MotoGP 2015

[dawsey]

So who was lucky enough to catch the opening race last night in Doha, Qatar?

The best race since Catalunya 2009 without doubt! Rossi, Doviziosa, Iannone and Lorenzo wheel to wheel for 22 laps made for a mesmerising 45mins viewing.

The Yamaha of Rossi won against all odds with the Ducato 20kph faster on the straights (seem to remember this scenario with a retired Aussie a few years back)
The heavily fancied Repsol Honda's back in 5th and 6th. Marquez ruined his own race by going off 1st lap and being last at that point. Pedrosa suffering long term arm problems again and looking unlikely to ever be a World champion. Reckon he'll retire sooner than later.

All in all a great start to a new season.
Oh, got my tickets for the British MotoGP end of August. It would be rude not to.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/motorsport/32110736

[Homer]

Great post Dawsey. Was a sensational race with a sensational result.

If the season can throw up a few more of these types of races, it could be back to the glory days!

How fast are the Ducati's! Not so sure I've seen them so obviously that much quicker before...were even faster than the Honda's used to be in the old days from my perspective.

Great start to the season!!!

I'll be on Vale's team until Jack Miller gets his legs...if that happens.

[Masterwoodsman]

Nice one Rog for starting the thread and so glad we had the enjoyment of close knit competitive racing again in the elite class. It's going be be a fantastic season that's for sure and with Homer in the Vale camp life couldn't be better!!!

[dawsey]

Aoyama to replace Pedrosa for Austin & Argentina

Bad luck for Pedrosa, but I don't see Aoyama getting a top ten position in spite of the Repsol Honda's undoubted class.

Looking like yet another season of failure for Dani. Pity as he is a gutsy rider who is destined to never win a World Championship in the top class. He has always had a better team mate in Stoner and now Marquez.

[Masterwoodsman]

Aoyama to replace Pedrosa for Austin & Argentina

Bad luck for Pedrosa, but I don't see Aoyama getting a top ten position in spite of the Repsol Honda's undoubted class.

Looking like yet another season of failure for Dani. Pity as he is a gutsy rider who is destined to never win a World Championship in the top class. He has always had a better team mate in Stoner and now Marquez.

Oh no....not arm pump gate again!! 55555

Seem to remember my favourite aussie using arm pump as one of his list of complaints but why only Repsol Honda, I don't seem to remember others complaining about it from other teams. Aoyama is a gutsy rider and might just try to make the best of this opportunity but he's not going to be at the business end of the race i don't suppose....but anything possible this year as we've seen already...

[dawsey]

^ Didn't Stoner have arm pump while at Ducati too? I know he had that fatigue illness that Ducati didn't support him with, hence him eventually leaving for Honda. Surprising number of riders who have had surgery to cure this condition. Cal and Scott Redding have had that too IIRC.

What I find astonishing is Pedrosa rode all last season whilst allegedly suffering arm pump. He was advised that an op wouldn't cure it (He's had an op before on this) but the very first race of the season is now saying he can't continue.Yet he is having surgery. Why not have the OP close season and be ready for the start of 2015? Why did he delay if he knew it would reoccur? Now the situation places Honda possibly losing lots of constructors points because of the delay. I bet they aren't happy with him.

BTW did you see your favourite rider is back with Honda for an endurance race very shortly? I read it on some MotoGP site recently.

I'll stick my neck out and predict that Casey Stoner will replace Dani Pedrosa at Repsol Honda for the 2016 season. Whaddya reckon guys?

[dawsey]

While I think of it, its a great lineup this season in the MotoGP class. Plenty of new riders, got my eye on Miller and Vinales, but it does beg the question, why are guys like Hayden, Melandri etc still trundling around the rear of the field when they should have finished a couple or more years ago.
Is it the love of racing, the money, or the prospect of dragging a lowly team onto the podium? Colin Edwards, bless him I loved the guy, but he was a parody of the guy who used to run alongside Vale. Went on far too long and eventually lost his appetite.
There are a few in Moto2 who could do a better job than some of the old timers I feel.

