It was a thing of beauty to watch, yet again, for the 2nd race in a row. I picked Rossi to win the WC this year from the beginning, and he is making my prediction come true. No, I am not counting out Pedrosa or Lorenzo, they are right there as well. However, at the end of the day, you'd be a fool to bet against Rossi. The guy is on a completely different level over everyone else.
Stoner has a big hole to dig himself out of if he wants to repeat. It is interesting how the Ducati was so dominant last year and Qatar aside has struggled. Its best tracks are coming up though. The lead three (Rossi, Lorenzo, Pedrosa) has clearly distanced themselves from the rest, with only Stoner maybe have a chance at the championship, IMO. As a Ducati fan I hope Stoner can reel off a few wins, and the lead three battle among themselves, taking points away from each other. As much as I can't stand the guy's constipated persona, my money is actually on Pedrosa this year instead of Rossi. Melandri is struggling mightily and probably won't finish out the year on the other factory Ducati. Hopefully 2008 won't mark the downturn in his career. The rumor before China was that he would replace Ant West at Kawasaki and someone else would take his spot at Ducati, possibly Biaggi. A Melandri/Hopkins Kawasaki team would be interesting.
Don't count out Ben Spies for that seat. They've already offered him a ride on one of their B teams, and he turned it down. Art
Reading about the Spies motgp-watch has been interesting. One month he is a sure thing for Rizla Suzuki, then the next he is going to be on a third bike with Schwatnz managing the team, then that would be too expensive and Kawasaki was looking at him, currently the rumor mill is that most likely he will be on a third Suzuki next year. While Suzuki has said he will not be under pressure for the two US races, I have to think the expectations for him to perform will be extremely high. Toseland has shown that a superbiker on a good bike can have strong finishes from the start, hopefully Spies will do well. I know I will compare him to the other Suzukis for comparison. Whether he is able to beat Vermuelen at Laguna remains to be seen. As far as Ducati goes, they seem to really be struggling. Stoner is the only rider who has had any real success with the 800. Capirossi won a race late last year at a track he is a master, and IIRC Barros got a podium last year, but that is it. If it weren't for Stoner's huge wins, concensus about the Ducati is that it is not at all competitive in '07-08. Melandri's floundering makes me wonder if a top rider would want anything to do with the red bikes. OTOH the chaos within the AMA probably also means that the two top riders (Mladin & Spies) will not be there after this year.
Nice race this past weekend in Catalunya, Spain. Lorenzo has a pretty nasty spill in an earlier session, and was not able to start the race. I haven't heard any news since then, but considering he banged himself up a couple of races ago, I wouldn't be surprised if he is sidelined several races, if not the rest of the season. It would be a shame if that were the case. Pedrosa ran away from the pack, so we were left to watch Rossi climb his way to 2nd place after starting 9th. In typical Rossi fashion, it was highly entertaining. He had a wicked battle with Stoner, swapping spots a couple of times. I don't know if it was those two's pace, but they only ended up about 2 1/2 seconds behind Pedrosa at the end, but it could have been Pedrosa backing off to cruise to the win. Quite incredibly, 3 of the top 6 finishers were riding Yamahas. If Lorenzo would have raced, you can bet he would of been in there too. Dovizioso finished 4th - very nice showing for him.
Yamaha pulled out the stops to give Rossi a good bike this year. The M1 is the class of the field atm. Lorenzo will have the skin graft on his finger today and be at Donington. Perdrosa high-sided badly during the Catalunya testing and was off to hospital for x-rays instead of testing the new engine.
