The Moto GP 08' discussion thread

[renamo]

Weight penalty? how silly it can be? absurd..

is anyone stopping the japanese factories from building a v-twin? its themself who are doing it, because if they go the V-Twin way, they will kill their successful (business wise) inline 4 engined bikes like R1 and fireblade.

If they can, they will even try to put a parachute behind that ducati, just to make honda/yamaha catch up..

People should just stop whining about Ducati having more horsepower, and just appreciate the beauty and power of the bike and the rider combined.

Dont be blind, If anybody thinks its just the power of Ducati, pls look at the timings of other ducati riders in the same race.

They got the combination right. RIDER, bike and tires. Its as simple as that.

[SohailPistawala]

hey guys race day tomorrow, its going to be a good race, with Lorenzo, pedrosa, and edwards on the front row..oooohhhh

The Official MotoGP Website

here is the link to the qualifying results.I have my bets on Yamaha Podium Finish !! any guesses guys??

[dipen]

Book a 750 07 model with discounts by paying some advance to the dealer and the balance you can pay in the next month when you have earned some more moolah.

Or other option is to ask some friends/colleagues for a 1-2 month loan. Keep the bike as deposit with them and let them hand over the keys to you once you clear the dues.

[SohailPistawala]

dipen: wrong thread i think hehehe!! anyways congratulations on your.

now the topic: Motogp , a goood exciting race but, damm Pedrosa dominated from the very 1st lap, and boy he was quick. Rossi Good ride , and settled for 2nd position. Lorenzo lost two places and settled for 3rd.

Casey lost too many postions from the 2nd lap when he went to the gravel. Retained his position from 17 to 11, but then again, when overtaking the two riders ahead of him he went towards the gravel at the same place, settled for 11th. Hayden was looking strong, had one last go on lorenzo but leaned a little extra, then could'nt catch up with him and settled for fourth.

any views or Comments highwayblaze, killer, renamo and others!!

[Shan2nu]

Everyone was shocked to see Lorenzo's lack of pace, considering he was 0.6 secs quicker than Dani in qualifying.

Stoner seemed to have some major issues with lack of front grip. Infact many lost control due to this prob. Hayden did an awesome job of handling his bike at C1, when it seemed he would crash for sure (Edwards had done the same during qualifying).

Dani was just brillant. Everything seemed to work perfectly for him this weekend.

It'l be interesting to see what Ducati plans to do about it in Portugal, on the 13th of this month.

Shan2nu

[turbo_v12]

Jerez has always been a happy hunting ground for Michelins, and so has Estoril. It remains to see how the Bridgestones will do after that. So far the tyre war is processding just the way it was last year at these race tracks.

[five46]

Well, firstly, apologies for a very delayed entry into this section since my admission into t-bhp! This is one of my favourite sport and I do follow it with quite fair amount of interest.

Originally Posted by F50

I missed out on the race yesterday but saw it today. Stoner was good. Lorenzo was good too. Sadly, Rossi missed out, hope to see him on the top step and top in championship.

For the night race, something new is always welcome. Im just wondering how the track temperatures affects the (night) race. How different will it behave in the night?

Apart from the technicals, here's a dig on what the Management gurus tried to cook outta a night race...

Although the first Grand Prix event ever to be run at night produced some spectacular images, MotoGP fans around the world were left with one question: Why were they running this thing at night?

A good question. A very good question indeed. Various explanations have been offered, official and otherwise. The official line was that by running the race at night, the riders, bikes and tires would be less troubled by the heat of the desert, which even this early in the year can be tremendous. The events of this weekend soon showed that to be entirely spurious, however, as the riders struggled with to keep warm in the chilly desert nights, and the tires had problems getting up to temperature as a cold and cooling track combined with the damp of evening to make finding any grip a difficult task.

The unofficial explanation was that running the race at night served three distinct purposes: The first was to beat Formula 1, who are due to run their own first night race at Singapore in September, an important public relations coup.

