MOTOGP 2012 Round 1 : Doha, Qatar. 4/5-4/8 2012

[kevin 714]

everyones career comes to an end, every champion loses it at some point, but if this is it, its a seriously fucked up way to happen. after an EPIC end to 2010, the whole ducati thing has been a disaster.

I dont think for a second rossi is a tenth place guy. hes a podium and a winner. is he a ten race a year winner? no, but I think on a yamaha hed be getting regular podiums and be right with pedrosa all year, with a couple wins.

this whole ducai thing is fucked up, and kinda sad. its his darkest hour, will he find the light? his whol elife has seem scripted, is this the darkest night? banished from home, lost at sea, trying to find his way back home to ithaca? FUCKING HOMER WHATS THE NEXT LINE?

 

[budman]

Marquez could have made it into turn 1 just as well without the extra couple of feet that he took away from Luthi, and as a Grand Prix rider of his caliber, he should know this. So I'm voting with the mob on this one... it was dirty.

I call it shady.. not dirty. Indeed a poor choice and Luthi had the right to be pissed.. he ran a good race.

Lorenzo showed me what a Champ he is.. impressive. Pedrosa shocked me.. nice job by him.

Bumming for Spies.. impressed with Hayden.

Bumming for Rossi.. impressed with Bradl

Good first show.. love it under the lights.

 

[Spec-ECU]

Watched the GP race last night after I got home from Infineon, will watch Moto2 tonight.

There are still classes within classes in GP, with the fast three still compiling the front. But damn, that was as fine a showing for Pedrosa as it was for Lorenzo. This race was reminiscent of Sachsenring round last year, which was one of my favorite races.

The Crutchlow/Dovizioso saga made itself official in this round, and god damn did Crutchlow really take it to Dovizioso. If there's more of this between these two, I'm pretty sure we'll start seeing this team battle actually doing a lot more place-swapping in a race, what with these teammates continually pushing the other throughout the season.

Hayden, man, you may not be able to count on him to trouble the fast front, but you can always count on him to make the most of what he has come race day.

 

[ILOAD2]

Truly full circle would be the Doctor finishing his career on an Aprillia-giving one Final insult to the Roman Emperor-no?

 

[Dmitriy]

If Rossi is out of Ducati they need to put that other fast Aussie on - Troy Bayliss.
At least they are back to 1000cc and Troy can still ride that bike fast!

Edit. Oh yea last time he raced a motogp bike he won (and it was a duc)!

 

[louemc]

I call it shady.. not dirty. Indeed a poor choice and Luthi had the right to be pissed.. he ran a good race.

Lorenzo showed me what a Champ he is.. impressive. Pedrosa shocked me.. nice job by him.

Bumming for Spies.. impressed with Hayden.

Bumming for Rossi.. impressed with Bradl

Good first show.. love it under the lights.

My sentiments exactly..on the race action...under those lights (the lights part is just my opinion) the lights are the best I've seen, but other than that...I hate under the lights...it screws up my perception of seeing what I rely on.

I'd like to see Lorenzo do it again, and again...in my mind he is this years, world champion.

But...I'd also like to see Spies, dicing with him...like Lorenzo and Rossi diced.

I'd also would of liked to be a fly on the wall, when Stoner came in...and hear what he had to say about getting beat by, Pedrosa and Lorenzo..

 

[Raider]

everyones career comes to an end, every champion loses it at some point, but if this is it, its a seriously fucked up way to happen. after an EPIC end to 2010, the whole ducati thing has been a disaster.

I dont think for a second rossi is a tenth place guy. hes a podium and a winner. is he a ten race a year winner? no, but I think on a yamaha hed be getting regular podiums and be right with pedrosa all year, with a couple wins.

there is no way he went from winning and podiuming in 10 races in 2010 even after injury, to bring up the rear of the mid-pack in 2011 because he's "getting old" and having "lost it"... the bike is the issue... the only person in the past 5-6 seasons that can ride the thing and consistently be at the front is Stoner... and even then, the last 2 years he was on the thing he was binning it as often as he was winning...

hell, looking at it, Rossi missing 4 races due to injury still beat Stoner in the standings and he didn't miss a race... (5 crashes that year)

 

[Spec-ECU]

Re: Rossi/Ducati.

I'm just over it. Well over it since last season, actually. IF they do manage to turn things around massively, fantastic (in every sense of the word), but at this juncture in their marriage, it's just too little too late for me.

I write that though, without any ill-effect on what I think of Rossi as one of the best racers ever; Rossi sealed that in me a long time ago, and nothing that happens now with Ducati one way or another will change that.

At this point, I only want the best for Rossi and/or Ducati for the sake of the sport, more than for their collaboration.

 

[Ducky_Fresh]

MM should get docked 30 seconds. That was weak. You can't leave the guy with no where to go, it's just not how it's done.

