MotoGP - 2003

[wari]

This is going to be a hell of a year for the GP ...

Ducati have done an amazing job to create a new bike and have it performing so exceptionally well  ... personally I want to see Barros take it out ... but with so much talent on the track and such competitive machinery, I wont be holding my breath.

 

This is the results of the lap testing at Catalunya on the weekend...

 
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="center" border="0"> <tbody> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 1 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Loris&nbsp;Capirossi</b>&nbsp;(ITA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Marlboro Ducati&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:43.634</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 2 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Alex&nbsp;Barros</b>&nbsp;(BRA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:44.154</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 3 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Valentino&nbsp;Rossi</b>&nbsp;(ITA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Repsol Honda&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:44.324</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 4 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Max&nbsp;Biaggi</b>&nbsp;(ITA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Camel Pramac Pons&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:44.326</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 5 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Tohru&nbsp;Ukawa</b>&nbsp;(JPN)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Camel Pramac Pons&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:44.487</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 6 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Daijiro&nbsp;Kato</b>&nbsp;(JPN)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Telefonica Honda Gresini &nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:44.496</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 7 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Sete&nbsp;Gibernau</b>&nbsp;(ESP)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Telefonica Honda Gresini &nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:44.655</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 8 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Marco&nbsp;Melandri</b>&nbsp;(ITA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Fortuna Yamaha&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:44.922</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 9 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Carlos&nbsp;Checa</b>&nbsp;(ESP)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Fortuna Yamaha&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:44.992</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 10 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Troy&nbsp;Bayliss</b>&nbsp;(AUS)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Marlboro Ducati&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:45.076</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 11 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Shinya&nbsp;Nakano</b>&nbsp;(JPN)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Yamaha D'Antin&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:45.108</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 12 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Olivier&nbsp;Jacque</b>&nbsp;(FRA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:45.263</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 13 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>John &nbsp;Hopkins</b>&nbsp;(USA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Suzuki&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:45.624</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 14 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Nicky&nbsp;Hayden</b>&nbsp;(USA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Repsol Honda&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:45.626</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 15 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Jeremy&nbsp;McWilliams</b>&nbsp;(GBR)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Proton Team KR&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:45.709</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 16 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Norick&nbsp;Abe</b>&nbsp;(JPN)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Yamaha Racing Team&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:45.887</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 17 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Garry&nbsp;McCoy</b>&nbsp;(AUS)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Kawasaki Racing&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:45.961</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 18 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Nobuatsu&nbsp;Aoki</b>&nbsp;(JPN)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Proton Team KR&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:46.034</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 19 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_dark_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Alex&nbsp;Hofmann</b>&nbsp;(GER)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Kawasaki Racing&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:46.125</b> </td> </tr> <tr align="middle"> <td class="centerText"> 20 </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> &nbsp;<img height="7" src="http://www.eurosport.com/img3/center_small_light_arrow.gif" width="6"> </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> <b>Kenny&nbsp;Roberts</b>&nbsp;(USA)&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerText" align="left"> Suzuki&nbsp; </td> <td class="centerTextResult"> <b>1:46.552</b> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

[SPman]

Top ten times from Suzuka

<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" width="522"> <tbody> <tr> <th width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Pos.</font> </th> <th width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Rider</font> </th> <th width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Team</font> </th> <th width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Bike</font> </th> <th width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Time</font> </th> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 1</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Valentino Rossi</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Repsol Honda</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Honda</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.170</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Tohru Ukawa</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Camel Pramac Pons</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Honda</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.359</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 3</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Max Biaggi</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Camel Pramac Pons</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Honda</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.567</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 4</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Alex Barros</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Gauloises Yamaha Team</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Yamaha</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.605</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 5</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Sete Gibernau</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Telefonica Movistar Honda</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Honda</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.616</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 6</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Daijiro Kato</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Telefonica Movistar Honda</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Honda</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.629</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 7</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Colin Edwards II</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Alice Aprilia Racing</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Aprilia</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.846</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 8</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Loris Capirossi</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Ducati Marlboro Team</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Ducati</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.889</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 9</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Carlos Checa</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Fortuna Yamaha Team</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Yamaha</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:04.908</font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="35"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 10</font> </td> <td width="118"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Noriyuki Haga</font> </td> <td width="196"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Alice Aprilia Racing</font> </td> <td width="52"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> Aprilia</font> </td> <td width="89" align="center"> <font face="Verdana" size="2"> 2:05.193</font> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

