Will Yamaha dominate in this new Moto GP season, with Lorenzo and Rossi? The bikes seem to be well set up.
Yes I believe so, I know its only one race in but Pedrosa doesnt seem on it and I think he'll have to be all year. Marquez whilst undoubtably fast will make mistakes that will take him out of the equation somewhere in the season. Rossi will win races and be Lorenzos main rival I think.
Thanks for moving my post to the Racing area. I should have known better than to include it in the general discussion area.
I think pedrosa will come good and don't forget about cal. Marques will have a few spills and upset a few guys. Undoubtably an out and out racer, but I think he needs to learn when to stop pushing. It's a long season after all.
Well if you are a gambling man now is the time to stick some dollar on whilst the odds are good. Personally at 11 to 1 my tenner on Marques could make a half decent cotribution to my Termi fund - feel free to donate anyone;-)
I feel we are in for a great season. Rossi and Jorge are best mates now and will not chop each other up....NOT. Whilst this melee takes place over the season i can see opportunities for the likes of pedrosa, marquez and possibly crutchlow. Team yamaha will have their work cut out as both Lorenzo and Rossi will give no quarter, both have a HUGE point to make to the other. I also have a sneaking suspicion that Dovi will get his head around the Ducati and could spice things up fighting for podiums. I cannot wait for Sunday!
Yep, with Rossi back near the front and Marquez sticking his oar in, there could be some high quality shenanigans going on this season. And Cal has started out faster than I expected, hopefully he'll take some big scalps this season and be ready to pounce when the teammates ahead of him start fighting each other.
give Cal the same bike ffs he deserve it must be a nightmare knowing its the only the bike stopping you win races. Val has had his time !
But Cal had the full fat works engine at Texas, and one would assume the chassis isn't that much different to this year's works bike. Give him time, he's right there with them as it is, a further step up the podium will really light his fire, and I reckon he has a really good chance at Jerez.
The thing that really holds the Yamaha back in a straight line is its lack of a seamless shift gearbox - compared to the Honda the Eurosport guys reckon it costs Yamaha about 0.2 seconds a lap, all things being equal. Neil Spalding said on Eurosport you could actually buy a seamless shift box off the shelf - xtrac certainly sell a MotoGP gearbox off the shelf but looking at the spec sheet it doesn't say it's a seamless shift. 512 MOTO GP TRANSMISSION As such, the Honda destroys the Yam on any circuit where long straights are preceded by acceleration from a slow corner. As such I'd expect to see Honda winning at Le Mans, Laguna Seca, Indanapolis, Sepang and Valencia unless Yamaha do something. Jorge and Cal did very well to keep the HRC bikes in relative sight in Texas, and I'm sure Rossi would too had his brakes not let him down. That is the area where Yamaha do have the trump on HRC though - they have three riders capable of challenging for a podium. Whilst not in the same class as Lorenzo, Rossi, Marquez and Pedrosa, Crutchlow is clearly a step ahead of Bradl and Bautista. (He's not better than Dovizioso but the Ducati sees to that, for now).
Might be a bit bulky but worth a try. Given the VFR1200 uses basically the same system, you'd think Yam could just buy one, take it to bits and copy it?
Yamaha's seamless shift gearbox is well under way, you can guarantee that. But I guess these things take a bit of developing.
The title is likely to be so close this year that one piece of bad luck or DNF could swing the balance. Nakasuga is probably out on a circuit in Japan as we speak, putting in the hours.
