Misano Spoiler

Well that was boring. For a while it looked like Vermeulen could hunt
Stoner down, but in the end it was just like all the other Stoner
runaways this season.

The question now is if the Suzuki guys can beat Dani P and Vale in the
championship.

Note also. Colin Edwards saying perhaps there should be a single tyre
rule. And that Michelin have to take a different tack and concentrate on
getting more rubber on the road and less on agility.

And that both Ducatis ran out of fuel on the slow down lap. I'm more and
more convinced that the fuel tank limit is distorting the racing.

 

Well, it's easy to focus on the first comment and ignore the second.[1]
If Michelin are going to get back in the game, what do they have to do?
I found it interesting that Edwards was effectively saying they should
go to a wider front tyre and the riders should go back to the gym to
cope with the increased steering effort that would require to get the
bike to change direction. Given that Edwards is a key Michelin
development rider, to some extent the responsibility for their
performance rests on his choices.

It's possible that we'll get a single tyre rule by default if Michelin
give up and go home, which might be prompted by either Yamaha or Repsol
switching to Bridgestone. I hope it doesn't come to that.

[1]This was in a long interview by the gorgeous Suzy Perry of the BBC.
But I can't find it up on the web anywhere.

 

tank, or even 24. So it's perhaps distorting the racing only to the

Ah, a key point I agree with, but also, obviously to a point, Stoner is
doing it better than at least 3 others..

I think -IF- the Yam had new valves/engine, then management had clearly made
a decision to use the rest of the year for development - otherwise what an
absurd risk during a race for the title.

Anyone have goss on official returement reason for Val?

Re fuel: In every year - no matter what the rule set. One combination will
get "things" more right than another. Lets presume Ducati have it more
right (maximum sustained power using every drop of allowable fuel..)
My point if it was NOT Ducati/Stoner, it would be someone else, would we
then be saying that someone else has an un-natural advantage, or should be
knobbled, or other teams helped out etc? There HAS to be at least ONE
team/bike/rider/electronics/tyre combo that gets the better of the rest of
te filed at least enough to end up one point in front. Last night confirmed
for me that at the end of the day Stoner and his team have got the equation
just nigh on perfect, including rider skill/determination and suitability to
the rocket under him. )Otherwise Cap would be 2nd, yes?)

Whay were the commentators (here) not getting excited about the way Chris
and Casey were sliding and backing it in the third quarter? Remember when
Barry Sheene was commentating - there was excitement watching each bike, not
JUST the procession. I enjoyed the race, was willing the Suzi's on, just
show Stoner could blast by them again with a cheeky grin..(why wouldn''t you
if you can!?)



Biased reporting from Mike in Aus.

 

I don't know that it was an excessive risk; with the current Yamaha
and Ducati engines, if one tire brand is much stronger, that bike
wins, otherwise the Ducati takes it on power. With six races left and
Stoner with a sixty point lead, that was a sure-fire recipe for losing
the title. If the new motor let them compete without a huge tire
advantage, Yamaha would at least have a chance.

-jake

 

Anyone have goss on official returement reason for Val?
In a word, no. This is from the official Yamaha press release:

Valentino Rossi - Position: DNF:
"At the start I felt I was lacking some temperature in my tyres and so
I slipped back a little from my starting position. However apart from
this I felt quite good, stable, with a good rhythm and confident that
things would continue to improve as the temperature in my tyres
increased. However on lap five, when I was braking hard, I suddenly
felt something go and that was the end of my race. The engine was the
same one that I used at the Brno test and also here in practice and it
felt quite good; we don't yet know what the problem was today so we
will have to wait until our engineers have had time to examine the
situation.

"It would have been great, and very useful, to have a good result here
in Misano today. I like the track a lot and I really wanted to do well
in front of all the fans; it was a great emotion for me to see so many
people in yellow. Unfortunately this wasn't the case today and now we
know that the championship will be very, very difficult. Breaking down
after just a few laps is frustrating and unlucky, especially because
today we had good expectations and we had been fast during practice.
But when bad things like this happen you have only two choices; give
up or come straight back and start working again even harder than
before. This is what we will do at Yamaha; me, my team, the engineers
- everyone involved. We still have five races left and we will keep
trying to get the result we deserve. Once again Stoner deserved to win
today, so well done to him. We have a lot of work to do before
Estoril."

Davide Brivio - Team Director
"We used the new engine today and unfortunately something went wrong.
We don't know yet exactly what, we won't be able to tell until our
engineers have had a lot more time to look at it. It might not have
been anything to do with the new technology, we need to check but this
can happen and this is racing. It's just very disappointing for
everyone and especially all the thousands of fans who came today to
cheer Valentino on. Colin had some rear grip issues and he tried his
best but unfortunately he too was not able to get the result he
deserved. We have to look forward to Estoril now and keep working; we
know that all the Yamaha engineers are very busy trying to improve our
situation and we have confidence in them. Thanks to everyone for their
hard work; we know we are capable of winning and so we will just keep
trying."

 

Ahh, thanks for the detective work - so it was new engine in the race, but
unknown stop cause. All good - at least they didnt say Electrical Fault..

