So have people ALREADY lost interest in MotoGP?? **SPOLILER ALERT**

[Crankitup]

I thought I'd look in Pit Row for a thread where I could post my thoughts about the Aussie 1,2 at San Marino & for the first time I find nix. Absolutely bloody nothing on the San Marino GP.

Oh well. Congrats to Stoner & Vermeulen anyways.  Just need the new boy Westy to start firing now & we could see an Aussie 1,2,3 before the end of the season.

   

[DogBoy]

Would you mind putting the word **SPOILER** in your thread title when discussing race results?



We have just finished a three-day holiday weekend in the US (and Canada, IIRC) so many people may not have been home to watch the races. Congratulations to Stoner, Vermuelen and Hopkins.

[Jason F.]

And to answer your question yes I have lost some interest in it. I like to see good tight racing and tight points battles. When you have single digit points counts separating the top two riders in AMA Superbike I would rather watch that. I still watch the MotoGp stuff but only because I record it on the DVR and fast forward through the crap and the commercials.

[Jeff N]

Watched the recording of all the weekend's racing last night after work.

Big up to Stoner. He's crashed his way up the totem pole from 125s and now has learned not to crash at all. Another proof to the old axiom that a fast racer can learn not to crash, etc. It's also great to see Ducati on top.

Poor Pedrobot. Now he knows what it feels like. It's a shame Hayden got caught up in it.   He seems to be regaining some form and he's good to go for 2008.

Melandri is just plain crazy. Did you see his Saturday crash?

Running the Misano course backwards isn't very interesting. I prefer the old way, like on my World Superbike 2000 PC game.

[Crankitup]

Would you mind putting the word **SPOILER** in your thread title when discussing race results?



We have just finished a three-day holiday weekend in the US (and Canada, IIRC) so many people may not have been home to watch the races. Congratulations to Stoner, Vermuelen and Hopkins.

Sorry. I thought enough days had elapsed so that it wouldn't be a concern. Fixed now.

Didn't know about the holiday situation as I'm in Oz.
 

[Crankitup]

....

Melandri is just plain crazy. Did you see his Saturday crash?

Running the Misano course backwards isn't very interesting. I prefer the old way, like on my World Superbike 2000 PC game.

Yep - Melandri - unbelievable.

I agree with your comment on the course direction too. I like anti-clockwise much better.

[Jules]

In my wildest dreams I would not have predicted that any rider would have an 85 point lead with 5 races o go!

Stoner still rode really hard even though Rossi and Pedrosa were out - I admire that in a racer.

[badger]

In some odd way, this 800cc configuration works for stoner.  The Ducati/Bridgestone combo is clearly the superior bike (well duh!) but Stoner is riding the hell out of it.  I think there are gonna be a lot of extra practice days over at Honda and Yamaha at the end of the season.

[Crankitup]

In some odd way, this 800cc configuration works for stoner.  The Ducati/Bridgestone combo is clearly the superior bike (well duh!) but Stoner is riding the hell out of it.  I think there are gonna be a lot of extra practice days over at Honda and Yamaha at the end of the season.

Bridgestone, Yes. I'm not sure how much superior the Ducati is though, when the other Ducati rider regularly gets spanked by riders riding for other manufacturers.

[strider]

What were Yamaha thinking?  Racing with the pneumatic valved engine when Rossi still had a chance at the title?  

It's a shame the suicidal Frog ruined Pedrosa and Hayden's race, it may have been a lot closer.

Of course, congrats to the Ozzies - although the battle between Westy and Elias was one of the few entertaining segments.  To answer the title question though, I don't think any Australians would have lost interest.  

Seems like Bridgestone is the only tyre manufacturer to do their homework - particularly with Michelin losing the advantage with the new tyre rules.  

[phoenix]

I haven't heard yet - what mechanical problem did Rossi suffer?


oh, and it has become a little boring. Any race where one or two guys run away with the lead can be boring. But when he's doing it race after race, almost makes me wonder how they are cheating and getting away with it.

