SPOILER-Moto GP ASSEN-SPOLIER.

Originally Posted by Pedrosa

The 125 race had a 5 lap re run which was absolutely brilliant with 8 guys battling for the win. Bradders so unlucky as the original race was all his. Lovely to see Randy Mamola sat giving him some advice during the wait for the restart.

what a gripping re run that was battling is not the word for it. poor bradders though should have been a win fir the ginger bugger. should have combined both results in my eyes , that would probs have moved him up the order.

but hey british superbikes what a tustle shakey getting parked on the wall and still does the business WOW.

and the nutter rutter on the sliks in the wet, just shows the skill and bike control there.

Originally Posted by Pedrosa

Weird that Edwards should benefit coming off the same corner that saw Nicky beat him in 2006. That's karma for you. Edwards was brilliant yesterday.

That's what I was thinking! Although being a no fault racing incident in 2006, I always felt more for CE as he tried to make the chicane rather than Nicky's straight lining it technique! If CE had done the same then it may well have been a different out come. Despite the karma though, I'm sure CE would still have rather taken the win in 06 and a 4th in 08 though

Yep.

Big difference in coming 1st and 3rd.

But I agree that WSB is the Ducati appreciation society. Why don't Ducati just put rockets on their bikes. Perfectly legal on V-twins.

But what Ducati have done in MotoGP is beyond excellent. Look what Kawasaki have done in the same timeframe...absolutely nutin.
Ducati are not only winning but making the Japs look bad...that good!

Kudos to Ducati!

Casey Stoner is a winner though. Loved his attitude when he got third. Third...so what? No smiles no nothing. He is there to win and 3rd is not what its about. If he and Ducati are winning races then its up to the others to catch up.

I wonder if Pedrosa will go for the Pnuematic valves...I bet he won't. A racer would...but Ped wants points not prizes so he will stick with the springs. Stoner is still points off and Dani will stick until he has to do something.

Basket a very fair assessment you make. Apart from the hint that Dani Pedrosa is not a racer. He most certainly is but for me uses normally,very good risk assessment. He would always be a second best to Valentino in head to head clashes on equally performing bikes, but that in no way makes you an also ran.
As far as Pedrosa goes I think HRC will be looking closely at the remaining races to see where the extra RPM/top end is crucial. If not a lot in it they may keep Dani on the old engine as it works well. Plus adopting to the new engines's characteristics in the second half of a championship battle is a massive risk for any rider to take. Nicky has chosen to make the change as he felt he could not get any more from the spring valve motor plus it's behaviour is more to his liking.

What is being overlooked is Dani's surgeon like riding style which in truth has seen him consistantly on the podium virtually all season.,(8 races so far and he has podiumed 7 times with lowest finish being 4th, stats include 2 race wins.)He is competing with the latest and best that both Ducati and Yamaha have come up with. In truth he should not be getting a sniff of the podiums let alone presently lead the title race.

I wonder if Bridgestone tyres winning at Assen for the first time, now actually means that any brand should work anywhere? I always found it a nuisance knowing certain tracks would mean certain tyres would not function properly. Just maybe we are back to rider and bike to dictate who wins?

Originally Posted by The Basket

But what Ducati have done in MotoGP is beyond excellent. Look what Kawasaki have done in the same timeframe...absolutely nutin.
Ducati are not only winning but making the Japs look bad...that good!

Kudos to Ducati!

Casey Stoner is a winner though. Loved his attitude when he got third. Third...so what? No smiles no nothing. He is there to win and 3rd is not what its about. If he and Ducati are winning races then its up to the others to catch up.

I agree. I'm not really a Ducati or a Stoner fan, but have to take my hat of to Casey and the team this weekend. It really bugs me when people say 'it's boring' though. What do people expect? Race teams to deliberately handicap themselves to make it closer at the front!? This is racing! It's a competition, not a variety show.

[Biker Biggles]

Yes but the reason it has an audience(hence money) is because it is exciting to watch.I dont expect the teams to do anything other than try to win as easily as possible,but I do expect the organisers to do everything in their power to make their sport as exciting as possible.That means getting more riders on the grid for a start.Is it becoming just too expensive to compete in Moto GP?

Originally Posted by Pedrosa

Basket a very fair assessment you make. Apart from the hint that Dani Pedrosa is not a racer. He most certainly is but for me uses normally,very good risk assessment. He would always be a second best to Valentino in head to head clashes on equally performing bikes, but that in no way makes you an also ran.

My view on Dani is certainly no also ran. There are 4 riders in MotoGP at the mo who are top and Dani is one of them.

But I also see that he would settle for an easy third than a win or bin second.

maybe thats is what I is seeing.

Originally Posted by Biker Biggles

Yes but the reason it has an audience(hence money) is because it is exciting to watch.I dont expect the teams to do anything other than try to win as easily as possible,but I do expect the organisers to do everything in their power to make their sport as exciting as possible.That means getting more riders on the grid for a start.Is it becoming just too expensive to compete in Moto GP?

B.B. the last figures that I saw were that in 2006 it costs 4 million euros to run a 1 bike 125 team. I am going to suggest that the figure for a Moto GP team for 1 bike must be in the region of maybe 6 to 8 million. (Just think of all the logistics involved in bike prep and getting them from one track to another,hotels etc.etc.)

No wonder Tech 3 are baulking that they will need to find another sponsor if they are to retain Colin Edwards next year on a similar salary to what he earns now.

I dont think we need a bigger field, even on the days when someone gets a slingshot away from everyone at the front, there is certainly this season a lot of activity throughout the field.

For me it can be a good race even if the battle for the win was over quickly. Unlike F1 where largely if you dont have a good starting position,all you are going to do is participate in a glorified parade each race. Moto GP is way different than that.

Moto GP as a spectacle to non-riders has to be more attractive than F1, however as the F1 boys are household names, the ability to market and promote the riders has to be the primary aim. Rossi is pretty well known even to non-riders and there seems to be a lot of stuff surrounding JT at the moment in the media so hopefully all of this will only seek further to push the priority of Moto GP (And bike racing in general) further up the pile against a stagnant 4 wheel biased market.