The Marco Simoncelli MotoGP Thread

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 19 Apr 2013, 14:40

Conspiracy!
It was a Dorna representative starting the fire.
Their t-shirt with the firey logo (below) isn't meeting sales prognoses, so the company went to this extreme, by setting fire to a teams pit box, to create fan-interest in fire and Moto GP combined.

Anyway, I'm all set to watch the first free practice. Starting in five minutes...

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 19 Apr 2013, 16:54

FP1:

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 8.756s
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 2m 9.009s
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 10.356s
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) 2m 10.665s
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP13) 2m 10.801s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 2m 10.828s
7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 2m 10.910s
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 2m 11.232s
9. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 2m 11.929s
10. Ben Spies USA Ignite Pramac Racing (GP13) 2m 12.813s
11. Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) 2m 13.058s
12. Claudio Corti ITA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 13.321s
13. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 2m 13.339s
14. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 13.694s
15. Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) 2m 13.970s
16. Randy De Puniet FRA Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) 2m 14.530s
17. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (ART CRT) 2m 14.828s
18. Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) 2m 14.859s
19. Danilo Petrucci ITA Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 16.465s
20. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 16.481s
21. Bryan Staring AUS Go&Fun Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT)* 2m 17.441s
22. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) 2m 17.685s
23. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM CRT)* 2m 18.338s
24. Lukas Pesek CZE Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 18.684s
25. Blake Young USA Attack Performance Racing (APR-Kawasaki CRT) 2m 19.440s
26. Mike Barnes USA GPTech (BCL-Suzuki CRT) 2m 21.530s

Mike Barnes 12,774 seconds behind, in 20 corners.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 19 Apr 2013, 22:08

Jocke1 wrote:FP1:

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 8.756s
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 2m 9.009s
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 10.356s
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) 2m 10.665s
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP13) 2m 10.801s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 2m 10.828s
7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 2m 10.910s
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 2m 11.232s
9. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 2m 11.929s
10. Ben Spies USA Ignite Pramac Racing (GP13) 2m 12.813s
11. Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) 2m 13.058s
12. Claudio Corti ITA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 13.321s
13. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 2m 13.339s
14. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 13.694s
15. Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) 2m 13.970s
16. Randy De Puniet FRA Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) 2m 14.530s
17. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (ART CRT) 2m 14.828s
18. Andrea Iannone ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) 2m 14.859s
19. Danilo Petrucci ITA Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 16.465s
20. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 16.481s
21. Bryan Staring AUS Go&Fun Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT)* 2m 17.441s
22. Hector Barbera ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) 2m 17.685s
23. Michael Laverty GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM CRT)* 2m 18.338s
24. Lukas Pesek CZE Came IodaRacing Project (Suter-BMW CRT)* 2m 18.684s
25. Blake Young USA Attack Performance Racing (APR-Kawasaki CRT) 2m 19.440s
26. Mike Barnes USA GPTech (BCL-Suzuki CRT) 2m 21.530s

Mike Barnes 12,774 seconds behind, in 20 corners.

Marquez still has a quarter of a second on Lorenzo, and Pedrosa is looking VERY silly. Also, weren't the Ducatis supposed to struggle this week, having missed the test?

Anyway, roll on the weekend. It's going to be a good one!

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 20 Apr 2013, 19:34

Espargaro does a 2:06.1 to go as fast as Rossi's combined practice

Shadaza · Post by **Shadaza** » 20 Apr 2013, 23:24

roblomas52 wrote:Espargaro does a 2:06.1 to go as fast as Rossi's combined practice

He is just 0.009 behind Rossi in qualifying, Espagaro is on the 3rd row (9th) on a CRT bike. It is hard to make an equivalent to F1 but I would liken that to making it to Q2 in a GP2 car! Insane pace. The next CRT bike is 1.5 seconds behind in 14th!

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 21 Apr 2013, 11:07

Shadaza wrote:
roblomas52 wrote:Espargaro does a 2:06.1 to go as fast as Rossi's combined practice

He is just 0.009 behind Rossi in qualifying, Espagaro is on the 3rd row (9th) on a CRT bike. It is hard to make an equivalent to F1 but I would liken that to making it to Q2 in a GP2 car! Insane pace. The next CRT bike is 1.5 seconds behind in 14th!

He's riding like a man possessed. Great stuff. The BBC coverage was saying that Yamaha has an eye out on him, and might try to secure his services. I think I'd like to see him in a Ducati, actually.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 21 Apr 2013, 11:10

Logic should dictate that Honda kick Pedrosa's sorry arse out of the team and bring in Espargaro as his replacement. I would happily bet that Marquez will outscore Pedrosa this year even though it's his debut year in the top class.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 21 Apr 2013, 22:03

Marquez!

