MotoGP Silverstone ***SPOILER***

[motodog650]

Earlier today Lorenzo re-signed with Yamaha for two more years. Silly season is now officially in full swing...  

[garry]

I bet the second seat on the Yamaha team will interesting to watch. Can Spies get his act together and keep his ride? Will Crutchlow or Dovi swap rides with Spies? Would Rossi consider returning to Yamaha with Lorenzo on the team? Other?

[motodog650]

The big question in my mind is who will HRC put on Stoner's bike. You know it will be whoever they feel has the best chance to beat Lorenzo. So who is that ? Rossi, Marquez, Crutchlow, Spies? etc... Gonna be an interesting process for sure...

[Kneescrubber]

Crutchlow appears to be well on a satellite bike.

[DogBoy]

Rookie rule would seem to preclude Marquez getting Stoner's seat but were talking about a Spanish sponsor, a Spanish rider and the weather vane that is Dorna mgmt so who knows.

[crashtech]

This is going to be great to watch......Lorenzo secured his ride by his performance so far this year......I dont think Spies will IMO....aside from that I think Dovi and Crutchlow will move up to better things...They are fast this year!!

[Blunder]

Who's going to take Jeremy Burgess' place? His vacancy and whoever fills it might make a big difference on who goes where.

Silverstone? What a horrible track for TV. It looks terrible on the small screen. Crutchlow should do well, especially if it rains.

[Snowdog]

..aside from that I think Dovi and Crutchlow will move up to better things...They are fast this year!!

One of them has to move on, Bradley Smith has already signed for one of their places next year.

[garry]

One of them has to move on, Bradley Smith has already signed for one of their places next year.

I missed that. Smith sure isn't setting Moto2 on fire this season (no podiums). Can't imagine him jumping to MotoGP next year given the riders that are ahead of him in the standings...

[DredheadV2.0]

Smith's actually doing quite well to hang on to 10th in the points, given that Tech3's Mistral chassis is woefully underdeveloped when compared to the Kalex and Suter bikes (the only manufacturer doing worse is Moriwaki).  He's demonstrably much slower in a straight, maintaining his places only through artful work on the brakes and cornering.  Seems a wonderful-handling package like the M1 would be something Smith could do well upon.  We're going to find out I reckon.

[jfusaro]

The big question in my mind is who will HRC put on Stoner's bike. You know it will be whoever they feel has the best chance to beat Lorenzo. So who is that ? Rossi, Marquez, Crutchlow, Spies? etc... Gonna be an interesting process for sure...

The only person who can beat Lorenzo on the Yamaha after Stoner retires is, Lorenzo on a Honda

[motodog650]

The only person who can beat Lorenzo on the Yamaha after Stoner retires is, Rossi on a Honda

There, fixed it for you. Never say never...

[tomek]

  He's demonstrably much slower in a straight, maintaining his places only through artful work on the brakes and cornering.  

Explain it please , they all are on spec`d , sealed , tuned cbr600rr powerplants .


O.K. I will . He obviously  is loosing time in corners for whatever reason , maybe he can`t turn the bike mid corner , maybe he is missing some side grip there or perhaps has issue with running wide on exits or his rear tire can`t grip on exits .

My point is I doubt he is "  maintaining his places only through artful work on the brakes and cornering . "  
His slow straightaway  speed is strictly related to his and his bike corner performance  ( exit speed ) ,all those guys are on the same engines after all.

Rossi has peaked , Yamaha does not need him to win championships but I would not be surprised if they take him back for PR reasons , name recognition , etc , playing the role of some sort of ambassador once he retires .  

Rossi going back to Honda ? Fuggetaboutit , HRC won`t take him back .

[Orson]

Rossi is already slated for the MGS-1 ride in WSBK.

[DredheadV2.0]

My point is I doubt he is "  maintaining his places only through artful work on the brakes and cornering . "  

Point conceded; he's not getting the power down out of corners and/or not maintaining the same speed through curves that other riders are able to.  However... just because they're all using identical powerplants doesn't mean they're all capable of the same top speed on the same length straight.  Different aerodynamics, chassis (and rider) weight, and (though this speaks more to your first point) frame geometry play a role, no?

I think there's more wrong with his chassis than his talent this year.  We'll know for sure by the end of the 2013 season.  If his appearance in the top class is as short-lived as Toseland's, then it's likely he just couldn't cut it.  Certainly the two current Tech3 Yamaha pilots are putting that bike to good use, so there's going to be no excuses if Smith can't acquit himself well on it.

[jfusaro]

There, fixed it for you. Never say never...

Possibly, I'll give you that

[Blunder]

Enough silly season stuff.

1st practice session is wet and Rossi and Hayden at 1-2 with more than .5 sec to spare over Dovi, Stoner and Clutchrow.

[motodog650]

Silverstone FP2:


Pos.   Rider   Team   Bike   Time
1   Casey Stoner   Repsol Honda Team   Honda RC213V   2:04.791
2   Ben Spies   Yamaha Factory Racing   Yamaha M1   2:04.825
3   Alvaro Bautista   Honda Gresini   Honda RC213V   2:04.995
4   Nicky Hayden   Marlboro Ducati Team   Ducati GP12   2:05.353
5   Stefan Bradl   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda RC213V   2:05.391
6   Andrea Dovizioso   Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha M1   2:05.448
7   Jorge Lorenzo   Yamaha Factory Racing   Yamaha M1   2:05.488
8   Cal Crutchlow   Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha M1   2:05.574
9   Dani Pedrosa   Repsol Honda Team   Honda RC213V   2:05.886
10   Hector Barbera   Pramac Racing Team   Ducati GP12   2:06.084
11   Valentino Rossi   Marlboro Ducati Team   Ducati GP12   2:07.125
12   Randy De Puniet   Aspar Team MotoGP   ART   2:07.893
13   Michele Pirro   Honda Gresini   FTR   2:08.535
14   Mattia Pasini   $peedmaster   DRT   2:08.975
15   Yonny Hernandez   BQR   BQR-FTR   2:09.078
16   Aleix Esparago   Aspar   ART   2:09.379
17   James Ellison   Paul Bird Racing   ART   2:09.944
18   Danilo Petrucci   Ioda Racing Project   Ioda   2:11.325

Looks like that ol' washed up superbike rider Spies led most of the session and ended up just a tick behind super retiree Stoner...

[crashtech]

I hope Spies will be there after the first 5 laps but I wont hold my breath. Second on FP2 is not saying much...look at FP1, Rossi was first in the wet..........Lorenzo wont stay where he is either. He will move up come race day start. Hope it is a race and not a bunch of parade laps either way it goes...

Im thinking Rossi would be good on the Gresini bike....he (Gresini) is 3rd in FP2 with Bautista.....LOL

[mellow_gold]

Yeah a Gresini Honda ride for a couple of years would probably be a nice way for him to spend his last couple years. I also think it's possible he'll stick with Ducati given that there appears to be some major rule changes in the works that should make them more competitive.