*SPOLIER ALERT* MotoGP Wins!

[fallenarch]

Congratulations to Lorenzo for a great season. I think his season shows the best qualities of a champion. He was consistent, smart, gracious to the fans/other competitors and really fast when he needed to be. He even did it on a bike that is obviously not quite up to the Hondas. Bravo Lo!

It will also be sad to see Casey go, as he is a great rider and anyone who wins the #1 plate for the next few years will have Casey not being there hanging over it. Hopefully Rossi will be competitive next year on the Yamaha, but Jorge has matured into a racing machine and I don't think Rossi will be able to intimidate him as he has in the past. As for Pedrosa, I don't get the steely eye feel from him yet. I think he is a talented guy on the best bike. It's hard not to see his crash today as a choke. It is unfortunate when events in the season actually prevent good racing. I think Jorge was hanging back on Pedrosa most of the second half of the season because second place was all he needed to win the title. We only really got to see Lo and Pedrosa "race" once this season.

Now that the title is decided, maybe for the last race we will see Lo, Stoner, and Pedrosa all racing for bragging rights!

 

[05 Busa LE]

Although I'm not a big Pedrosa fan, I think everyone was stunned when he wet down. But Lorenzo earned it with consistent results, and when he needed the win, he stayed back and surveyed the situation, and then made his move. Sort of like Rossi in the old days--when he was able to do so. Bravo, Lorenzo!

And again, Stoner showed what he was made of, and took a well deserved win.

I hope that Ducati can pull it together and get the bike straightened out for next year. It would be great to see Kawasaki jump into the mix, just before Suzuki's anticipated return.

 

[fallenarch]

Yes I know I spelled Spoiler wrong :duh:

I don't see Ducati coming back. There was an interview with Nicky Hayden and he said they had lost all of the setup gains and there was no rear grip and the bike will not turn. This is amazing to me because there is nothing in the basic layout of the GP12 that would not make it turn (V4 engine and beam frame). So this is purely a geometery/wgt. distribution issue. That means it's no seceret how to make it work. You also have to look at the riders Ducati has lined up and they don't have a Stoner who can ride a big wheel to a respectable finish.

I think they need to make an entire new bike, again. It's possible they are waiting to bring out the new bike until Rossi and his group are gone but I just don't know. This will be 3 all new bikes for Ducati in 2 years and they are no closer to the front than they were when Rossi got there. It is interesting that Ducati was bought by Audi: Ducati has a slick frame that has material/flex issues and Audi rules the technology to perfect chasis flex. But even if Ducati came up with something new that actually works, getting it perfected to the level of the M1 and RC212V is a monumental task - both of those bikes have been in development for nearly 5 years.

I think Ducati's problem is they need a rule change or a technology break through. I couple examples might be allowing double clutches (although Honda has that too) or other F1 technology into MotoGP. That's unlikely as it will run the cost of MotoGp participation up again. As long as the path to a winning bike is good fundamentals and a strong development program I don't see how you catch Yamaha & Honda. One thing that would allow different chasis approaches is to drop the control tire direction, but that opens up another can of worms. These things go in cycles and Honda has to stop out spending everyone soon, but will Suzuki & Ducati be willing to bet company threatening dollars on a MotoGP winner? Kawasaki has the resources but has never really shown the will to win MotoGP, focusing more in the "race what you sell" classes.

Another interesting issue is what to make of the CRT bikes. I don't see where they made the racing any better and you might say they got in the way of it, especially in the qualifying sessions. It will be interesting if they can tune the rules to allow a CRT bike to post a top 5 or 6 finish.

If the 1198 can actually be competitive in world pro racing then I could see Ducati just focusing on other racing classes. I don't think Honda has a first tier rider to take advantage of the bike now that Stoner is gone, so that might allow an opening for some other manufacturer to slip in a few wins. But as things stand right now, you would have to say that Yamaha is in a pretty good position right now to have a run at the top of MotoGP.

 

[cheferman65]

I eagerly await the return of King Rossi and all the moto2 up and comers. Yammer all you want about it. I enjoy watching him dominate and winning.

Good bye CS, thanks for the memories and the last few years, don't let the door hit you in the azz.