MotoGP 2014

[Mental Trousers]

Quite possibly, it did seem very late. First gear doesn't always just snick in, sometimes it plays hard to get. It'd be seriously embarrassing to be stuck on the grid kicking at the lever increasingly frantically while everyone else took off.

That was me 2 years ago at Paeroa... front group of the classic class (split start). Fucking piece of shit standard Norton 4 speed box, ended up kicking it into second and raping the clutch. Caused me to crash at the hairpin in the 1st race, wouldn't select 1st there either....

3 years ago for me. I'd put the bottom fairing back on but it was a bit skewed so that when I pressed the gear lever down it caught the top edge of the fairing and wouldn't engage. Everyone buggered off, I still couldn't get first so grabbed second and gave the clutch arseholes. I was bloody near 20 seconds behind everyone at the first turn. Pissed me off.

[BMWST?]

One of the intetesting things in the motogp race was MM had nearly caught JLO by the end of the first lap

[tbs]

Quite possibly, it did seem very late. First gear doesn't always just snick in, sometimes it plays hard to get. It'd be seriously embarrassing to be stuck on the grid kicking at the lever increasingly frantically while everyone else took off.

Don't you guys remember Marquez doing exactly this near the end of 2012? His bike popped into neutral at the start and he had to fumble for 1st while the whole grid surged past him. He made about 10 places in the first corner and had caught the lead group by the end of lap 2 (or thereabouts). He won.

[tbs]

One of the intetesting things in the motogp race was MM had nearly caught JLO by the end of the first lap

I think he was riding extra hard to catch him and make a point.

[Asher]

Good video of JL blowing the start:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152333556019378

[haydes55]

I think he was riding extra hard to catch him and make a point.

He made the point at lap one, and didn't let off the pace until the last corner.

I think he has a smart move for his riding style choosing the harder tire. He doesn't have to worry about tire degradation and just gives it 100% from start to finish. His early laps set a new lap race record. So obviously the harder tire is still plenty grippy at the start.

Amazing that no one could compete.

[Bender]

What I like most about MM is that he appears to be having fun. Every time he gets on the bike it's "light the fuse time." Even in practise one he carved up Bautista in a corner and never seems to back off.

This has given Rossi a new lease of life - he seems to be trying so much harder - wants to bridge the gap to MM and is also enjoying his racing more.

Seeing MM catch Horhay on the first lap made me think that here is our world champion for the next 5 years at least - perhaps a contender for GOAT. Rossie used to be but the two years at Ducrappy ended all that talk because people realised that the angry little Aussie had it in him to be the GOAT. Muddied the waters, that did.

MM may be spectacular to watch but how long is it going to be before we get bored with him winning races by miles?

Those Hondas looked devastatingly fast. Look how hard Rossi had to ride to stay with them - he trashed his tyre really quickly.

[roogazza]

On a more serious note: Rossi's front tyre.

You could see several pushing hard and moving forward in those first,say 5 laps ?
The end result could have been different for many of them. Anyone know what rubber the Repsol Hondas were wearing on the front ?

It's nice to see Rossi using the front as he used to pre Ducati.

[pritch]

Since that pic of Rossi's tyre appeared on Twitter there have been several similar, notably that of Barbera. Scary.

Stoner did make it to Texas, he must like travel, he was photographed at Spies' restaurant with the proprietor.

Then there is this bit of silliness. Never seen Pedrosa look less intense, not that he should give up his day job...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-If1q-XooM

[Mental Trousers]

Then there is this bit of silliness. Never seen Pedrosa look less intense, not that he should give up his day job...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-If1q-XooM

That's cool. Shows how much the Spanish are into their motorbikes. Put any of the top 5 in this country in the same sort of situation and no one would know who they are.

[Kiwi Graham:Me]

On a more serious note: Rossi's front tyre.

I'm no Dave Moss but that looks like cold tear!? or even under inflation. Cant belive the teams would get that wrong so what has Bridgestone said about it? compound issue??

[pritch]

I'm no Dave Moss but that looks like cold tear!? (snip) what has Bridgestone said about it?

Cold tear was my first thought too, but my knowledge of the subject is not sufficiently comprehensive that I had a second thought. Several of the riders had similar problems though and Redding attributes his crash to the front tyre failure.

I did a fairly thorough search on duckduckgo; lots of tyre previews. Reviews, not so much. The only quote found that was remotely relevant is this from Motomatters:

Masao Azuma - Chief Engineer, Bridgestone Motorsport Tyre Development Division

“Conditions were much cooler today for the race but track conditions were good, which resulted in the race being run at a very quick pace. Only Marquez selected the harder rear slick for the race and it worked well for him, and all three rear slick options were utilised in the race. As expected the whole of the grid selected the medium compound option, yet during the race some riders experienced higher levels of front tyre abrasion than was seen during practice and qualifying. We will now analyse the tyres to work out what were the contributing factors that resulted in the high levels of wear that occurred during the race.”

It's not clear but I read that to say the whole grid used the medium front.

[Crasherfromwayback]

It's not clear but I read that to say the whole grid used the medium front.

"Rossi said he chose the hard front Bridgestone, not the extra-hard front, and that perhaps, in retrospect, was a poor choice.

"Maybe we needed the extra hard," he said. "But Yamaha have a problem on the extra hard, so we have to improve, we have to understand why."

[jasonu]

I was bloody near 20 seconds behind everyone at the first turn. Pissed me off.

But did you still win the race?

[Reckless]

Just watched it last night had to wait for my boy to bet back to town.

Well it was a master class by MM.
He can go Hard tyre because the kid can ride/win on anything?
He forcing the others to go for Medium in an attempt to try and keep up. Hes that good. Hence Rossi's front tyre choice.
Perdo cant match him on the same gear, Yamaha cant find the Hondas secret. Best rider, Best bike.
There's talk of all contracts being re negotiated this year. If anything will drive Lorenzo to Honda it will be to compete with MM on an equal footing on the same bike, Food for thought? Might be really good to have a big swap around in the last year of these rules.
Rossi good to see him wanting it so bad this year. I hope he can stick with it he seems to be enjoying his racing.
Dovi, Damn good ride

BUT
Hard to judge when he's on such different gear?
I just have this feeling that the hole MotoGP is such a mess atm?
Bikes with more fuel, different tyres, different electronics its becoming a joke.
Cant wait till 2016 when HOPEFULLY they will be all under the same rules on similar bikes again.
Maybe I have the boring race blues (not as bad as Cruthlow I bet??) they are all getting so desperate mistakes are coming to the forefront.