Looks like Rossi is still ahead of the pack...........:eek5:

[SPman]

Well , as expected, Rossi and the Hondas were on to it. Ducati however were more on to it than anyone expected with a 3rd and 5th in their first race! And Edwards on the Aprilia with a 7th!

Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki were way off pace,however.

The race was pretty exciting apart from the apalling accident to Kato, who is still in a coma with a 15% chance of recovery....:(

Capirossi leading in the Dukes first race was an eyeopener, as was Rossi's powersliding getting past! Roll on more GP's

And the last of the old - Proton - thelast of the 2 strokes (their V5 four stroke is still&nbsp;on the test bench)

[Coldkiwi]

I missed the race (bugger!)

What happened to Kato?

[SPman]

"This is a sad sad day for motorcycling. Kato had a daughter just 10 days ago, and would be 26 tomorrow.
Here's the information I have been able to gather from the Italian press (I'm italian).
Kato's condition is very serious. He is now in deep coma. Dr Costa says there is only ONE hope of saving him... Costa says Kato has a 15% chance of survival. But the real bad news is that there was a problem between his first and second vertebrae and even if he does survive he will have lost the use of his legs, arms and even breathing.. he won't be able to breathe by himself and will need a respirator at all times. He will be paralyzed from the neck down.
About his crash not much is known. There is no video. Gibernau is the only pilot to see him. Here's what he had to say:
"I broke something on my bike at the start and stopped at the pits to fix it. When I got back in the track I found myself behind Kato. I was right behind him and I was going about 250kph and I saw him start his braking and change gears. In that place all riders follow the same line, right left right. Kato instead suddenly went left. I don't know why and even the telemetry doesn't say anything. I could not believe my eyes. I saw him go suddenly left and crash into the wall at more than 200kph and I think in 4th gear. I've never seen anything like this.
It's crazy to crash into a wall in 2003 as has happened to Melandri, Barros, Poggiali and Ukawa.. Cecchinello was lucky but he got really close to the guardrail at full speed in the straight. We can no longer race here at Suzuka and everyone has to understand this. I don't want to race here again. it would be crazy".

Also what we know is that Kato's helmet was broken in two places and he has blood at the base of his brain.
Dr Costa also said that when kato got there he had no heartbeat and wasn't breathing. They reanimated him and put him on a respirator. He was then airlifted to the hospital.
He also said that Kato's life depends on the next few hours. he had a "catetere" (I don't know the english translation for that) apllied to his leg artery to try and lower the blood temperature to 32-33 C° and thus avoid the risks of an "edema" (again don't know how to traslate it) that could be fatal.
The doctors also said he has multiple wounds all over his body and probably has more damaged bones although so far they have only been trying to take care of his head/brain and neck and the rest will come later if he survives.

Costa also said that Kato will indergo a therapy of "barbiturici" (again no translation) to reduce his brain activity and not stress the brain, and hypothermia.

And lastly about how this happened, but it's not confirmed yet... it appears some photographer noticed that his right front brake disc had the carbonium braking strip missing while the brake pump and left disc appeared to have no damage. So his brake was probably working on the left side only which mighy explain why he suddenly went left during braking. The bike in now in the custody of Dorna officials who will investigate the crash."

[Coldkiwi]

man, that is nasty :(&nbsp; Sounds like a 1 in a 1000 chance that could happen to any racer

I agree... racing on circuits with walls that close in corners isn't a great idea.Why didn't they have the air bag barriers out like Brands Hatch did last year in SBK??

