Did he save fuel in qualifying? I think he might have gotten a good tow in FP2, his highest speed in race was I think 314 km/h

Did he get a draft down the front straight in qualifying? Did he have the wind to his back as strong as in FP2?

What I meant is that reason the Yamahas was slow today in the race is probably just that they are slow, not that they saved fuel.

It couldn't possibly be both?

Great WSBK weekend, I must say. The second race was the most exciting I remember for a while!

125cc was entertaining but a bit of an anti-climax. Moto2 was brilliant and MotoGP was better than expected!

Shocking from Stoner who has done exactly what he did at Misano and Brno 2008. Oh dear, oh dear.

Great to see Hayden up there, though.

Great weekend of action!

Indeed. Too much input, too quick on too cold tyres. Then he got clobbered. Would have survived if Bradl hadn't done a front flip over him.

Saving fuel can make them slower of course, but when they run max they are still 10-15 km slower than their main competitors. I do not know how much they save fuel during a race, but the max speed over the whole weekend is not likely to have been during a fuel saving lap. This straight was extremely long so maybe the problem will not be so big everywhere, but losing 10 meters or more on a straight will make life hard for the Yamaha riders. If they get passed they will have to spend most of the lap getting past again and then they are not having enough lap left to build a gap and will get passed again on the straight.

Maybe it's my bias but I thought that other than big numbers on the grid, Moto2 looked like a supersport race like the journos had described. The bikes mid corner speeds looked very slow, the bikes porky and unresponsive - pigs to be blunt. Well done to the young Tomi, he rode the wheels off the thing and had some big front/rear moments. Looked like for most riders the tyres front and rear, and the rear shock were all done at the end.

MotoGP looks like it won't fade away just yet, definitely better watch than a slightly disappointing Valencia Superbike round. If Spies gets some factory input he could be an outside chance for a win this year - great start to the year for him. Lorenzo will be very happy - he was the quickest guy over the last 5 laps. Hayden has found his feet again, lets hope he can do it week in week out. Dovi did well but shit that Honda is FAST. Stoner will be back to fight another day, but today Rossi showed why he is the best - he has the best racing head. I think we can expect a fantastic year.

Yeah because Nicky is on a satellite Ducati

Did you not see the word "other" in what I said?

I'm just wondering who Stoner was trying to beat?

For those of you NOT getting the HD version, this is sensationally good. It definitely adds to the enjoyment factor of a really GREAT (not the cliched great) motorsport event. After the race I had to flick over to the IRL at Barber Motorsports Park which was very lo definition and 4:3! It was hard to watch after Qatar, it will be hard to go back!

Well done Ben, Jorge, Vale, Nicky, Dovi.

Vale will stroke to the title once more.

Stoner just throws too many points away. Supremely quick he is though.

Yeah, I know! Remember these things are quite a handful even in their 800cc traction-controlled form. The ease with which they can wash the front needs no explanation. Even Rossi has been caught out in this way. Let's hope Stoner takes up where he left off and we get a serious challenge to Rossi this season.

Hugely disappointing as a Stoner fan! But the Ducati seems like it may be very strong at every track this season looking at its grip in the slow stuff with Nicky. I was super impressed with Spies as always, he is the real deal.

This is why fans have been crying hoarse for F1 to move to HD, but uncle Bernard's woodeyes cannot see what's the big deal so rest of us have to view it in SD as well. I suppose we should be grateful Bernard can see at all, otherwise we would be listening to live F1 commentary on radio.

I still have Super to watch, but Whooooooooooooohoooooooooooooo Pourcel in the lites!! WTG dchamp! Rossi looked sweet and I thought Nicky was gonna hold on at the end, but it wasn't to be. Anyway, great race except for Stoner - bad luck there, but he looked great so no great worries in terms of the upcoming races. GREAT day of racing, even if I had to watch most of it on record delay

Qatar was always a Stoner/Ducati track, he's won here for the last 2 or 3 years before this race, that's why he looked unstoppable this w'end. Back to the more regular circuits, the difference in outright pace b/w Rossi/Yamaha and Stoner/Ducati won't be so large IMO.

