MotoGP Sachsenring

[denill]

Now that Gresini Honda's Toni Elias is recovering from a broken femur suffered in practice for Saturday's Dutch TT, speculation has centered on Neil Hodgson riding the RC212V in the July 15 German GP at Sachsenring. Honda Racing Corporation hasn't made a decision, according to reports from Europe, and Hodgson chose not to comment.

Hodgson will likely make his return to AMA Superbike racing later this month at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca after completing a three-day shakedown test of the Corona Honda CBR1000RR at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

[roogazza]

Pretty boy Toseland might get a start ? Probably deserves a crack ? Gaz

[Crasherfromwayback]

Bring back Aaron Slight!

[denill]

Pretty boy Toseland might get a start ? Probably deserves a crack ? Gaz


Good point. Have you told Honda? They need to keep him in the fold and not lose him like they lost Vermuelen.

[k14]

Pretty boy Toseland might get a start ? Probably deserves a crack ? Gaz
He and Jonathan Rea (BSB) have both been excluded from consideration due to both having to focus on winning their respective championships. Thats the official word from Honda anyway. Rea was supposed to race at Donnington on KR's nail but again Honda stepped in and said nah mate, got BSB to win for us first.

[k14]

Bring back Aaron Slight!
What about Crafar? :rockon:

[denill]

What about Crafar? :rockon:

Did you read that Crafar rode the Romaniacs? He must be doin a bit of offroad to be at that level.

[Crasherfromwayback]

What about Crafar? :rockon:

Honda's are on Michelin....and we all know what happened to poor old Simon on them!

[k14]

Honda's are on Michelin....and we all know what happened to poor old Simon on them!
Yes we do but Elias's team rides on Bridgestones. Still not Dunlops though.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Yes we do but Elias's team rides on Bridgestones. Still not Dunlops though.

Ah yes....so true! I can still remember Simons ride at Donington on the YZR.

[denill]

Honda's are on Michelin....and we all know what happened to poor old Simon on them!

Whatever, no one can take Donnington away from him. In the Doohan/Honda era, that was sensational!

[k14]

Ah yes....so true! I can still remember Simons ride at Donington on the YZR.
I didn't even know who he was when I was that age but I watched the race on motogp.com a few weeks ago, they had a special video about it. How awesome was that. Doohan was gobsmacked at how he couldn't keep up. :Punk:

[Crasherfromwayback]

I didn't even know who he was when I was that age but I watched the race on motogp.com a few weeks ago, they had a special video about it. How awesome was that. Doohan was gobsmacked at how he couldn't keep up. :Punk:

I've met Simon quite a few times....he's a hell of a nice guy, and quite a hoot.

That was an incredible ride no doubt.....he went real well at Assen that year too.

[denill]

I've met Simon quite a few times....he's a hell of a nice guy, and quite a hoot.

That was an incredible ride no doubt.....he went real well at Assen that year too.

Yeah, if I remember right, he finished a fast closing 2nd to Mick. Is that right?

[bladez]

bring back me :innocent:forget the rest they wont crash and i will :Punk:

[denill]

I've met Simon quite a few times....he's a hell of a nice guy, and quite a hoot.

That was an incredible ride no doubt.....he went real well at Assen that year too.


Pretty sure he still lives in Andora. Any one know what he does for a living?

[Crasherfromwayback]

Pretty sure he still lives in Andora. Any one know what he does for a living?

He was a suspension tech for Ohlins I believe.....not sure of he still is.

[Ivan]

hmmmmmm

SLight could kick some Arse


Heone of my cousins yeah

[Brian d marge]

Whatever, no one can take Donnington away from him. In the Doohan/Honda era, that was sensational!

Aint that the truth ! but what really happened ,.... I mean lots of others have been in the same boat ,,, but year after year they just ,,, plug away ,,, but he just sort of vanished .. and went back as a tech

always wondered that...

Stephen

[denill]

Aint that the truth ! but what really happened ,.... I mean lots of others have been in the same boat ,,, but year after year they just ,,, plug away ,,, but he just sort of vanished .. and went back as a tech

always wondered that... Stephen

Politics. He got on the wrong side of the Pom who ran the team.

Asked one of his relies who lives on the Gold Coast what Simon was doing now:
"He doesn’t work like us mere mortals but has done a couple of old units up and moved them on. Don’t hear much usually, but he will pop his head in once or twice a year and say gidday. He’s not racing competitively now but has a pretty good lifestyle, good on him."

[Kornholio]

Whatever, no one can take Donnington away from him. In the Doohan/Honda era, that was sensational!

Hell no that was awesome...much rum was drunk that night :D


Bring back Aaron Slight!

Bring Back Buck!!!!!

[Masterchop]

hmmmmmm

SLight could kick some Arse


Heone of my cousins yeah



Yea I heard that everyone in the Wairarapa was related.

