Donington Weather

It looks like the weather is going to be the worst possible this
weekend. Short showers and misty drizzle.

What fun. It's getting quite likely that we'll have a wet and dry final
practice and a wet and dry race. Maybe this is the race where we see pit
stops.

 

The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh? Rain or not, once
again Rossi seems the fav to win this. Yawn. Edwards poised to come from
behind and challenge, that mayb be exciting. Everybody else pretty much
being their usual self. Biaggi has been conservative in Q all season, it
seems his goal no longer is to win races, but merely to be among the top 5.
He'll remain in GP for a while doing that, but he seems to have fallen
behind the pack of first rate challengers - and one can assume he's out of
HRC after falling way short of te expectations that were set upon him. He'll
probably win his customary race when everything comes together, and it'll be
interesting to see where he winds up or whether he decides to retire. From a
distance, it seems his customary intesisty seems gone, hinting it may be
getting close to that for him.

....pablo

 

The more things change, the more they stay the same, eh? Rain or not, once
again Rossi seems the fav to win this. Yawn. Edwards poised to come from
behind and challenge, that mayb be exciting. Everybody else pretty much
being their usual self. Biaggi has been conservative in Q all season, it
seems his goal no longer is to win races, but merely to be among the top 5.
He'll remain in GP for a while doing that, but he seems to have fallen
behind the pack of first rate challengers - and one can assume he's out of
HRC after falling way short of te expectations that were set upon him. He'll
probably win his customary race when everything comes together, and it'll be
interesting to see where he winds up or whether he decides to retire. From a
distance, it seems his customary intesisty seems gone, hinting it may be
getting close to that for him.

....pablo

 

It may be that, but I tend to the school of thought that Q also entails a
lot of poker-playing and doing the most with minimum effort. Sometimes I
tend to read many laps of "nearly there" times as someone who was feeling
really good about their setup and was pushing it, but then didn't quite
bring it. And the guys that just do a few very fast laps with minmal effort
are the ones that bring a lot of self-confidence into the race, even when
they don't come out tops. We'll just have to wait and see.

That's why I think Edrwards is a true joker here, he was not the fastest,
but it seems to me he was so comfortable he was merely optimizing his race
setup. I think him and Rossi are thus strong candidates for a 1-2. The order
I am not definite about.

Yes, it'll be interesting to see how it turns out in the tricky Donington (I
even spelled it right) circuit tomorrow. I'll be watching, this one is
intriguing. I think Rossi's got the edge, but I give him just a sub-50%
probability, because others seemed confident despite their times.

Gibernau's year is off, and perhaps his string near the top is over, because
it may be this year broke his streak of confidence. Likely so, I'd venture
to say. Biaggi was a few additional years into "Rossi challenger" status,
and with his HRC status... where can he go now? I seem to sense that with no
excuses left, he's now internally accepted that he's no Rossi challenger,
and thus his run for the top is over. He is a gifted, smooth rider, and he
can ride MotoGP and finish in the top 10 until he chooses to given his
reserve of riding ability, but I think his time as number 2 is over, and
that now other guys are firmly moving into that space. I kind of wish Biaggi
would have won a top class title before riding off into the sunset. Well,
his career isn't over yet, one never knows with swansongs...

I was thinking the same thing, instinctively. I hear Checa is now *very*
active on Spanish TV, which may mean he's now preparing his next step. My
reservation is that I can not picture Capirossi and Biaggi in the same team,
their rivarly is just as deep seated -and perhaps more so- than Max-vs-Vale
ever was.

Yeah, this year strikes me like that. Biaggi is a superstar in Italy, and he
is lucky to be able to be able to choose to retire anytime he chooses to
with his fans' respect intact. Whatever he chooses to do, Biaggi has had an
awesome career, and is able to dictate his future. His newfound mellowness
could make him a highly coveted GP insider for coverage. He is a smart
cookie, and his communication (some would say manipulative) ability is tops.
Then again, I am not ready to write him off quite yet. Still too solidly and
conistently embedded in the top 5.

Yes, I give Edwards a good chance to win. Rossi would probably back off for
2nd if Edwards is as halfway as hot as he was in Laguna. And Edwards seems
to truly like Donington, he really gave Gibernau a scare last year, and
perhaps it was even team orders kicking in, who knows -Edwards looked *very*
good last year in the 2nd half of the race. Something about Donington vibes
with him. he looked strong and confident all weekend this year, too. He is a
top candidate. Makes me fantasize about Rossi taking a new challenge
somewhere else, and Edwards finallly being a true number one. Edwards at
this point comes acroos as under-rated. I know I did at times. He seems damn
solid when he gets comfortable on a bike - he did last year later in the
season, and even more so this year. I am an Edwards believer. With a change
in paddock order, he probably would be Rossi's strongest challenger right
now.

....pablo

 

Rossi would probably back off? You have to be kidding.

I seem to have been watching Edwards at Donington forever. I remember
sitting above the Esses during a second WSB race and watching Edwards on
the Yamaha closely through binoculars. Every single time on the exit,
he'd spin up the back tyre and it would step out 6" and just touch the
white line. The consistency and control were awesome. Now it's what? 10
years later? He's had a lot of track time at Donington, all on 4
strokes, and the track has hardly changed during that time.

Edwards is a damn fine rider, but I think he's reached his limit and
it's a fraction below what's required to win MotoGP. The reason for
thinking that is his excuses after Assen and Laguna which are really
just the same as we've heard before. He gets to the point where he can't
push any harder, but there's somebody in front who's still pulling away.

As for Biaggi, it's entirely possible that he wins a race and finishes
second in the championship this year. That makes for a touch choice for
Honda. But even if he can keep giving them that, eventually they have to
take a chance on somebody new, because otherwise they can't win.

 

As if the championship needed to be sealed, Rossi wins [again]. Awesome ride
and second place for.... Roberts!? Which makes me think Mark may for once
think rain races count for something. It actusally was quite an
entertaining race, with huge saves from what seemed sure crashes by Rossi
and Roberts, and Hopkins, too (who finally chucked it but rejoined to win
some points). Then Barros completes the podium. Edwards, obviously not as
strong on a wet Donington as we thought he'd be, follows in fourth, and the
Ducatis of Checa and Capirossi.

Biaggi crashes out early. Hayden, too. Melandri now with a non-finish 2 race
streak, his early consistency gone. Gibernau once more falls off while in
the lead trying to get away from Rossi. Entertaining fencing for first
between Barros, Roberts and Rossi before Rossi breaks free. Hopkins mixed it
up front for a while, too.

Entertaining race.

....pablo

 

The only exciting thing in the second half of the season will be to witness
the battle for 2nd. I think some racers are quite motivated to establish
they're second behind Rossi. Anyone who's in the 2nd to 7th position could
be the number 2. So is it going to be the "new guard" (Melandri, Hayden) or
the old guard (Gibernau, Biaggi, Barros, Edwards)? Let the predictions
begin, because it seems this is the only thing that'll keep us entertained
now...