In the dark who's it gonna be up on top this Sunday ? thoughts on the subject,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Wish I knew. This one is really hard to call. Stoner must be favorite at Quatar but he wasnt fastest in practise today. He was .2 sec behind Pedrosa.

Spies was in 4th only 0.1 seconds adrift of Stoner and ahead of Lorenzo

Rossi was 8th 0.8 sec adrift of the lead and Hayden was right behind him.

Less than 2 seconds covered all 18 riders and the slowest wasnt Abraham it was Toni Elias, with Crutchlow just in front of him.

Are Ducati giving everything? It must be less than likely with Rossi's previous form. I would really love to see Rossi win the opening GP on the Ducati like he did for Yamaha at Welcom. Rossi is certainly capable of jumping a 0.8 sec gap but in previous tests the Ducati has done ok on day 1 and got worse over the next few days.

Stoner on a Honda is the safest bet if he can keep it upright. Many seem to think he has the championship in the bag already. Maybe they forget he has a habit of crashing Hondas as well as Ducatis. Also if Stoner doesnt get a big lead early on in races and in the championship he will find some excuse and whinge his way out of contention: big boys play too rough, lactose intollerent, crew chief shagging mrs Stoner, who knows what it will be this year. Honda have dressed him up like the second coming of Doohan. I bet Doohan will be fuggin angry if Stoner makes a twat of himself again.

Pedrosa still thinks he can win a championship. I dont think Honda are as convinced though. Having Stoner as a team mate may get the best from Pedrosa. More likely they will both pull out huge leads in races, win some and throw others away in unforced errors. Could be Rossi or Lorenzo wont have to win many races to win the championship if they both get a few DNF's.

Spies is the dark horse. He really hasnt put a foot wrong yet and I dont think anyone could rule him out of this years title chase. I would be happy if he just beats his team mate and wins a couple of races.

Lorenzo I think will start crashing again. He had his charmed season last year. I dont see that happening again. I hope he doesnt win a single race, not least beacause I cant stand his despicable celebrations.

Luke
I cant stand his despicable celebrations.
And I couldn't stand that "gold ,jewel encrusted helmet" what a douche bag,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

My money is on Stoner. He knows how to circle that track real well. Spies showed great form on that track also. I have been under the impression that this years race is in the daylight. I may be confusing it with the Daytona 200, but I thought it was both venues. I do not have much faith in Ducati giving Rossi what he needs to win a single race this year. I am going to go Stoner- Pedrosa-Lorenzo-Spies-Dovisiosa-Simencelli-Hayden-Rossi-Edwards- then who cares from there. Either way, It will be a great kick off for any of the riders and this year with all riders enjoying championship status, fills the need to show top dogness right off the bat. Let the games begin.

Heres how it ended in times today,, I'm hoping that the big Ben can do what others can't,, but Casey teeth,,, may be top dog in this one
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/art ... icle=43669

The MOTEGI round has been postponed
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport ... arthquake/

http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-rac ... 17506.html

My money is on Pedrosa but I'd love to see Rossi do it

Well with a total of 6 Ducati crashes on the last day of testing maybe it wasnt all in Stoners head last year

You know Ash, that Marco,, IMO could be a surprise this year,,, even this Sunday,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Or you could believe, as I do, that testing is just testing and times from one fast lap are pretty meaningless overall.

If testing was racing then Edwards would be in the title chase every year, as would Suzuki.

If you look at the volume of fast laps rather than the headline grabbing single balls out lap then this year will be contested by the same top four as last year.

Spies may win a race or two and make Lorenzo look bad several times, Aoyama wont be in it and Simoncelli will only have an influence if he pulls one of his trademark twattish moves and takes out an alien. That wouldnt suprise me in the least.

Honda have the nost motivation as they forced in the 800 class in the first place. Their secret weapon, Pedrosa, has failed to dominate so now they are split betting by running two aliens and proven race winners in the same team. Usual Honda thinking, the bike is perfect we just need a rider capable of riding it. I wuld love to see it bite them on the arse. Stoner and Pedrosa are both likely to get duffed up in a battle situation. When they win they run away from corner 1, lap 1. They are both prone to crashing out of a good lead too. Perhaps the added pressure from within the team will make this happen more this year?

Lorenzo will be defending his no 1 plate against Spies primarily. Again the added pressure of being the top man at Yamaha and fighting off a hungry team mate may be more pressure than he has coped with previously.

Also, dont forget the other factors, Ducati spent big to get Rossi only to find he is self funding in attracting sponsors. Yamaha cant even get a sponsor. No Jap manufacturer can be selling more bikes this year than in previous years with the strength of ther yen. I bet Ducati are selling them as fast as they can make them. Also Freestylers curse, this earthquake / Tsunami / nuclear disaster is going to set Japan's economy back a decade at least. Could be all the Jap factories run out of development money early in the season?