[Masterwoodsman]

Yes Rog the whole Pedrosa arm pump issue is a total mystery and like you said why not do the Op out of season and at least give the guy a chance. I was aware Cal had had issues with it but not Scott but fact is these are slightly built lads throwing around massive HP bikes for 45 minutes so its understandable i guess but why only a select few??

I personally don't think we'll see Stoner back in MotoGP, he would have come back already but i think now is too late. I also saw the article about him doing some Honda endurance racing but I don't think it anything to do with GP in the future, just his way of getting back on 2 wheels without his split ar5e nagging him!!

Regarding the old timers in the field, I believe they are simply there because they still have a taste for the sport but to also make up the numbers. With Aprilia coming into MotoGP this season I think Melandri is as good a rider as any to help develop the bike with his previous GP experience and knowing the circuits. If successful and they can have a competitive bike he will be replaced by a younger rider for sure. Hayden is just taking Edwards place i think, so long as there's a ride he'll take it and keep the dollars coming in, however you still have to have the inclination riding these bikes even the tail end bikes are beasts to ride and not for the faint hearted!! The more Moto 2 riders that come through into GP will see these guys phase out....the evolution of MotoGP!!

[Homer]

I missed this last race and only got highlights. I have to say the quali lap by Marquez after parking his bike against pit wall and jumping over to grab his second bike was a one lap wonder.
So much bike control...or is that out of control...and slamming it on pole like that was absolutely amazing.

Vale the best of the rest shows there's still fight in the old dog.

Interestingly it seems Honda veto'd Stoner racing in Danni's place. Stoner was keen as mustard despite showing that he would probably circulate in the lower half of the top 10 and was just keen for a ride and to test the Honda, but the powers that be said they wouldn't ride him if he wasn't at the pointy end immediately. Something about preserving his reputation???
Maybe more a case of Asian face not wanting their brand out of podium contention?
Who knows, but interesting to hear Stoner was more than happy to just go riding.

[dawsey]

^ That was a pity that Honda denied Stoner the chance to race for a couple of events. I'm betting he would have done a lot better than Aoyama.
This race was always going to be difficult to live up to the excitement of Qatar, but as Homer said, Marquez was just unbelievable in qualifying. He is unbeatable when on top of his game and its hard to see past him again this season.
Thank goodness Ducati have finally got a good bike with a set up the riders seem to like. They sure have plenty of straight line speed! Yamaha have to keep pushing to stay with them and Honda. Excellent result for Vale with a ruined front tyre. To be getting the better of Lorenzo shows how hard he is trying.

On to Argentina this weekend.

[dawsey]

Another superb effort from Rossi to start 8th and claw his way back to finish 1st. passing Marquez 2 laps from home. Marquez is his own worst enemy, and instead of playing safe, taking 20pts for 2nd place he overcooked a silly passing attempt on Rossi and bit the gravel. Another comfortable podium for Dovi and good finish too for Cal in 3rd.
What is happening to Lorenzo again? Started above Rossi on the same extra hard tyre but just went backwards. Either he has a problem or he isn't trying hard enough. I wonder if he has now realized his team mate is better than he is after all.

Spain next in 2 weeks.

[Homer]

Bugger, way too late for me to watch it this time.

I'm surprised that Rossi would have been close enough to take Marquez on!That is a big ride from back there.

His tyres must have gone off pretty badly I'm thinking?

[Homer]

Just watched the replay. What a great race! Rossi calls himself the doctor but all I was thinking was the professor. Perfectly timed and beautiful lines.

That is a great race track. So many good corners. It's a shame that Marquez often gets so far out in front that he's out of the vision. I loved watching Stoner's style, but Marquez makes you say wow almost every lap. It's almost like watching the 500's again when he rides.
The sun came out and ended his chances on the hard tyre I think.
IMO Vale did nothing wrong in the last lap bingle as Marquez didn't seem to be able to stop it sliding, but I do think there was a bit of race craft there. Perfectly legal and acceptable though.

Also a bit spectacular watching the Duke do a space shuttle and ride around with flames pouring out of it for quite a while until he realised and dropped it and ran 555

A lot of highlights for mine. I don't know if it was the track promoting big slides, or the tyre wars, but it sure worked.

