The Racing Thread - THIS THREAD CONTAINS RESULT INFO

Originally Posted by Peter Henry

So the new boys on the Moto GP street, ILMOR get to run their 800cc prototype via wildcard entries in both the Estoril and Valencia races in a couple of weeks. They are not expecting them to be up with the leaders but I suggest it will be invaluable development track time for them.

Also having already signed up Gary McCoy,(Slide King!) maybe Marco will have some competition in the tyre smoking contest as Gary can sure slide a bike around,(and bin 'em!)

Good luck to the new team I say!

Any news on the BMW front yet?

Nah I cant see them coming to Moto Gp this next season.There would be too much hype going on about it if it were a genuine proposal I think.(Could be very wrong of course!)

But how about this interesting and thought provoking post from another site which considers the future of Nicky Hayden? Please remember, the post is from an American site and over there they are either very supportive or call him a no hope choker...which does seem very unfair.

Of the three manufacturers: Honda, Yamaha, and Ducati, it would seem to me that Hayden has a tough choice to make. It really depends on whether he would like to sacrifice 2007 for a chance to win in 2008 and beyond. In each case in 2007 he will have to beat a tough teammate first.

Honda: As I have stated before, Honda probably gives him the best chance to win races next year, although he almost certainly wil not really be the #1 rider. Unless he wins the championship this year I wouldn't even see him on the Repsol Honda team. My prediction for Honda running four bikes would be Pedrosa/Melandri on Repsol Honda, and Stoner/Elias on the second squad. They may cough up a fifth bike for Tamada, but I doubt it. Ironically Honda would probably be the most competitive bike but might be the worst choice long-term for Hayden.

Yamaha: If Hayden signs, you have to assume that he a) is getting a big paycheck, and b) Rossi is going to retire after 2007. 2007 will be a write-off year for Hayden, it is Valentino's team and he is the better rider. Hayden can only hope that in 2008 he has learned the ropes at Yamaha and can be the undisputed #1 rider after Rossi's retirement.

However, I am not convinced that Rossi will actually retire. While I don't think he is really motivated by money, only F1 would offer him a chance to make more. Massa and Kimi will be strong at Ferrari, IMO Rossi had his chance and gave it up. Either that or the chance was never really there to begin with. So if Rossi keeps riding in 2008/09, he will make close to an additional $100M and probably have every record of consequence. Or he could wrap rally cars around trees for comparitively peanuts in salary. Which would you choose?

So this is just my opinion, but Yamaha might be a good choice for Hayden assuming Rossi retires. If he had to ride in Vale's shadow for three years it would be a poor decision for his career, albeit a lucrative decision for Hayden's eventual retirement.

Ducati: Capirossi only has a single year on his contract, I have to assume he will retire after this year. Hayden would be a great addition (equal to Capirossi on talent IMO). He would be the "face" of Ducati, at least in the US, a very important market for Ducati. If you were Marlboro, would you rather have a smiling Hayden or grimacing Gibernau on your bike?
As far as financials go, Ducati may not be the strongest company, but Marlboro pays for most of the MotoGP effort. Even if Ducati were in bankruptcy, there would still be a MotoGP team for a while.
Ducati has shown its hand early in testing the 800 publicly, could it be that they want to show potential riders (Hayden) how good the bike really is? It makes little sense to unveil the 800 otherwise.
So let's see...competitive bike, American-backed sponsorship, useful and seemingly cooperative teammate...DING DING Ducati wins my pick.

I agree with a lot of the above, but this... "Hayden would be a great addition (equal to Capirossi on talent IMO)."... forget it. Hayden is very good, but he ain't no Capirex.

Filipe...I have to agree with you there. Nicky might be quick but he aint no scrapper like Loris.

[Supervox]

Originally Posted by Peter Henry

Filipe...I have to agree with you there. Nicky might be quick but he aint no scrapper like Loris.

I don't actually think that Nicky is that quick - can you honestly say that you'd expect him to be up the front (or middle sometimes :P ) if he didn't have a works Honda ?

