[Sheel]

The first testing session which spanned over 3 days starting on 31st January '12 and ending on 2nd February 2012 started with few surprises, but at the end, it was back to square one with Casey Stoner at the top on 3rd & last practice session. Led J Lo by over .5 and that is huge.

Posting lap times from motogp.com · Malaysia Test draws to a close with Stoner quickest

Pour in your thoughts & lets discuss the season

[asr245]

Originally Posted by Sheel

The first testing session which spanned over 3 days starting on 31st January '12 and ending on 2nd February 2012 started with few surprises, but at the end, it was back to square one with Casey Stoner at the top on 3rd & last practice session. Led J Lo by over .5 and that is huge.

Pour in your thoughts & lets discuss the season

The fastest lap of the weekend was from Ben Spies of Yamaha factory team. So doesn't really matter who's fastest in these practice sessions. But it does hint that we will see the top 2 teams fighting again. If Ducati or someone else can join the fray the better.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by asr245

The fastest lap of the weekend was from Ben Spies of Yamaha factory team. So doesn't really matter who's fastest in these practice sessions. But it does hint that we will see the top 2 teams fighting again. If Ducati or someone else can join the fray the better.

Hey, I never checked out & compared lap-times with each other, thanks for bringing this up.

The bloke who put on the fastest lap is in my avatar pic.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by Sheel

The bloke who put on the fastest lap is in my avatar pic.

Is that Ben Spies? I would have assumed it would be a Rossi or Lorenzo. Don't follow MotoGP avidly. Has he (Spies) won a race yet (in MotoGP, not lower series). Would love to see him rub shoulders with Lorenzo/Stoner.

[black12rr]

Does any one know if INDIAN circuit is included in 2012 calendar ?

[Ford_madhan]

Ben Spies is not the fastest, it was stoner. The time set by Spies was a glitch and they corrected later..

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by asr245

Is that Ben Spies? I would have assumed it would be a Rossi or Lorenzo. Don't follow MotoGP avidly. Has he (Spies) won a race yet (in MotoGP, not lower series). Would love to see him rub shoulders with Lorenzo/Stoner.

Yes. He won the Assen Moto GP 2011 race.

Originally Posted by black12rr

Does any one know if INDIAN circuit is included in 2012 calendar ?

No.

Here is the calender

Dates Grand Prix Circuit
8 April Qatar* Doha/Losail
29 April Spain Jerez de la Frontera
6 May Portugal (STC) Estoril
20 May France Le Mans
3 June Catalunya Catalunya
17 June Great Britain Silverstone
30 June Netherlands** Assen
8 July Germany (STC) Sachsenring
15 July Italy Mugello
29 July United States*** Laguna Seca
19 August Indianapolis Indianapolis
26 August Czech Rep. Brno
16 September San Marino & Riviera di Rimini Misano
30 September Aragon Motorland
14 October Japan Motegi
21 October Malaysia Sepang
28 October Australia Phillip Island
11 November Valencia Ricardo Tormo – Valencia

* Evening Race
** Saturday Race

*** Only MotoGP class

Originally Posted by Ford_madhan

Ben Spies is not the fastest, it was stoner. The time set by Spies was a glitch and they corrected later..

Indeed

[StarrySky]

It's probably a mistake to make conclusions based on one test, but it looks like Stoner and Lorenzo will be fighting at the front again - with their respective team-mates well capable of crashing the party. Ducati still looks a bit too far away, but Rossi seemed very positive about the bike. Maybe Ducati will catch up enough with Honda/Yamaha by the middle of the season to make things more interesting.

[Shivank]

Would it be alright to call Stoner the fastest rider of'em all? I think so...My bet for this season is Stoner only.

That being said, I would like Dani Pedrosa (my avatar pic here ) to win this year's championship. It's been so unlucky of him to have never won the GP title.

However, with Rossi and Ducati getting back to their paces, and Yamaha matching up with Honda's lap times it's not going to be easy anymore for the Honda riders, especially for Dani.

Actually, it's too early to leap to the conclusions. We need to wait for the results from the season's first race at Qatar. Only then can we predict further...

[deetjohn]

I hope the Doctor will be up there on the Desmosedici fighting it out with the factory Yamaha and the Honda boys.

I hope the 1L engine will change things. Maybe the GP12 can blitz the others on the straights and then the Doc can stick a leg out on the corners to inch ahead.

Vale and Schumi to win races. That's all I ask for in 2012 from the motorsport gods.