[merv]

It seems Rossi toyed with them a bit, winning at will. As for the Ducatis what a great effort first time out. Its something about V4 power plants us VFR riders think, but then how come Suzuki can't find the magic? I am also pleased for Colin on the Aprilia but he admits he goofed the start kind of overwhelmed by the speed the others took off at so he was playing catch up. By the way Colin was 6th not 7th as that is the position Hayden managed.

All the same the former superbike boys didn't have such a bad day against the GP regulars.

[wari]

I reckon Barros woulda been more on the pace if he hadn't hurt the ligaments in his knee on the day of the race ... we'll see how well he does next time.

[Coldkiwi]

"Rossi seemed to be just toying with them"

&nbsp;

yeah... that was rossi's view of life last year too wasn't it!! Good on him tho.. he's a seriously classy rider (sliding the bike on BOTH wheels out&nbsp;of a high speed corner) and seems to be a pretty likeable guy. Good on him... but I still want to see Edwards and Haga kick his butt :) (I live in hope if not the real world!)

[wari]

Yeah ... thats shitty news !!! ... wonder if they had to pull the plug on his life support .

[bluninja]

Sad news....

Kato dies from crash injuries (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/2932989.stm)

[SPman]

Well, any doubts about Bayliss's ability could be well laid to rest after his ride yesterday. Leading for a quarter of the race and then taking it to Rossi like he did.....rivetting stuff. Congratulations to Sete Gibernau for his win. That should cheer the team up a bit, after losing Katoh&nbsp; :bigthumb:

Gibernau leads&nbsp;Rossi over the line

[wari]

Le Mans this weekend ... no excuses for missing it (for me at least (not working :)))

[merv]

Yeah Le Mans this weekend - go Honda. Do you think the Ducs will put on another good show and do you think Colin Edwards can ever sort the Aprilia out? Colin should be up there dicing with Bayliss like we were used to when they were in superbikes.

[Coldkiwi]

Bloody oath he should! They only ever give commentary or decent coverage on the top&nbsp;5 at best and I wanna know how the RS 3 is doing! I'd like to see haga and Rossi backing bikes into and out of corners at the same time too :)

&nbsp;

[wari]

I'll be rooting for Barros ... be good to see another manufacturer in the mix !

[SPman]

The Proton V5 may make a start at Le mans. Hope they get up to speed quickly - the 2 strokes are still faster than half the field, especially on a tight track. Go Nobi!

[bluninja]

Wow, what a race finish. The race was pretty damn good anyway, but the dicing at the end between Rossi and Gibernau was absolutely awesome....and the Aprilia had it's best showing with Haga-san showing good form in dry and wet.:D If you didn't stay up last night to wtach it, make sure you catch the highlights package.

TTFN

[What?]

Funny how you can be wrong about things you profess to know a little bit about sometimes... When it was announced that big four strokes were to be allowed into GP racing, I thought we would be stepping back twenty years with only half the grid finishing the race&nbsp;due to&nbsp;mechanical failures. Yep, I got that wrong.:o&nbsp; seems the new 4's are right up there in the reliability stakes, and the racing, particularly this season, is the best it has been in GP for many years. A shame, though, that the Superbikes are not providing the spectacle they used to - in fact I think they are little boring this year. I suspect the tuning rules for the 1000/4's have a lot to answer for. It would be nice to see the competitive parity between the twins and fours go back to what it was in the early years (anyone remember the battles between Rob Muzzy's Kawasakis and the works Ducati's, with the odd Yamaha or Suzuki mixing it as well?).