The second reason was to serve as a test bed for Sepang in Malaysia, as well as Shanghai and other circuits out in the Far East. There is plenty of interest in running these races in various parts of Asia, but with MotoGP's target market being in Europe, the standard 2pm local time start doesn't work for European TV schedules. Run these races at night, and they suddenly shift from a 4am start on Spanish and Italian TV to something more resembling the regular schedule in the early afternoon.

The third, and more important emotionally reason, was to allow the Qatar race to be moved until after the Jerez round, allowing the Spanish race to once again take its place as the season opener. For many Spanish fans, the Jerez MotoGP race is the start of both the MotoGP season and the motorcycling season in general, so having Jerez kick off the season once more will attract more interest in the Qatar round, as the Spaniards will have had their appetites whetted.

In Spain, the success of the early evening race has been much more marked: over 3 million viewers watched the races, with a peak of 4,293,000 watching Casey Stoner cross the finish line. In 2007, the season opener at Qatar only attracted 1,637,000 viewers. The MotoGP race also attracted 300,000 more viewers than the Spanish league soccer match between Real Zaragoza and Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish figures can be explained in part at the excitement generated by the entry of Jorge Lorenzo into the new class, as well as the belief that Dani Pedrosa stands an excellent chance of winning the title this year. One factor which may have influenced the figures is that the race was being shown right in the middle of the TV election specials, being screened to cover Spain's general election which was also shown on Sunday. It is not unthinkable that the race attracted viewers wishing to avoid coverage of the election, as the soccer summary shows also attracted increased viewer numbers.

[five46]

Read as Pos > No. > Top Speed
FP 1
1 1 Casey STONER 304.0
2 46 Valentino ROSSI 298.0
3 56 Shinya NAKANO 299.7
4 13 Anthony WEST 304.7
5 21 John HOPKINS 307.6
6 69 Nicky HAYDEN 293.3
7 65 Loris CAPIROSSI 304.8
8 7 Chris VERMEULEN 297.7
9 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI 295.0
10 14 Randy DE PUNIET 286.8
11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO 289.0
12 48 Jorge LORENZO 292.5
13 33 Marco MELANDRI 292.9
14 15 Alex DE ANGELIS 269.0
15 24 Toni ELIAS 304.5
16 2 Dani PEDROSA 285.9
17 5 Colin EDWARDS 261.5
18 52 James TOSELAND 276.7
FP2
1 2 Dani Pedrosa 312.9 2 46 Valentino ROSSI 316.6
3 5 Colin EDWARDS 315.6
4 69 Nicky HAYDEN 314.4
5 48 Jorge LORENZO 313.7
6 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO 310.4
7 1 Casey STONER 314.6
8 56 Shinya NAKANO 312.4
9 14 Randy DE PUNIET 312.0
10 21 John HOPKINS 314.5
11 65 Loris CAPIROSSI 312.1
12 7 Chris VERMEULEN 312.6
13 52 James TOSELAND 309.9
14 15 Alex DE ANGELIS 309.1
15 33 Marco MELANDRI 316.0
16 13 Anthony WEST 313.5
17 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI 312.9
18 24 Toni ELIAS 318.8

PS: Mods, if this looks like a 'blog' kind of literature posting and doesn't deserve a place at t-bhp, please do the needful. I'd refrain myself from doing so in future.

[Shan2nu]

What the heck....was it raining during FP1 or something? The top speeds have just shot up in FP2!!!

Good to see that most bikes are more'o'less on an eqaul level as far as top speed goes.

It's gonna be diff for Stoner to defend his title this year.

Shan2nu

[five46]

Yup! It was raining during FP1...
Yamaha have kind of responded to Vale's requirements for this season. Just that the doc needs to get going with the Yam + Bridgestone combination. Then, Casey does have some competition. Also, good to see Dani gettin to terms...