[five46]

Where's the de rigueur poll Sir Sheel? Please ask the mods to include it.

Here's something which should help to build the poll-

Provisional MotoGP entry list

1 CASEY STONER AUS - HONDA TEAM, HONDA
4 ANDREA DOVIZIOSO ITA - YAMAHA TECH 3, YAMAHA
5 COLIN EDWARDS USA - FORWARD RACING, SUTER*
6 STEFAN BRADL GER - LCR HONDA MotoGP, HONDA
8 HECTOR BARBERA SPA - PRAMAC RACING TEAM, DUCATI
9 DANILO PETRUCCI ITA - IODA RACING PROJECT, IODA*
11 BEN SPIES USA - YAMAHA FACTORY RACING, YAMAHA
13 ANTHONY WEST AUS - SPEED MASTER, ART*
14 RANDY DE PUNIET FRA - ASPAR TEAM MotoGP, ART*
17 KAREL ABRAHAM CZE - CARDION AB MOTORACING, DUCATI
19 ALVARO BAUTISTA SPA - HONDA GRESINI, HONDA
20 ALEIX ESPARGARO SPA - ASPAR TEAM MotoGP, ART*
22 IVAN SILVA SPA - BQR, BQR-FTR*
26 DANI PEDROSA SPA - HONDA TEAM, HONDA
35 CAL CRUTCHLOW GBR - YAMAHA TECH 3, YAMAHA
46 VALENTINO ROSSI ITA - DUCATI TEAM, DUCATI
51 MICHELE PIRRO ITA - HONDA GRESINI, FTR*
68 YONNY HERNANDEZ COL - BQR, BQR-FTR*
69 NICKY HAYDEN USA - DUCATI TEAM, DUCATI
77 JAMES ELLISON GBR - PAUL BIRD RACING, ART*
99 JORGE LORENZO SPA - YAMAHA FACTORY RACING, YAMAHA

Source

[suren]

Ok The above post has to be edited now. Antony West has been replaced by Mattia Pasini and mostly yonny Hernandez might not be able to bring in funds to ride.

And as far as my season prediction goes.

1. Casey/ Lorenzo to the tittle
2. Ben would win many races and retain his ride at Yamaha / Vale with a few surprises here and there.
3. I except Bautista /Barbera/ Rdp/ CE2 to throw in a few surprises

Horrible season prediction :

1. Honda CRT !
2. Kawasaki FTR CRT !

[sumit.pannalall]

Stoners are blessed with a baby girl - Alessandra
The baby and Stoner's rival Rossi share same birthday

Though dangerous but CRT being lapped by front runners might create some unexpected results as we have been seeing in past 125s and 250s; passing the back markers can be tricky and might alter the outcome of the race.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by five46

Where's the de rigueur poll Sir Sheel? Please ask the mods to include it.

Here's something which should help to build the poll-.....

I did not create one as my knowledge is pretty limited and is that of an enthusiast/amateur, but please feel free to report post and request mods to create one

Please chip in frequently & continue with the discussions.

Originally Posted by suren

Ok The above post has to be edited now. Antony West has been replaced by Mattia Pasini and mostly yonny Hernandez might not be able to bring in funds to ride.

Still the results more or less might remain the same.

And as far as my season prediction goes.

1. Casey/ Lorenzo to the tittle
2. Ben would win many races and retain his ride at Yamaha / Vale with a few surprises here and there.
3. I except Bautista /Barbera/ Rdp/ CE2 to throw in a few surprises

Hmmm...

Horrible season prediction :

1. Honda CRT !
2. Kawasaki FTR CRT !

Originally Posted by sumit.pannalall

Stoners are blessed with a baby girl - Alessandra
The baby and Stoner's rival Rossi share same birthday

LOL

Though dangerous but CRT being lapped by front runners might create some unexpected results as we have been seeing in past 125s and 250s; passing the back markers can be tricky and might alter the outcome of the race.

Lets see as to where the turn of events add unto. Maybe they will make the CRT's competitive or make (regular) Moto GP bikes slower [bangs head against wall]

Where is Mike?

[Sheel]

Can't resist sharing this tweet of Valentino Rossi 46


This is from Rossi's twitter page:

Ieri è nata la figlia di Stoner. Visto il profondo rapporto di stima reciproca che ci lega, mi aspettavo che la chiamasse Valentina.

Rough translation from Google:

Yesterday was born the daughter of Stoner. Given the close relationship of mutual respect that binds us, I expected that the name was Valentina.

OMG, this is hilarious