Great to see Rossi doing great things at Le Mans after proclaiming he hates the place... The last lap dicing with Sete Gibernau was something not seen in GP since (Rainey and Lawson?). Brilliant!:rockon:

[merv]

To me its funny you say you thought reliability would be an issue with the 4 strokes. Most people a year ago said they thought they wouldn't be quick enough against the 2 strokes but they were proven wrong and it has revitalised the racing with lap records being smashed everywhere, though you are the first I have heard comment on reliability. I never imagined that would be a problem at all and if anything thought quite the opposite. See the Proton boys are still talking about engine seizures with the KR3. That's more what I imagined, the 2 strokes not being as reliable as the 4 strokes, though generally there shouldn't be much of an issue with either. Most of the manufacturers have been making both formats of engines for years. Honda is the king of engine makers and given the power outputs of formula 1 cars as an example, 4 strokes have been racing successfully for as long as anyone can remember. I don't think the MotoGp engines are being run at quite the same power/cc rating as the cars yet and with their smaller dimensions should be less stressed.

[NhuanH]

Simon,

Thanks for the heads up on that - I did my typical lapse in and out of sleep in the middle of the night and woke up watching a replay of the Super 12 final (another great result too, go them Blues!).

Damn, what a finish alright!&nbsp; I thought it was bliss as they were rear wheel steering through the back straight on the final lap, but the chop in and out of Mssrs Gibernau and Rossi through the final curves were awesome.&nbsp; Maaaan, we are just mortals eh?

Nice to see Sete still wearing 74's all over as a tribute to Daijiro.&nbsp;

Poor Dukes, Bayliss had what looked like a benign lowside and Capirossi had 'undetermined' mechanical failures (as they interviewed him during the race from the pits anyway).

Go Jezza McWilliams, on that un-PC, unfashionable, not-enough-power 2 stroke rolling in sixth.&nbsp; Anyone know when this fandangled V5 is going to be ready?

I still firmly believe that the Dukes should get up by season's end and claim a spot on top of the dais, just a minor hiccup in France.

[SPman]

Aoki ran the V5 in the race but pulled out early on - at least its had a race start:niceone:

&nbsp;

[What?]

Originally posted by merv
I don't think the MotoGp engines are being run at quite the same power/cc rating as the cars yet and with their smaller dimensions should be less stressed.

Yeah, I think you could be right. I had envisaged awesomely over-stressed units after all the pre-publicity blurb about "cutting-edge design". My concern, now totally quashed, was that we could have seen GP racing return to the late 70's - early 80's scenario where the championship was determined as much by machine reliability as rider skill. As it is, it is the best thing to happen to GP racing since yamaha introduced 2 strokes (funny how things go in circles...):beer:

[NhuanH]

Crew,

Going through the Sky Digital interactive guide, ready to book my programmes for this Sunday from Mugello and&nbsp; :gob:&nbsp; The guide lists Snr PGA Golf live all night on 10!&nbsp; After recovering from falling out of my chair I check on that InterWeb thingy and the skytv.co.nz site says that they have coverage of the 250s @ 2225 and premier class @ 2355 as per usual.

I am inclined to believe the web, but have been caught out trying to catch Super 12 breakfast&nbsp;replays from the republic only to find that infernal golf coverage spilling over and the rugby getting axed.&nbsp; Surely old geezers pacing (slowly) around after a dimpled sphere wouldn't out rank mad men on madder machines battling it out on tarmac, knees and elbows grinding?

Someone reassure me with something, 'cos I've grown accustomed to the SBK / GP week in week out treatment.&nbsp; Yeah, I could ring Sky but I don't have a half hour to hear that my 'call is important' and I am in a priority queue.

[bluninja]

Your post is important to KiwiBiker. It is on a queue and will be answered on a LIFO basis.:D

TTFN

[Coldkiwi]

Please stay online and a forum member will be with you shortly...

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[NhuanH]

geez, you cats&nbsp;is funny :roadkill:

Also, Simon, why&nbsp; is it you are you androgenous?

[bluninja]

Your post is important to KiwiBiker regardless of your gender. It is on a queue and will be answered on a LIFO basis.<IMG alt="" src="http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" border=0>
:niceone:

&nbsp;

TTFN

[NhuanH]

admittedly Rossi put himself off the track to begin with, but what about the style in which he smoked the last 9 or so laps to pull back up to second?

And my prophetic prediction for the Ducati GP team came earlier than I thought it might!&nbsp; Go Dukes!!

