2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing

[Michael Herrmann]

i would not get to exited about the race tomorrow there is a high change of sandstorms and heavy rain they sayed in DSF (germanTV)
and if it will be rain they dont race at all

 

[Stefan Werner]

Sounds like a possible repeat of last year. Oh well, worst case, the event gets pushed back a day. *shrug*

 

[Ross Balfour]

When does qually start?

 

[Michael Herrmann]

125ccm is over,MotoGP is over, Moto2 is running for 10 more min

 

[Ross Balfour]

MotoGP isnt live on Eurosport, anywhere I can get a link to it?

 

[Stefan Werner]

MotoGP isnt live on Eurosport, anywhere I can get a link to it?

The only live broadcast on the net would be on MotoGP.com, but they charge a pretty for their service. However, if you are just looking for the results, their site is worth checking out.

 

[Lee Downham]

Stoner ... bah ... ham fisted bloke who is being taken care of by his electrics and bike, and about as exciting to watch as it is sitting in Tesco's car park waiting for your mum to do a "big shop"

Rossi FTW ... and whether he does or doesn't do it, he is still bloody exciting to watch.
Shame ol' Elias ain't kicking it up this year ... wish he could have found consistency cos it always made for interesting races when he got on form, right back to his 125 days.

I wanna give a shout to Bautista ... like his cheeky quick chappy ways - hope he does well.

All in all though what is happening in MotoGP these days?
17 riders in total, that's just wrong ... something's seriously out of kilter there - sort it out Dorna, and don't blame the recession, its the rules that are killing private entries these days ... also 10 out of the 17 riders are Spanish or Italian ... with 3 Yankees and a smattering of other nations to make it a "world title".
Was watching WSBK a couple of weeks back and the number of MotoGP and other world class riders there is incredible ... 28 of em in total properly from all over the world ... and the number of fast Brits or Irish is pretty mad ... something like 4 of em challenging for pole at Portimao the other week.
If World Superbikes can fill the grid with loads of international stars, how come MotoGP the (supposedly) most prestigious one of the lot can't do it?

 

[Michael Herrmann]

Moto2 is doing well 41 entrys was realy exiting to watch that qualifying, only thing i dont like at Moto2 is all use the same engien
but anyways a lot of different chassis that make up for it and could also be a winning formula for the MotoGP. i realy hope that the
Dorna will go 4 stroke in the 125ccm too back in the days as tehy came up first with this concept they was talking about
1000ccm for MotoGP, 600ccm for the Moto2 and 400ccm for the Moto3 would be nice to see even the 2 strokes where hell of fun

 

[Michael Herrmann]

pffffft former DSF since today Sport1 shows football insteed og the 125cc race.................... first eurosport screws up the lms race broadcast
and now this little s...... prefer to stay on some english football game as someone here in german would care anyways about english football

 

[Ross Balfour]

WOW what a race! I really didn't expect Stoner to hit the floor, if anyone I thought Rossi would trying to catch him. Great to see Dovi and Hayden mixing it up with the "aliens" proving they aren't as untouchable as everyone thought. Spies and De Puniet are the heroes of the field this year, keeping the factory riders honest.

 

[Jay Adgie]

Qatar MotoGP: Valentino Rossi wins, Casey Stoner crashes

By Matthew Birt - MCN
MotoGP
11 April 2010 21:48



Valentino Rossi won the first race of the season for the first time since 2005 tonight after a gripping opening to the new MotoGP campaign in Qatar.
The reigning world champion triumphed by just over a second from Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo after red-hot pre-race favourite Casey Stoner crashed out of the lead on lap six at the fourth corner.

Stoner had quickly disposed of the typically fast starting Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa and a fourth successive victory at the Losail International Circuit looked a formality.
But with the Australian 2.093s clear of Rossi having just lapped 1.1s faster than the Italian, Stoner lost the front of his factory Ducati GP10 and was unable to restart.

