[SohailPistawala]

Decent Race last evening, Lorenzo on full throttle from the 1st lap itself. Unbeaten. Rossi lost couple of places during the start but gained and finished 5th. Good race for Pedrosa, Stoner and Spies.

Rossi's movement to Ducati Confirmed for next season. All italian!

[shyn]

Originally Posted by SohailPistawala

Decent Race last evening, Lorenzo on full throttle from the 1st lap itself. Unbeaten. Rossi lost couple of places during the start but gained and finished 5th. Good race for Pedrosa, Stoner and Spies.

Rossi's movement to Ducati Confirmed for next season. All italian!

ROSSI+DUCATI=ALL-ITALIAN "DREAM" TEAM!! can we now shift to the next season of motoGP, please!?

[VLOCT]

With Spies almost confirmed for factory Yamaha team replacing Rossi, I think Yamahas' domination will now be even more. It'll be a dream if Rossi can get the championship for Ducati although, I still wish Ducati signed Spies instead for their long term future. Rossi will surely retire soon. Hopefully, Spies will land up with Ducati then.

Stoner needs to clear the cobwebs from his head before he can seriously challenge for the championship again with any factory ride. What I would give to watch him have a similar season to his championship season with the Duc?

[nitrous]

Spies is that good a rider to be compared to Rossi?

[VLOCT]

No one can be compared to Rossi but he's pretty close to retiring. At this stage of his career, he's far from unbeatable as shown decisively by Stoner couple of years ago. Spies definitely has the talent to be the next Rossi if he manages to avoid career ending injuries. You do not become the Superbike champion in your first year and then get picked up to Motogp the next year and then get a factory ride in your second year, if you're not phenomenal. Look what he's doing with a crappy non-factory yamaha. With a factory ride, I predict he'll dominate Motogp for years, barring injuries.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

No one can be compared to Rossi but he's pretty close to retiring. At this stage of his career, he's far from unbeatable as shown decisively by Stoner couple of years ago. Spies definitely has the talent to be the next Rossi if he manages to avoid career ending injuries. You do not become the Superbike champion in your first year and then get picked up to Motogp the next year and then get a factory ride in your second year, if you're not phenomenal. Look what he's doing with a crappy non-factory yamaha. With a factory ride, I predict he'll dominate Motogp for years, barring injuries.

I had put in the exact same words, but my connection got DC, Thanks for putting in the right words VLOCT

A bigger feat than 2010 championship for J Lo is kicking out Rossi from Yamaha

[VLOCT]

What a ride by Spies, that too with a non-factory ride? To come second in a MotoGP race in your rookie year, incredible. Can't wait for next year? My heart will be with Ducati with Rossi but, I'll be cheering for Spies. Ducati really needed Spies to challenge for the championship. It'll be amazing if Rossi can do it but seriously, he's past his prime. I think after the two years with Ducati he'll retire. Unless Stoner recoups mentally, he'll sadly be a one time champion. Hope he recovers.

[Sheel]

I too don't see any one except J Lo and Ben Spies as future champions, I know Pedrobot has a chance, but...he can't d0gfight it out.

Winning the championship from Haga in his rookie season requires much more than avg skill(we are talking about International grid).
GO Spies!

[SohailPistawala]

I have a slightly different view , I see Jorge as the next sensation, keeping in mind his records in the past two years. I guess last year he was 2nd in the leaderboard by the end of the season. Yes 1st year he did have a lot of high sides. We never know what the Rossi+ducati package would be in the next season. as far as spies goes he does have the capability to make it to the top. I feel Jorge as a rider has far more pace then spies.

2nd We cannot right of Stoner as next year he would be on Honda Factory team (correct me). As pedrosa and Honda seems a good fit from past couple of years but i guess pedrosa lacks the juice and pace to keep up till the end.

Lets hope the season ends with more excitement between Pedrosa and Lorenzo.

[VLOCT]

Well, Lorenzo has a factory ride. A healthy Rossi easily challenged and mostly dominated Lorenzo till this year. I'm not so sure that Lorenzo can keep Spies at bay for long. Even with the factory ride, look what Spies did to him at Indy. You can feel Spies really coming on now. I expect Spies to be on the podium next year for most of the races, barring injuries.

As for Stoner, his issues are mostly mental. He looks flustered and unhappy most of the time. The joy of championship is gone from his face. His riding looks hurried instead of cool and steady. His old habits of crashing has resurfaced. Hopefully, he does better with a fresh start with Honda.

Pedrosa has had a fast bike this whole year. He should have been challenging for the championship. He looks great when he's leading and has room to breathe. However, there is a chink in his armor when he's constantly challenged.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by VLOCT

Well, Lorenzo has a factory ride. A healthy Rossi easily challenged and mostly dominated Lorenzo till this year. I'm not so sure that Lorenzo can keep Spies at bay for long. Even with the factory ride, look what Spies did to him at Indy. You can feel Spies really coming on now. I expect Spies to be on the podium next year for most of the races, barring injuries.