Lastly, what of the last great white hope, Nicky Hayden? - the young buck that caused Colin Edwards to be overlooked by HRC for a berth in the GP team.&nbsp; I only raise this because Tohru Ukawa was Rossi's sidekick at Repsol Honda last year and was performing (relative to Hayden) a fair bit better.&nbsp; Here are some of my thoughts:

* The RC211V was an unknown quantity in the transition year of 2002, mixing up the 4 strokes with the 2 strokes.&nbsp; It wasn't until it lined up on the grid (in scarce numbers) that we truly realised what a devastating machine it was.&nbsp; Now there are a few more, with seasoned pilots.

* Hayden IS&nbsp;less experienced overall and&nbsp;less familiar with the (mostly) Euro circuits.&nbsp; Ukawa did serve his time going through the 250cc ranks.

But my counters are: (geez I love mass debating with myself)

* Hayden is on a FACTORY ride, the mighty RC211V at that!

* 2 other 4 stroke/SBK refuguees on "lesser" machinery are placed better: Troy Bayliss and Makato Tamada.

By the way here are the&nbsp;placings of interest&nbsp;(SBK pilots last year) after Catalunya:

7th Troy Bayliss 46 points - Ducati factory

9th Makato Tamada 34 points - Pramac Honda

11th Nicky Hayden 33 points - Repsol Honda

13th Colin Edwards 25 points - Aprilia factory

14th Noriyuki Haga 21 points - Aprilia factory

24th Andrew Pitt 1 points - but he rides a Kawasucki

I do acknowledge that they will ALL be better than I could hope to be, but hey, they're paid for it.&nbsp; I do look forward to the rest of the season and how these particular pilots finish up.

Thoughts?

&nbsp;

[merv]

Colin Edwards and Adrian Gorst deserve something better than that Aprilia - give those boys a Honda or a Ducati. Aprilia needs a proper bike engine and not some F1 hybrid it appears.

Ducati = respect (as to how they have performed)

Suzuki, Kawasaki and a wee bit Yamaha are looking pretty stupid in comparison.

Honda are performing as expected from the worlds greatest engine maker.

[Coldkiwi]

now now, don't be bashing Aprilia to quickly! They only started making bikes within the last decade remember!! Give them time and they will come to the fore... they have done exceptionally well for such a young company and will undoubtedly pick up their game as time goes on. As for Colin riding for Honda... if they weren't so pig headed, he still would be! I think his controlled style will be great for helping Aprilia develop the RS3 while Haga tries to convince them that drift riding is the way to go! :)

And leave my beloved greenies alone! :( I don't know why they suck so much in the GP but I'm sure they will improve. its a sexy looking bike anyway!

&nbsp;

but I can't say enough about Rossi!! the guy is a very very well oiled machine! How demoralising must it be for Biaggi, Gibernau and the other two (this cold has claimed half my memory today) to just get whipped at will when Rossi decides he wants to get past? that was incredible... more so than Capirossi/Ducati winning&nbsp;their first (full credit to them too tho) race

[Nouseforaname]

Is anybody going to Philip Island this october? im thinking of going over, just depends on cash :-)

[andy1]

yea, im heading over. I cant wait, ive been saving for a long time. Also Rossi is a god of motorcycle racing!!! amazing rider on road and track. I heard that he is banned from riding in aussie on the road, i think he was riding a sp2 over 200km, anyone know about that???
ciao ciao

[NhuanH]

Coldkiwi,

It was Careless Chucker (aka Carlos Checa) and Shinya Nakano that joined Gibernau and Biaggi as the privileged bunch of&nbsp;riders standing still as Rossi smoked on by.

Andrew Pitt has claimed responsibility for furthering the Kawasaki DNF/low points streak and collecting poor old Jezza McWilliams along for the ride (literally!)&nbsp;with him.&nbsp; Not bagging the green K, but they have 2 Australians as their factory pilots :D 'Nuff said.

