Edwards looking strong in pre-season...

perhaps finally he'll have the type of season that he should be capable of.

in both tests he's been looking consistently impressive. which could mean
he's hungry... or that rossi is simply not showing his entire set of cards
yet. stoner also showing very impressive improvement on the ducati.

hayden nearly a second behind edwards. roberts actually the best honda
rider.

all this pre-season stuff just has peripheral meaning, but the emerging
pattern is that the honda has problems.

....pablo

 

Tests are tests, one fast lap doesn't really prove a lot, if someone is
consistantly fast throughout the testing then that is another thing.
Personally i think Edwards will slink back to last and previous years form
during racing. It's still early days anyway and lots of development and
changes and adaption are to come which will probably reshape everything. I
do believe Stoner will do well this year, one year under his belt and now on
a factory ride where the bike will be more developed and he will receive
better coaching, the guy is fast and talented. It's just too hard to make
any conclusions yet, Suzuki looked fast early on but have been drawn back it
seems, Honda aren't really slow just getting it together, Kawasaki seem
hopeless at the moment and i can't see things changing soon either, a shame.
Ilmor the same or worse. Anyway not long and it all starts again, now
where's that TV remote?"

Paul

 

Especially possible is the whiplash from opinions that change from one
testing day to the next.

Yeah, damn those reliable rice burners that outperform more expensive
boutique bikes.

 

Tests are tests, one fast lap doesn't really prove a lot, if someone is
consistantly fast throughout the testing then that is another thing.
Personally i think Edwards will slink back to last and previous years form
during racing. It's still early days anyway and lots of development and
changes and adaption are to come which will probably reshape everything. I
do believe Stoner will do well this year, one year under his belt and now on
a factory ride where the bike will be more developed and he will receive
better coaching, the guy is fast and talented. It's just too hard to make
any conclusions yet, Suzuki looked fast early on but have been drawn back it
seems, Honda aren't really slow just getting it together, Kawasaki seem
hopeless at the moment and i can't see things changing soon either, a shame.
Ilmor the same or worse. Anyway not long and it all starts again, now
where's that TV remote?"

Paul

 

i *so* share the sentiment. root for the underdog. team roberts all the way!

 

Geee, i thought i was the only one in the world!

Come pay day we know he will have it in the bag, and after last years
3 failures with Yamaha throwing it away for him. he deserves to win
it, and to think Nicky [who seems a nice guy] REALLY thinks he won it
fair and square..LOL

D16

 

In that case Rossi's titles on the Honda only count as half-titles, too. I
agree that Honda has the huge budget and the corporate arrogance stuff going
on, but at the end of the team they're racing like anyone else, and their
riders don't have it *that* easy, even when Honda top honchos think they
could have anyone riding the bike and winning (whether it's an American or a
Spanish midget is just a market pleasing consideration for them).