MotoGP 2015

[Autech]

Only in so far as nothing is impossible? Arm pump is not an uncommon problem for the riders and it isn't just Pedrosa that suffers. The sports medical people know what it is, and they know how to deal with it. Pedrosa though has already had the surgery twice and the doctors think a third attempt may cause more problems than it solves. My completely unqualified guess is that if they did try a third time scar tissue may become problematical, if that isn't the problem already.

Pedrosa has not lost his speed, he was very fast in practice and qualifying. It is working at that intensity for longer periods that causes the problem.

I sympathise with Pedrosa because when I was a jogger I would sometimes have pain down the side of my lower leg "lateral compartment syndrome". Same problem, different place. It was very uncomfortable but it didn't make me lose feeling in my hands, I wasn't trying to wrestle a 250bhp plus bike around a track at warp speed, and it wasn't affecting my job.

Pedrosa has never looked a likely champion to me, I have always considered him a step below the other "aliens", but he has my complete sympathy for his current predicament. It's a shame that this has occurred after he got out from under the influence of his "Uncle Albert" and became a nice guy.

Lets hope that they can get it sorted for him. His statistics show that he can very well win a championship (here I go waving the flag again), from what he said he's flown all around the world looking for a doctor that can help him, so it may very well be that modern medicine can't fix this issue. "I can't go on racing like this" looking pretty bleak for Dani Pedrosa
If he does quit (this will piss a few of you off) I hope that Jack Miller gets the bike

Wow, your keyboard is helping you jump to a few conclusions.

I suffered from arm pump as a kid racing off road (as did lots and lots of my compatriats), and I can tell you it was real and very painful.

I imagine it to be very similar to when I slipped a disk in my neck which made me lose all control of my left arm for about 9 months. I would go out road riding and basically had no idea what my left arm was up to (hurt like buggery too), I can't imagine how it would be to ride a 250hp monster for 20 laps with that going on.

[Oscar]

Hey, that's kewl! I did one of those (at least, IIRC it was one of those) back in 1976(?) on my MT250 Elsinore. Two things stood out: I was doing well, until I missed a marker, so did a loop twice and there was a river crossing that I went across twice because I enjoyed it so much. Only after I got home did I discover I had a large crack in the crankcase cover, presumably caused by a rock on one of the logging roads flicking up from the front tyre and whacking it. I was lucky it didn't suck water in, and had to go to a specialist welder in Rotorua to get it fixed.

Staying off topic...

Do you remember The Big K?!

Enormous hill in the middle of Atiamuri...

[Reckless]

Well I must say the 25min after race interview on MotoGP.com was worth the subscription on its own

Ducati has more potential according to Dovi and Rossi says MM will be very strong next race!
Rossi puts his battle with Dovi in the top races ever.

[pritch]

Autech,

saw a thing on a Fox News web page today saying how on lap one Miller went through the back half of the field like a dose of salts. He went from 22 on the grid to 10th before the end of the lap.

It occurs now that the item may have originated in Oz but that's still impressive.

[sil3nt]

Autech,

saw a thing on a Fox News web page today saying how on lap one Miller went through the back half of the field like a dose of salts. He went from 22 on the grid to 10th before the end of the lap.

It occurs now that the item may have originated in Oz but that's still impressive.

I saw him 12th on the leaderboard then when I checked later in the race I couldn't see his name. Seemed to be quite a lot happening in the pack that we missed out on.

[pritch]

I saw him 12th on the leaderboard then when I checked later in the race I couldn't see his name. Seemed to be quite a lot happening in the pack that we missed out on.

When trying to overtake someone up the inside he made a rookie mistake (his words), he lost the front end and crashed.

From the Dorna website a more detailed explanation:

Jack Miller: “It was a difficult race for us. We got off to a good start and I was going quite good. I made a few mistakes and got a little too tight on the bike but finally got myself back together when we were close to last. After that I really started to work, and closed the gap to the other Open bikes.”

