Well done Nicky H

Should have got 3rd., and for ONCE impressed me, seems he finally woke
up!!

Ducati is missing some BHP it seems, he should have nailed 3rd.

Stoner threw away a easy win, and Rossi normal transmission is
resumed!!

 

Rossi showing why he rules these guys - it's not that he can always be
faster, but he is always consistently fast enough to mess with their
heads.

Stoner to me shows that he is possessed by an intensity that drives
him to excel, and then will predictably consume him. Now he is behind
and will respond the only way he knows - by risking even more. Reminds
me of how Rossi broke previous challengers - first Biaggi and then
Gibernau, who in the end complied with being followers (I am aware
neither of them won a title..).

Fantastic race by Hayden, *and* what amounts to a big warning shot by
Spies. When a newbie on a second team can still be as safely predicted
to land amonf the top 5, wow, wait until they give him the bike and
support he deserves. Future world champion.

Lorenzo a predictable follower. Dovizioso starts the rearrangement of
the Honda garage as Pedrosa continues to look for excuses... I simply
don't think he still wants to be there anymore. He is Criville, but
without a title.

Edwards 16s behind the newcomer... that's another garage that is being
rearranged.

Melandri.. yikes. Does the Gresini Honda really suck so much, or is
it just that Melandri and Simoncelli are now doubting themselves...


A matter worth discussing on the Moto2 front... who the heck is
Tomizawa? Didn't he hear the Euromeds were supposed to rule this class
with an iron hand...? How dare he... :-D

 

I think that was the closest race since Elias beat Rossi in 2007, or since
Rossi beat Lorenzo at Catalunya.
Great race. I feel bad for Nicky, but he showed he can ride that Duc.
Gotta love Spies performance too.

 

Guess there is an old time racing lesson in there. :-D

....pablo (Ph.D. A.R.S.P.) (armchair racing strategy and psychology)

 

Funny that this exact thought popped to my mind today watching this...
way too aggressive, trying to break from such a fast pack too
quickly...

Note to Mark: both Hayden and Spies are, but Rossi is the reigning
world champion in the MotoGP grid for now. Let's have that be our
taxonomy, my comment was clearly complimentary when you try to make it
look like a put-down. Given the fact that I think your message is spot
on, let us not start these games. I clearly have no agenda against
Spies or Hayden, who are about the guys I root the most for in the
current line up.

Honestly, I think Spies is such an intense guy that does his homework
so thoroughly from a distance that I am not sure he'll be that
disadvantaged, even though by all means he *should* be. I think Spies
is brilliant. I think he is one of those once in a decade talents. I
think he also works *hard*, learning tracks from a distance as he did
in WSB as much as he can, and approaches things with a combination of
gift and methodology that will very soon be very hard to beat. I am
excited about watching him. I also expect him to do well on circuits
he has never been on, simply because he is *that* good. When something
special comes along, conventional wisdom sometimes has to step aside,
as WSB learned last year. This will be a learning year for Spies in
MotoGP, and a learning year for MotoGP that Spies is about to make his
mark. I have no doubt about the latter. I will watch him for a few
more races, and then will try to start a message about his riding
style. It's too early yet, even though some differences are obvious -
he seems to set things up differently from the other riders. I seem to
observe Spies and Rossi set things up for a very edgy bike, whereas
the rest of the paddock seems to favor more stability. Too much on
this for now. It's just a hunch obersering their bikes fall into
turns, but it may be a function of the fact they are among the bigger
riders riding up front and thus the bikes just react stronger to their
countersteering input.

Well, sure, but the counter-argument is that it sure took him long
enough. But it doesn't matter. It's good to see him back. As always, I
think previous situations affected his confidence, and it is great to
see his work ethic and methodology pay off, this is the Hayden again
that won a well deserved title through discipline and consistent
speed.

I don't think we can truly tell how great the Tech Yam is. I for one
would not be that surprised if, given enough time, Spies and Edwards
could make the Gresini Honda achieve similar results. I think they are
a very good team, able to give their guys the rigbht feedback to
achieve progress... and a little progress goes a long way these days,
like you said setup is a big percentage of the game. I would not be
surprised if between Spies and Edwards the Tech team has about the
best rider input in the paddock, allowing them to achieve optimal
results with whatever means they have. Which I boldly claim are
clearly only fourth or maybe fifth best in the paddock.

Who exactly has ever claimed they did? Wow, 2 Americans in a Euro
team... it's got to be an American anti-US rider conspiracy somehow :-
D

He is (a) the most experience (b) the most highly paid (c) the most
experienced Honda rider. There is no excuse for him to be so
consistently behind the other riders. New suspension can not be *that*
impossible to master... unless you are as clueless in directing your
garage as I suspect Pedrosa has become. He probably has better
suspension engineers from Ohlins assinged to him than anyone else
riding a Honda. He just can't tell them what he needs changed. That's
been a criticism of Pedrosa since 250 days, that he just rides what is
given to him and can't develop a bike worth crap.

I think there is a reasonable chance for every garage to be quite
different next year, as the rearrangement this season attest to.
Some will be driven by the urge to achieve even better results, some
by the lack of results... as always....

Indeed. No one doubts his talent, but his mindset seems to fragile for
MotoGP, and I think he needs a fresh start elsewhere for it his talent
to shine again. It is because I used to think he was one of the most
talented riders in the top class that it hurts me to see him
consistently race so far behind these days. It would not be as painful
to watch if it wasn't Melandri. He is so much better than this. In 250
he used to have a magical feeling for the bike. He now seems detached
from it.

Hey may this be the year where there are no flames in MotoGP? Here's
hoping.

 

It doesn't really matter if it's Rossi's psych out or Stoner's flaw.
Rossi will tell anyone who listens that he has to stay close to Stoner.
The implication being that if he can stay close, then there's always a
last lap, Hail Mary pass available. Stoner apparently thinks that the
only way to deal with that is to disappear into the distance. But that
means he's not managing the race, he's trying to ride lap record pace
for 20 laps. And apparently he can't do that without the occasional
disastrous mistake that means a DNF. Maybe the problem here is not Rossi
getting inside his head but Doohan.

Astonishing to see that Rossi had the slowest top speed of the entire
field.

 

Either Hayden has had the largest form reversal in history,
or...........

Ducati have built a bike that even a spastic can win on?

Bit like Damon Hill with the best F1 car in history, and he *just*
managed to win the Championship in it.

Hayden needs to prove his talent otherwise i can see Simoncelli, Spies
or Rossi taking his spot, wow i am already at 2011!!

A fair race that Stoner threw away and to early to comment on just yet
all the same

 

There was a single on-board shot of Hayden coming onto the front
straight early on in the race and it was obvious to me at the time
that something was odd with the TC setup. I read this on Soup a
little bit ago which pretty much confirms it.

'I'd struggled all weekend. I could not get off the last corner. Just
something we - that was my worst place, even, like I said, in practice
and qualifying. Something didn't feel right with the electronic
traction control. The balance would be spinning on the edge, and when
I would pick it up on the big part of the tire and it would hook up,
the engine would go flat right as I was going uphill, and would just
kill my drive."

If they'd been able to get the TC sorted for the last corner as well
as the rest of the circuit it may well have been Hayden on the
podium. Odd that it sounded as if it was only that corner that he had
troubles with.

-Dirt-

 

And Barbera had the fastest!