MotoGP - 2003

[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. 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 due to mechanical failures. Yep, I got that wrong.  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!

[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!  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.  Maaaan, we are just mortals eh?

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

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.  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

 

[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...)

[NhuanH]

Crew,

Going through the Sky Digital interactive guide, ready to book my programmes for this Sunday from Mugello and    The guide lists Snr PGA Golf live all night on 10!  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 replays from the republic only to find that infernal golf coverage spilling over and the rugby getting axed.  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.  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.

TTFN

[Coldkiwi]

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

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[NhuanH]

geez, you cats is funny :roadkill:

Also, Simon, why  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.


 

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!  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.  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.  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.  It wasn't until it lined up on the grid (in scarce numbers) that we truly realised what a devastating machine it was.  Now there are a few more, with seasoned pilots.

* Hayden IS less experienced overall and less familiar with the (mostly) Euro circuits.  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 placings of interest (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.  I do look forward to the rest of the season and how these particular pilots finish up.

Thoughts?

 

[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.