Whatever happens I will be watching Rossi in my new 42 quid!!

as much as id like to see Rossi win right from the start, im thinking he'll probably place in the top 5, and Spies somewhere in the top 3.
Stoner will probably win the thing. cant wait though, let the games begin!

Stupid Luke,

You are on my wave length for this subject. May I suggest you are more than a casual observer.

Well we will get our 1st glimpses tommorow, my sky box is set to record 1st free practice, eurosport 2 4.45pm UK time

pretty sure stupid luke has it nailed, hard to argue with any of it. but i will, i can't help myself, rossi will be nowhere, he's padding his retirement / tax repayment fund and the fickle ducati will even out the ledger as far as falls and injuries vs wins and championships goes, i predict he'll fall a lot and if he's lucky he'll stay healthy but he's getting on and old men don't bounce!
Stoner will dominate everything, he's already relishing rubbing pedrosas nose in it, that and seeing rossi struggle on his old bike will have him riding high on a wave of confidence. pedrosa will crumble under pressure........as usual.
lorenzo, the overtly gay (not that there's anything wrong with that........) showboat that he is will struggle with spies as his team mate, the guy is too nice and respectful and lorenzo is a lot like rossi, he needs friction and agro to get his blood up.
simoncelli will duff up anyone and everyone in an attempt to finish fifth.

paul.

Latest results, first practice session
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport ... -practice/

And here we go
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/art ... icle=43730

What I'm thinking now is ,,all the Honda guy's are gonna crash into each other, trying to be the best, then it will be between Val and big Ben, with Nicky groveling for position,,,,,

I can only say that Stoner is going to be unstoppable this year.

it's not that we love Stoner so much, but he is a worthy champion and will do it again, no question, it's rossi' hypocritical behaviour towards his peers that has me cheering against him, his antics are a bit old these days too, not that we're likely to see too many more, he's past it and his deal with ducati is purely to set up his cushy retirement. you know? an italian associated with an italian factory, much like Ago with MV. Rossi' big mouth about Stoner not being able to ride the ducati will come back and bite him soon enough.
oh, since when do you need to have a mischevious personality to win? Rainey, Gardner, Lawson, Doohan, Spencer, all of them incredibly serious focussed individuals who worked very hard to achieve their goal. rossi has 9 championships, true, but Randy Mamola was the best personality in the paddock, he finished 2nd four times because he was a party animal and not ruthless enough to mix it with guys who wanted it more. Rossi has had his day, if it's not Stoner i hope it's Spies.

paul

you dont think that somone deserves to do well because you dont like his personality? Com on sure rossi is charasmatic. But if you had somone from the UK who had the potential to beat rossi and he had a boring personality would you not back him?

I think stoner has worked very hard... yes he got sick and yes he had a bike that kept on trying to kill him... yet he still tried his hardest and did well. He may be boring but it shows a lot about his character.

im sure stoner will start to loosen up when he has been on the circuit for a few more years but to say somone doesnt deserve to do well because he is boring is just stupid.

I take my hat off to people who do well in F1 and GP who are NOT from europe as we are outsiders (inc america) and people like to dislike us for that... just cos we get the nicer beaches and great riding weather all year round, normally; doesnt mean you have to hate us

don't forget decent beer!
and the poms have a rider with no personality, james toseland.

Ive never been a huge fan of Stoner but ive always backed him!

He may come across as boring but when stuck on a bike he is THE most exciting rider to watch hussle a Moto GP bike round a track! He may winge and wine but the guy doesnt no anything less than ten tenths when riding!

The Honda boys are gonne be tuff to beat at any of the horsepower tracks this year, Big H wernt screwing around when designing this years bike, they were the ones that pushed for 800cc capacity and its also the 1 engine size they havnt won a championship in!

Whoregay, no matter what you think of him can never be discounted, hel be pushing hard this year for sure because when the 1000cc bikes come i dont think hel stand a chance!

Spies can only only go onward and upward! The guy just doesnt make backward steps and il be amazed if he doesnt finish top 4 this season

Alright here's a post for all you Stoner lovers.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Mar ... rnotes.htm

Personally I cant stand the kid, but his skills are impressive. Not to mention his wife...

The grid line up,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/art ... icle=43744

everyone seems to forget why rossi has been so succsessfull, a man called Jeremy Burgess, yes thats right, he is the master mind behind rossis sucsess. Without him there to sort the bike i dont think rossi would be anything, both bikes (handa and yamaha) were fixed by him, and now rossi has a scape goat, if he doesnt win on the ducati its the bikes fault and if he does win he is a genius.

