It is wonderful to hear that the Simoncelli-Bautista-Barbera words-and-
contact war is moving up into MotoGP. Aoyama is a comparative
pussycat, but he is fast. Cocky Lorenzo will not make room for these
hot young upstarts, and Pedrosa will have more occasion to grouch.
Rossi will remain a genius rider, but this pack of animals may just
elbow the master into the gravel. Marvellous. Nice guy Nicky, time to
retire. Good guy Stoner, put on your Doc Martins.

Somebody once said, speaking of baseball, that "No game is much fun
unless the players really hate each other."
Bring it on, MotoGP for 2010! Yeehoooooo!

Not Leonard Cohen <(E-Mail Removed)> Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:15:04
>Bring it on, MotoGP for 2010! Yeehoooooo!

Bring it on WSB. Actually bring it all on (except AMA). It is of course
going to be the best year ever.

Who's left standing at the end of the musical chairs? There's a few
people who've been hung out to dry in minor championships, but who's got
no ride at all and really should be out there somewhere? James Ellison.
Any others?

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Tread Lightly

Julian Bond wrote:
> Bring it on WSB. Actually bring it all on (except AMA). It is of course
> going to be the best year ever.
>
> Who's left standing at the end of the musical chairs? There's a few
> people who've been hung out to dry in minor championships, but who's got
> no ride at all and really should be out there somewhere? James Ellison.
> Any others?

Jamie Hacking, Jake Zemke, Ben Bostrom, Eric Bostrom, Mat Mladin...

From my view 2010 looks like the worst year ever, I have never been so
pessimistic about big-time racing. Obviously there's the DMG
situation, which at this point has left America without a professional
championship to speak of. But that's only the "highlight".

Beyond that, MotoGP will still feature boring-as-hell, electronically-
controlled 800s, and the 17 riders in the field hardly excite -
midgetry still runs rampant, of the 17 confirmed riders 10 are
Spaniards or Italians (and 6 of the 8 factory riders) and the field is
otherwise the most ingrown it has ever been - 14 of 17 come from
125/250 and have never raced regularly outside of GP as adults (I
think; not certain about Aoyama and Kallio). Last year was dominated
by the four aliens, which seems likely to only partially be about
talent, and there is almost nothing that suggests this year won't be
more of the same - Snow White and the Three Dwarves.

WSB has lost the best racer they've had in 8, 10 years and maybe ever,
and now it's a combination of aging 2nd-raters and a bunch of young
Brits who couldn't beat the likes of Lavilla, Kiyonari and Byrne at
home. Given the machines, the rules and last year's results it seems
likely Ducati Corse will dominate the championship.

It's very likely that this will be the first year in a couple decades
that I will not attend a single AMA-only event (I'm not even planning
on taking the short ride to Sears), and likely that the WSB round at
Miller will be the first world championship round in America I don't
attend since the WSB races at Brainerd in 1991. Kinda looks like
Laguna and Indy will be it for me, and even they aren't at all
certain. Really the only rooting interest I'll have this year is
Spies, of course, although he's been relegated to a satellite bike,
and Hayden in his continuing battle with that Ducati. I guess I'll
probably be pulling for Rea and Toseland in WSB, but without real gut-
level fire, and ultimately it may be reduced to an "anybody but
Ducati" deal...

But I can see where commercial manipulation in the "world"
championships will make fans in Spain, Italy and the UK very happy
this year. But perhaps with a mysterious, lingering empty feeling...

Mark N <(E-Mail Removed)> Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:06:15
>Jamie Hacking, Jake Zemke, Ben Bostrom, Eric Bostrom, Mat Mladin...

Ben has a ride. Eric has effectively retired. Mat has retired.

>But I can see where commercial manipulation in the "world"
>championships will make fans in Spain, Italy and the UK very happy
>this year. But perhaps with a mysterious, lingering empty feeling...

Still plenty of stories to follow. And the racing at the front of
MotoGP, WSB, WSS, BSB all promises to be entertaining. And then there's
the Moto2 experiment. Maybe your glass is half empty again.

In the US, it feels like Laguna and Miller may well struggle. Indy
should still pack them in, let's hope for good weather this time.

As for riders with no ride, pretty much everyone in the world
championships has found their place. In BSB, there's really only Ellison
and Lowry stuck out in the cold. From AMA, Chaz Davies and Laverty found
places. I don't know about the others apart from Hacking and Zemke both
of whom are getting on a bit now. Is Hayes racing next year?

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Carton Has Been Opened

Mark N <(E-Mail Removed)> Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:29:11
>Does Ben have a ride? I've only seen rumors about that, reported
>MCN-style.

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/...?article=39127

>Moto2 is really the only positive development

>But the fact that there is no American presence

Confirmed
Promoracing Kenny Noyes Harris

>Ducati dominance in WSB will be a wet blanket over the the more
>detailed stories under that.

You think Haga and Fabrizio are going to dominate WSB this year? I
don't. I'm sure they'll both be in the front group but "dominate"? The
Ducati was starting to look slow on top speed last year and I think this
will get worse as Yamaha and Honda match Aprilia's top speed.

>IndyStill, they're shipping in all three classes, so it's more costly
>that it is for Laguna.