Vale will sure be an unknown commodity, esp w/o JB(if he does retire), I for one can't bet against Vale. He is something special.

J Lo has matured and by leaps & bounds, next year from my guess, it will be
Valentino Rossi
Ben Spies
Jorge Lorenzo

^^Did I just declare the 2011 standings?

[Mpower]

What a terrible event and track! There was probably about 50 crashes total for the whole weekend incl pratice, warmup and quali.

Moto2 race was a carnage with riders dropping like flies. The track was green, dusty, bumpy and the tires were totally unsuited. That infield track is used only ONCE a year for this race.

In the warmup lap of the morning support race (250cc), a local US rider crashed and was killed when another bike ran over him. Media has succesfully hushed it up so as to not spoil the party.

Most riders were just taking it easy because they knew what would happen if they pushed.

Originally Posted by VLOCT

What a ride by Spies, that too with a non-factory ride? To come second in a MotoGP race in your rookie year, incredible.

Agreed Spies was on fire but its only because
1. The Europeans (except Dani) were not comfortable or familiar with the track.
2. Extra motivation, effort and balls by Ben.

Dont expect the same once the party goes back to the familiar tracks in Europe.

Originally Posted by VLOCT

As for Stoner, his issues are mostly mental. He looks flustered and unhappy most of the time.

He's been complaining about lack of feel in the new 2010 chassis. What seemed to have suited Hayden has hurt Stoner. Part of his reason for moving on.

[VLOCT]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Vale will sure be an unknown commodity, esp w/o JB(if he does retire), I for one can't bet against Vale. He is something special.

Ducati needs to be ridden very aggressively and fearlessly to beat the Japs. I'm not sure that at this stage of his career whether Rossi has that in him but, you never count him out. We'll see.

Originally Posted by Mpower

Agreed Spies was on fire but its only because
1. The Europeans (except Dani) were not comfortable or familiar with the track.
2. Extra motivation, effort and balls by Ben.

Dont expect the same once the party goes back to the familiar tracks in Europe.

This is the third year of Indy and almost all the current riders have been here before. As for the european circuits, Spies has already ridden most of these tracks successfully during his superbike wins last year. In any case, I don't remember when a non-factory ride was on the podium last. Forget about a rookie doing that. That alone is a remarkable achievement.

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Moto2 race was a carnage with riders dropping like flies. The track was green, dusty, bumpy and the tires were totally unsuited. That infield track is used only ONCE a year for this race.

Moto 2 race was awesome to say the least, this is how a race should be, hotly contested.(-the crashes & red flag though & blame it on the grid size)

In the warmup lap of the morning support race (250cc), a local US rider crashed and was killed when another bike ran over him. Media has succesfully hushed it up so as to not spoil the party.

It is all out in the US, the baby's name was Peter Lenz & it was in a 125cc not 250.

Agreed Spies was on fire but its only because
1. The Europeans (except Dani) were not comfortable or familiar with the track.
2. Extra motivation, effort and balls by Ben.

Dont expect the same once the party goes back to the familiar tracks in Europe.

What would you say about his rookie WSBK '09 season then?

He is seeing more new tracks then the whole grid put together.

He's been complaining about lack of feel in the new 2010 chassis. What seemed to have suited Hayden has hurt Stoner. Part of his reason for moving on.

It is all in his head.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Sheel

Moto 2 race was awesome to say the least, this is how a race should be, hotly contested.(-the crashes & red flag though & blame it on the grid size)

Grid size is pretty much the same on all tracks...and they are always hotly contested.

Originally Posted by Sheel

It is all out in the US, the baby's name was Peter Lenz & it was in a 125cc not 250.

oh really! I was IN Indy at the time and I'm telling you its an MD250H series race.

& I'm talking about the global MotoGP media coverage not the local news.

Originally Posted by Sheel

What would you say about his rookie WSBK '09 season then?

He is seeing more new tracks then the whole grid put together.

THe competetion in WSBK is not at the same level

Originally Posted by Sheel

It is all in his head.

Absolutely not. Ducati has been trying out a less stiff fork to give him more feel.

Originally Posted by VLOCT

This is the third year of Indy and almost all the current riders have been here before.

I'm not undermining his achievement at all. (see my point2) I am just reasoning why suddenly the Euro riders were not able to keep up with him. You will know what I mean when the party heads back to Europe.

3 years is nothing. These guys have ridden European tracks since their teenage years through 125 and 250 classes and know it like the back of their hands. On the other hand, Ben came up through the AMA series.

Either way, it doesn't change the fact that the track conditions were crap. Indy-500 and Brickyard 400 which are the only other 2 events of the year use the oval and not the infield.