Crashed in FP3, but still got pole. Chose an awkward rear tyre for the race, and was still the undisputed winner. And he won against the strongest oposition out there: nobody fell off ahead of Marquez, nobody made mistakes; there was no rain, no fog, no Martian invasion. No, it was all about Marquez.

I can't wait to see him and Lorenzo have a proper dogfight. The fastest, most talented men in the world head to head - it should be great.

Post by **Ataxia** » 21 Apr 2013, 23:19

He won in his second race. That says everything, really. Marquez has outraced Pedrosa in both, and looks like he could be a real contender.

F1000X · Post by **F1000X** » 22 Apr 2013, 03:19

Dani Pedrosa must be losing his mind. The age of Mark Marquez has begun.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 22 Apr 2013, 06:55

Ataxia wrote:He won in his second race. That says everything, really. Marquez has outraced Pedrosa in both, and looks like he could be a real contender.

I think Lorenzo will ultimately win the Championship this year, but Marquez will run with him. I was very impressed by Marq both races: aggressive but fair and under control. Very, very good.

F1000X wrote:Dani Pedrosa must be losing his mind. The age of Mark Marquez has begun.

If I were Honda I'd keep Pedrosa on board. He is a valuable second rider.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 22 Apr 2013, 07:39

The thing with Austin was the imbalance between the bikes, Honda were always going to do well there because of the extra time they had testing and the characteristics of their bike. It was the perfect opportunity for Pedrosa to exert his influence on the team, but he cocked up, and Marquez grabbed it with both hands. Brilliant ride to victory.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 22 Apr 2013, 12:18

I think that Dani Pedrosa must be in the doldrums now. From what I can perceive, only a monster stroke of luck can bring him the coveted championship. This was supposed to be his year after Stoner left.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 24 Apr 2013, 15:55

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2013/Vale ... rgy+Report

'The Doctor' climbed into the steel tube framed car, flipped the switch and the 358 cubic inch, 650-horsepower engine fired to life in a deep V8 growl. Rossi then dumped the clutch, fired through the gear pattern and motored out onto the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway...

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 24 Apr 2013, 16:19

This had me search my computer for an article I saved a few years back.

Following a thrilling victory in Barcelona, when he overtook Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo in the very last corner of the race, reigning MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi revealed he has set a couple of new challenges for the future. Aside from going after his 100th win in the FIM Road Racing World Championship, Rossi is also looking to debut in the famous North American NASCAR Series or the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. First thing's first, however, as Rossi admitted the first objective is to clinch his 100th win in the series. The Italian rider admitted this will more than likely come during the course of this year, as he needs to keep winning races if he wants to defend his world title.

As he goes for both targets this season, at least one more win is a must in 2009. I hope it (the 100th win) comes eventually, even if I don't make an obsession out of that. My main objective this year is to win another MotoGP title and, if I want to become world champion, I need to win a race eventually. This way, I'll reach the 100th win, said Rossi in an interview with Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport. In addition, Rossi admitted that he is flirting with the idea of making debut in other racing series (four-wheel, this time), such as NASCAR or the Le Mans endurance race. Having already competed in the WRC and tested for Ferrari F1 Team in the past, trying out the two aforementioned series seem like the best way to complete his motor racing experience.

The things that are currently missing from my CV are racing in NASCAR and the Le Mans 24 Hours Race, a race that I love watching. I hope I'll compete in it some day added the Yamaha champion. Until then, Rossi will this weekend travel to The Cathedral of Motorcycle Racing, the Assen circuit in the Netherlands, for the Dutch GP. The Italian is currently tied for the championship lead with Lorenzo and Ducati's Casey Stoner, each on 106 points.\

So:

MotoGP
F1
WRC
DTM
Nascar

What's next?

Post by **Ataxia** » 24 Apr 2013, 16:30

DanielPT wrote:I think that Dani Pedrosa must be in the doldrums now. From what I can perceive, only a monster stroke of luck can bring him the coveted championship. This was supposed to be his year after Stoner left.

I didn't necessarily think so; Pedrosa has proved he doesn't really have the stamina over a season to fight for a title. I don't see why this season should be any different...

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 24 Apr 2013, 17:43

Ataxia wrote:
DanielPT wrote:I think that Dani Pedrosa must be in the doldrums now. From what I can perceive, only a monster stroke of luck can bring him the coveted championship. This was supposed to be his year after Stoner left.

I didn't necessarily think so; Pedrosa has proved he doesn't really have the stamina over a season to fight for a title. I don't see why this season should be any different...

