MotoGP 2011 (125, Moto2, and MotoGP)

[YellowG1]

Gaaaaaaah... Post it, post it!

Anyways, I actually fell asleep somewhere at the end of the 125cc race. Woke up with just around 10 laps to go

But Rossi that I thought could surprise anyone just finished 10th. The Yamahas are no match for the Honda it looked to be... But I'm happy at least Spies is on the podium.

That cruddy start really hurt Spies. If you look at fast lap (not the best comparison in the world), Stoner was just slightly faster than Spies, but markedly quicker than everyone else. Some of that is attributable to the Honda, but Stoner has looked like the best rider (and a champion) all through the year. I think it's clear this is not Lorenzo's year (and the curse of the #1 plate continues...).

Perhaps bigger news is that it was another atrocious race for Ducati. Nicky 2 laps down and Rossi almost a minute behind Stoner. This bike is just plain uncompetitive.

 

[ranhammerR34]

Gaaaaaaah... Post it, post it!

There is one want more? --- Randy

 

[Prince.M5]

There is one want more? --- Randy

Aaah.. Randy, you know me

Owh, how does it sounds like?

 

[ranhammerR34]

Aaah.. Randy, you know me

Owh, how does it sounds like?

Awesome. I know have some video of the start of all three races. I might have the sound of that monster. I have more photos but I took well over 1000 photos for all three days... (final tally of 1,870 photos ) so it will take a minute find a few that might be cool Well Sunday's pics are gone, no idea... AH HA!! Found Sunday's action! --- Randy

 

[Prince.M5]

Awesome. I know have some video of the start of all three races. I might have the sound of that monster. I have more photos but I took well over 1000 photos for all three days... (final tally of 1,870 photos ) so it will take a minute find a few that might be cool. --- Randy

Just take like 5 cool ones is enough. But anyway, thanks in advance.

And the video, i hope it wouldn't burden you too much to upload it.

 

[spyrrari]

Just take like 5 cool ones is enough. But anyway, thanks in advance.

And the video, i hope it wouldn't burden you too much to upload it.

Because its your birthday!!....





spy.

 

[ranhammerR34]

Because its your birthday!!....





spy.

Great job Spy! Oh and since its your birthday InvincibleM5 (Happy Birthday btw!).. I have MOAR Photos.

MOAR M5 Goodness

Some 1M Goodness

Some bike goodness from the the Pit Walk on Saturday!

Ok, want more? If you didn't, too bad.

Gotta see that Killer 1M again.

MOAR OF THE M5!

Randy

 

[adamp93]

No pictures of Mrs Stoner or Mrs De Puniet?? disappointing.
Anywho, Colin Edwards is going to one of the new teams, Forward Racing, and Loris Capirossi is retiring.

 

[Prince.M5]

Because its your birthday!!....

Videos go here!

spy.

Great job Spy! Oh and since its your birthday InvincibleM5 (Happy Birthday btw!).. I have MOAR Photos.

Pictures go here!

Randy

Thank you very much guys, your effort to look for videos and uploading the pictures are much appreciated by me. But ah damn I'm so jelly when you got a pass for the pit walk. So last time I went for a MotoGP race was back in 2009, so I'm not going this year though (massive exam!) so next year is what I'm targetting. But thank you very much for the wish and the media 👍

 

[YellowG1]

Misano: Stoner on top after FP1, but Lorenzo up in FP2:

Free Practice 1:
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap
1. Casey Stoner Honda 1m34.180s 18
2. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m34.466s + 0.286s
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m34.529s + 0.349s
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m35.011s + 0.831s
5. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m35.088s + 0.908s
6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m35.142s + 0.962s
7. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m35.480s + 1.300s
8. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m35.579s + 1.399s
9. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m35.589s + 1.409s
10. Karel Abraham Cardion AB Ducati 1m35.688s + 1.508s
11. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m35.745s + 1.565s
12. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m35.950s + 1.770s
13. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m35.960s + 1.780s
14. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda 1m36.067s + 1.887s
15. Loris Capirossi Pramac Ducati 1m36.513s + 2.333s
16. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 1m36.646s + 2.466s
17. Toni Elias LCR Honda 1m37.308s + 3.128s



Free Practice 2:

Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m33.929s
2. Casey Stoner Honda 1m34.005s + 0.076s
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m34.205s + 0.276s
4. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m34.444s + 0.515s
5. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m34.469s + 0.540s
6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m34.989s + 1.060s
7. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m35.023s + 1.094s
8. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m35.111s + 1.182s
9. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda 1m35.282s + 1.353s
10. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m35.301s + 1.372s
11. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m35.331s + 1.402s
12. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 1m35.418s + 1.489s
13. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m35.419s + 1.490s
14. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m35.423s + 1.494s
15. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m35.622s + 1.693s
16. Loris Capirossi Pramac Ducati 1m35.826s + 1.897s
17. Toni Elias LCR Honda 1m36.196s + 2.267s

 

[ranhammerR34]

No pictures of Mrs Stoner or Mrs De Puniet?? disappointing.
Anywho, Colin Edwards is going to one of the new teams, Forward Racing, and Loris Capirossi is retiring.

