So, did Stoner come apart like a cheap watch?
He certainly proved he isn't invincible. I think he may have been done wrong by Nakano, but Stoner wasn't within Nakano's visual range to be fair. -Dirt-
Not really, he made a great start was 3rd for a while then slipped back to 5th, then he outbraked himself and ran into the gravel but made a good come back but tried to get past Nakano and Dovisioso a bit too hastily and ran off track again, not a great points result but the situation is not that different from this time last year. Paul
Every time a camera was pointed at him in the garage, he looked like a sulky kid. It'll be interesting to see how he copes with being beaten.
I've yet to see any pics; listened to the Eurosport commentary as usual and watched the motogp lap charts (which were not updating as quickly as in the past). Tobes and Jules made the point that this track seems to be the Ducati/B'stone nadir of the year, and all but said that it would just be a damage limitation exercise. I must admit to being frustrated when he finally bridged the gap to Nakano and then something (not well explained) lef him in the kitty-litter again. I don't think he'll be discouraged this early in the season. Two more similar results, though... -- 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".
Not a issue, its only the 2nd race, L.O.N.G way to gnly 11 points behind. I would be VERY alarmed but nothing new here, at the ex "world champions" LOL "performance".Love how he put his hand out to stop from falling off!! 1. DANI PEDROSA REPSOL HONDA 41 2. JORGE LORENZO FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 36 3. VALENTINO ROSSI FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 31 4. CASEY STONER DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM 30 5. ANDREA DOVIZIOSO JIR TEAM SCOT MOTOGP 21 6. JAMES TOSELAND TECH 3 YAMAHA 20
stoner definitely made some mental mistakes; we'll see what it really means in a few races. overall, it was great to see some guys dicing at the front besides stoner, great to see hayden holding pace near the front (and nice little save, too), great to see vale back up at the front. i must say alot of the new guys are unemotional, almost sullen at times - like teenagers that havent gotten their way. like pedrosa pedrosa. stoner is a good & happy bloke, but has the personality of a rock. hayden may be a hillbilly, but he at least shows some character. ditto vale and other "old timers". heck, vale gave a very genuine congratulations to pedrosa on the cool-down, gestured, nodded - the works. pedrosa was like a statue. yawn. finally, seems like the other makers finally got the 800 formula figgered out a bit. also good to see the guys riding them in 990- esque ways - perhaps not quite the overpowered brutes, but alot of movement and sideways action even early on with fresh tires! it's gonna be a good season!
Great quote from Livio Suppo during the race, when asked about the Championship and if this (Stoner's running position) was a bad sign (or something like that), he said: Not at all, this is only the second race, and he won the first one.
Either that, or he ran it in too deep for the tires. Which brings up a question, is Rossi's 'Stone presence somehow upsetting Stoner's tire selection, that is, is Bridgestone concentrating more now on Vale and Yam at the expense of Duc and the Aussie? Hmmm...
Again according to Eurosport, BS hasn't started doing any special development for Vale yet, just, "Here's what we've got." "OK, I'll use them." -- 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".
What seems more likely is that Bridgestone might naturally focus development on their two championship contenders over time, and I believe both Rossi and Stoner like a stiffer construction than most folks. So that could end up hurting guys like Hopkins, Melandri and Vermeulen.
I dunno Doc, I find it a stretch that BS would tell the GOAT that, but then again, I'm sure stranger things have happened...
Well; Toby, Julie and Randy are a lot closer to the paddock than I am... It does strike me, though, that he can't tell them what he thinks is wrong (if anything) with the tyres until he's used them in anger for some (maybe short) while. -- 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".
Ayup, but now he's on Nip tires too and it would be folly to forget how those most honorable M'frz approach those types of deals. I'd imagine to them only a Nip rider on a complete homemade package would be better, hence my musing about Duc and Stoner vs Yam and Rossi. Time will tell, but it's something to keep an eye on, or not...