Agreed. He's always been quite fragile and has had loads of injuries over the years. Considering he's been on one of the best bikes on the grid for 7 years, he should have done something with it by now. The fact is he's been consistently outperformed by other riders, whether that's Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo or even Nicky f***ing Hayden who we can all agree isn't anywhere near the talent of Lorenzo/Rossi/Stoner and likely Marquez as well. The fact Dani put Hayden in the gravel in Portugal and Nicky required Rossi to have an abysmal first half of the year to even stand a chance of winning says it all. Okay it was Dani's first season in the top flight, but he still won two races, hardly signs of being inexperienced. He just hasn't got the cutting edge that the top riders need to win championships.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 25 Apr 2013, 07:59

I'm not a fan of Rossi, have never been, but even I am enthused by his return to Yamaha. I loved his grit in Qatar, and was mildly disapointed by his performance in Austin. Well, it turns out that he had a broken brake disk!

crash.net wrote:“This is a difficult track for us. We expected to do better, but I had a lot of problems in the race because I had a problem with the brakes,” said Rossi. “I had a vibration in braking because I lost one part of a disc so this didn't help.

MotoGP bikes do close to 340 km/h at the end of the back straight in Austin, and here was this guy with a disk brake vibration caused by some bit falling off. Staggering!

Meanwhile, Ben Spies is out of the Spanish GP because of a nerve problem in his chest, still the resul of his crash in Valencia last year.

Poor old Ben Spies, his luck makes Mark Webber look like a 2-times Jackpot winner. The day it rains pretty redheads on the grid, he'll somehow end up with a monkey on his lap.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 03 May 2013, 11:33

Free Practice Nr. 1 Classification

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 290.0 1'39.701
2 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 292.5 1'39.704 0.003 / 0.003
3 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 286.7 1'40.067 0.366 / 0.363
4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 290.9 1'40.113 0.412 / 0.046
5 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 288.6 1'40.485 0.784 / 0.372
6 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 285.7 1'40.722 1.021 / 0.237
7 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 288.3 1'40.799 1.098 / 0.077
8 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 290.2 1'40.838 1.137 / 0.039
9 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 276.0 1'40.910 1.209 / 0.072
10 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 288.8 1'40.944 1.243 / 0.034
11 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 285.3 1'41.078 1.377 / 0.134
12 51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ducati Test Team Ducati 284.2 1'41.326 1.625 / 0.248
13 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Blusens FTR 278.4 1'41.340 1.639 / 0.014
14 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 276.2 1'41.431 1.730 / 0.091
15 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Avintia Blusens FTR 278.7 1'41.671 1.970 / 0.240
16 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 276.4 1'41.764 2.063 / 0.093
17 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 287.3 1'41.778 2.077 / 0.014
18 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Paul Bird Motorsport ART 274.4 1'42.155 2.454 / 0.377
19 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 274.8 1'42.160 2.459 / 0.005
20 71 Claudio CORTI ITA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 275.9 1'42.727 3.026 / 0.567
21 67 Bryan STARING AUS GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda 275.2 1'42.941 3.240 / 0.214
22 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing ART 273.5 1'43.334 3.633 / 0.393
23 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 272.5 1'43.564 3.863 / 0.230
24 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 273.9 1'43.948 4.247 / 0.384

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 03 May 2013, 19:32

Espargaro is quickly aspiring to be one of the riders of the year...

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 03 May 2013, 21:19

Shizuka wrote:Espargaro is quickly aspiring to be one of the riders of the year...

He's going really well. The CRT's have new, class-specific tyres that are supposed to be better than the MotoGP's, but he seems to be the only one making the best of them.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 04 May 2013, 13:20

That was one of the most exciting MotoGP qualifying sessions I've ever seen.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 04 May 2013, 18:59

Nicky Hayden qualified that Ducati less than a second from pole. The Ducati is coming on, people!

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 04 May 2013, 20:48

CarlosFerreira wrote:Nicky Hayden qualified that Ducati less than a second from pole. The Ducati is coming on, people!

He was 1 second from pole last year at Jerez, as well (1.031). And he finished ½ minute behind the winner (+28.869).

Today he was 0.981 off the pole, so I predict he will again be 20-30 seconds behind the winner tomorrow.

johnnyCarwash · Post by **johnnyCarwash** » 04 May 2013, 20:54

CarlosFerreira wrote:Nicky Hayden qualified that Ducati less than a second from pole. The Ducati is coming on, people!

Hayden qualified the Duke on the front row last season with the same gap to Lorenzo's pole as his 7th place this season :shock:

(as mentioned by jocke1) ... how does that work?

