Brno MotoGP **SPOILERS**

[DogBoy]

Summer break is over. Everyone out of the pool!

Pedrosa and Stoner fast as usual. The interesting stories are Hopper guest starring on the second Suzuki and more Ducati soap opera. Will the frame provide front end feel? Will the bike put enough heat in the tires? Will Burgess have a new excuse? Will Rossi "find something" in the set up? Will Joan leave Fred? Will the bank foreclose on Jeb's farm? Will passion beat science?

[crashtech]

  ...For the love of GOD will there ever be any suprises in this series????....A man who follows it for a couple races can dictate who qualifies where and who is gonna win.... ....Same old song and dance again I see.....Glad Ben threw a spoiler in there this year.....Poor Rossi....Good to see Pedro on form again. Maybe he and Stoner can put a race on for us to get excited about...Great to see Hopper climbing up the times. Hope he does well but dont think he will get to the top 5 on the zuk...

[Blunder]

Hopper is having a resurrection of his career, it seems. He's certainly getting a lot of work.

[Kneescrubber]

Hopper is having a resurrection of his career, it seems. He's certainly getting a lot of work.

 


He and Chris Ulrich were offered up by John Ulrich. Neither has fulfilled John's expectations. They both make excuses for not winning.

[heinee]

...and John Hopkins still breaks like glass  

[motodog650]

...and John Hopkins still breaks like glass  

Hopper will not race after wet FP3 crash leaves him with fractured / broken fingers  

Pedro looks to be hard to beat Sunday.

Congrats to American Joe Roberts on his win in Red Bull Rookies Cup race one  

[richak]

  I just finished watching the 3rd practice. A wet session and Stoner and Lorenzo were separated by 5 thousandths. It amazes me how consistent top riders can be.

[phoenix]

the strangest thing I see this season is that Toni Elias has sucked so bad.

[garry]

the strangest thing I see this season is that Toni Elias has sucked so bad.

I'm kinda amazed by that as well. He kicked azz in Moto2 and can't run with the little dogs (let alone the big dogs) in MotoGP. It seems the guys that graduated from 250s are finally getting the hang of things and moving up. You would think WSBK would be the best training ground, but maybe they ride the 800s more like 250s than the 990s. Dunno. Maybe the skill set for Moto2 doesn't translate well to MotoGP since they are all running the same engine, and electronics tweaking is such a big part of MotoGP.

[DredheadV2.0]

I'm kinda amazed by that as well. He kicked azz in Moto2 and can't run with the little dogs (let alone the big dogs) in MotoGP. It seems the guys that graduated from 250s are finally getting the hang of things and moving up. You would think WSBK would be the best training ground, but maybe they ride the 800s more like 250s than the 990s. Dunno. Maybe the skill set for Moto2 doesn't translate well to MotoGP since they are all running the same engine, and electronics tweaking is such a big part of MotoGP.

How much difference is there between that LCR bike and the one DePuniet rode?

[mellow_gold]

Same old same old.  Moto2 was a great race...GP was a snore.  Very happy to see Rossi at least keep in touch this race. Hope that's a sign of things to come.

[DogBoy]

Good battle for 2nd thru 4th much of the race. You'd think with only 12 or 14 bikes finishing most races we'd see more detailed action on track. Lorenzo's save in Turn One was amazing. Can't come much closer to losing it. Cool seeing Stoner wanting to crush the competition so bad that he almost tossed away a 7+ second lead in the chicane but made a great catch and gassed it right across the edge of the next curb. Dude is an animal. No other way to describe him.  

I'll bet there are several more moments like that we never see. I guess thats why its better in person.

[mellow_gold]

I've been to a MotoGP race and watching it on TV is FAR superior to watching it in person as far as seeing all the action and following the race.

It's great to be there in person for the experience but it's not a very good way to watch a race!