I'm interested in making the pilgrimage to Philip Island in October - again that evil capitalist&nbsp;requirement is the limiting factor (when isn't it though?)....&nbsp;

[SPman]

I was - but now it looks like the I O M next year may take precedence. Its one or the other - not both unfortunately - Id sure like to hear those GP bikes for real - they're meant to sound real nice....

[Coldkiwi]

See! The kawkas are coming back!

anyone watch the Supersport race last night?

good too see the green machines in ascendancy! Go Fabian Foret! Hard to beleive he made it round though... doesn't seem to have any concept of slowing down once he's got a good lead!

How about the RSV catching fire in spectacular fashion at the start of the WSB?

&nbsp;

[Dave]

That was some excellent racing.Felt soooo bad for Frankie.
I think in the interests of good racing,Hodgeson should be eliminated from all further racing this year.

[bluninja]

Well Hodgson, still only managed second in the second race....so he is human after all. As for the Green machines.....what was it the commentators said? He's riding the wheeels off that bike, but he can't pass through there. This is one of the parts of the track where you can't overtake, just setup for the next straight....oh ! well...Foret can overtake there....:D

TTFN

[NhuanH]

Originally posted by Coldkiwi

How about the RSV catching fire in spectacular fashion at the start of the WSB?

&nbsp;

Dodgy, 'dem Aprilias.&nbsp; The pilots are just as volatile...the one's we know around here&nbsp;:p

Also, not that I'm a Kwak blagger, but returning to MotoGP as the topic of this thread, Foret still can't help Mssrs Pitt, McCoy or Yanagawa, especially when he (Pitt)&nbsp;runs across the line on the first bend and poleaxes some poor Irishman.&nbsp; Hell it even made mainstream TV coverage on Howard Dobson's plays of the week on TV3.

[bluninja]

Volatile?&nbsp; Is it someone I know? TTFN

[SPman]

OK, the Hondas are top dog in GP at the moment, with Ducati biting at their nads, and we know the green machines are fucking hopeless:D , but whats the pecking order among the rest? Yamaha, Aprilia, Suzuki, Proton?

With the Protons probably going to catch up and overtake Suzuki fast, as they get some race miles on them.?

[wari]

I'm interested in going over for the GP ... having trouble saving the dosh though :angry2:

[Dave]

Kawasaki's got a new team boss and they've been testing recently-seen pic's on the motogp site that they've got the whole-rear wheel smoking up at 200km/h thing going on.
Those 4 strokes must be pretty forgiving cos doohan was the only one that seemed to be able to smoke the rear on a 500 and get away with it.
Read a test by alan cathcart of doohans 500, He was saying that as the bike started to spin up, Doohan would hold it wide open until it revved out and went flat again,rather than backing off.
Is that ballsy or what!

[Skunk]

The Kawasakis are behind the 8-ball in MototGP for sure. They're developing tyres, engine and chassis all at once. As Suzuki found out this is very hard. Suzuki went back to Michelens to sort the chassis out, but I can't see Kawasaki doing this.
How can you tell what's affecting the set-up when the tyre and the chassis change at the same time and you're testing is the practice for the race?!
They won't be competitive for a year or two if they're lucky... :argh:
Good on Pitt, McCoy, Hoffman and Yanagawa for hanging in there. :niceone:

[Coldkiwi]

so what tyres are kawasaki using? They'll have to develop with one company regardless surely?

[andy1]

dave, good to see the wsb boys smokin it up too. the suzi at monza on the last corner! would the tyre be a lot different from motogp and wsb??? i know that motogp gets all the top shit from their manufacturers.
ciao ciao

[Dave]

yeah-the moto gp bikes are lighter and more powerful,also better chassis meaning they are not relying on their tyres to absorb as many suspension deficiencies.so the tyres will be different compounds as well as differntly constructed.
I think the reason that 4 stroke gp's smoke up easier than sbk is that the superbike chassis flex more with loosing grip and biting-due to the weight/horsepower/chassis thing-the bikes tend to buck more and spit off riders.