I was rooting for Iannone to deliver the goods for ducati, but he fell in practice 4

I'm liking the new qualifying format (especially q1 because of the CRT prototype battle) but I do hope that the amount of riders falling is a unique situation of the Jerez heat rather than the pressure getting to the riders otherwise it can be dangerous...

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 04 May 2013, 21:02

johnnyCarwash wrote:I'm liking the new qualifying format (especially q1 because of the CRT prototype battle) but I do hope that the amount of riders falling is a unique situation of the Jerez heat rather than the pressure getting to the riders otherwise it can be dangerous...

this

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 04 May 2013, 21:19

johnnyCarwash wrote:
CarlosFerreira wrote:Nicky Hayden qualified that Ducati less than a second from pole. The Ducati is coming on, people!

Hayden qualified the Duke on the front row last season with the same gap to Lorenzo's pole as his 7th place this season (as mentioned by jocke1) ... how does that work?

I frankly didn't look up the numbers. I just wear a t-shirt with the Ducati logo and the words "I want to believe".

Jocke1 wrote:
johnnyCarwash wrote:I'm liking the new qualifying format (especially q1 because of the CRT prototype battle) but I do hope that the amount of riders falling is a unique situation of the Jerez heat rather than the pressure getting to the riders otherwise it can be dangerous...

this

To quote one of the most respected journous in the trade, and if you'll excuse (his) French...

JulianRyder wrote:This track is a bitch when it heats up and loses grip, especially if you've just slapped a new soft rear slick in and have your mind focused on the front row.

Aerospeed · Post by **Aerospeed** » 05 May 2013, 12:55

Marc, you idiot.

takagi_for_the_win · Post by **takagi_for_the_win** » 05 May 2013, 12:58

JeremyMcClean wrote:Marc, you idiot.

Jorge will get his revenge, mark my words...

johnnyCarwash · Post by **johnnyCarwash** » 05 May 2013, 13:07

takagi_for_the_win wrote:
JeremyMcClean wrote:Marc, you idiot.

Jorge will get his revenge, mark my words...

I think Marc wants that corner to be in his name

, entertaining stuff from him all race. What he can do on the bike is just jaw dropping

ROTR: Yamaha's pace

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 05 May 2013, 13:59

Todays battle between Marquez and Lorenzo gave me flashbacks of both Welkom 2002 and Jerez 2005.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 05 May 2013, 19:58

Espargaro only 2 seconds behind Dovi and ahead of Smith. His performance is reminiscing of Kubica from 2010.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 05 May 2013, 22:51

Jocke1 wrote:Todays battle between Marquez and Lorenzo gave me flashbacks of both Welkom 2002 and Jerez 2005.

The good old Jerez last corner "f*** you" pass. Doohan on Criville circa 1992 (3/4/5?), Rossi on Gibernau, and how many more there will be.

It's interesting to see that Lorenzo didn't try to defend into the corner. He thought that Marquez had dropped off after overdoing it into Dry Sack; clearly an error Jorge won't repeat. It is a terrible shame that Marquez ended up doing it to the wrong Yamaha. Would Valentino have seen it coming? And would he have responded on kind?

But it's also a statement of intention, a reminder that Marquez really is in it to win. I hope he doesn't get hurt or hurt anyone in the process.

Post by **mario** » 06 May 2013, 11:00

CarlosFerreira wrote:
Jocke1 wrote:Todays battle between Marquez and Lorenzo gave me flashbacks of both Welkom 2002 and Jerez 2005.

The good old Jerez last corner "f*** you" pass. Doohan on Criville circa 1992 (3/4/5?), Rossi on Gibernau, and how many more there will be.

It's interesting to see that Lorenzo didn't try to defend into the corner. He thought that Marquez had dropped off after overdoing it into Dry Sack; clearly an error Jorge won't repeat. It is a terrible shame that Marquez ended up doing it to the wrong Yamaha. Would Valentino have seen it coming? And would he have responded on kind?

But it's also a statement of intention, a reminder that Marquez really is in it to win. I hope he doesn't get hurt or hurt anyone in the process.

It did look like Marquez was coming from a very long way back and at an angle that would have made it difficult for Lorenzo to see where exactly he was coming from, so it's probably the case that Lorenzo didn't defend against the move because he couldn't see Marquez coming. If it had been Rossi, perhaps he might have anticipated the move but, equally, he might have also have thought that Marquez was too far back to make the move stick and been caught out too (especially since you have to wonder, given the line and speed Marquez was taking into that corner, whether he could have made it round at all without banging into Lorenzo).