[Masterwoodsman]

I'm sorry but Marquez has gone right down in my estimations, what a knob!! He could see from his pit board that Rossi was taking over half a second a lap off him on the previous 4 laps before he passed him so with 2 laps to go there's no way on earth he was going to win the race. He could quite easily have taken Rossi out with his over zealous riding, the sort of thing you'd expect from Hector Barbara!! His own self management has lost him a safe 20 points as Dawsey said. Sam Lowes in Moto2 was in exactly the same position but damage limitations told him to secure the points and bring the bike home.

Would have been interesting how the race would have panned out had MM used the X hard rear, again a very poor late decision before the race. Rossi rode the absolute perfect race and he knew exactly from the get go how the race was going to develop but that's what you get from years of experience and self belief, we've seen him come from way back many a time, this is vintage Rossi back at the business end of racing again. As they said in commentary yesterday he normally struggles outside of EU so to have 2 wins under his belt already the futures bright.

Great ride by Cal, the tenacious Brit rode a superb race and his post race interview was brash and sarcastic as ever "A big thank you to those who wrote me off" hahaha quality. A great ride and 12 position for the aussie Jack Miller who looks to have real potential , one to watch for the future.

And finally, I wish BT sport would get rid of that split arse that's turned up out of know where. She knows fcuk all about bikes and reads everything from auto cue or a piece of paper, winds me off the clock!! Also as much as i admire Ewan Thomas as an athlete, he needs to fcuk off too, another who likes the look of a bike but knows jack shit about them!!! Rant over see you in Jerez in 2 weeks

*EDIT* Forgot to add and in agreeance with Homer, the way MM slides that bike sideways through corners is ridiculous and a joy to watch, no wonder his tyres were shot!!!

[Homer]

Cal had a few moments there he was lucky to come back from....but he did to his credit.

I also think Marquez just knows he's a cut above the rest and so thinks he can fight it out no matter what. I agree, it was a stupid thing to do, but who hasn't had someone pass him and tried to do the switchback 555

Old head V young head. I just want to see MM ride again.

A bit pissed that only the full team bikes had the opportunity to use the super hard tyres too. That's fcucked in a category with control tyres/or one make tyres. Just fcucked.
8 bikes that are already better than their competitors in every way also get the best tyres. It's still pretty amateur is motogp....

[dawsey]

I feel a little cheated that Honda didn't give CS a ride whilst Dani is recovering. It would spice up what is already looking like a special season now Ducati are finally back. I'm sure Stoner would be up with the leaders given his undoubted talent. Aoyama is a waste of time on that bike. I still reckon he'll be back in Pedrosa's place next season.

[Masterwoodsman]

I feel a little cheated that Honda didn't give CS a ride whilst Dani is recovering. It would spice up what is already looking like a special season now Ducati are finally back. I'm sure Stoner would be up with the leaders given his undoubted talent. Aoyama is a waste of time on that bike. I still reckon he'll be back in Pedrosa's place next season.

No comment Rog......but I know where yr coming from!!! lol

[dawsey]

No comment Rog......but I know where yr coming from!!! lol

555 Love him or hate him, nobody can deny Stoner has undoubted skill and would mix it with the big boys for a while. Not happening anyway so that's that.

Marquez got himself a fractured finger playing motocross last Saturday and had an operation to put a in a plate. Might make it a painful weekend in Spain for him. I bet his Honda bosses weren't please with that!

[dawsey]

Missed today's win by Lorenzo unfortunately. Glad to see Vale on the podium again. Will have to remember to catch it on ITV4 tomorrow evening.

[Masterwoodsman]

Another masterclass by Lorenzo.....with his pecker up and in this kind of form he's gonna be very difficult to beat. Rossi's problem in qualifying bothers me greatly. It's all very well sifting through the pack to gain a podium but he should be at the business end of the race from the start and putting pressure on the front runners. It just rings true of Rossi of old can't get a setting on Saturday but miraculously sorts it's for Sunday. It bothers me because I think there's more to it but can't put my finger on it.

MM is human and really came down to earth with a bump this weekend. I'd confidently say just a blip for him and he'll be back stronger than ever. The lack of R&D is really showing this year for Resol Honda and evidence of a very agitated camp is clear.