I am more interested in the time difference between World Supersport and Moto2. I wouldn't be surprised if WSS is faster...

Himself, clearly

Speaking of delays, how about Speed's "Expanded Coverage"? A cobbled together pre-race show that focused solely on Americans which ran while the rest of the world watched.... the race! I'm sure they'd hate to have to cut out an episode of Pinks in order to show a proper pre-race show...

Insult to injury: The guy couldn't pronounce the names of half of the riders.

Stoner said the front was pushing so he backed off but then lost it because he wasn't pushing. Hmmm... I think he was just setting lap times on qualifying pace but on race tyres, so perhaps he just went too fast? Not a good start to the season but we saw last year he can put together a few good rounds together.

At least it made the race more interesting, the Honda is not slow in a straight line is it ! Whatever jelly like chassis they have they still have a cracking motor. Nice work from all top 5, especially the Americans. Hopefully it bodes well for the season.

Haga in WSB .. great to see him back up there.

Andy

PS When I saw Rossi win after being SLOWEST of all on the straight and saw Stoner fall off I did think of Red Wine Alesi and what he would write here .. once again I'm not disappointed .. oh the angst and bitterness welling up as always .

With all it's stop and go, can Honda suddenly pull a surprise in Japan?
There are no huge straights, but it's nowhere as twisty and windy as Qatar's "infield".

Crutchlows pole in 09 at Qatar was faster than Moto2

Edit: on treaded road tyres

WSBK
Pole: 2:01.586
FL: 2:02.577

Moto2: 2:01.904
Pole: 2:02.537

2009 250
Pole: 2:00.677
FL: 2:01.752

125
Pole: 2:06.651
FL: 2:06.674

Oh, I know. Why they had a sportscar guy calling a bike race floored me, and the pre-race was embarrassing--I had the race up on the web, and it was like, 10 minutes ahead of the TV! Farkin' ridiculous. Live, my arse.

(Oh, Andy--high five, my friend. )

found this quote on crash:

Rossi set his best top speed of the weekend in second free practice, but it was only 16th best out of the 17 riders and 10km/h behind the Ducati of Casey Stoner. The other M1 riders were ranked ninth (Colin Edwards), 13th (Jorge Lorenzo) and 17th (Ben Spies).

Anyone saw Ben Spies straight line speed defect? To be up there is something else on a first run on a bike that seem to be craving on slip streaming.

Results from Guess The Bikes Round 2:

Option 1 19
jeze 14
Makarias 13
carbuff 13
giddyup 409 13
woftam 11

Overall standings:
1, Option 1 24 pts
2, Makarias 22 pts
=, carbuff 22 pts
4, jeze 21 pts
5, woftam 18 pts
6, giddyup 409 17 pts
7, lorca 9 pts
8, The Flying Donkey 4 pts
9, Atreiu 2 pts

Congratulations to Option 1, who takes over the Championship lead following a clear victory in Round Two.

have not followed bike rules - since when is one lap down "not classified" or have you definitely cross the finish line to be classified?

Is this real HD or upscaled. Eurosport-HD channel showed motogp last year but it was just upscaled.

Stoner - Pole position - fastest lap - retirement

what was he thinking, he was a clear HALF second quicker in race trim. he has the speed to win, but his biggest enemy is himself it seems

Rossi is still the most well rounded rider of them all.

Lorenzo, what a great ride he had, some great moves and all on a bad hand

Dovizioso - leader of the Honda boys, bodes well for his Honda ride for the rest of the season

Hayden - very nice to see him fight for podiums again, and like Dovi bodes well for his place at Ducati for the rest of the season

Spies - very impressed, had me out of my seat when he outbraked Pedrosa into turn one. He's catching on very very quickly, his fastest lap was on the pace of the FIAT Yamahas

Very entertaining race, quite unexpectedly.

Whatever happened to Pedrosa??

Great start, leading the pack, showing off his foot off peg style, just to be losing one position after another...

BTW, Colin Edwards is a truly likeable character, messing around with Alex Hofmann on German tele

He hasn't been on pace all weekend or indeed in pre-season. he has a few issues with the bike that he is trying to sort out. He only got the front because, like always, he had a lightning start and that Honda was like a bolt down the straight.