Um Actually... No Mrs. Stoner.. but I do NOT have some Mrs. De Puniet. :/ I thought I did, but it was late in the day and the camera batteries was on there last leg. I also have MOAR if you guys want me to post. Breaking GOOD news.... Moto GP back at Indy for three more years! --- Randy

Major Edit: One of the cool events at that track was the Rider Q&A and Riders for Health Charity Auction at the Red Bull Energy Station Stage on Friday night. So I got some shots of the riders!

Speaking of the Texas Tornado...

Dani Pedrosa

Hiroshi Ayoama and Marco Simoncelli

Straight out of the OWB... The Kentucky Kid... Nicky Hayden!

The Ten-Tex Terror... Ben Spies!

The Doctor (No, no! Not Matt Smith!) Valentino Rossi!

Enjoy guys!

 

[Mike Rotch]

Awesome pics ranhammer! 👍

That 1M is .

I wont be staying up to MotoGP as its pretty boring now that Stoner is running away with it and Duke is still nowhere. Moto2 should be tasty though.

 

[adamp93]

I knew the Yamaha would be strong on such a twisty track and I was right, Lorenzo had a cracking ride. Good day for the Brits from Kent, Smith and Redding to top an all British podium in the supersport. Idiot of the year award to Johan Zarco, what was he thinking?? Does he ever want to win a race?

 

[YellowG1]

I knew the Yamaha would be strong on such a twisty track and I was right, Lorenzo had a cracking ride. Good day for the Brits from Kent, Smith and Redding to top an all British podium in the supersport. Idiot of the year award to Johan Zarco, what was he thinking?? Does he ever want to win a race?

Stoner chalked his third place up to fatigue. Would make sense considering he was right with Lorenzo for the first half, then faded big-time in the second half. But taking third on an off-day is exactly what you do when you're trying to win a championship. Hopefully he comes back full-strength in two weeks at Motorland Aragon. Still, Lorenzo rode very well-reminds me of his form last year!

On another note, the 1000cc test seems to have gone well for Yamaha. I fear for Pedrosa since Spies described the 1000cc riding style as "physical." Doesn't bode well for wood elves like Pedrosa...

 

[adamp93]

Good point regarding the 1000cc bikes but Stoner, everyone was in the same boat. It could have been, as Neil Spalding pointed out, the ECU getting him to the flag as Casey is so aggressive on the bike he would use more fuel than Dani; it may have been set to slow him steadily throughout rather than go into super-fuel-economy mode for the last 2 laps.

 

[YellowG1]

Some interesting news:

Ducati, err Rossi plans to try out an aluminum chassis for Aragon: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/173066/1/rossi_to_try_aluminium_chassis_at_aragon.html

Should be interesting to see if this bike has better front-end feel than the carbon fiber frame. I know I've read stuff that's said the carbon fiber frame is partly to blame for the bike's problems...

Also, MotoGP is coming back to Argentina, which should be cool: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/94541

 

[ranhammerR34]

Super cool news about Argentina! Rossi on that bike should be interesting.

 

[adamp93]

Just when we thought everyone was going to Motegi, there was an earthquake for the Indycar race there this weekend.

 

[Small_Fryz]

Some interesting news:

Ducati, err Rossi plans to try out an aluminum chassis for Aragon: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/173066/1/rossi_to_try_aluminium_chassis_at_aragon.html

Should be interesting to see if this bike has better front-end feel than the carbon fiber frame. I know I've read stuff that's said the carbon fiber frame is partly to blame for the bike's problems...

Also, MotoGP is coming back to Argentina, which should be cool: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/94541

At some race previous the commentators (I think the Australian ones) were saying that Ducati will almost definitely move to aluminum chassis next year as the Carbon Fibre one just isnt working.

Then BAM now they are testing one...

I cant help but think with Rossi / Burgess behind development they will make Ducati do what ever it takes (think back to when Rossi swapped tyre manufactures and won the title in 08) to be successful even if it means going against what was traditionally done (in this case carbon fibre chassis)

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Anyone watching Moto2 at Aragon? It's awesome - some of the best racing I've ever seen!

 

[Prince.M5]

Anyone watching Moto2 at Aragon? It's awesome - some of the best racing I've ever seen!

Exactly! Just that things started to settle down a little at the front in the last 6 laps but things got a lot hotter at the back

Looks like the title race is still on between Marc and Stefan! Just 6 points between them...


