In order to have the #1 plate when the 1000's return, he will have to win THIS YEAR so he's actually talking about the results of 2011.
And I agree that Stoner will be a serious force to be dealt with. Ohlins better have their best front end guy in his pitbox every damn day so he doesn't lose the front twice a weekend.
Sepang MotoGP test, February 1, 2011 1. Casey Stoner Repsol Honda Team 2:01.574
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.977 +0.403
3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 2:02.024 +0.450
4 Marco Simoncelli San Carlo Honda Gresini 2:02.295 +0.721
5 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing 2:02.332 +0.758
6 Alvaro Bautista Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2:02.422 +0.848
7 Hiroshi Aoyama San Carlo Honda Gresini 2:02.483 +0.909
8 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Team 2:02.507 +0.933
9 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:02.514 +0.940
10 Randy De Puniet Pramac Racing Team 2:03.152 +1.578
11 Kousuke Akiyoshi HRC Test Team 2:03.224 +1.650
12 Valentino Rossi Ducati Marlboro Team 2:03.365 +1.791
13 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Team 2:03.508 +1.934
14 Loris Capirossi Pramac Racing Team 2:03.695 +2.121
15 Hector Barbera Aspar Team 2:03.767 +2.193 0
16 Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:04.009 +2.435
17 Toni Elias LCR Honda MotoGP 2:04.238 +2.664
18 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 2:04.470 +2.896
Early, early days, but it's fun (and silly) to draw predictions out of this now.
Hondas looking strong. It's about time they come back again. I will love Casey to demolish Pedrobot, only for hitting back at Puig. I've actually grown to admire the little guy.
Jorge is man to beat, because Casey will be quickest but will crash again.
Jorge is the favorite based on his combination of speed and consistency as well as his resistance to Rossi Mind Games. But he does know that Rossi can beat him when it comes down to close quarters racing. If Rossi can stop his late race charges then he can keep Jorge under control but that is a tall order.
Pedrosa when healthy will finish on the podium every single race. He's a subtle threat for the championship and could win Nicky style if the others have a bit of bad luck this year.
Spies will probably be best poised to win once GP goes back to 1000cc.
Rossi needs to win this year or he might need to consider retirement. Especially If he has another serious crash. He should just shoot for race wins to beat Ago's record of 120 something GP victories. He needs to race 2 more years. He won't break the record this year but if he can race two more years and win the 2nd year while breaking Ago's record that would be BRILLIANT!
Nicky - Who knows. He's just riding around out there.
This will be a very interesting year. I'm now learning towards stoner but will cheer on Ducati (Rossi/Nicky) all year. I'm sure Ben will get his "Alien" status this year.
It just sunk in in my head now how many unknowns there are regarding this year! Hrc stoner, desmo Rossi, Jorge spies yamaha, last year of 800cc. This is the end of an era!!
Lorenzo killed his career. Without Lorenzo smoking him and Yamaha being forced to give him Rossi-type money, Rossi would still be at Yamaha and be the favorite right now.
Lorenzo killed his career. Without Lorenzo smoking him and Yamaha being forced to give him Rossi-type money, Rossi would still be at Yamaha and be the favorite right now.
Don't see what is so great about J Lo. Hayden and Stoner were champions in seasons where Rossi wasn't hurt and ran every race I'm sure he has a great future ahead of him, but one GP championship on a bike Rossi brought up from the ashes in a season where he was hurt and missed 4 races and still finished 3rd doesn't make Jorge all that special to me
If anyone remembers preseason 2007, Yamaha (Rossi and Edwards) had the fastest times at every test for every session. Concensus was it was Rossi pre-ordained to be world champ by a country mile.
Ducati sandbagged (IMO) and absolutely destroyed the field with Stoner.
Not saying it will be the same this year, but how awesome would it be if Rossi and crew had already discovered the secret to taming the sedici and at Qatar him and Hayden run away from the field.
and he did precisely the same thing when he moved from the 212 to the M1 no-hoper. Won the first race and the championship that year, amongst a few others. He won the championship with 67% more points than 2nd place that year....a greater margin of victory than Lolly last year.
Who knows....but it's gonna be GREAT no matter what happens to Rossi.
Quote Davide Brivio
After 2nd day in Sepang things are going well for Vale.Lap time is not so
fast due to the weak shoulder but the bike is improving.1 more day about 5
hours ago.
Quote Alex Briggs
2/2/2011
Many worried about our lap time. Don't stress. We are doing well. When the
shoulder gets stronger we will at the pointy end
Quote Valentino Rossi
"I'm like an old mobile phone, charge 4 half an hour and then I only work for a few minutes! "
I haven't personally seen it but I read that someone watching the live practice and the Duc was getting eaten up on the straights. Ducati limiting the top speed/HP/RPM's?
We all know that pure HP/top speed has never been the Duc's problem, so why not limit the engines (sand bag a little) and focus on the rest of the bike's problems?
PS, I haven't seen one report of top speed for any of the bikes, so pure speculation on my part.
They cannot make the Duc handle like a Yamaha, engine placement is all wrong. It is also weaker on the brakes than the Yamaha.
The Honda's have been accelerating off the corners really well, top speeds have been pretty even between Honda, Yamaha and Ducati last year. Getting the drive off the corner allows a rider to pull ahead so the ultimate top speed isn't that great of a factor, these days it's getting it stopped, turned and fired off the corner.
In racing motorcyles at their level, it's all in the setup. It's no doubt Lorenzo benefited from Rossi's input. Racers that know the process and the mechanics of what all the adjustments can do, will do better on the track. Even though Lorenzo had a great year, it's too early to place him on a pedestal. This year will be interesting!
It's just like in any business, when you hire someone and start teaching them, you could be training your competition.
Ah, gotcha. So every Championship of his was against a totally healthy field? Every racer out there is busted up. Pedro, Lorenzo, Nicky etc etc have all been carried onto their bikes at times. They get paid to race, it's their fukn job.
Are you saying for $20mm+ a year, you wouldn't get back on the bike with a broken leg, torn labia or whatever else he has? It's his fukn job? You'd do it for far less so stop acting like he or anyone else is a hero for getting back on the bike. Let me know when you run out of asterisks to put by his beatings. He's handed quite a few out in his day and when he gets his it's like they never happened or the excuses just keep coming and coming.
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