OK,

so I just spent 30 minutes replying to this thread. Poured my heart out about what I feel about Moto GP riders etc, (I like Lorenzo by the way, great rider).

The site then said that I was not logged in, (again, again, again,) and I lost all that I'd written,(again, again, again,).

I'm sick of this happening. I have to log in all the time. And I lose all that I've written - it's becoming a joke.

Nearly at the point when I will no longer be a forum member. It' sucks.

I liked the new site design but now I'm nearly a non member.

Please someone get it sorted.

Yours truly fooked off.

bic.

they are all great riders, its just that the rider is only one peice of the puzzle, sure you have to be good to win championships or even just one championship, you also have to be lucky as well, no bad crashes or injuries or sickness during the year, but most of all having a good crew to sort the bike out to be the best it can be is also criticle, if the bike is unrideable even the worlds best riders wont be able to make it fast.

I cant critisize any riders as im not that great a rider myself, i am an aussie yes and i suport casey yes, i have respect for all riders fast or slow, i do local club racing in VIctoria Australia and its not easy to be running up front, well not for me anyway.

I take nothing away from the guys who do it as a job, but like i said there are a lot of people behind the sceens who make it happen for them to be great, thats all.

Fair play to Stoner he was proper rapid today. Looking like Honda might dominate the championship early on. Hope the Ducati can get in the game. Want to see Spies have a good season as well.

TBH , the slowest rider on the Moto GP grid is probly 10 times faster than anyone on this forum has ever gone in their life

the commentators were making excuses for rossi in qualifying FFS! lest we forget, his shoulder was screwed last year, he still won plenty on the yamaha with it, and all the while trash talking about how stoner was making excuses and just not up to it.......blah blah blah, ONE POINT FIVE SECONDS OFF POLE, on a factory bike! the same bike (essentially) that stoner fought with last year, and won on. I hope the whole season goes this way, he may fight his way up the field in the race, fifth maybe? or a crash trying, then he'll whine about his shoulder not being up to it yet etc.etc. I doubt he'll ever blame the bike, like i said, it's his retirement fund, but i reckon he'll up the ante with his trash talking trying to psych out the competition.
And jeremy burgess is indeed a genius, he won world championships with freddie spencer, eddie lawson, wayne gardner, mick doohan as well as rossi!
and he's an AUSSIE!


paul.

On an earlier post I stated how I thought the results were to end up. Now I am going for who I would like to see win and a few down from the top step.
Andrea Dovisioso
cause he has shown great promise and 58 gave him such a hard tyme at the lest race.
Be nice for him to shake up the Honda tents just a little.
Jorge Lorenzo
cause he rides so smooth that he almost looks slow, the Yamaha's need to show that they are the compition to beat would still be in place with a second place finish.
Casey Stoner
cause rubbing a little salt into the Rossi-Ducati wound is a perverted happy place for me.
Besides which,Rossi can play his poor pitiful shoulder held him back allong with Ducati is not quite giving him what he needs to succeed.
Ben Spies
He will accept this place with grace and give him the confidance to take on the championship, full steam ahead.
Once he has the bit between his teeth he will be a forgone conclusion in many more races to come.
Dani Pedrosa
I like Pedrosa and have seen him push the Honda as hard as it is capable of acheiving on so many outings he will be at the toppish of my charts all season.
There are only two that I do not care to see lined up at the start of any race this season
Marco Semincelli
Colin Edwards
I could take or leave Rossi, but wish him only healthy ninth place finishes all year long
The gridding looks like my guess for the race results

I have a feeling this thing is gonna come down to Stoner and Lorenzo,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,for the top step

Me thinks that The Yamaha's are going to need a tad bit more power. The over shoot of turn one by Spies was all a ploy to set Rossi up for a pass on the third times the charm. Stoner did not put a wheel out of place the whole race and made the Honda look like it was made for him like he made the Ducati look in 2007. Semincelli is going to mess up the fourth to sixth place racers all season long while the front pack dissapears. Someone will get tired of his shinangans and punt him off the track. Probably be DePuniet, he seems to like only one or two laps anyway. The three Repsol Honda's are hard to follow and feel out of place on a MotoGP grid. Thank goodness that Casey's numbers are in blue or I would have a hard tyme distinguishing them from each other. I wish Moto Two was on Sunday also. I will not get enough racing on Sunday, unless World or American racing is on. Rossi has his work cut out for him, the bike looks very sketchy at mid-corner. Good on Cal Crutchlow. He may never be close to the top but he does look like a racer out there. If there is someone to pass you can bet he aint going to hold back and circle the track like Nicky does. Nicky looks like Kenny Roberts Jr. in his final seasons, circling for the paycheck. Loris too.

ON YA STONER !!!!!!!