But, I have to say that this year has seen him prepared to fight back (a bit, on the odd occasion) when he's been overtaken - this wasn't seen at all in previous years.

BOTTOM LINE - he's had the 'best' bike on the grid for 3 years, in that time he's had 3 wins (2 of which were at Laguna Seca) - not what I'd call an outstanding record.

If he wins the title this year he'll probably go down in history as one of, if not THE worst / weakest riders ever to do so.

Originally Posted by Supervox

I don't actually think that Nicky is that quick - can you honestly say that you'd expect him to be up the front (or middle sometimes :P ) if he didn't have a works Honda ?

But, I have to say that this year has seen him prepared to fight back (a bit, on the odd occasion) when he's been overtaken - this wasn't seen at all in previous years.

BOTTOM LINE - he's had the 'best' bike on the grid for 3 years, in that time he's had 3 wins (2 of which were at Laguna Seca) - not what I'd call an outstanding record.

If he wins the title this year he'll probably go down in history as one of, if not THE worst / weakest riders ever to do so.

I agree. I was having this argument with someone at work. They felt that Hayden desrves to win the championship this year (and she is a Rossi fan!) I probed as to why and she said that he may not have had the wins, but has been consistent! In my mind, the world championship should go to the best, not the most consistent!( Especially since Mr consistent is riding a works Honda) The 3 riders who I would argue are deserved of the championship ( and I wish it was a closer between these 3 riders with 3 rounds left) are Rossi, Capirossi and Melandri.

I hear what you fellas are saying but as mentioned before, point accumulation over a season is actually what will win you a title. Yeah of course we want to cheer a proven race winner home but it just might not happen like that!

You watch Hayden simply stalk Rossi all the way home because from here on in that is all he needs to do. If Rossi wins each remaining race and Hayden is second in them, Valentino will have only made up 15 points. Nicky presently leads by 21.

To mix it up a little I tip Loris to win again in Japan and Marco to take Valencia. Rossi a good bet for the Estoril race.

I do sense that no-one on here is buying at all in to the almost self destructive testing programme that Hayden has had to deal with this year? I know he leads the championship but all that playing around with a new clutch set up does seem to have created some problems?

With regards to Hayden/Honda etc. and where he is going next year, I would reserve judgment just now until after Monday. That is when the Repsol boys get their hands on the 800cc machinery for next year, but they dont know what kind of bike it is yet i.e. triple IL4 V4 etc etc. Whose to say that the riders just simply don't get on with the new bike? Could shed a whole new light on it if you ask me.

Originally Posted by Peter Henry

I hear what you fellas are saying but as mentioned before, point accumulation over a season is actually what will win you a title. Yeah of course we want to cheer a proven race winner home but it just might not happen like that!

Yeah but it's not like Hayden has been slowly gathering points by keeping out of trouble while the rest of the contenders beat other up, takeing points off each other. He's got them because of other riders missfortune.

Yes that's sometimes the way it goes. But when the championship leaders is only a handful of points ahead of someone who's effectively had 3 races less to earn points than them you have to ask if they deserved it. Not to mention alot of tallented riders not much futher behind, all who might have been ahead if it wasn't for the disaster in Catalunya (sp).

Originally Posted by Flamin_Squirrel

Yeah but it's not like Hayden has been slowly gathering points by keeping out of trouble while the rest of the contenders beat other up, takeing points off each other. He's got them because of other riders missfortune.

Yes that's sometimes the way it goes. But when the championship leaders is only a handful of points ahead of someone who's effectively had 3 races less to earn points than them you have to ask if they deserved it. Not to mention alot of tallented riders not much futher behind, all who might have been ahead if it wasn't for the disaster in Catalunya (sp).

Somehow that's all part of the race, and like we were discussing some time ago, champions are also made of luck. But take away the accidents and other's misfortunes and I'll completely agree with you: on the racetrack, Hayden is no match for Rossi, Capirex or Melandri (ok, Peter, Pedrosa too, but forget Giveupnow... ).