[five46]

FP3
1 5 Colin EDWARDS 314.6
2 48 Jorge LORENZO 318.1
3 69 Nicky HAYDEN 313.9
4 46 Valentino ROSSI 316.6
5 2 Dani PEDROSA 317.6
6 52 James TOSELAND 312.7
7 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO 310.2
8 14 Randy DE PUNIET 311.1
9 21 John HOPKINS 312.8
10 7 Chris VERMEULEN 311.9
11 1 Casey STONER 320.3
12 56 Shinya NAKANO 312.7
13 65 Loris CAPIROSSI 314.1
14 15 Alex DE ANGELIS 303.7
15 13 Anthony WEST 314.7
16 50 Sylvain GUINTOLI 315.0
17 24 Toni ELIAS 323.2
18 33 Marco MELANDRI 318.1


BREAKING NEWS: Team Kwackers set to rope in Vale for 2009!!!

Kawasaki say they plan to approach Valentino Rossi in the next month with a view to signing him to a 2009 deal.

Rossi's Yamaha contract expires at the end of this season, and Kawasaki team boss Michael Bartholemy has declared his interest in enticing the five-time MotoGP champion to Kawasaki.

"We are interested in Valentino, even though I've never spoken either to him or his manager," Bartholemy told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"But I'd like to and soon, because this would be the perfect time. Our first two races didn't go well. So Shanghai could be the right place."

Kawasaki have made a low-key start to 2008, with John Hopkins's seventh place at Jerez their best result in the opening two races.

But Bartholemy believes their form has been hidden as Hopkins recovered from a pre-season injury.

"We are improving," he insisted. "We haven't demonstrated that in the first two races as a consequence of Hopkins's injury in Phillip Island testing. But we are convinced we have a good bike and that future developments will make it even better.

"To hire Rossi would put more pressure on us, because you can't have a rider like Valentino and end up 15th. The Rossi-Hopkins pairing would be perfect."

Rossi was open-minded about the possibility of Kawasaki talks.

"It's true, I've never spoken with Kawasaki," he told Gazzetta. "It will depend on what they offer me."

Bartholemy expects Kawasaki to enjoy significantly larger resources next season.

"I'd like to field a third official bike," he said. "Our budget should rise by at least five million euros. If the objectives get bigger, then it becomes easier to convince the management to invest."

Should Rossi decline Kawasaki's offer, Bartholemy said impressive rookie Andrea Dovizioso - currently riding for JiR Scot Honda - and 250cc rider Alvaro Bautista were on the team's shortlist.
"I'm thinking of three other riders, including two very young ones, one of which is already in MotoGP," he said.

"(Dovizioso) is a fine rider and he's very intelligent. I like him.

"I had already suggested (Bautista) in 2006 after Motegi, when (Shinya) Nakano announced he was leaving. Back then the top management didn't believe in him. They regret that."

[IronWolf]

Race over .. Beautiful ride by Lorenzo who was in 3-4th during the initial laps. 250 champ Lorenzo takes the chequered flag. As for Valentino moving to Kawaker team. I dont think he will move to Kawasaki yet. Not until they really establish themselves in MotoGP.

[Blue_V]

rossi to kwaker? no way! i think rossi would love to win the championship again on yam before moving elsewhere. he's just playing with yam. he's an idiot of late.

[SohailPistawala]

I dont remember, but read somewhere in Rossi's interview, that he plans to go to Ducati. I could be wrong.

Amazing race... was really looking forward for Lorenzo, he did it!! the positions where the race started were the same as it ended. 1st three racers ended the same way they started hehe!!

[highwayblaze]

Originally Posted by SohailPistawala

I dont remember, but read somewhere in Rossi's interview, that he plans to go to Ducati. I could be wrong.

Amazing race... was really looking forward for Lorenzo, he did it!! the positions where the race started were the same as it ended. 1st three racers ended the same way they started hehe!!

Sohail, I dont know about Rossi's future plans but I know he was considering Ducati last year (Italian Rider on an Italian Bike he said was an exciting idea but opted to stick to Yamaha). Wherever he moves to I really hope he keeps winning. I'm getting frustrated not seeing him no.1 for a while now.

Did you guys watch the Portugal GP? First few laps Rossi beat his tires hard and decided to save them later. Jorge rode very well. He's so tiny i'm sure he has a weight advantage , just like Dani Pedrosa who's close 100pounds (WTH??!!). Either way they say next race will be really good for Bridgestone's and I REALLY hope to see Rossi win that one. DAM I'm frustrated.