[andy1]

Moto GP this weekend and wsbk! :rockon:

rossi on pole at the mo, and ducati second.
GO ROSSI!

ciao ciao

[bikerboy]

VA DUCATI !:rockon:

Tutti Ducatisti sono i campione veri :cool:



Arrivaderla

[Coldkiwi]

<DIV lang=it style="PADDING-BOTTOM: 10px; PADDING-LEFT: 10px; PADDING-RIGHT: 10px; PADDING-TOP: 10px">Tranne quando Rossi è implicato! </DIV>:D

[bikerboy]

Che fesserie!

Rossi era mai implicato con Ducati , percio non e uno ducatisti e non e campione vero, Basta!:done:

[Dave]

pizza,fettacine, armani, vespa

[NhuanH]

linguini, spaghetti, pepperoni?

[andy1]

rossi is the winner!
awesome race, max cant handle the pressure and always makes a mistake. but bit of a boring race i reackon. rossi just is to fast for everyone.

ciao ciao

[NhuanH]

by now you cats have caught the news that his highness was docked 10 seconds for passing under a yellow flag?

Nevermind.&nbsp; Meanwhile, for those with good bandwidth here is an 8MB download for the new movie "Faster", a doco about the premier 2 wheel class.

http://images.motograndprix.com/multimedia2/219/219200.wmv

If it makes mainstream release, it would make a cool KB gathering eh?

[andy1]

poor rossi, oh well. still leads the championship.

[Coldkiwi]

faster would definitely be a good gathering. we may have to keep an eye on Berkley or Rialto if its not big enough to get into Village or Hoyts.

[What?]

Looks like Brno was a good one - First 3 over the line in less than 0.7 seconds, and no-one crashed out.:rockon:

[Dave]

Fantastic racing with Bayliss(legend) leading for the first half of the race. Feel for capirossi though-looked like the engine quit.

[Mitch]

Did anyone else see the picture's of Edward playing human fireball??

Happened in practise a couple of rounds ago.

[Coldkiwi]

nope! what happened?

gee that race was good! the 250 finish was insane too! Well worth loosing sleep over :)

[SPman]

All good stuff :niceone:

[wkid_one]

How good it Sete riding now tho - he pushed Rossi well hard.&nbsp;&nbsp; It appeared Troy just had tyre issues in the middle of the race - cause he slipped back bloody quickly (did anyone bother to watch the interviews and if so, did he explain what went wrong?)...

&nbsp;

[SPman]

Troy started with a softer compound rear, while the others had a hard compound, so that they had a tad more control at the end - ie - they were sliding coming out of the corners, Troy was sliding going into the corners! :eek:

[Dave]

In the interviews Troy said that he hit the front and was sitting there very easily but when the others got past him he found it very dificult to try and step it up to the next level.
Still bloody impressive.
C'mon kawasaki,suzuki,aprilia you look like dicks fooling around at the back.

[Coldkiwi]

dunno what's happening to the kwakas but i know the aprilias&nbsp; had been fighting a chattering problem all weekend. they used the line 'this has given us an excellent base for the next race' quite extensively but of course it means they've probably made little engine or tyre progress in the mean time. bugger it

[merv]

Suzuki are a real failure. How come when they can produce such wonders as the GSXR1000 for the street?

Sete raced for them last year at the back of the pack, give the man a Honda and he's challenging for the championship. Says something about the bike because it looks like there was nothing wrong with his ability.

As for Barros and Edwards I bet they wish they were still on Hondas.

Even Hayden seems to be warming up a bit now and starting to put the Honda to good use.

Ducati - nothing to say really - they are right up there - all credit to them.

[merv]

p.s. on another website the Suzukis and others were referred to as moving chicanes for the Hondas and Ducatis. They are being dicked.

[Dave]

It probably demonstrates how different motogp is-aprilia making class leading 125's and 250's for ten years,suzuki building class winning road /sports proddy bikes. And yet none of these can nail motogp. Must be some clever bastards at Ducati.

[bikerboy]

Amen brother ! :D