Just booked my Silverstone weekend tickets Roll on June

I'd still put my money on Pedrosa being the leading Honda by the end of the season.

He'd just gone 1 second quicker than anyone else could manage at that stage in the race, a lap that remained half a second clear even at race's end. He obviously was pushing hard, he could have backed off at half a second a lap and still have won easily. I think he's the fastest rider out there just a shame he keeps making mistakes.

Easily. I fully expect him to be the quicker HRC rider in the next four-five races, tops.

If there's one thing that Stoner has learned over the years is that it's not nice to have Valentino just behind you because he will make your race more difficult and challenging than it would otherwise be. I think Stoner feels that he'd better get rid of that demon as quickly as possible. That's why he was pushing harder than he had to. In my opinion, the psyche began in qualifying when Valentino still managed to qualify within .355 seconds of Stoner's time and be right there beside him on the grid.

Hold on old chap, I am still putting on my over priced Michael Jordan basketball shoes.

You're da man, in the hole, way to to go. *


Andy

*Google translation = " Jolly spiffing what! "

Is there a minimum rider + bike weight in MotoGP?

Dani Pedrosa
Place of birth: Sabadell, Barcelona
Date of birth: 29/Sep/1985
Weight: 51Kg.
Height: 160cm

Valentino Rossi
Place of birth: Urbino
Date of birth: 16/Feb/1979
Weight: 67Kg.
Height: 182cm.

I did not find any data on Spies, but he seem to be even heavier than Rossi?

2.5.1 The following are the minimum weights permitted:
125cc motorcycle + rider 136 kg
Moto2 motorcycle 135 kg
MotoGP 2 cylinders or less motorcycle 135 kg
3 cylinders motorcycle 142,5 kg
4 cylinders motorcycle 150 kg
5 cylinders motorcycle 157,5 kg
6 cylinders or more motorcycle 165 kg

http://www.fim-live.com/fileadmin/alfresco...amendments).pdf

http://www.benspies.com/aboutben.aspx
Ben Spies
DOB: July 11, 1984
Birthplace: Memphis, Tennessee
Hometown: Longview, Texas
Height: 5'11" Weight: 160
Turned Pro: 2000

Now now, they're only technically road tires, sir. They're damn scary on actual roads.

What tires are Moto2 using? 120/180 production based or some prototype stuff? I imagine it's a hard compound to encourage close racing from flag to flag.

prototype
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/Free+Du...video+promotion

To see Stoner make a mistake so early. I hope its not going to be like last year all over again with eveyone just handing it to Rossi.

Stoner had to push regardless. This is his track
He had the speed advantage clearly as he had for the last 4 years. That's 25 point he wont have heading into circuits he has struggled with at motegi and jerez.

I must have been watching a different Moto GP series than you were last year. That was Rossi's most difficult championship ever.

By what Stoner said, it seems like he was pushing to open up a small gap, got it, let off, but then made a mistake getting caught out by his newly changed rhythm. Its easy to do as you get so focused on doing things one way that switching it up can cause little mistakes here and there to adjust. I know he's a pro and all, but I dont think any rider/driver is immune to this. I wouldn't say Casey was just 'pushing too hard' because he was so *comfortably* fastest. Its almost like he gets so relaxed with his ability that he forgets he needs to try sometimes!

Good weekend of bike racing and the MotoGP race was like a cherry on pie.

Too bad for rolling stoner... pity he had yet another fall.
Just loved the Kentucky kid fitting for a place on the podium on merit

And I managed to see Andrew with his camera on the TV, just after the race when the riders returned to parc ferme.

Cheers

obviously no links here - but unsurprisingly there is 720p versions of the MotoGP race available on the interweb - I'm curious to watch it to see the difference in quality... I did see the race live off the BBC website feed

Uncle Bernie can't see over the huge pile of cash he's saving by avoiding HD.

But why should he change F1? Bad racing, crap tracks, mediocre drivers, poor TV coverage, people still watch it. It's the train spotting of the new millennium. F1 fans get what they deserve.

Qatar was an awesome race, down to the very last 100 metres for third place -this never happens in F1-they don't deserve HD.