Rossi is done.

/thread

 

[Spec-ECU]

Oh, what's the word on Karel pulling in? Haven't debriefed myself yet.

Nevermind, just read their PR. Front brake problems which is still pending conclusive result on the culprit.

 

[Bowling4Bikes]

Hey I actually watched Moto2 this time....liked it.

the Marquez pass...hard pass. malicious intent? yeah, probably a little. Didn't seem extraordinarily dirty, such as Rossi's pass on Gibernau at Jerez back in the day...no punishment there so I think there's a precedent set. I think someone has to get injured before serious sanctions happen. should he be punished? I don't think so.

also,

nice job by Edwards! I'd consider that a good race for him...boy how lucky BMW is and CRT in general for having a guy like him on the squad. he'll surely push the evolution forward, especially if RdP and him start battling during races.

the Dovi/Crutchlow battle was pretty good...wow has Cal found a groove or what? Tech 3 seems to have a strong bike for him.

Nice to see Nicky sliding around again...that guy has a lion heart

AFA race entertainment: A-! I don't think it gets much better than to have 3 potential winners at the 3-laps-left mark. With Stoner no less, being the one getting caught and passed.

I'm not happy about Rossi either. this is an ignoble way for the Doctor to be ending his career. I don't care how many people he pissed off along the way: he deserves better.

 

[rsrider]

If Rossi is out of Ducati they need to put that other fast Aussie on - Troy Bayliss.
At least they are back to 1000cc and Troy can still ride that bike fast!

Edit. Oh yea last time he raced a motogp bike he won (and it was a duc)!

Rossi merch outsells Bayliss merch by a long shot....Rossi stays until Rossi decides to leave. But Bayliss.......I think he can make a go for sure. I still why he retired.

 

[Wormwood]

Smartest rider wins the race. So much nicer to watch rather than a blow out win by a superior machine.

Unfortunate weekend for Ben. Tweeked the bike out of shape in practice and could not get it right before the race start.

 

[Joshn]

I remember reading a long article on Rossi/Burgess back when he was with Yamaha, and they basically stated that there were many times where it was the day of the race and the whole team was in the weeds with their setup, no idea what to do. Then Rossi would get on the bike and put it on the podium, every single time. I remember thinking what a great rider he is.

I guess this just goes to show the rider can only do so much.

 

[firstbuell]

seriously - may we please have a poll about who will be the 2 factory Ducati riders for 2013?

Ducati have experienced [& needed] past miracles - a new one's req'd, immediately.....

 

[motobecane10]

Rossi merch outsells Bayliss merch by a long shot....Rossi stays until Rossi decides to leave. But Bayliss.......I think he can make a go for sure. I still why he retired.

who gives 2 shats about merch?? it won't be up to Roosi as his time is winding down in short order plain and simple. Bayliss is a class act, winner, good with PR and can ride the snot off of anything. He retired on top instead of a dwindling end to nothingness.......quite brillant i'd say.

 

[stangmx13]

- Marquez wasnt fully clear (his rear about in line w/ Luthi's front as seen from onboard) and pushing Luthi onto the curbing was a bit mean... but Luthi is stupid for not braking that little bit extra to let him behind Marquez to enter the corner. those curbs apparently have more grip than the asphalt so he could have braked perfectly fine and its not like he was running out of curbing. Luthi's lame attempt to stay side-by-side ruined his podium.
- Spies' #2 bike had serious issues without him even having ridden it hard or crashing it, so theres no way he could run it in the race. IIRC, they found that out in FP3. very shitty that he had no pace at all and it would have been a very sad day to see Spies fall as the first prototype beat by a CRT.
- first time in a long time that i thought the most junior class race (Moto3) was the LEAST interesting. is wrong w/ me, i actually got a lil bored at the end of that race... but the other 2 were shockingly good. if GP can keep this up (not likely), we are in for a good year.
- once again in GP, we see how important setup is. EVERYONE all weekend had something to say about setup and no one in the race managed to ride around problems. the move back to 1000cc didnt change this much.

 

[sidewazzz]

who gives 2 shats about merch?? it won't be up to Roosi as his time is winding down in short order plain and simple. Bayliss is a class act, winner, good with PR and can ride the snot off of anything. He retired on top instead of a dwindling end to nothingness.......quite brillant i'd say.

Retired on top? Yeah if you consider minor league ball the top (not taking anything away from the riders) but the are in a league below MotoGP.

 

[rsrider]

who gives 2 shats about merch??

If you've been to any Ducati shop recently, I would say Ducati does.

 

[motobecane10]

Retired on top? Yeah if you consider minor league ball the top (not taking anything away from the riders) but the are in a league below MotoGP.

yes on top... frankly i do not consider one above or below the other but rather an entity all their own therefor equally great for the sport.......now go stir shit with someone who makes you feel better.