[roogazza]

Yea I heard that everyone in the Wairarapa was related.

There was a movie made many years ago ...." Deliverence" ! Gaz.

[Marknz]

Bring back Aaron Slight!

Right on... he'd be better than Hodgson or Toseland for sure

[denill]

From <a href=http://www.cyclenews.com/>Cycle News:</A>

Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner proved the Desmosedici GP7 works as well on twisty tracks as fast ones by clocking the fastest time in Friday’s combined practice sessions at the Sachsenring in the former East German state of Saxony.

Stoner was at the top for almost the entire afternoon session, with a few others only occasionally able to dent his supremacy. But they were never much ahead and never for long and when the day ended he had the best time, a lap of 1:22.737 mins. around the tortuous 2.28-mile circuit. The lap record of 1:21.815 from 2006 is held by Dani Pedrosa.

The time came on the 17th of Stoner’s 27 laps, with just less than 20 minutes to run in Friday’s afternoon session, held in cool, overcast conditions. But neither Stoner, nor anyone else, was able to go faster and he finished the first day of practice for Sunday’s German Grand Prix on top.

The Sachsenring circuit is a new challenge for the Ducati, which has proven its versatility all season. The Ring is one of the shorter tracks, with few long straights, a host of left hand corners, and constant elevation changes.

Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was second much of the afternoon, with a brief reign at the top. His best lap of 1:23.083 came near the end of the hour on the 28th of his 31 laps. The lap put him .346 seconds back of championship leader Stoner.

Repsol Honda teammates Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden had wildly divergent days. With just over two minutes to run Pedrosa jumped into third, where he’d finish, at a gap of .283 seconds to Rossi. Hayden finished the afternoon session on his feet, walking back up the pit lane after his engine expired spectacularly on the front straight near the end of the hour. At the time he was in 17th place, out of 19 riders, and 1.5 seconds off the pace. Hayden began his day with a crash and long slide in the morning practice. He was unhurt and able to go faster, but not by much. His best lap of 1:24.200 came on the 16th of 16 laps in the morning. It was a dramatic change from last year when he fought to the finish and carded a very close third.

Hayden wasn’t the only American struggling. Fiat Yamaha’s Colin Edwards fell from a high of third to his eventual eighth in the afternoon, landing one spot in front of Rizla Suzuki’s John Hopkins. Hopkins was riding for the first time since his defection to Kawasaki for the 2008 season was announced. Team Roberts’ Kurtis Roberts was the 19th and final rider.

Further up the field Tech 3 Yamaha’s Sylvain Guintoli was a surprising fourth, the first of the two Dunlop riders in his best practice effort to date.

Then came LRC Honda’s Carlos Checa, who was third before being taken down by Pedrosa and Guintoli. Gresini Honda’s Marco Melandri, also in third late in the session, finished with the sixth best time.

Pramac d’Antin Ducati’s Alex Barros survived a harrowing morning crash to finish seventh in the afternoon. The Brazilian high-sided, went over the front of the Desmosedici GP7 and slid down the track, his right arm stuck under the bike. Then the pair hit a grass strip lining the track, before sliding across more asphalt and hitting the gravel trap, where the tumbling began, the bike briefly pounding Barros into the pebbles. Barros was favoring his right hand when he got up, but he was fit to ride in the afternoon.

Friday Combined Practice:

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1:22.737

2. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:23.083

3. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1:23.366

4. Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha) 1:23.387

5. Carlos Checa (Honda) 1:23.413

6. Marco Melandri (Honda) 1:23.430

7. Alex Barros (Ducati) 1:23.548

8. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1:23.613

9. John Hopkins (Suzuki) 1:23.645

10. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) 1:23.667

Others:

Vermeulen 1m23.68
Capirossi 1m23.68
Hofmann 1m23.85
Tamada 1m24.09
West 1m24.10
Nakano 1.24.20
Fabrizio 1m24.74
Roberts Ku 1m2.31

[denill]

Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner isn't superstitious. The world championship leader sees no reason why he can’t win Sunday's German Grand Prix from the pole position, something no one including himself has been able to do for the past 11 races. And to break it, he'll have to top a tightly bunched field; first to 16th was covered by .815 seconds.

“I’m pretty happy wherever I qualify on the front row, so it’s a nice start for us tomorrow,” Stoner said after taking his second pole position of the year in the closest front row of the season, “but I also don’t believe in all these sort of jinxes and all of that from pole position. The last man to win from pole position was Loris Capirossi on a Ducati (at Motegi in 2006), so I figure that is a clear card to finish that thing.

“And also, most people that have had pole position this year normally haven’t been always very competitive during race tires, not right at the top. So we’ll see how we’ll go with being competitive all weekend and we’ll see if we can get there.”