“It was working really well, we pulled up and I passed two guys and then caught up Abraham. When I got there I was in too much of a rush to pass and went too deep and lost the front. Unfortunately it took myself and him out. Being on the last lap it was a shame not to finish the race, but we learnt so much and I look forward to carrying on the learning process in Texas.”

[roogazza]

Ryder Notes: How Weird Do You Want It
by julian ryder, at 37k feet
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
click for larger version - image thanks, gi-gi
'One of the biggest factors in riders is their level of desire. For some, fifth place is okay. For others, it's winning or nothing.' --Erv Kanemoto
image thanks, gi-gi
Qatar is not a place where you expect weirdness. Not on track, anyway. Once you leave Doha, a city of uninhabited skyscrappers, drive past the new sports city of Lusail emerging from empty desert and forest of cement silos and indentured labour, and you arrive at a surprisingly low key set of buildings that service the Losail International Circuit.
Practice and qualifying went according to plan, apart from the Yamahas looking a bit off the pace, and we settled down on Sunday expecting Marc Marquez to reveal just how much speed he had up his sleeve. The answer turned out to be none. He was sent wide at the first corner, rejoined the track dead last and ran the same sort of pace as the leaders as he came through to fifth. Not, it is worth noting, really threatening the leaders. Every time I checked during race commentary Marc was running near-identical lap times to Jorge Lorenzo.

Jorge's chances of a rostrum finish went a few laps from the end when a chunk of his helmet's lining slipped and obstructed half his field of vision. While Jorge explained his choices of apparel to Yamaha management, Dani Pedrosa was having an even more difficult conversation. He had never really figured and came home behind his teammate, thanks it transpired to severe arm pump. Dani had an operation to cure that between Jerez and Le Mans last year but now says it had no effect. He spent Winter searching for a cure but found none. Every doctor he talked to told him another operation is impossible. He also said he cannot race like this.

There must be a serious question over whether he will be at Austin. Indeed, there have to be serious questions about his ability to keep racing in the short term as he searches for a cure. And if he can't find a cure...

And no, I still don't think Casey will come back. But no, I have no idea what HRC will do about the situation. As Dani hasn't announced his retirement we have to assume he's going to try and return sooner rater than later, so it maybe that the only possible route is to draft in the Japanese tester for a while.

No such grief over at Ducati. Andea Dovizioso said the race would answer a lot of the questions we had about the bike, and it did. Crucially, the old drop off in tyre performance after a few laps did not reappear and he was able to fight with Valentino right to the flag. Both works Ducatis got on the rostrum which means the factory now has three rostrums in dry races inside two years and therefore loses the extra two litres of fuel their bikes have been allowed. This also applies to the Pramac machines, entered under the Factory Option, but not the Avintia team's Open bikes. No-one in red is losing any sleep over this.

After the flag, the Losail pit lane and paddock reverberated to the joy of Valentino Rossi's team plus the few spectators that turned up. If you've seen the pictures, you know what it meant to him. if you haven't then you need to know he celebrated with the joy of a man who now knows anything is possible this year. Where his motivation comes from at 36 years of age with nine world titles and over a hundred GP wins behind him remains a mystery.

So that's an odds-on favourite nowhere, the only bloke who did a decent race-sim in pre-season testing sidelined, Gigi Dall'Igna getting it right first time, Jorge having another ridiculous problem, and no Spaniard on the rostrum in any class. How weird do you want it?

ENDS

[Autech]

Autech,

saw a thing on a Fox News web page today saying how on lap one Miller went through the back half of the field like a dose of salts. He went from 22 on the grid to 10th before the end of the lap.

It occurs now that the item may have originated in Oz but that's still impressive.

When trying to overtake someone up the inside he made a rookie mistake (his words), he lost the front end and crashed.

From the Dorna website a more detailed explanation:

Jack Miller: “It was a difficult race for us. We got off to a good start and I was going quite good. I made a few mistakes and got a little too tight on the bike but finally got myself back together when we were close to last. After that I really started to work, and closed the gap to the other Open bikes.”