As for the move being a statement of intent, isn't it the case that Marquez did a few similar moves in Moto2 in previous years (and was at one point penalised for it, although the penalty was overturned on appeal)? Perhaps it's his way or making a statement on track, but it wouldn't take much for him to overdo it and end up taking out somebody in the process.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 06 May 2013, 16:34

mario wrote:As for the move being a statement of intent, isn't it the case that Marquez did a few similar moves in Moto2 in previous years (and was at one point penalised for it, although the penalty was overturned on appeal)? Perhaps it's his way or making a statement on track, but it wouldn't take much for him to overdo it and end up taking out somebody in the process.

Oh, absolutely. When I say statement of intent, I mean that Marquez is not going to be taking this as a rookie season, that he really is going all out in fight for the title as of now. The fact that he leads the Championship because of that manoeuvre just highlights the fact.

I worry that Marquez might overdo it, to be honest. The reason why I always idolised Stoner was the fact that he always came across as clean and fair, and the same goes for Lorenzo. Have a look at Stoner's pass on Lorenzo in T1 at Laguna Seca, 2011, or Lorenzo on Stoner in the high speed complex in Silverstone last year, and you'll see what I mean. It's also the reason why I always detested Rossi and Simoncelli - too many elbows, knees, sense of entitlement.

I really hope Marquez cleans up his act. He's got everything to be the next Doohan; I hope he doesn't decide to be the next Rossi.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 08 May 2013, 14:34

To be honest you could have bet your house on Marc trying something like that into the final corner

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 08 May 2013, 14:45

CarlosFerreira wrote:The reason why I always idolised Stoner was the fact that he always came across as clean and fair, and the same goes for Lorenzo. Have a look at Stoner's pass on Lorenzo in T1 at Laguna Seca, 2011, or Lorenzo on Stoner in the high speed complex in Silverstone last year, and you'll see what I mean. It's also the reason why I always detested Rossi and Simoncelli - too many elbows, knees, sense of entitlement.

But then Stoner always turned into a massive crybaby whenever things didn't go his way! We're complete polar opposites when it comes to who we like in MotoGP, because I've always been amazed by Rossi's ability throughout his career, and completely unimpressed with Stoner's "wring it to within an inch of its life and rely on the electronics to keep me up" attitude, because that's the only reason he was ever any good in my eyes. Before he hopped on that Ducati which was loaded with riding aids, he was known as a crasher, his 2006 was a complete mess. Not unknown for a rookie, I agree, but he'd hardly set the world alight.

Stoner is good at extracting the maximum out of a bike that has been neutralised by electronics, I'll give him that, but as a biker myself, I respect those who've proven that they can master a bike with knackered tyres and few aids, and still set fastest laps at the end of the race. And that's Rossi.

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 08 May 2013, 15:05

AndreaModa wrote:Stoner is good at extracting the maximum out of a bike that has been neutralised by electronics, I'll give him that, but as a biker myself, I respect those who've proven that they can master a bike with knackered tyres and few aids, and still set fastest laps at the end of the race. And that's Rossi.

I love how the Rossi-press always enjoyed following that line, that Stoner was only good because of the electronics. It's nothing short of the most massive amount of bollo**s I've ever heard. Ever. Reminds of the time when the British F1 press, enthralled by Hamilton's performances, put forward the theory that Alonso wasn't all that good, because he won his two F1 championships during the time when traction control was legal. Meh.

Stoner was always the rider who dialed down the electronics to the minimum, even compared to Hayden (who started life racing Harleys on dirt track), nevermind Pedrosa. The truth is Rossi, immensely talented and a complete rider that he is, is also an extrovert, flamboyant and larger-than-life character. Stoner, on the other hand, is an introvert perfectionist, and a workaholic at that. But on talent and pace alone, Stoner would run rings around everyone in the paddock, except maybe Lorenzo - and yes, that includes Rossi. And that's on worn tyres, and whatever electronics suite you care to mention.

I'll stand by this, and I am really sorry we don't have Casey around anymore to prove it. I wish Ducati made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Fortunately Marquez has some of that wild pace in him. Here's hoping the press and the small section of stupid "fans" (I refer to them as "idiots", but there you go) don't succees in driving Marc away the way they did Stoner.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 08 May 2013, 16:43

Whole Spanish Press reacts on Marquez-Lorenzo incident

Discuss. :ugeek:

CarlosFerreira · Post by **CarlosFerreira** » 08 May 2013, 19:05

FMecha wrote:Whole Spanish Press reacts on Marquez-Lorenzo incident

Discuss.

As amusing as the Spanish press commenting on the headlines of British papers after a Hamilton-Button clash.