MotoGP Laguna !!SPOILER!!

[SimJen]

Casey Stoner is a legend, the guy was doing 1m22s laps all race the only person close is Vermuellen who managed to almost match the pace on the Suzuki but then dropped off a bit.
Stoner dropped to 1m23's on the last three laps only, where everyone else has been doing 1m24's mostly.
Rossi is back in fourth obviously struggling to match Stoners pace, and Nicky Hayden is nowhere to be seen.
Stoner wins by over 10 seconds from Vermuelen, almost 25 seconds from Melandri and 30 seconds over Rossi.
Im a big Rossi fan, but noone has had a rookie season like this for a long time.
Stoner is definately going to be the next big thing! and its looking to be a foregone conclusion that he wins the championship this year.

[sAsLEX]

Bridgestones were obviously the tire to have, though I dont think Rossi could of beaten Stoner today if God had made his tires!

[Sparky Bills]

GO DUCATI!!
Stoner is on fire!

Good on Chris on the Spewzuki too. He rode extremley well.

[Sparky Bills]

How about Melandri! He dislocated his ankle yesterday, didnt ride the morning warm up, then came out and got third!

What a hard man!

[sAsLEX]

How about Melandri! He dislocated his ankle yesterday, didnt ride the morning warm up, then came out and got third!

What a hard man!

“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

[zadok]

Another Aussie, Anthony West, 7th on a Kwaka. Good stuff!

[Matt Bleck]

Race running NOW?!

[steved]

Casey Stoner is a legend, the guy was doing 1m22s laps all race the only person close is Vermuellen who managed to almost match the pace on the Suzuki but then dropped off a bit.

Im a big Rossi fan, but noone has had a rookie season like this for a long time.
Stoner is definately going to be the next big thing! and its looking to be a foregone conclusion that he wins the championship this year.

It's been a great season. Casey isn't a rookie though.

[SimJen]

true, he's not a rookie by any means, I meant he's fresh to motogp.
Look at the current crop, most have been around for years and he comes in and teaches them a thing or two.
Rossi must be really worried now!

[CM2005]

Put rossi on a duke next to stoner... that would liven up things a little. He's no longer hungry for victory... ah for sure...

[Whynot]

Nicky Hayden is nowhere to be seen.

That was probably due to damage after riding over hopkins on the first lap ...

How about Melandri! He dislocated his ankle yesterday, didnt ride the morning warm up, then came out and got third!

What a hard man!

Have to agree with you there, great ride

[steved]

true, he's not a rookie by any means, I meant he's fresh to motogp.
Look at the current crop, most have been around for years and he comes in and teaches them a thing or two.
Rossi must be really worried now!

I agree. Rossi must be wondering how much is the bike, and how much is the rider. Hopefully he is big enough to know that Casey is a pretty good rider and we don't have a rerun on Sete-Rossi or other heated rivalry.

[merv]

Given that Stoner crashed the Honda so often last year he has really come of age and there is no doubting Ducati have built him a bloody good bike. Honda must be really annoyed with their effort as the 212 is no world beater like the 211 was when it debuted. From a Honda man sigh.... !!!! :slap:

[sAsLEX]

I agree. Rossi must be wondering how much is the bike, and how much is the rider. Hopefully he is big enough to know that Casey is a pretty good rider and we don't have a rerun on Sete-Rossi or other heated rivalry.

Rossi went and congratulated Stoner straight after the race. He doesn't have the "feelings" that he had towards Gibby or Max towards Casey, I think he is not out of the race yet.

[Grahameeboy]

I guess the real test of who is the best rider is to put them on the same bike.

When Rossi went to Yamaha he surprised everyone by winning in it's debut season, however, I think this probably created a race to beat Rossi and Ducati do appear to have the better bike so in a way Rossi's success has inevitably brought about the likes of Ducati and Stoner.

In a sport where the top riders generally have bikes which are evenly matched, it looks like Ducati's significant (in GP terms) power advantage is just enough to keep Rossi at bay and unless Yamaha can find that extra like they did 2 races ago, Rossi's undoubted talent will not be enough.

I guess the key is when we look back in another 5 years. I suspect Rossi will have his name up as well as Stoner and at the end of the day, Rossi is realistic to know that no one can keep winning for ever.