Motocross racing was reflecting this sort of "boredom" for a few years when it was Ricky Carmichael versus the rest of the field, and RC usually won. Now James Stewart has kinda taken over the thrown, as long as he can stop injuring himself from going 110% on every lap of every heat. Maybe some guys from the lower classes will make for more competition next season. Even so, it seems like 85% of the field could be holding their own separate race as the leaders get sooooooo far ahead.

[Crankitup]

What were Yamaha thinking?  Racing with the pneumatic valved engine when Rossi still had a chance at the title?  

It seems like they know what went wrong now and they're of the opinion that it was a problem that could quite easily have cropped up with the old engine. They are still going to use it in the next race.

http://www.crash.net/news_view~cid~6~id~153969.htm

[Crankitup]

I haven't heard yet - what mechanical problem did Rossi suffer?

It LOOKED like a seized engine, but they haven't elaborated yet.

[Tyrroneous]

What were Yamaha thinking?  Racing with the pneumatic valved engine when Rossi still had a chance at the title?  

Sometimes ya gotta die trying.  I believe that's what Rossi and Burgess were thinking.  Rossi knew that if he didn't get a win at Misano that the championship was pretty well over.  So why not go for broke?


Maybe they should just shorten MotoGP races to 10 laps.  At least it would keep them interesting.  

[Aero]

I was also amazed that there was nothing posted about the MotoGP for a couple of days, but then I realised that a lot of people were away over the weekend.

I'm so impressed with Stoner and Ducati, it seems to be the perfect combination at the moment. I love to think of all the megabuck Japanese companies trying so hard and still failing to beat relatively tiny Ducati, a real David and Goliath story.

Pity that Rossi was out so early, I'm sure the racing would have been closer with him still on the track. I'm sure Yamaha will find some more speed with the pneumatic valve engine which allows the engineers to have more radical valve timing and greater valve control like the Ducati's desmodromic system does.

Don't know if Honda has anything new up their sleeve for 2008? They will need something if they want to start winning again, especially with Suzuki and Kawasaki getting more competitive all the time.

[Mr Sunshine]

Well my cable company (comcrap) switched the software on the DVR to this crappy TV Guide software.  It blew up all of my subscriptions and there is no way now to say "record all motorcycle racing" so the GP wasn't recorded.

 


So I'm watching it off of motogp.com right now.

[strider]

Maybe they should just shorten MotoGP races to 10 laps.  At least it would keep them interesting.  

MotoGP is also a test of endurance - bike, tyres and rider, the competence of the crew behind the scenes and also the design engineers back in the factory.  Sometimes the best ideas just don't work as per the design.

If you like short races, come over to Australia and watch the domestic series.   Great riders, well prepared machines but nowhere near as interesting as MotoGP, World Supers or BSB.


 

[hig4s]

I haven't heard yet - what mechanical problem did Rossi suffer?


oh, and it has become a little boring. Any race where one or two guys run away with the lead can be boring. But when he's doing it race after race, almost makes me wonder how they are cheating and getting away with it.

Motocross racing was reflecting this sort of "boredom" for a few years when it was Ricky Carmichael versus the rest of the field, and RC usually won. Now James Stewart has kinda taken over the thrown, as long as he can stop injuring himself from going 110% on every lap of every heat. Maybe some guys from the lower classes will make for more competition next season. Even so, it seems like 85% of the field could be holding their own separate race as the leaders get sooooooo far ahead.

I take it you have not been paying attention to MX lately?  Stewart is hurt, out for the season. Not only will he not win the outdoor championship, he will finish behind Carmichael who is only racing part time.

Back on Subject, I watch MotoGP when ever I can. But when I can't I prefer not to know hoping I can see a re-run..

Seems like some of the fastest guys are having some real bad luck this year.  Still Stoner looks solid, could still be the leader even without the others having bad luck.

[R Doug]

I for one and ticked!  For the first time ever, my Tivo did not pick up the race.  I had to get the highlights on the "Speed Report."  ARGH!  

[pearsonm]

I hope this season will inspire Rossi to come roaring back in '08.

I can't help but wonder if the 800's will reduce the number of competitive engine formats. With the 990's, any configuration made way too much power so the name of the game was power management. This season, the inline fours just aren't competitive and it appears to be due to a lack of power. It will be interesting to see what Yamaha (and Kawasaki?) do going forward.