some fashion of Rossi's years of developing to some extent. Now hes doing it from scratch all over again with Ducati. This race though was a very boring one to watch as far I'm concerned.

 

Yeah, I felt when Stoner was picked up it would be Judgement Day for Pedrosa. I think Rossi will get a win some where this season possiblly, but I don't see him in the top 3 @ the end of the year. I do hope Spies will get a win, I think the odds of Hayden are Super Slim to none.... The Duc just doesn't have it, so far.

 

We'll have to see..... I think Vale will be right there mid season. The Duc has it. Rossi's the best there is in development. They are reworking a entire bike. Trying to harness what the Ducati was in the first place.... a screamer. At the same time hes developing the bike for the bigger engines of next year. They'll get there but its going to take time. Hayden is in the best camp right now. He benefited from Rossi's developing at Honda. Now he'll be getting it again. Rossi and Nicky seem to work well with one another.

 

Just sitting down to watch the Qatar race. It's out for download. Just search for "motogp.2011.qatar.720p.hdtv.x264-espn.mkv."

 

Thanks Timr!!! Rossi & Hayden is a good camp, but Honda & Yahama have great camps too!!! All have a Champion in them. Yeah, Ducati has two... lol

 

honda hasn't always been prepared.... look at the first season of 800's for evidence.... they are dead set on winning an 800 title before the class dissapears, and they've poured a huge amount of resources into HRC to get it done this year.

rossi won't be there this season... i just can't see it. i know you guys say don't write him off.... but i am. his shoulder is seriously messed up, he's had surgery, and it isn't working well enough. ducati has already won an 800cc title, they're focussing on next year too much now to re-work the entire bike as much as you say. they have too big issues. power/engine, and front end feel/suspension (remember, they're not a big firm like yamaha and honda... they're quite a bit smaller and they have less funding to work with). rossi is great, and i'm sure he'll have some good rides, but remember that qatar is an easy track to ride compared to most of the other circuits because of the actual circuit and then the fact that it was night (cooler) and for the first time, there was not as much wind as there usually is.

just don't factor in ducati this season... but watch out for them next season... vale can fight, play head games, and obviously... ride the damn wheels off any bike he's on. nicky can scrap and once he gets on a roll, he's hard to stop. the two also play very well together. the benefit of the rules changing and new bikes is the fact that its the one time where ducati is on as close of a level playing field to the other 2 big firms (honda and yamaha) because its all new to everyone, and the big firms havent had the time to throw all the money at r&d/testing little but expensive tweaks to their bikes that ducati just can't do after a few years of racing.

i bet that honda will not renew their contract with pedrosa or dovi, and that simoncelli will get an HRC ride and honda will go back to 2 bikes next year or whenever those contracts are up.

 

Honda poured huge amount of resources into winning this year ??? How do you know this and can you elaborate??? Ducati is much smaller... correct you are. They also pulled out of all forms of racing to insure they do have the funding. New chassis,engine changes..... the whole bike. Not to mention paying the fifth highest payed athlete in world. I won't count him out. Hes doing his job and it will show. I'm waiting to see who's going to develop for Yamaha and Honda in the coming years. Stoner couldn't get the Duc right. Honda will and won't have patience if he can't in there camp and next year will be a whole new story for development. Lorenzo??? He rode Vales bike...... can he win on his own??? Spies probably will do much better in that department. Not to mention Edwards is still around to help and hes very good in that area. Its what kept him in GP this long. But next year will tell the story about the riders.

 

elaborate? sure.... 3 HRC repsol bikes. they're not just paying another rider to grid a bike they put together from spare parts laying around in the back of the paddock. its that many more engines, chasises, track time, mechanics, crew chiefs, trailers, lawyer fee, laison fees... the list goes on and on.

and if you think that stoner, pedrosa, and dovi come cheap....

and simoncelli's bike might as well have HRC painted on the fairings, too. he gets more factory support from honda than any other san carlo rider ever has.

or is there some motogp group rate team discount that i don't know about?

the fact that ducati had to pull out of WSB should show just how financially strapped they are.... mostly because of the fact that they ARE paying the fith highest paid athlete in the world's salary. them having to comitt to the point of putting all their eggs in one basket shouldn't mean to you that they have endless amounts of funing, it should prove to you the exact opposite. btw, i never said anything about rossi coasting through the year and not trying he doesn't know any other way (just like any other rider in gp). all i said was, that his shoulder is still messed up... has been messed up... longer than his leg and his shoulder doesn't seem to be getting better for the amount of time/surgery/rehab that has gone into it. just because he won't give up doesn't mean he's going to be winning races 2 weeks from now... nor did i say that ducati is throwing in the towel for this year's effort.... i just wouldnt' hold my breath to see them go all out this year


if you think that every rider goes out there trying to develop a bike that everyone can ride.... well... thats not what they do. vale developed the M1 to be the fastest bike VALETINO would be the fastest on, he didn't develop it for lorenzo, spies or anyone else. stoner did get the duc right. its not an easy package to ride, and he developed it to the best of his capabilities to work great for him... and lets look back at stoner's career at ducati... a world championship ... 23 wins, 43 podiums... and he also got valentino rossi (the GOAT) to say "he (meaning casey stoner) is the only guy im scared of on the track."

can lorenzo win on his own? he did already. the way those 2 fought last year and the year before that, it was all on him. none of the mechanics talked to eachother, burgess sure didn't help lorenzo's side of the garage, they shared NO information, if anything disinformation. and i don't understand why you are so quick to say he can't do it on his own when he hasn't shown otherwise. ya he fell into factory yamaha... but so? he won the championship last season, came within a very small margin of points to winning the championship the season before that.... but somehow, you think that he can't do anything (not to mention no one else can do anything) unless they feed off of rossi's brilliance first.


when... all that's happened so far this season is.... rossi's been off... he's not been remotely fast compared to the rest of the aliens. he's still complaining about his shoulder (and i'm sure it is a b*tch trying to ride with that shoulder), his bike is inferior to the competition (of all the factory teams, its the weakest and has been for the last few years... be honest with yourself). as soon as rossi felt pressure from spies in qatar, it only took a few laps to get by him... and he did it by passing him on the straight (heavier rider on slowest factory bike), and easily out braking him into turn 1.