 

Or did we? Or did we see an ex-superbikes Oz rider inexplicably brake
harder than anyone would have expected triggering the chain of events?
I have watched it over and over at full speed and in slo-mo and can
not make my mind up.

 

Nice comment from Paul Denning.

http://www.crash.net/news_view~cid~6~id~153941.htm

"Rizla Suzuki would like to congratulate Casey Stoner on another
unbelievable performance today," said Denning. "There has been a lot of
nonsense spoken in MotoGP this year regarding tyre regulations, engine
performance, etc. etc. I believe that the difference at the moment is
Casey and we're focusing our best efforts to improve our own performance
to beat him and that's what everybody should be doing."

I saw Stoner up close at the start of the year. And watching him ever
since he looks to be riding the wheels off the Ducati. He looks the way
Capirossi did in the last few years when he was really on it in
qualifying. Or like Bayliss when he's been at the top of his game. It's
spectacular to watch even if it might be more entertaining to have other
people close to him.

 

Mark N spews:

This is a problem?

Thanks for that. Proof he's at the top, eh?

How do you come up with this blither?


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

Who said anything about blame except you. This is racing not
kindergarten. Shit happens.

 

I see the US education system uses a non-standard dictionary
< checks Websters>
Nope. It must be just you then.

 

Oh yes. I see Mark is quite prominetly mentioned.

 

so if you weren't implicating (or suggesting a possible implication)
of CV, what exactly did you mean by:

Or did we see an ex-superbikes Oz rider inexplicably brake
harder than anyone would have expected triggering the chain
of events?

Bruce

 

gomez takes the bait:

HA HA HA!!! Boy, that was just about the most obvious comeback I can
think of. Gnomez scores a big, fat zero on originality, which equals
his factual and debate scores as well...

 

So back OT why do think there has to be blame? Is it that sue-happy
culture you live in that gives you that mind-set?

 

I mean, I can see it both ways and I am undecided. MarkN has given a
good exposition of how he saw it unfold and I can accept that. Like I
said, it is racing and little things can lead to bigger consequences.

Elias was the one caught out initially as it was from his perspective
that CV slowed unexpectedly as I doubt he would have seen more than DP
on his outside and CV in front with not a clue that something in front
of them was about to cause him a problem.

 

Hey Mike,

What Mark means is that new Gold Standard in deserving championships is
being supported like crap by your team when you have a rookie teammate, who
happens to be a midget (who crashes you out of a critical race) and also
happens to be from the same country as your primary sponsor. You're lucky to
have any development at all on the bike you're riding because all of the
development is being focused on the next year's midget bike, your tire
manufacturer overnights custom tires for your main rival, and the sport's
sanctioning body shows a decided favoritism toward it's star rider, you're
not a EuroMed, yet you still weather all that and ride consistently to earn
the championship.

Anything less is unworthy.

 

gomez starts over:

Well, there are really two possibilities, a situation can develop out
of circumstances where the parties involved can't foresee the
possibilities and sh*t just happens. I'd say the Gibernau-Capirossi
incident last year falls into that category. Then there are situations
where someone took an ill-advised or unacceptable risk given the
circumstances, and someone else ends up paying for that. That's what
happened here, in my opinion, de Puniet was carrying too much speed
into that corner given the circumstances, Vermeulen was forced to
brake harder than he may have anticipated (but hardly out of the realm
of possibilies given it was the first lap), and that apparently left
de Puniet with nowhere to go. You say Randy couldn't see what was
happening ahead of Chris, but in the middle of the pack on the first
lap you simply can't see everything and don't always have time and
room to react in any case, so have to be somewhat cautious. Randy
clearly wasn't, and deserves to take the heat. We've seen quite a lot
of that in the opening moments over the last few seasons and, yes, it
does seem to be on the part of "the same sort of people"...

Is it that sue-happy

Are we back off-topic now? First the educational system and now it's
the courts? Wanna take any other anti-American shots while you're at
it? Air it out, boy, embrace your anger...

 

No, that's not what I meant at all. But you knew that. I guess that's
the best you can do, considering you have nothing of any substance to
contribute. As usual.

 

Despite your efforts to the contrary, you are not the moderator of this
group so quit whining.

Explain to the class how the "optimal" rider (body type, size, weight) for
the past 20+ years can still be the same type, given the evolutionary
changes (chassis, tires) and revolutionary changes (2 stroke to 4 stroke
with displacement doubling, then 20% cut in displacement, and all the
electronic engine management systems). Whether the revolutionary changes
have been good or bad, they are the rules (and you have been one to
encourage the disbanding of two stroke engines, so ye gets what ye wishes).

With all those dynamics, how can the 20-25 year old model continue to be
best suited for the bikes that are raced in MotoGP today?

Your solution of adding weight to smaller riders simply amounts to an
artificial patch designed to prop up an archaic image of what a MotoGP rider
should look like to you. You have claimed that the world championship isn't
really that, given the number of races in Europe, and the EuroMed countries
in particular. Adding weights only serves to make your vision of a distorted
world championship an even more distorted vision.

You really don't want distorted vision, Mark. It can mess with your head,
like beer goggles.