Stoner’s best lap of the 2.28-mile Sachsenring was a 1:22.384, which was just less than half a second off the previous best lap turned by Dani Pedrosa in 2006. Pedrosa came second to Stoner today by a mere .004 seconds.

“I think tomorrow it will be a very long race,” Pedrosa said. “Also I think at the end of the race it will be difficult to do the pace because there’s so much time in the race. So we’ll see how the tires end it for the race. I’m happy to be on the front row. I think it’s very important.”

Honda Gresini’s Marco Melandri was .009 secs. back of Pedrosa, which meant the front row was covered by .013 secs.

Melandri was thankful to have new parts from Honda and also grateful to Bridgestone, for the qualifier that put him at the end of the front row.

Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet finished a spectacular fourth. The Frenchman had been at the top for about 20 minutes in the second half of the session before dropping to fourth. On his final lap, De Puniet was faster at the first two intervals, but ran straight off the track soon after, riding through the gravel trap, and throwing the ZXRR down before impacting the air fence. Luckily, he was unhurt.

Rizla Suzuki’s John Hopkins was only .022 secs. slower than de Puniet and just .010 secs. in front of the sixth fastest qualifier, Valentino Rossi of the Fiat Yamaha team.

The third row was Marlboro Ducati’s Loris Capirossi, Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Barros, and Tech 3 Yamaha’s Sylvain Guintoli.

The other Americans didn’t show up until the fifth row. Fiat Yamaha’s Colin Edwards qualified 13th, narrowly in front of Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden. Hayden finished a close third here last year and was hoping for better going into the final race before the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.

Team Roberts’ Kurtis Roberts qualified 19th.

MotoGP Qualifying:

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1:22.384

2. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1:22.388

3. Marco Melandri (Honda) 1:22.397

4. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) 1:22.539

5. John Hopkins (Suzuki) 1:22.561

6. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) 1:22.605

7. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1:22.615

8. Alex Barros (Ducati) 1:22.897

9. Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha) 1:22.958

10. Shinya Nakano (Honda) 1:22.969

Other:

Vermeulen 1m23.03
West 1m23.05
Edwards 1m23.09
Hayden 1m23.15
Checa 1m23.18
Hofmann 1m23.19
Fabrizio 1m23.49
Tamada 1m23.74
Roberts Ku 1m24.20

[denill]

MotoGP Top Speeds in Qualifying - km/h

Stoner 280.4
Pedrosa 279.3
De Puniet 277.1
Capirossi 276.9
Barros 276.6
Hayden 275.5
Hopkins 275.3
Melandri 274.3
Hofmann 274.2
Edwards 273.6
Nakano 273.3
Rossi 273.2
West 273.1
Checa 273.1
Tamada 273.0
Guintoli 272.3
Vermeulen 272.2
Fabrizio 269.7
Roberts Ku 267.9

[roogazza]

Should , by the times, be a good close race Bill ? I did hear when at the GP's last year that Edwards is a good development rider, but surely he's running out of time in the Yamaha team ? Even though they all look bloody fast in the flesh, it seems there is a pecking order just like at any other level of the sport ? Gaz.

[k14]

Stoner will piss in, he was easily the fastest on race tyres, 0.5s ahead of most guys for the duration of qualifying. Only people he has to worry about is rossi and pedrosa so its all on Michelin's performance in race trim.

[denill]

I did hear when at the GP's last year that Edwards is a good development rider, but surely he's running out of time in the Yamaha team ? Gaz.

I think the question is - who will replace Edwards. Shame to see him go though cos I like his straight up talking.

I think Stoner will win - or maybe Rossi. Nah, Stoner. But could be Rossi.

[BigG]

Na Rossi will win, Stoner will run out of Gas, but 14's right it will be those tyre set ups that will decide. role on 8.45pm.

[k14]

Yep GP starts at midnight. 125 and 250 should both be good races too.

[pritch]

Yep GP starts at midnight.

Bugga! I might be a bit sleepy at work tomorrow:zzzz:

[$CENSLS1$]

Should be an awsome race, I really enjoy the racing at the Sachenring especially the downhill section before the finish where Rossi is always super super strong.

I say Rossi, Stoner, Pedrosa. I would like to see Stoner and the Dukes win here but I think Rossi is just too good.
Why the hell is John Hopkins changing from Suzuki to Kawasaki?Anyone know the reasoning behind it?It doesn't make scense to me..Vermulen proved that the Suzuki is a race winning capable machine early on and quite frankly the Kawasaki is not..Just seems strange, maybe they offered him more $$$ at Kawasaki?Who knows.