His shock blunder handed Rossi a 78th premier class victory, but the Fiat Yamaha rider was certainly made to work hard for the first 25-points of 2010.
Rossi had taken second from Pedrosa on lap five but he was never able to pull away from the chasing pack once Stoner had crashed out of contention.
He came under severe pressure from compatriot Andrea Dovizioso and the superb Nicky Hayden before prevailing in an enthralling 22-lap encounter.

Rossi did briefly surrender the lead at the end of lap 16 when Dovizoso’s factory Honda RC212V, which was noticeably fast in a straight line, slipstreamed Rossi’s Yamaha YZR-M1.
But Rossi, who is chasing a tenth world title in 2010, immediately retaliated with a clinical pass on the brakes at the first corner on lap 17.

Rossi was then able to open out a comfortable advantage and he started the penultimate lap with a healthy 1.656s lead.
Second place went to Lorenzo, who again put in a brilliant performance on worn race tyres. The Spaniard was some way off the fight for the podium before he staged a stunning fightback in the second half of the race.
He dropped Hayden back down to fourth on lap 20 and then immediately produced another superbly executed overtake on Dovizioso on the same lap to claim second.

British GP winner Dovizioso claimed third, largely thanks to the top speed of his RC212V machine.
He’d been overtaken by Hayden on the last lap but exiting the final corner, Dovizioso won the long drag to the finish line by just 0.011s to deny American Hayden a deserved second rostrum finish for Ducati.
The Kentucky rider rode superbly throughout and he finished fourth ahead of compatriot Ben Spies on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha machine.

Starting from 11th, Texan Spies clawed his way through to seventh on the first lap and he took fifth from the fast fading Pedrosa on lap ten.
The reigning World Superbike champion though was powerless to chase down the battle for the podium, but fifth is his best ever MotoGP result and already betters any performance by British rider James Toseland, who left Tech 3 to make way for Spies.

Randy de Puniet rounded out the top six on the LCR Honda to finish ahead of Pedrosa.
The triple world champion stormed from seventh on the grid to grab the holeshot but he was unable to maintain his pace and dropped back through the field. He eventually finished over 15 seconds behind Rossi but comfortably ahead of Colin Edwards in eighth.

Aside from Stoner, Mika Kallio also crashed his Ducati GP10, the Finn falling out of 15th on the lap three.
Spanish rookie Alvaro Bautista also fell off his factory Suzuki GSV-R in the closing stages.

1 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 42'50.099

2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha +1.022

3 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda +1.865

4 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati +1.876

5 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +3.903

6 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda +9.322

7 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda +16.508

8 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha +19.867

9 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +20.893

10 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP Honda +21.100

11 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +31.638

12 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati +32.573

13 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +40.780

Not Classified

Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 1 Lap

Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 15 Laps

Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 17 Laps

Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati 20 Laps

 

[Jay Adgie]

Rossi on his way to victory at Qatar - note red-hot brake discs

 

[Lee Downham]

giggle ... Stoner hit the floor ... giggle ... "expected Rossi to hit the floor chasing him" ... giggles even harder :wink:
(sorry Ross, but how many times have you seen Rossi crash during a race - one biggy a few years back which lost him the championship, once in the US, and ermmm Brazil I think was another I can recall ... there might be one or two others, but he doesn't crash often mate - unlike our ham fisted Aussie friend )

Best part of the race for me was Spies passing Danni, who Honda straight powered past Spies, who said "no you don't matey", tucked in to catch as much draft as he could and then threw it back hard under Danni under braking which pretty much said, "out the way I'm coming through whether you like it or not!".
Excellent bit of riding ... long may it continue.

Lorenzo's pass on Dovi was great - harsh but fair ... pretty insane and pretty much typical of his "do or die trying" style and attitude.

 

[Ross Balfour]

lol Lee, damn u and your misquoting

Rossi can screw up at the best of times, he is only human. I loved the commentators speechlessness when he fell. I love Toby, Julian and Spalding. It's worth the wait to see it almost live on Eurosport.

I love Spies's attitude, certainly not the newboy approach. He is silencing many people (including me) who didn't think he could get it here. I was big style wrong. I sit time for Motegi yet??

 

[Stefan Werner]

lolRossi can screw up at the best of times, he is only human.

