Qatar....spoilers.

**Matt Bleck** · 10th March 2007, 09:45

I reckon Rossi is going to dominate this year! Go The Doctor!!

**Masterchop** · 10th March 2007, 10:21

Yup, Rossi will dominate and Hayden will struggle to get in top 5 for the championship.

**Ivan** · 10th March 2007, 11:17

we will see pre season testing means nothing its race day that counts

**Motu** · 10th March 2007, 11:24

Well it's the checkerd flag that counts - if you don't crash,if the bike doesn't break down and if you save your tyres....then you get some points.Points is what wins the title....as Hayden showed us last year.No matter how good the rider,if the bike is not sorted until halfway through the year,then you won't win the title....Rossi showed us that one last year too.

**Crasherfromwayback** · 11th March 2007, 19:15

Originally Posted by Motu

FP1...

The Doctors in...

Good to see Edwards up there,Stoner lookin good,until he fades.

No fade there Motu.....the lap record was set by Stoner on the last lap.
And didn't he look like he'd 'pulled the pin' on that last lap!
Yes the Duck was waaaay faster than Rossi's Yamaha, but so was Pedrosa's Honda. Stoner was also up for a scrap in the corners.

Originally Posted by Crasherfromwayback

It's gonna be fireworks! Great to see Hopkins up there even injured!

I think Stoner will pull off a surprise win!

What do I win for that?

Originally Posted by Masterchop

Shows who goes round the corners fastest doesnt it.

Stoner wasn't slow through the corners though...it's just that Rossi was so desperate to try and hang onto Stoner that he had to enter the corners like a 'P' freak on crack to stay with him.

Originally Posted by r4q2

I reckon Rossi is going to dominate this year! Go The Doctor!!

I'm not so sure mate.

Originally Posted by Masterchop

Yup, Rossi will dominate and Hayden will struggle to get in top 5 for the championship.

I think not....not this year.
I do think he'll win the title, but I doubt very much he'll have it all his own way.

**Drew** · 11th March 2007, 19:28

My money, is on some rider, to win some races, and the other riders to win some other races. I'm also willing to put a thousand dollars, on them to be on motorcycles!

**SimJen** · 11th March 2007, 19:36

Rossi is always a good bet for the title.
Stoner only has to win a couple more to equal the amount of races Hayden has won in his whole Motogp career. Stoner has had some bad times though with a few nasty crashes slowing him down in the past. If he keeps it together we should see some good action.
Interesting that Dani Pedrosa weighs 20kg less than Rossi (with the same bike weight) but is nowhere as good on the brakes........
The start/finish line shouldn't be at the end of a straight, lots of tracks have moved it to stop the last second slip-streaming deciding races.
Early days though, its anybodies title to win.

**Crasherfromwayback** · 11th March 2007, 19:48

Originally Posted by SimJen

Rossi is always a good bet for the title.
Stoner only has to win a couple more to equal the amount of races Hayden has won in his whole Motogp career. Stoner has had some bad times though with a few nasty crashes slowing him down in the past. If he keeps it together we should see some good action.
Interesting that Dani Pedrosa weighs 20kg less than Rossi (with the same bike weight) but is nowhere as good on the brakes........
The start/finish line shouldn't be at the end of a straight, lots of tracks have moved it to stop the last second slip-streaming deciding races.
Early days though, its anybodies title to win.

Good post! Doohan said years ago....you can teach a fast rider to stop crashing, but..... Stoner will be a force to be reckoned with.

The finish line bit is a goodin too..... the way I see it is this.....a track with the finish line close to the corner will reward whoever gets out of that corner first. Is that any better to see than someone that plans a move perfectly over the line? I personally think the skill and timing of drafting is really exciting to watch. Some tracks have it close....some down the end of the straight. Sweet. Do we need all of the tracks to be the same?
Doubt it.

**Motu** · 11th March 2007, 20:42

That was a good race from Stoner,he knew where he had the advantage,and made the most of it.The 800's are more like the 250's,so I don't think we'll see him lose the front as much this year,he sure gave his team mate a thrashing on his first outing.Kinda like F1 - set up for top speed or corner speed,Ducati went for top speed on a track with a long main straight,the gamble being could they maintain the advantage gained on the straight throughout the circuit....and it looks like they could.Pedrosa the best Honda by far,the rest are lost - it's his bike,and Honda will make it more so.Carlos Checa has lost 7 lbs and had the tank/seat changed on his Honda,but he's still too big for it,so is Hayden.Honda needs more little riders.....wonder if they would sign me?

**TonyB** · 11th March 2007, 21:11

Arg! Damn you Prime! Damn you Sky! In desperation I managed to find a blurry 15 min vid, complete with Japanese comentary. What can you say- rossi rode the wheels off that Yamaha. looks like it's gonna be a great years racing!

**nudemetalz** · 11th March 2007, 21:16

Looked like Rossi had a 600 engine in there compared to the Ducati on the straights. Just blitzed passed it !!!
He must have been so frustrated, because given same speeds on both bikes, I reckon The Doctor would have said bye, bye !!

**Matt Bleck** · 12th March 2007, 07:54

For those that don't know, the race highlight's where shown on Primes BP Ultimate Sports Sunday which started at 2.30pm. I'd say this will be the trend for the year so if like me you don't have sky, then there's still the chance to see the watered down version.

Good on Stoner for showing some maturity.... the little c**t!!

**Toast** · 12th March 2007, 08:19

Originally Posted by Motu

Kinda like F1 - set up for top speed or corner speed,?

Is it really comparable to F1? Downforce makes a huge difference to corner speed and top speed of F1 cars, but obviously that doesn't apply to bikes.

It doesn't sound like it was a case of the Duc just being geared longer either, as it seems to have had better acceleration through the gears as well as the higher top end speed.

Sounds like the Duc just plain has a moster motor.

Awesome that Stoner has gotten his shit together. Another season as the crasher and he'd probably find it pretty hard to find a job next year.

**gav** · 12th March 2007, 20:17

Originally Posted by r4q2

For those that don't know, the race highlight's where shown on Primes BP Ultimate Sports Sunday which started at 2.30pm. I'd say this will be the trend for the year so if like me you don't have sky, then there's still the chance to see the watered down version.

Good on Stoner for showing some maturity.... the little c**t!!

Yeah, they will, but will be a week after the race, Qatar is raced on a Saturday not the normal Sunday.