Donington/coming "out" party?

I got up early and checked out FP1/Q1, looks like Nicky was right, there is
"more to come." Though, if the weather holds as predicted, I wouldn't be
surprise to see somebody in the 28`s tomorrow but he was the "man" today.
With just over a minute left in Q1 he goes out and "smokes" the field, I
think he's finally figuring it out!! Almost .5 better than anybody else! ( I
can't recall that happening before) Just about everyone here has predicted
that Hayden would win one this year. Is it this weekend? How about Colin?(at
the top all day) He has a history of doing "quite well" at Donington. IMHO
all he need's this weekend is a decent starting slot. Are Loris and Carlos
going to be there at the end, they looked strong today...
It's time for the Duc boy's to make a move, silly season soon..

If Vale can put himself between Max an Sete and the top of the box, it's as
good as a win...Let the Honda guys beat up on each other, as long as Vale
doesn't "allow" any one rider to start a streak he'll more than likely
repeat.

Donington is one of the toughest venues, it appears that it's one place no
one can have it all. It's either "ponies" or cornering, (exit speed)
picking the "right" tires to match the conditions helps too, duh....
KRJR/Tamada where are those killer `Stone Q's?
This might be a "dogfight." We'll see.......

T3

BTW- Max, get it together, didn't you win it last year? One more thing,
don't believe all the B/S, Repsol guy's get the best stuff first, don't ever
doubt it............

 

Hayden... awesome. Yet another warning shot. He has established himself
solidly among the elite, and it'd be *great* to have another rider that
contests for spot number 1 on a regular basis in MotoGP.

That said, the fact that Capirossi is near the top might indicate times are
going to come down tomorrow and things might settle into the "regular"
pattern, but hopefully not. Donnington is a fun circuit.

One thing I've got to admit about Checa is he's got balls. Considering he
nearly died by a whisker in that circuit... I know there's turns I never
push again after a little wobbly scare. Then again, that's why I've got a
regular job...

Tomorrow would be interesting - it'd be *great* to see hings turned upside
down a little.It'd be even better if the second half of the season sees
other guys closing the points gap as the current leaders start to think more
tactically... things may then get awesome towards the end.

....pablo

 

It wouldn't surprise me at all to see exactly that happen, there is a
"boatload" of talent in GP that has yet to shine. Though I'd expect Rossi to
be somewhere in the mix. I didn't realize Nicky knocked almost 1.5 off the
lap record, even with a new surface, that's impressive.. Will we see mid
28's tomorrow? It could happen.

T3

 

Donington has 2 corners that favour the brave.

Craner curves is absolutely terrifying. It's pretty much full throttle
downhill and in the middle at 140 or so you have to switch direction,
move from one of the side of the track to the other and aim for a blind
apex. It nearly killed Checa and crashes there tend to be huge. Ukawa
got the bike as high in the air as we've ever seen one go. It's the
corner that turned Schwantz into a hero for me in the Transatlantic
races when he tried to pass Rainey, ran off onto the grass for 300
yards, rejoined the track and then won.

Schwantz curves follows the old Hairpin. It's effectively two left hand
curves tied together where they're under maximum acceleration away from
the old hairpin. The bike is leaned right over at 130 or so. Before the
end of the second curve they have to start braking for what used to be a
bumpy, blind off camber right.

The car park section is Mickey Mouse compared with these but it gives
ample opportunities to screw up. Most of the top riders have screwed up
big time at the Esses, Melbourne and Goddards. From memory, Melandri,
Biaggi, Edwards, (Doohan!) have all done it in races and Rossi in
practice.

The weather is going to be fine today. They're predicting cooler and
overcast on Sunday with a slight chance of spots of rain in the late
afternoon. But with the weird timing for the MotoGp race, that's exactly
when it's running. I really hope it stays dry, not least because I'll be
in the middle of it.

 

Followed this on the MotoGP site while on the stairmaster this morning.
Couldn't resist!

Not a surprise ending as far as the winner is concerned: Rossi clinches with
start to finish with utter authority. 25 points, now ahead by over 20 points
in the championship over his closest competitors for the title.

Gibernau tried to hang with Rossi at first, but then must've had flashbacks
to the last 2 races and decided to ride at a pace he felt more comfortable
with. The only man other than Rossi who felt comfortable going faster was...
Edwards! So there was a coming out party in Donington, but it was Edwards',
who initially kept Rossi in his sight, but then also decided to ride at his
own pace. Obviously, Edwards is not quite the odd man out in Camel Honda,
since no one told him to slow down and let Gibernau clinch additional
points. So Edwards now established himself as a solid fourth in the
championship points, albeit at some distance from the first three.

Biaggi's team must've screwed up back with his bike, because his riding
genius wasn't able to compensate for everybody else's mistakes and he merely
came in 12th. At least he takes home a few points and is right there
with Gibernau points wise now.

Gibernau probably would've wanted to relax towards the end, but had to put
in a fast few rounds because Hayden came on like hellfire in the last few
rounds, consistently being the fastest. Why didn't he do it earlier?
Impressive run of good times, but since he chose to turn it up too late he
came in 4th. But it is clear who HRC's real number 1 is, because Barros came
in 9th.

Bayliss and Capriossi managed to get decent stuff going for Ducati, 5th and
7th respectively - good to see Ducati inching their way back. Checa places
inbetween them.

Then a performance that should not be overlooked: Hopkins comes in 8th on
the Suzuki, ahead of Barros. Kenny Roberts doesn't manage to get into the
points.

And Hodgson manages a decent result on familiar ground, coming in 10th.
Shakey Byrne also manages some points, coming in 13th.

All in all, Edwards puts himself on the map. And that may mark the beginning
of the end for Honda, since if Edwards becomes the third (or fourth, if we
include Hayden) Honda rider at the very front, it potentially means fewer
points for the riders that right now are closest to Rossi when going for the
championship. It was a scenario that several of us predicted and now seems
to be coming true: the phallanx of Honda riders fighting for points while
Rossi consistently scores consistently. But then again, it's a scenario that
seems possible because Rossi holds a slightly larger versatility and speed
advantage against anyone else than the Honda riders hold among themselves:
what we didn't quite predict was that Rossi would so consistently score at
the top with the Yamaha, and in the end that would render any grand strategy
by Honda a losing one.

....pablo