His fans would probably disagree, but yes Rossi has cracked under pressure a few times over the past few years.

Casey's crash certainly came as a disappointed to me. After everything he went through last season, he certainly deserves a good season - the kid threw up in his helmet and kept going last year - talk about determination there.

Was really sicked to see Nicky up there and looking competitive. It's about damn time things started to come together for him. God knows he worked hard enough for it. While I knew Dovi would out drag him to the line, I give him props for shoving it under Dovi on the last lap. Great stuff!

Speaking of Dovi, when did the Honda become so fast in a straight line. Even with Hayden in his slipstream, he was pulling on Hayden pretty easily down the front straight. Dovi has looked strong throughout preseason and he is a man on a mission to prove himself, so I am sure we will see a few more strong performances from him this season.

I think the real hero of the race was Lorenzo, riding through his injury to make a late push for second and finishing just 1 second down on Rossi. I may not be his biggest fan, but you have to give credit where credit is due.

Spies also had a great ride to start off his MotoGP career. I don't know why it came as such a big surprise to everyone. Spies is someone that adopts quickly to new machinery, much like Rossi, and he has had a fair bit of time aboard MotoGP machinery now. I figured he wouldn't be on the podium, but if I had to have placed him before the race I would have guessed right about 7th or 8th. Which would have included Stoner, Pedrosa and possibly Edwards in front of him. Give him a few full race weekends and he will be up there battling for podiums.

Any ways, looking forward to the next race!

 

[Michael Herrmann]

agree Stefan, Spies did a awsome showing but it was not unexpected he is fast and he will be batteling for podiums verry soon and i am sure
he will have a run on the title next season

 

[Travis]

Excellent opening round of the MotoGP. Nice to see so many bikes in GP2!

As for the main event, gutted that Stoner lost the front end after backing off (read the Ducati press release for more info). Congrats to Fiat Yamahan for the one-two finish. Rossi did what he needed to, while Lorenzo rode a brilliant race while injured. Both have a nice points lead on Stoner going into round two.

Excellent ride by Dovi for third, although I was hoping Mr Nice, Nicky Hayden, would get a podium finish. Like his Ducati teammate, initial signs for the coming year are excellent.

Spies had quite a good debut race. Much like Toseland's entrance into GP racing, a little bit of track knowledge helped. Will be interested in how he fares in round two, I don't think Ben will be riding towards the rear like Toseland was. I think Spies is a little more gifted and has a better bike (although JT is far from talentless!).

agree Stefan, Spies did a awsome showing but it was not unexpected he is fast and he will be batteling for podiums verry soon and i am sure he will have a run on the title next season

All depends on the bike Yamaha gives him and/or what team Spies is in. Tech 3 have the best bikes Yamaha have ever provided them, according to Colin Edwards, so the results should be good if the riders are capable.

Cheers.

 

[Travis]

Here is the Ducati press release (for those interested):

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team #27) DNF
"The bike bogged at the start so I didn’t get away well but I felt good and I was able to pass the other guys. Once I got to the front I started to get into my rhythm but I lost the front end a couple of times in long corners so I made the decision to try to ride a bit smoother and not put so much pressure on the front tyre with the full tank. Unfortunately that is what led to the crash because looking at the telemetry I didn’t have enough load on the front, so I guess in hindsight I should have stuck to the way I’d been riding all weekend.

t’s my mistake and I apologise to the team because we’d done a great job this weekend and we leave empty handed. Having said that it’s not a complete disaster because we’ve found this weekend that the bike has improved in areas where we have struggled in the past – for example the rear grip was unbelievable - and we have a long, long way to go. I’m pleased for Nicky because he had a great race and I think we can both be confident and optimistic about the rest of the season with this bike.”

Cheers.

 

[Stefan Werner]

Yup, I saw that up on MotoGP.com. I think Stoner and Hayden compliment each other well, both seem to be very humble stand up guys.

 

[Michael Herrmann]

TJP Ben Spies have equal material to Rossie the deal was signed short befor the weekend on the other hand this contract includes
that Rossies motecdatas will from now on not be shared to other teams as it was last year where every Yamaha team had access
to his datas