Capirossi and Vermuelen have re-signed with Rizla Suzuki in MotoGP, so Suzuki is out for Spies next year. I wonder what effect, if any, this will have on both parties (Spies & Suzuki) for the Indy USGP. Since he is now essentially a lame duck, it might be that he remains highly motivated while the team's interest wanes, or vice-versa. Gibernau has reportedly signed to make a comeback and ride for Ducati next year, either on one of the customer Alice bikes, or possibly even a fifth bike from Ducati. IMO the former is more likely than the latter, spreading themselves too thin would be a mistake for Ducati. Of course the Hayden to Ducati rumors are still around for the second factory bike. After Elias' recent good showing, Alice is now also interested in re-signing him. A Stoner/Hayden/Gibernau/Elias lineup at Ducati would be pretty strong. Kawasaki is rumored to have a third bike next year (Hopkins and Melandri on the other two). Who will ride this remains to be seen. Who would want to ride it might be an even bigger question. Dovizioso, Spies, Bautista, and even West have been talked about for the third green bike. At least half of HRC/Repsol Honda will be on Bridgestones next year with Pedrosa. Who his teammate will be, who will ride the customer Hondas, and even how many Hondas there will be on the grid next year are unknown. Yamaha's lineup is all set with Rossi/Lorenzo/Edwards/Toseland. The looming issue however is what happens if Michelin pulls out of MotoGP. This wouldn't hurt Lorenzo and of course Rossi is already on Japanese rubber. Tech3 Yamaha however is all Michelin and reportedly pay Edwards not-insignificant salary. Tech3 could be hurting for cash badly if Michelin stays home, and hurting for quality tires if they stay.
Track is open next Thurs. with a pit walk from 2-5 PM for race day ticket holders. Looks like a lot of activity downtown all weekend.
My understanding is that Ben will ride Indy this year. I'll be there. He probably isn't going to ride Valencia for them though. His last American ride will be Laguna at the end of the month. I suspect he will be in MotoGP next year. There is a possibility however that he might sign to ride for one year here, with the second year of the deal in MotoGP. MCN stated, JiR has been talking with him regarding a Honda ride in MotoGP. Watch for an announcement in October. Art
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2008/Capirossi+and+Vermeulen+extend+Suzuki+deals+for+2009 It appears Spies will not be riding for Suzuki on a MotoGP bike next year.
Lets start a roll call of all the f-chatters that will be at the Indy Moto GP next weekend Starting with myself will be there on only sunday sitting in the corner 7 stands Who else is showing up?
I'll be there Thurs. for the pit walk. Friday. Staying downtown. Maybe Sat. Working for BSL on Sunday.
I'm another one on here that may go to Indy. Nephew has tickets, I'm not much into bikes, but since the F1 race is no more, the Moto GP might be something different to see.
They want him to stick around in the US for another season. There will probably be an announcement by his manager Doug Gonda about his plans the week after Indy. As you may know, Ben got an offer from JiV to ride for them in motogp. He hasn't accepted that offer yet..... Art
I will be there in the South vista, section 5, in an upper row. I don't know if this is considered a great section or not. I hope so! I plan to do the pit walk on Thursday too. Where is the Yamaha team staying? I would like to stay in the same hotel.
Not much into bikes? If after watching MotoGP doesn't change that, I suggest checking for a pulse! Greatest racing on the planet. I so wish I was going.
Thanks Art. Do you think I have a better chance of getting autographs at the hotel or at the Thursday pit walk? Does anyone have a list of events surrounding the weekend? What is going on? Is a group meeting up? I'll be going to Ram Brewery on Illinois St around 6 PM on Friday. It is near Circle Center. PM me for my number now if you may want to meet up.
One other thing - I know it will be motorcycle mania all weekend in the city. Is there any place where I can rent or borrow a sportbike this weekend in Indy? I don't even care if it's a 50cc Aprilia, I just want to ride *something* around! I am bringing my helmet up just in case.
now that spies wrapped up the ama championship, i bet he will be giving it his all big time trying to do well and incite interest.
It will be interesting to see how the newly announced rival MIC series compares to the DMG series. Apparently 3 of the 4 Japanese manufacturers are going to the MIC and will not be competing in the DMG classes. Perhaps Spies can make the same money on Suzuki in the MIC. Time will tell.
I was just at the track for 2 hrs. Pitwalk. This is a huge event. Displays, grandstands occupying space F1 never did. Big crowd for Thur. A lot of people from Europe.
