Estoril Qualifying (SPOILER)

A bit of a surprise, right? At least from a tire perspective?

Hayden (M), Stoner (B), Rossi (M), Pedrosa(M)...what does Michelin have for
race day?

This season may have been a bit predictable so far, but I still think the
riders are fantastic to watch. Stoner "may" have one of the best packages,
but he pushes as hard as anyone else out there. Witness... his sliding both
ends during QP.

I hope the race is close, and if Hayden gets a good start, it just might be.
My thinking is that if Stoner gets off quickly and leads, it may be well
over. If Hayden can get a battle going, we may at least have some
excitement. My longshot prediction is that Rossi is fortunate to get a
podium. Hey.....I said it was a longshot!

Weather looks to be nice, so lets hope for a battle!

 

Pedrosa did a run of properly fast times. Just one problem for him
though, he's on the second row which means he'll have to pass people and
we all know what that means at Estoril.

Everyone was losing time in the 4th sector. On their fast laps, Stoner
looked out of control, Rossi was spinning up and smoking the tyre, but
Hayden just went round without even using all the road. He found more
grip in that last corner than anyone. Either lucky with the tyre or
they've found a setup that works better than anyone.

Lots of complaints of chatter especially from the Suzukis.

Given how close everyone is in sectors 1,2,3 looks like it might be
quite a race.

 

I'm still impressed by Stoner, he really is showing incredible
consistancy track after track, again the fastest Stones rider and the
only Duc doing anything.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be a classic AND the Yamahahaha and Honda's
don't lose out on the straight or have any tyre issues, that way when
Stoner wins yet again there will be no excuses.

Tomorrows race predictions

Stoner
Rossi
Pedrosa

Stoner will get the crown at PI is my guess.

Paul

 

Indeed. All three races were great.

Note.
- Dani P still hasn't beaten Rossi in a straight fight.
- Rossi, Dani and Stoner were on lap record pace almost the whole race.
It was the final sector that made the differences.
- The guys at the front of all three races were racing *so* hard with
the bikes kicking around so much you could see it.

 

Was this another race confused by the tyre rule? All the Bridgestone
runners (except Stoner) had a qualifying tyre that wouldn't last a whole
lap. And Stoner looked like he was just hanging on at the end of his
qualifier.

*Perhaps* because the qualifiers they put in the shed on Thursday night
were too soft because they didn't think it would be as hot as that on
Saturday afternoon?

Strange when the previous race the Bridgestone qualifiers would almost
do two laps.

 

No change there then from the resident newsgroup fucktard. (That's MN,
not you, Champ). Just ignore him. He won't go away, but he's not worth
the argument. I'm actually quite enjoying chucking grenades at him and
watching the spew of pure hatred come back.

While watching the race live on TV, I also had the MotoGP website's page
up with the live split times. All four of the front runners were showing
lots of blue and red times in the first 3 sectors during the second half
of the race. Indicating lap record pace in the first 3 sectors. It was
the last sector that was all over the place and dropping the overall lap
times back again. Exactly what we saw in practice with half the field
having real problems with the last sector, especially the Suzukis.
Getting that last corner right is critical to the lap and it was
extremely hard with people getting either chatter from the front, or
spinning up the rear. Hayden's final corner on his pole lap was weird
because the bike stuck like glue and he didn't use 2-3 metres of the
track. He probably could have gone round there considerably hotter and
still got away with it. Rossi's fast qualifier included smoke off the
tyre in the last corner.

Somewhat bizarrely the Bridgestone runners were almost all suffering
from a rear qualifier that wouldn't last a whole lap. By the time that
final corner came round the right hand side was shot. In contrast with
the previous race where Bridgestone's qualifier almost did two laps.

 

Pot, meet mister kettle. Kettle, Mr Pot.

 

I'll get me coat.

 

Hmm, where's that option, Julian? Or is it one of the pay-for
options? I have Scots ancestry...

--
Ivan Reid, School of Engineering & Design, _____________ CMS Collaboration,
Brunel University. Ivan.Reid@[brunel.ac.uk|cern.ch] Room 40-1-B12, CERN
GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
WP7# 3000 LC Unit #2368 (tinlc) UKMC#00009 BOTAFOT#16 UKRMMA#7 (Hon)
KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

After reading Julian's email earlier today, I think I understand -
instead of saying "Rossi, Dani and Stoner were on lap record pace
almost the whole race. It was the final sector that made the
differences.", he might have said (in my words) "Rossi, Dani and
Stoner were on lap record pace almost the whole lap. It was the final
sector that made the differences, as they couldn't quite hold that
pace there." Not exactly meaningful in any case - it's not like they
fell off more in the last sector than the early ones (and Pedrosa set
his fastest 4th sector time on the last lap) or were terribly
consistent in terms of times, and what exactly is "lap record pace"?
Rossi's first sector time on the last lap is apparently the fastest
ever, topping Hayden's lap 13 time that was previously fastest, which
in turn bested Rossi's 10th lap time, etc., all better than Roberts'
best of last year. But what does it mean? So still not sure of his
point.

At least it appears to be a miscommunication in this case, so better
than Tom's crap, which is mostly total fabrication and flat-out
lies...

 

Pay-for I'm afraid.