I think alot of the problems Stoner had with ducati was His long absence in the middle of the season while other riders with broken bones etc carried on regardless.
I cant help but feel that hes using laptimes as a protest for parts supply -i.e. Ransom. Im a big fan but even I am starting to lose hope in the whole thing. I think if nicky is 6th cone race day rossi will smash em. Problem is unless your on the first or second row you wont be winning a race. In regard to the tyre issues I think longevity is one if the things that might actually revitalise the class. I would put money on st stoner coming unstuck this year as the kid only has one "setting" and thats all-out. Whoever wins races this year I just hope its entertaining as "that crash" of rossis last year was not only the single glimmer of light, but the only bit of entertainment all season.
WTF! Hayden fastest in day 2 There is no glory in practice, but without practice, there is no glory...
Hmmm, is this the mark of the Rossi-Yamaha first race raid all those years ago????? Is it possible again?
I don't know what was going on Today, I know it was wet untill later in the afternoon. VR only did 18 laps all day! I'll keep a look out for one of Alex Brigg's reports on twitter. I do know that the test rider was doing a test session only reving the engine to low revs (approx) 8k. All the other top riders did plenty of laps, Weird!
I deffo thinking it's a Rossi secret raid being planned for the opener next month. The bike can't still be as bad as he's making it look, surely! Anth
I would love to see Rossi back in the fray this season, but I just can't see it. Trying to set up a brand new chassis to compete against highly evolved jap machines is a big big ask, and I can't see him coming good til the latter part of the season. I'll be chuffed to bits if I'm wrong though. If he can get it within half a second of the leaders he'll be a threat, otherwise he'll be swallowed up in traffic. Can't knock the aussie, though (well I could...). It'll his season from start to finish. I'm just hoping one of the CRT riders can ruffle a few feathers.
I expect the Aussie will win alot of race's but nothing is easy, A few toys will be thrown out of the pram though!
The Bridgestone tires were a bone of contention among the riders once again, and more specifically the new front tire. The lines are drawn up between the Honda riders (Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, and one other, unnamed rider) and the rest, led by Jorge Lorenzo and Nicky Hayden. The choice is between two different front tires, identified by the codes 21 and 24 (when asked what the significance of the codes where, a Bridgestone spokesperson joked "the 24 is 3 more than the 21.") The 24 is, apparently, basically the same as the 21, but with a slight different center section. The Honda riders prefer the 24, as it gives them more stability under braking, with Stoner saying that he expected real stability problems with the 21, especially under braking and on corner entry. The others prefer the 21, saying that it was this tire that had the better stability, not the 24. Casey Stoner dismissed their comments, predicting that the other riders would soon encounter the same stability problems once they started racing, as the adrenaline would make them push that little bit harder, and that would be enough to trigger the stability issues. Jorge Lorenzo joked that Stoner must be a psychic, if he already knew how everyone's tires would react once they went racing. Given that the Hondas are encountering both the stability problem and suffering chatter at the front - though only at Sepang, not here at Jerez - while the rest of the bikes are unaffected, it would seem that the problem is in the Honda's front end. Pedrosa pointed to corner entry as the weak point of the RC213V, and it is possible that the Honda riders' preference for the slightly stiffer tire is more telling about the Honda chassis than about the tire itself. A final decision on which tire will be used for the rest of the season is due to be taken at the end of the test. Loris Capirossi, Dorna's liaison with Bridgestone, will consult with the riders and with Bridgestone to make the relevant choice. Most likely it will be the 21, and the Honda will just have to deal with the problems that causes them. Given their budget and their engineering prowess, it should not take too long Written by a respected moto gp journo who was present at jerez today.
Who cares? Much is made of his limited number of laps, but he's the reigning champ. And he won in the wet last year, easily. It works for him and he's winning world titles, I think he knows what works for him and what doesn't and the armchair critics are just looking for something to criticise him about :wink: If anything, and given their performance so far, you should be asking why Nicky's team mate did less than half the amount of laps that he did. The only guarantee we have about this season is that you'll be moaning about Casey :tongue: I predict you're going to have a lot to moan about too, with Casey winning again..
No i fear for the sport in general and all the money leaving, At least now Dorna have taken control over what tyres they all use and not Honda! Didn't you all accuse Vale of doing the above ? and why all his titles were because of his choice of tyre ? Yes you all did! Thank god Loris is now involved!
It's only banter btw! I spent many a beer and the Racetrack with Tony TP12 in the DD race series. I learn't alot of race craft from Tony and was totally pissed off with the way He was treated by some in the paddock!