“It was working really well, we pulled up and I passed two guys and then caught up Abraham. When I got there I was in too much of a rush to pass and went too deep and lost the front. Unfortunately it took myself and him out. Being on the last lap it was a shame not to finish the race, but we learnt so much and I look forward to carrying on the learning process in Texas.”

Yeah I read that in his fans comments on facebook, impressive stuff. What I liked about Miller in Moto3 was his ability to place the bike on track exactly where he wanted it to be, now in the end of the season that meant hard up againist Marquez's fairing every time he passed, but even so he showed some decent skill. I like how down to earth he is, I truly think he loves the magic of racing the bike on a Sunday.

Any thoughts on the younger Marquez's debut in Moto2. I remember Marc started from pole in his first ever race at Moto2 (then crashed out pushing too hard). Is Alex really better than Marc or is that just him being humble?

[speights_bud]

...Is Alex really better than Marc or is that just him being humble?

I think He's a little soft on and off track. A fast & talented rider like Pedrosa, but I want to see him bring the dogfight like Marc.

But hey, maybe that's not his style... Yet.

[Reckless]

I do Feel for DP
Looks like we'll know within the week.


Off the GP site
Pedrosa Blog: A difficult moment

Dani Pedrosa talks about the arm-pump issue that has been affecting him for the past year, and what he is doing to try and solve it.
In his official Repsol Honda Blog, the Spaniard talks about how difficult it has been for him to ride at his best while suffering from the issue.

Hi everybody,
This is the most difficult thing I’ve written to you since I started writing here.
I’ve already read some of the comments that you’ve been posting since Sunday night. I just want to thank all of you for the support and messages of encouragement that you’ve sent me.
I’ve already explained what happened to me in general but I wanted to do it here, write to you all directly. As you now know, I’ve been having problems with my right forearm for a year. I even had an operation last year but the problem wasn’t solved.
In the pre-season I traveled a lot, precisely to try to find a way of solving this problem and to be able to compete this season at 100%. But the weekend in Qatar made me realize it’s not going to be like that.
We are looking to find a way to solve it. What this GP has made clear to me is that I cannot compete at the top of my abilities.
That’s all I can say for now. I hope I can give you good news soon because I will make a decision in a few days.

The question of the week:
How does it feel knowing that you’re never alone? (question from m26)
Hi, m26. If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout my career in sports, it’s that the bad moments are easier to bear with the support of the fans. You were there when I won titles and races, but you were also there for the more complicated moments: falls, injuries, all kinds of problems. I’m sure that your support will help me a lot now as well.

All the best,

Dani Pedrosa


ON the basis that Honda arnt happy to stick with this situation and talk him into keeping going as it seemed ridable through qualifying?
Who do ya reckon will replace him?
Stoner says he's definitely out from what I read (Sorry Crasher)
Crutchlow or their Japanese test rider, or a young buck?

[Crasherfromwayback]

Stoner says he's definitely out from what I read (Sorry Crasher)
?

That's cool. I'll help out as I'm looking for a new job anyway!

[Oscar]

That's cool. I'll help out as I'm looking for a new job anyway!

You could be a fluffer for Stoners team at Suzuka!

[Autech]

Who do ya reckon will replace him?

I have had my phone beside me thinking they had some talent scouts at Ruapuna on Sunday watching me "race". Will keep you guys posted.

I think were he not to ride it would only be for a few rounds while he gets surgery or whatever. Here's hoping that him coming out in the open about his issues will prompt a doctor somewhere in the world to give him a call will a solution.

[rustyrobot]

Oh - ! I just realised the article I read yesterday saying he was moving back to Moto3 was an April 1st thing. Wondered why it wasn't all over this site.

[Mental Trousers]

I think were he not to ride it would only be for a few rounds while he gets surgery or whatever. Here's hoping that him coming out in the open about his issues will prompt a doctor somewhere in the world to give him a call will a solution.

He can't have any more surgery for it as the next one will make it worse, not better.