Hopefully MotoGP will be as awesome as this one!

LATE EDIT:

Also guys, I just noticed that all 3 of the Repsol Hondas have a different looking livery. Any reason behind that? Sorry I may have missed a lot

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Only if Stoner starts the race stoned.

 

[YellowG1]

Exactly! Just that things started to settle down a little at the front in the last 6 laps but things got a lot hotter at the back

Looks like the title race is still on between Marc and Stefan! Just 6 points between them...


Hopefully MotoGP will be as awesome as this one!

LATE EDIT:

Also guys, I just noticed that all 3 of the Repsol Hondas have a different looking livery. Any reason behind that? Sorry I may have missed a lot

Repsol had a contest for school-age children to design a one-race livery for the factory squad. That's why they had on bright orange leathers and that five-point star. The riders all had the same livery (except for Dovi, who had scrapes on his leathers ). It was bright, but kind of cool. Kind of a boring race overall though-I figured Stoner would ride away from everyone else, but I was more interested in how Rossi would do on aluminum-CF Ducati (good until the tire went off, but not a front-running pace).

I'm wondering if HRC would consider Bautista for the factory seat. He's done better than I would've expected on the Suzuki and Repsol loves their Spanish riders...

 

[Prince.M5]

Repsol had a contest for school-age children to design a one-race livery for the factory squad. That's why they had on bright orange leathers and that five-point star.

I see, now I know why it looked soo kid-ish

But honestly, I think I like that livery. The font used on Repsol, Gas and the numbers looked kind of cool!

The riders all had the same livery (except for Dovi, who had scrapes on his leathers ).

Oooi!

 

[spyrrari]

Yeah the moto2 race was epic!!...what a great new series this has become...




Motogp race was like the rest of this season:boring and very predictable




spy.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

The only thing I don't like about the circuit is the chicane. The circuit should keep going straight ahead at turn fourteen, connecting up to the long back straight.

Although that would be better for cars than bikes.

 

[YellowG1]

Yeah the moto2 race was epic!!...what a great new series this has become...


Motogp race was like the rest of this season:boring and very predictable


spy.

I'm at the point now where I look forward more to Moto2 than MotoGP and I LIKE Stoner a lot. Even though Marquez has won most of the last 10 races or so, the racing for the lead is always very, very tight. MotoGP still has the occasional battle for 4-6th usually or between the back markers, but it's much more exciting when it's a lead change, rather than 12th place passing 11th place. I'm sure the number of lead changes in the Moto2 race was over 20, as opposed to 3 for MotoGP.

 

[adamp93]

The only thing I don't like about the circuit is the chicane. The circuit should keep going straight ahead at turn fourteen, connecting up to the long back straight.

Although that would be better for cars than bikes.

They do for the cars, that's why you can take the tarmac short-cut like Simoncelli did in qualifying to get back to the pits quicker 💡

AS for Moto 2, I don't think I've ever seen a title race that's an absolute certain for a guy... who isn't even in 1st Marquez is absolutely unstoppable.

 

[YellowG1]

I know this is coming out of left field, but Honda 1-2-3 after Free Practice 2 at Motegi:

Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap
1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m46.790s
2. Casey Stoner Honda 1m46.844s + 0.054s
3. Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1m46.952s + 0.162s
4. Marco Simoncelli Gresini Honda 1m47.188s + 0.398s
5. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m47.310s + 0.520s
6. Nicky Hayden Ducati 1m47.381s + 0.591s
7. Hiroshi Aoyama Gresini Honda 1m47.765s + 0.995s
8. Valentino Rossi Ducati 1m47.975s + 1.185s
9. Hector Barbera Aspar Ducati 1m48.055s + 1.265s
10. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1m48.076s + 1.286s
11. Alvaro Bautista Suzuki 1m48.097s + 1.307s
12. Randy de Puniet Pramac Ducati 1m48.374s + 1.584s
13. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 1m48.379s + 1.589s
14. Ben Spies Yamaha 1m48.567s + 1.777s
15. Toni Elias LCR Honda 1m48.743s + 1.953s
16. Karel Abraham Cardion Ducati 1m49.305s + 2.515s
17. Kousuke Akiyoshi LCR Honda 1m49.464s + 2.674s
18. Shinichi Itoh Honda 1m49.673s + 2.883s
19. Damian Cudlin Pramac Ducati 1m51.349s + 4.559s

Spies struggling due to his illness, unfortunately.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Given my dislike of Stoner - in fact, I hear a few of the riders don't like him very much - I'm kind of glad that he cannot win the title easily in Australia. If he wins at the Island, Lorenzo has to finish third to keep the title fight alive. So Stoner really needs some results to go his way. Of course, Dovizioso and Pedrosa will no doubt ride shotgun for him.