As for Edwards' replacement, I think they'll bring new blood into the championship. But wouldn't it be funny to see Yamaha bring back Max Biaggi and have him and Rossi as team mates!Now that would be an interesting team!gaha :gob:

[sAsLEX]

As for Edwards' replacement, I think they'll bring new blood into the championship. But wouldn't it be funny to see Yamaha bring back Max Biaggi and have him and Rossi as team mates!Now that would be an interesting team!gaha :gob:

Rossi mentioned Ducati the other day, I think he would be there in Caprix place quicker than Rossi could flip the bird to Biagii.

[Skunk]

Why the hell is John Hopkins changing from Suzuki to Kawasaki?Anyone know the reasoning behind it?It doesn't make scense to me..Vermulen proved that the Suzuki is a race winning capable machine early on and quite frankly the Kawasaki is not..Just seems strange, maybe they offered him more $$$ at Kawasaki?Who knows.
As someone who watches the Kawasaki team a bit I can say they're getting a good development going now Eckl "I'm working for two teams in MotoGP" is gone.



For me, John's decision to join Kawasaki for the next two years is a clear indication of just how far we've come with the new team infrastructure and the 800cc Ninja ZX-RR. Just twelve months ago we wouldn't have been in a position to attract a rider of John's calibre, but the situation is very different now. We have proved that Kawasaki has a professional set-up and a competitive package in the Ninja ZX-RR, which is why we now have the option of also signing a proven MotoGP race winner to ride alongside John Hopkins next season.
Who could that be?

[Brian d marge]

the Australian program RPM , was good had a quick look at the Ducati factory and interviews with everyone ,,,,,,and some info about the switch to Kawasaki mm

My feeling is that Honda are lost .. Somethings happened at the factory and they have lost their creative input ,,,and wouldnt rely on the Japanese Engineers to be creative ...

So he has done the sensible thing ,,and gone to a team where he stands a chance ...


IHMO

The programe RPM is available as a torrent

Stephen

[denill]

It's very fortunate that none of us who made predictions put their house on it. Or did you??

[steved]

Holy crap! Who picked a Repsol Honda 1-3 with Capirex in the middle?!?

[roogazza]

yeah lucky ! But my comment re Edwards still stands. Super smooth isn't he ? Maybe that got him the result, or was it that everyones tyres melted ?

I must admit to hoping Melandri and Hopper would pass Stoner ! (you can judge from that, I'm a big Rossi fan) Gaz.

[slowpoke]

,,,and wouldnt rely on the Japanese Engineers to be creative ...



Given their long domination of the top level of 500cc and MotoGP that's a, shall we say, "bold" statement........

[Brian d marge]

Given their long domination of the top level of 500cc and MotoGP that's a, shall we say, "bold" statement........

bold statement based on experience ( Honda , don't know about the others ) , there are are a few , but INHO the really creative juices come from the west ...
Stephen

[Kornholio]

yeah lucky ! But my comment re Edwards still stands. Super smooth isn't he ? Maybe that got him the result, or was it that everyones tyres melted ?

I must admit to hoping Melandri and Hopper would pass Stoner ! (you can judge from that, I'm a big Rossi fan) Gaz.

Hehe yeah so was I mate :D

[denill]

Call me fickle - but from a long time fan of Val I sorta hope Stoner does it. He has ridden far cooler than I thought him capable and if he wins he deserves it. It's made to go round and Rossi's certainly had his turn.

Whatever, it's made for a great spectacle so far. :yes::yes:

[pritch]

Call me fickle - but from a long time fan of Val I sorta hope Stoner does it.

I haven't quite got to that stage yet.

After last year Stoner was a bit of a joke, as one mag put it he was moving to an Italian bike to get new supplies of carbon fibre having exhausted Japans supplies.

At first it appeared Stoner was winning soley on account of the speed advantage he had. As time passes though, and with the win in the wet, he is looking more like the complete package. Although I still believe if Rossi had anything approaching parity in horsepower Stoner wouldn't see which way he went.

[Brian d marge]

ok so just watced both qualifying and race , So Hiashi moto san has bugered ( with special sauce ) from Yamaha to Kawasaki .. maybe a smart move by Hoppy

The front tyres really were the key with a lot of people getting it wrong and falling Honda winning ,,, well the engine dropped its lunch in practice ( how many times this year //) reading betweent the lines the Engineers are trying to find RPM and were trying a wrist pin .piston combo

Mamola was quick to pocket some bits ,,, lot of free info there ( or given back if working with Honda )

Watch this Space is all I can say

Stephen

[Korea]

That was some nice racing action~!

Did you see the way Pedrobot was flying? He must have gotten his setup spot on. I'm sure the short circuit favours his height / weight advantages but still. Well played by the robotnic Spaniard.

How about Rossi's off? Did you see the mental lean-angle and speed he was stuffing it at. How about that spot-on apex...
...and had it stuck, it would have been perfect.

...but it didn't. :no: