MotoGP - Le Mans

[Rod Richardson]

Moto GP Qualifying
1 Rossi
2 Lorenzo
3 Pedrosa
4 Stoner
5 Hayden
6 DePuniet
7 Dovizioso
8 Edwards
9 Capirossi
10Esparago

125 Qualifying
1 Terol
2 Esparago
3 Cortese
4 Marquez
5 Smith
6 Koyama
7 Krummenacher
8 Webb
9 Zarco
10Rabat

Moto 2 Qualifying
1 Noyes
2 Takahashi
3 Debon
4 Cluzel
5 Nieto
6 Gadea
7 Elias
8 Corsi
9 Simon
10Rolfo

[chac47]

Motogp quali was good. Ben Spies had an awkward off in practice and injured his left foot/ankle? so might have difficulty as the race progresses. Well done Nicky and Randy.

[Rod Richardson]

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[ShiftingGears]

WTF is with Stoner? Very unimpressive this year.

[ShiftingGears]

Good race - terrible camerawork. They somehow managed to miss most of the key moments in the race when cutting to shots of not much importance at all.

I'm developing a website expanding into all aspects of motorcycling, including racing, of course! I was raised on European and Japanese bikes and later on settled on Harley-Davidson, for a while, - anyway - in hopes of opening up a bigger shop some time, I'm getting back into Norton, Triumph, BSA, Honda, and others (as you will see on the site):
miamichoppershop.com (http://www.miamichoppershop.com)
Please let me know if you would like to post stories, articles, and pictures - you can remain anonymous or not. Many thanks, Pablo :p

[ProRally]

Just spend the whole weekend at my first MotoGP, it was nice in the paddock to see the teams and meet the drivers.
Nice bunch of people....

[pettersolberg29]

Good race, particularly for a Dovi fan like myself. Good to see him get the better of Pedrosa again, especially after Le Mans 2009. If Dovi could only start to qualify a bit better then he would be a real contender for wins I think.

[Corny]

Just spend the whole weekend at my first MotoGP, it was nice in the paddock to see the teams and meet the drivers.
Nice bunch of people....

Ah really, you were :) ? Show your pics then! I'd like to see them

[Allyc85]

Thought it was quite a boring race but I was glad to see Dovi beat the miserable one!

Great ride by Lorenzo, he really does seem to be maturing into the real deal now :)

[Rod Richardson]

Ah well......Stoner down again.......
I hope he doesn't need another sabbatical to get his head straight after that fall.


"Such is life" (Quote by bushranger Ned Kelly just before the trap-door opened)

[Triumph]

Well done to Jorge Lorenzo for his win. I was a little disappointed with Valentino Rossi not winning, but it's clear he's using his head and is viewing the championship with a wider perspective. He will need to get some more wins sooner rather than later as Jorge is easily capable of running away with the title.

It has been a big surprise to see Casey Stoner struggling with the Ducati, as much as it is a surprise to see Nicky Hayden doing so well by comparison. I've no idea what they have changed with the bike this year, but it obviously doesn't suit Casey. Good to see Nicky doing well though.

[gids73]

Casey must be trying so hard to stay with the Yamaha's - race wins is all that matters for him now...
Good to see Jorge giving Vale a run - hope it continues!

[jens]

Somehow Stoner has never seemed completely confident after his 2007 title win. In 2008 he started falling off after three straight wins once Rossi managed to beat him at Laguna Seca, in 2009 he had some kind of psychological problems and fell ill, and now this.

On the other hand Lorenzo seems to be more confident than ever before. Can he keep it up and beat Rossi to the title?

[CaptainRaiden]

Somehow Stoner has never seemed completely confident after his 2007 title win. In 2008 he started falling off after three straight wins once Rossi managed to beat him at Laguna Seca, in 2009 he had some kind of psychological problems and fell ill, and now this.

On the other hand Lorenzo seems to be more confident than ever before. Can he keep it up and beat Rossi to the title?

Stoner is back to his crashing ways. I think it's all about handling pressure, and he seems to be not up to it. In 2008, Rossi put him under pressure and so he started crashing. He can put consistent blindingly fast laps during testing and practice over long runs, but in races something happens. This year he's under pressure from Hayden who is so far performing better than him.

That interview on BBC during the race, after he crashed out, just sounded like a whole lot of whining to me. Saying that he doesn't crash in practice or qualifying, but only during races and he can't understand why that is? Jeez, grow a pair and admit you made a mistake man! Nicky didn't have a problem on the same bike for a good 20+ laps.

I hope this is not Gibernau part deux.

[Corny]

Not only that: the thing that always attracts me is that he does so many short runs during practices. Which probably means he's always doing practices with a low fuel tank. The latest crashes have happened when he was in the beginning of the race, and he always says he doesn't know why he lost the front, well maybe he's not used to riding the bike when it's heavy?

A dutch commentator made this point once also

[chunder27]

I somehow doubt Casey is that stupid. He is not a novice is he> He is an ex world champion and consistently the only guy around able to challenge the Yamaha pair.

My feeling is that something is going on with the tyres or the balance of the bike, Casey is more than aboe to do laptime with it and though he doesnt do long runs, he never has before so why should that make any difference, everyone is different.

For those that think Casey moans, think again, he is simply honest, open and a little petulant when he crashes. Its not a bad thing.

Not every rider smiles and waves to the camera every time, look at Pedrobot!!

[chac47]

Maybe what can seem to be whining by Casey is just how he expresses his frustration. Nicky is a different personality, he has had some really hard times the last few seasons but on camera was able to smile and find something positive to say and a self belief that it would come together for him. Casey and the Ducati are not compatible for whatever reasons, but I certainly wouldn't write him off. It's not that long ago that a lot of people were saying Rossi's career was over.

[NinjaMaster]

Good race - terrible camerawork. They somehow managed to miss most of the key moments in the race when cutting to shots of not much importance at all.

The camerawork/direction has been terrible all year I reckon. They've missed soo many crashes and there's only 17 MotoGP bikes to follow for goodness sake!

The 125 class looks a clear cut 2-way fight already. Unless one of the glut of riders from 3rd to 8th can step up (Smith and Marquez, I'm looking at you) then the title is Espargaro or Terol's for the taking.

Moto2 is proving to be an intriguing series. Teams are already swapping chassis and tinkering to squeeze out extra horsepower. There are some surprise riders who have been very fast whilst some other 'name' riders are underperforming. But the overwhelming element to Moto2 is that Toni Elias is clearly (unsurprisingly) the man to beat. It will be intersting to see if anyone can consistently make him work for the title.

MotoGP is hugely disappointing for me as a Casey Stoner fan but hugely exciting in some of the changing dynamics. Seeing Nicky Hayden return to near his 06 form and being able to run near the front is exciting to see and I really hope he can sneak a podium soon. The battle between Dovi and Pedrosa is fascinating. After following them, Hayden said they looked like they were riding two different brands of bikes. And with the internal politics and of course end-of-year contracts up for grabs, Dani and Andrea are waging a particularly fierce battle. And then there is the heavyweight title fight at the front - Valentino vs Jorge. Whilst it's very early days in the championship, Jorge is looking supremely confident. He would have gained great strength from his Qatar race when he was injured and he has comprehensively beaten Rossi the last two races. Rossi has struggled with his shoulder the last two races and will want to get stronger soon because he won't have nearly the same assurance that he has superior speed to beat Lorenzo like he had with Hayden in 2006. The next few rounds will be very important.

Finally, I'd like to give my take on Stoner's situation. I don't buy the whole pressure thing. In 2008, yes, he was the hunted and I think he faltered from that pressure, but learned a lot from it as well. Last year he was physically ill. Nothing more, nothing less. This year, everyone is remarking about how relaxed he is. He's not the prickly customer of old. I don't know of anyone who's personality gets more relaxed when they start feeling the pressure. His practice technique is a non-issue. He's been doing that for years and won plenty of races with the same strategy. His team isn't stupid. As to why he's crashed appears to come down to his feeling with the Ducati's front end. Qatar he admitted he made a mistake. At Jerez he struggled. At Le Mans, they don't know why he crashed. He was on the throttle and still lost the front. I hope they can get it sorted and he can still play a significant role in the championship (and my fantasy team!). He's too good not to.

[TheFamousEccles]

NinjaMaster wrote:

"As to why he's crashed appears to come down to his feeling with the Ducati's front end. Qatar he admitted he made a mistake. At Jerez he struggled. At Le Mans, they don't know why he crashed. He was on the throttle and still lost the front. "

Couldn't agree more. Recall on the customer honda how many front end issues he had with that thing? Bayliss too - though he even offered to relinquish his ride to someone who could use the thing. Casey is a front end rider for better or worse, and Ducati in an effort to make the thing usable by more than one rider seem to have made it less Stoner friendly. It is for this reason that IMO the rumoured move to Honda for Casey in '11 would be a mistake - unless he can swing a big stick like Doohan did, and have them make a chassis for him only, then keep their mits off it.