Moto GP Round 1 SPOILER

[bizarro]

Hopper has always shown a ton of heart, imho. I've never doubted his committment. If he'd been on anything but a Suzuki since the switch to four strokes I really think we'd have seen him on the podium a lot more often. As for character, he's stuck with arguably the worst of the big four manufacturers even when he's had the chance to go to a better one because he believes he can get the thing to work. Hopper is a-ok in my book.

[Mookie]

Seems like everybody is going to have to find some way of catching up with the Ducati.  That speed differential is unreal!  It sort of reminds me of when the first 990's came out and the Desmodecci was blowing doors too, but not by quite as much.

The Yamaha seemed to handle really well but couldn't come close on the straights, the the poor Honda looked terrible under braking.  The Suzuki didn't seem like it was special at anything (besides rediculous corner angles) but at least the tires lasted the whole race, unlike every race last year.  

Ought to be an interesting season, unless the the duck stays 20 mph faster, which I don't see happening too much longer.

Go Hopper!  And Nicky too, I'm sure they'll figure out their set up soon enough.

[phoenix]

Come on now fella's, there were 2 other Ducati's in the race, and they didn't finish on the podium, now did they? Yeah, Stoner had it dialed in and pulled like a freight train down the front stretch, but where did the other Duc end up (that finished the race)? 9th or so? Edwards on the second Yamaha finished 5th, so there were 2 Yamaha's in the top 5.

edit to say:
Alex Barros finised 9th. Alex Hoffman on another Ducati finished 11th. Capirossi crashed.
2 Yamaha's, 3 Honda's and 2 Suzuki's finished better than the second Ducati. I'm just sayin' ...

[tbzep]

Honda's "terrible" braking was greatly exaggerated due to Pedrosa's horrendous braking (compared to the rest of the top 10 riders).  The Hondas didn't look all that bad on the brakes with the other Honda riders.  
The Duc definately has more power right now.  Stoner was accelerating much harder out of corners than Val.  In reference to Stoner's lack of experience...Stoner probably has more track experience than anybody in the field.  He was in direct contact with the tracks more than anybody last season.     Good to see him keep it on two wheels the whole race.  

I don't see Honda getting Nicky's bike sorted out this season.  I suspect they will do all they can for Pedrosa, and if it happens to suit Nicky on a particular track, then so be it.  It will be up to Nicky to overcome his bike's deficiencies this year.

Hopkins gets a big thumbs up for a good finish in pain...not unlike Nicky last year. Suzuki gets it too, for giving him a ride that stayed in the top 5.  
Val gets a big thumbs up for riding the snot out of the bike all the way to the apex of each turn.   Yamaha just needs to give him some V-4 Duc power to finish out the ride.
Stoner and Ducati get a big thumbs up for dropping the hammer after each apex and not crashing.  

[scott-sts]

Come on now fella's, there were 2 other Ducati's in the race, and they didn't finish on the podium, now did they? Yeah, Stoner had it dialed in and pulled like a freight train down the front stretch, but where did the other Duc end up (that finished the race)? 9th or so? Edwards on the second Yamaha finished 5th, so there were 2 Yamaha's in the top 5.

edit to say:
Alex Barros finised 9th. Alex Hoffman on another Ducati finished 11th. Capirossi crashed.
2 Yamaha's, 3 Honda's and 2 Suzuki's finished better than the second Ducati. I'm just sayin' ...


All I'M saying is Stoner's Ducati was freaking fast!

[keystonejenks]

I suspect they will do all they can for Pedrosa, and if it happens to suit Nicky on a particular track, then so be it.  It will be up to Nicky to overcome his bike's deficiencies this year.

This was my feeling BEFORE the season. After the first race of the season, that feeling is getting stronger.

[bizarro]

If I were Nicky I'd look to move to anothe manufacturer, Ducati perhaps. With his larger frame and dirt-track background a bike with more power would probably suit him far better.

[JonS]

Also scratching their heads, must be Michelin, after Stoner set the fastest lap of the race on the last lap! In the post race interview, Rossi said he tried to catch Stoner, but his tires started to slide around, mean while Stoner lays down the fastest lap increasing his lead at the finish to 2.8 seconds.
DUCATI RULES!

That time is deceiving as Rossi slowed when he knew he wasn't going to catch Stoner. It always amazes me that the engineers will find a bunch of power for the Yamahas and Hondas when they find themselves being left in the dust.
 God, I'm glad the season is here!

[R Doug]

This was my feeling BEFORE the season. After the first race of the season, that feeling is getting stronger.

If I were Nicky I'd look to move to anothe manufacturer, Ducati perhaps. With his larger frame and dirt-track background a bike with more power would probably suit him far better.

+1


Nicky is on a bike owned by a Spanish team with a Spanish sponsor.  Pedrosa is Spanish and Nicky is the evil American.  

[MinnGreenGT]

Nicky is on a bike owned by a Spanish team with a Spanish sponsor.  Pedrosa is Spanish and Nicky is the evil American.  

While I don't necessarily think that they see Hayden as "the evil" side... I do believe that they see Pedrosa as the next "golden boy".  A "product" of Alberto Puig's "system" of grooming lower level riders to be the future stars of MotoGP (ever see Puig's comments on the Hayden/Pedrosa crash?)  Even last year it was pretty well known that they were using Nicky's bike as the "test mule" for new parts prior to moving them to Pedrosa's bike once they were deemed "worthy"... I don't think they ever really supported Hayden's drive to the championship until the very last race (something I think was evident by a lack of "team orders" in the 2nd to last race - when an overly-aggressive Pedrosa took out Hayden).

Also, despite it's Spanish ties - I believe the a HRC Honda is still very much a Japanese manufacturer-driven team.  Anyone ever read Rossi's autobiography?  It's has some interesting insight into HRC (and how it contrasts to Yamaha).

Sadly though - I don't foresee it being a good year for Nicky... and while he's still under contract with HRC for this year - I don't know that he'll be staying with them after his current contract is fulfilled!

[bizarro]

Just a BTW:

It wasn't just Stoner's Ducati that was fast as hell:

http://www.motogp.com/en/motogp/motogp_news.htm?menu=news&news_id=19126&championship_id=3§ion=1

[Gaolee]

Just a BTW:

It wasn't just Stoner's Ducati that was fast as hell:

http://www.motogp.com/en/motogp/motogp_news.htm?menu=news&news_id=19126&championship_id=3§ion=1

Maybe a Duc rider will be champion.  It would make for an interesting change of pace.

[Busy Little Whiner]

Maybe a Duc rider will be champion.  It would make for an interesting change of pace.

Either Ducati Honda Suzuki or Elmore will do... it's time for the V4s to shine...

[Gaolee]

Either Ducati Honda Suzuki or Elmore will do... it's time for the V4s to shine...

Then I guess I better be rooting for a Yamaha or Kawasaki!

[falcofred]

Why Ducati dominates
Ducati sells motorcycles in order to race motorcycles
The other manufactures race motorcycles in order to sell motorcycles

Ducati is a racing company that sells motorcycles to support their racing