[DredheadV2.0]

Yeah, I wouldn't call the MotoGP race a snoozer - Casey was amazing to watch, and there was certainly some tension seeing how the other dices unfolded.  I actually felt terrible for Dani, something I'd never thought I'd say.  The guy really does have gobs of talent, and the championship is better for him being in it (no matter how much I want Puig to walk off a building).  I was rooting for Suzuki all week, so of course I come away disappointed in their lack of a finish, but they have shown that with inspired riding their bike is not, actually, a complete pig.  If only Bautista would learn how to qualify better they might finish ahead of Spies one of these days.

But - I agree with MG about the Moto2 race.  Fucking barnstormer, especially the last third of it.  Really great to see Ianone back on form after wandering lost in the wilderness for most of the season - a very happy birthday for him.  I love seeing races where even 3 laps out there are still 5 riders who could take the win, and I'd never seen Marquez ride so aggressively.  Can't wait to see this kid on a MotoGP bike - actually all three of the podium finishers (him, Bradl and Ianone) have some righteous talent to offer the top class.

Edit - I had to quote my favorite comment from another site here: "...close hard exciting racing from Moto2 class yet again, plenty of close hard passes right down to the wire, oh and look:  No one was complaining about close passes either, maybe these guys should be the main event, and MotoGP bumped down."  Gotta admit, if any of the leading four guys were Simoncelli in MotoGP, he'd have been suspended.

But the best slice n dice, at least for the win, was definitely between Cortese and Zarco in the 125s.  After Terol blew up his Aprilia trying to fend them off, we were left with two guys who'd never won a GP race, one of whom actually HAD crossed the line first, twice, in previous races (Zarco) but had both of those wins taken away by Race Control.  Cortese had raced over 100 GPs, but never won.  Between the two of them, the hunger for the top step was palpable, such that they were lapping 1.5 sec faster than anyone in the chasing pack for third (of course that might also have had a lot to do with 5 kids with one brain between them fighting for the last podium spot).

Conclusion - I still love watching races from Brno.

[DogBoy]

Super-vital and extra-important Brno Monday test results for your speculative enjoyment:

Anyone not listed on a (1000cc) machine was riding an 800cc. Some are listed twice for this reason. Ducati only tested their 800cc bikes.

1. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda (1000cc) 1m 56.168s (57 laps)
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (1000cc) 1m 56.253s (28)
3. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing (1000cc) 1m 56.306s (24)
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 56.727s (58)
5. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 57.184s (15)
6. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (1000cc) 1m 57.264s (37)
7. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 1m 57.533s (78)
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 57.591s (74)
9. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda 1m 57.903s (56)
10. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 1m 58.266s (74)
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing 1m 58.387s (66)
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 58.492s (44)
13. Mika Kallio FIN Marc VDS Suter (1000cc) 2m 0.144s (81)

[DredheadV2.0]

So of the 800cc machines, Nicky's GP11.1 was right behind the two factory Yamahas?  Not bad for his first full day on it.  'Course he'd still be back of all the 800cc Hondas as well, if they'd tested, but it seems he likes it.  Hayden's last Tweet: "Bye bye GP11 bike it's all about GP11.1 from here on out... Solid day testing"

HRC wasn't using the same chassi from their last test, so it's basically a new bike for all the Honda pilots, and I think this is Yamaha's first test, so it looks like we'll be seeing all the usual suspects, or their machines at least, at the sharp end next year.

[DogBoy]

An ex-club racer on a local (San Francisco Bay Area) moto forum got to do the Ducati 2-up VIP ride with Randy Mamola last weekend at Brno. Pretty fooking cool.

Read about it here:
http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6746036&postcount=15

[heinee]

Soo, what's 90kg in amurican..i want to go on a ride on the 2 up Ducati

[DogBoy]

90kg = 198lbs.



I finally watched last weekend's Moto2 race. That was some real fookin' racing.  

[heinee]

90kg = 198lbs.

I finally watched last weekend's Moto2 race. That was some real fookin' racing.  

  Well, I won't be getting down to 90kg anytime soon then..

Yeah, the Moto2 race was fantastic  

[DredheadV2.0]

90kg = 198lbs.



I finally watched last weekend's Moto2 race. That was some real fookin' racing.  

I think the attached picture says it all.