Who do you think pays the extra? Is the cost to the circuit greater than
say, Jerez or Sepang?

>I still don't think a world championship race can be truly successful
>in the US if the perception is that it's really a European championship
>and capable Americans are largely excluded.

Who are these capable Americans? I have trouble thinking of anyone who
deserves a ride in 125, Moto2 or MotoGP who isn't already there.

>And then there's Hopper
>perhaps the 2nd-highest salary there

Citation required.

> to having to ride a support bike in the dying AMA series in America,
>due to some extent to his mistakes but much more to the economy, his
>passport and bad luck. Guys like Hopkins and Hacking
>(http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/...-interview.htm) are
>the posterchildren of these times to me.

Hopkins probably peaked in his last year at Suzuki. He's made some *bad*
mistakes and been seriously injured since then. I really don't think
it's got anything to do with his passport.

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Grade A Ultra Pasteurised

Julian Bond wrote:
> Mark N <(E-Mail Removed)> Sat, 16 Jan 2010 11:29:11
>> Does Ben have a ride? I've only seen rumors about that, reported
>> MCN-style.
>
> http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/...?article=39127
>
>> Moto2 is really the only positive development
>
>> But the fact that there is no American presence
>
> Confirmed
> Promoracing Kenny Noyes Harris

Noyes has to be at least 30 years old, no?



>
>> Ducati dominance in WSB will be a wet blanket over the the more
>> detailed stories under that.
>
> You think Haga and Fabrizio are going to dominate WSB this year? I
> don't. I'm sure they'll both be in the front group but "dominate"? The
> Ducati was starting to look slow on top speed last year and I think this
> will get worse as Yamaha and Honda match Aprilia's top speed.
>
>> IndyStill, they're shipping in all three classes, so it's more costly
>> that it is for Laguna.
>
> Who do you think pays the extra? Is the cost to the circuit greater than
> say, Jerez or Sepang?
>
>> I still don't think a world championship race can be truly successful
>> in the US if the perception is that it's really a European
>> championship and capable Americans are largely excluded.
>
> Who are these capable Americans? I have trouble thinking of anyone who
> deserves a ride in 125, Moto2 or MotoGP who isn't already there.
>
>> And then there's Hopper
>> perhaps the 2nd-highest salary there
>
> Citation required.
>
>> to having to ride a support bike in the dying AMA series in America,
>> due to some extent to his mistakes but much more to the economy, his
>> passport and bad luck. Guys like Hopkins and Hacking
>> (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/...-interview.htm) are
>> the posterchildren of these times to me.
>
> Hopkins probably peaked in his last year at Suzuki. He's made some *bad*
> mistakes and been seriously injured since then. I really don't think
> it's got anything to do with his passport.
>

Mark N <(E-Mail Removed)> Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:30:00
>I don't think that's true at all, and it betrays your pro-European,
>anti-American bias, whether conscious or not. Dorna moved in and saved
>one Kawasaki ride last year and that was Melandri's, which I think was
>quite intentional and based on his nationality more than anything else.

And I think you're forgetting the repeated injuries and the failure to
turn up one Friday. Damaged goods, and not just through falling off
badly and repeatedly. Then when he goes to WSB he doesn't impress with
his speed and then falls off again. Why should anyone think he can be
fast again, and why shouldn't they think that he might just screw up
again. Smacks of Gobert or Russell and there's no place for that stuff
at the highest level any more, if there ever was.

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The Power To Kill Twice As Many Fleas

Mark N <(E-Mail Removed)> Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:30:00
>Overall, I just don't see a Ducati-beater in the field.

Really. And there was me looking forwards to a Haga, Fabrizio, Toseland,
Crutchlow, Rea, Haslam[1], Biaggi slugfest. With Camier, Vermeulen,
Corser, Checa, Byrne one step behind them. And of course Xaus falling
off spectacularly every other weekend. Maybe none of them will be as
fast as Spies was last year, but the racing will be better for it.

Hmmm. Crutchlow, Rea, Haslam, Byrne all trying to prove they're better
than Toseland. That should be fun.

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The Power To Kill Twice As Many Fleas

Champ <(E-Mail Removed)> Mon, 18 Jan 2010 09:10:41
>There's a long history of Australian riders coming to Britain, from
>Gardner to Stoner, because that's where the action is, and that's
>where you get noticed. No one suggests they are any less Australian.
>
>So why is an American rider building his careeer in Spain any
>different?

And of course those with long memories remember Dennis Noyes fondly
because
a) He's a laugh who was part of the old school of messing around in hire
cars
b) Used to be one of the commentators on Eurosport.

So we'll be watching Kenny and hoping he does well.

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The Power To Kill Twice As Many Fleas

On Jan 18, 3:44*am, Julian Bond <julian_b...@voidstar.com> wrote:

> And of course those with long memories remember Dennis Noyes fondly
> because
> a) He's a laugh who was part of the old school of messing around in hire
> cars
> b) Used to be one of the commentators on Eurosport.

I think fondly of Dennis Noyes because I tremendously enjoy(ed) his
writing and the odd bit of US TV commentary back in the Doohan/Rainey/
Schwantz 500cc days. Does he have any English language media outlets
these days?