Silverstone (Spoiler)

[G]

The new track looks bloody awsome, I need myself some of that at somepoint this year.

[mattSV]

We were sat in Arena B - fantastic views, but chuffing freezing with that wind

[fizzwheel]

First time since the 990's were introduced that I have missed a GP.

Somebody needs to do something about the size of the MotoGP Grid its to small and if it hadnt been for a decent battle for 2nd place I think it would have been a little dull. Quality ride by Lorenzo IMHO.

Silverstone, hitched it down there as a 16 year old to watch Bazza Sheene,great times but track is much improved today.

Controversial comment maybe....I was amazed at the lack of track side spectators for tyhe 125 race,pitifull really. We had a home rider 2nd on the grid and who lies 4th in the title race. He is only being held back by 3 superb Spanish talents,(Pol is my pick) Funny how he seems to lack the same recognition back home.

On Spanish TV they really respect Smith as a strong challenger so much so that they always use "Bradley" when mentioning him during races.

The days have gone when the 125 category was just a card filler. Nowadays you get young lads who will be the superstars in a few years,but already with so much skill and professionalism. The class is superb to watch as others have stated.

Trying to avoid traffic by making an early dart is a weak excuse as it is the same at every circuit. Fans in other countries stay put,(although admittedly they do not relegate the 125 race to the back of the queue.)

Wrong thread maybe but I am a little tired of those who continue to lament Rossi's absence. Regretable as it is, that is racing and overall he has been lucky to largely avoid serious injury throughout his career.

There have always been fallers and people who have to miss races,but suggesting that there is no show without Punch really sucks. Rossi will be gone anyway in a couple of seasons, will that mean all the Rossi bitches will go find another sport? >Is it they are only around to back a winner and the overall competition has no interest for them? Sad.

Devaluing the efforts of the likes of Lorenzo,Stoner,Hayden et al really is so short sighted.

Of course there is still a show without Rossi, its just not as good a show. Like yesterday Lorenzo disappeared and this does happen, and sometimes Rossi can't even keep up with people, but at the same time you are more likely to have a battle at the front that includes Rossi and the leader than you are to have Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Stoner all be close at every race, one person tends to take off most races, Pedrosa in Mugello and Lorenzo yesterday. Yes it's going to happen, but qith Rossi's quuality he is the most likely to prevent such things happening regularly.
And you can't argue with 9 World Championships, so of course the man is going to sorely missed through injury and especially when he retires.
The unfortunate thing I think is that when he goes it's only going to be Lor, Ped, Sto and Spies if he gets a chance, as when Lor and Ped joined they were immediately on the pace, unlike the 250cc promotions from last year, they are just there to make up the numbers it seems.

I thought the MotoGP race was one of the better ones with Spies showing his worth.

Moto2 is staggering racing and certainly makes Motogp look second best for sure. I wonder if Moto2 will become more important as Motogp becomes staid.

For most people...Motogp without Rossi is like Apple pie without apples. And I can certainly understand that point of view.

Originally Posted by The Basket

I thought the MotoGP race was one of the better ones with Spies showing his worth.

Moto2 is staggering racing and certainly makes Motogp look second best for sure. I wonder if Moto2 will become more important as Motogp becomes staid.

For most people...Motogp without Rossi is like Apple pie without apples. And I can certainly understand that point of view.

I can also appreciate that point of view, Legend in his own right.

I agree the Moto GP was a good race, but the Moto2 did take the biscuit.
It's all because they have the same engines so it is purely rider ability at each track (obviously with bike settings, suspension etc thrown in)

That's why I think that the Moto GP teams should have limits on everything, like bhp, weight, revs etc, instead of just capacity, as it is obvious Honda have the most bhp at the moment. If they were limited by everything then it would make it all much more entertaining as it would be down to rider ability, just like the Moto2.

Originally Posted by Pedrosa

Controversial comment maybe....I was amazed at the lack of track side spectators for tyhe 125 race,pitifull really. We had a home rider 2nd on the grid and who lies 4th in the title race. He is only being held back by 3 superb Spanish talents,(Pol is my pick) Funny how he seems to lack the same recognition back home.

On Spanish TV they really respect Smith as a strong challenger so much so that they always use "Bradley" when mentioning him during races.

The days have gone when the 125 category was just a card filler. Nowadays you get young lads who will be the superstars in a few years,but already with so much skill and professionalism. The class is superb to watch as others have stated.

Trying to avoid traffic by making an early dart is a weak excuse as it is the same at every circuit. Fans in other countries stay put,(although admittedly they do not relegate the 125 race to the back of the queue.)

Totally agree with you there. While the overall attendance wasn't amazing, I can understand that Rossi's absence would have contributed to this - taking nothing away from the other riders, Rossi's arrival on the scene added a particular element of showmanship, and he is the type of long-term success that people like to get behind (let's face it, most poeple like to back a winner!).

But the lack of people staying for the 125ccs (or even there in time for the Moto2s for that matter, which hardly started especially early at 11:15am) was extremely disappointing. I really couldn't believe it when I saw how many people left and how empty some of the viewing areas became. By contrast even le Mans (where 125s aren't quite as hyped as Spain/Italy) saw virtually packed stands for both support races.

Even more staggering was the number of poeple who clearly paid up to £100 or so for grandstand seats to ONLY watch the main MotoGP race itself! Clearly made of money...

Anyway their loss - they missed some really excellent racing

[fizzwheel]

Originally Posted by Fizzy Fish

Even more staggering was the number of poeple who clearly paid up to £100 or so for grandstand seats to ONLY watch the main MotoGP race itself! Clearly made of money... :lol;

We witnessed the same at Donnington every year. We always used to stay and watch all the races on race day as we found it reduced the amount of time sat in the car whilst the car parks got all blocked up.

A couple of years ago they used to run a few more races on into the evening on race day and now they dont. Shame really...

Originally Posted by fizzwheel

We witnessed the same at Donnington every year. We always used to stay and watch all the races on race day as we found it reduced the amount of time sat in the car whilst the car parks got all blocked up.

A couple of years ago they used to run a few more races on into the evening on race day and now they dont. Shame really...

There was a couple of good quality races after the 125s. National Superstock 1000's with John McGuinness, Rutter etc and then a National 250 race. Both good quality fields etc, but alot of Moto GP attendees probably don't attend BSB etc and wouldn't know what they were

Edit - Still an early finish though even with those, it was over at 4.30pm.