A season like this only comes along once in 20 years (semi-spoiler)

Just watched the MotoGP from Catalunya. As well as some superb racing
at the front, with the last couple of laps being as good as I can
recall in the top class, we now have the three contenders equal on the
same number of points, after 6 rounds.

The last time I recall three riders racing at the front for the
championship at this level, it was Lawson, Rainey and Schwantz, in
1989.

 

I thoroughly agree - the Rossi-Lorenzo duel was a very memorable one.
The last 3 rounds were utter insanity. Clearly Yamaha has no peck
order in there, damn, I think they touched each other at least 3 times
on the last 2 laps. Talk about riding hard. Damn. Beautiful race at
the front. And the good news is, 3 guys at the front within a very few
points? And no clear peck order behind, and you know it is important
to those guys to state their claim behind those who enjoy full 100%
factory support.

It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the season pans out, and
if there'll be a circuit where the Yam, Duc and Honda strengths
coincide, and all of a sudden we have a group of 3-4 riders for the
win - I think it will happen and provide an amazing spectacle before
the season is over. There'll also be a major tumble at the front with
all this hard riding going on - no way these guys can get away with
this every race, at some point they'll put each other down, so let's
just hope no one gets hurt as things heat up in this amazingly close
race to the 2009 title.

More stuff to watch out for - Dovizioso making progress. Pedrosa's
approach ain't cutting it, and it is becoming apparent. The peck order
in Honda is being re-established with every race, too. I think by the
end of the year Pedrosa will increasingly look old guard. And wait
until some of these very aggressive 250 guys make it up. There are
several guys in the grid looking for replacement with younger riders
right now.

Gibernau - man, this is your home circuit. Ouch. It truly was an ill-
advised comeback, or at least it seems thus far. Hayden - looking a
tad better now on race day. But knowing how patient Ducati was with
Melandri (who despite the vicious coverage seemed to be doing better
than Hayden) he has to be thinkng about where he'll ride next year
now. It now seems a very ill-advised move, considering he tested the
bike before making a decision. Edwards can't be feeling to great about
what Lorenzo is doing of that second spot in Yamaha that supposedly
never got any support from anyone because Rossi hogs all the
engineering and team support...

Also interesting to see that, after looking good 2 weeks ago,
melandri's team receded into the spot they would seem to logically
belong.

 

Here's a solution to the Hayden problem. Swap Hayden and Toseland. It
keeps the American, Brit and two ex SB riders in the paddock. Hayden
gets a ride he could do something with, Toseland gets one last chance
for a factory that has already brought him one championship. (except
they fired him...)

So definitely nothing to do with the new engine parts then?

Note that Stoner was crocked with man-flu. And the Ducati could only
just live with the Yamahas on the straight.

And Lorenzo learnt a valuable lesson that he won't ever forget; Don't
leave the door open for Rossi on the last corner. It's a lesson
Gibernau, Melandri, Biaggi and many others won't ever forget either.

 

After the 125 and 250 races, I couldn't stand any more of that Carlton
Kirby. It comes to something when the Charlie Cox on the BBC is a more
preferable alternative.

 

Mark N says:

Didn't seem to have much trouble yesterday. "Technique" he called it.

We usually called it racing. Pretty damn good racing too.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

I've taken to watching the TV on Eurosport and then BBC with the
internet commentary from the MotoGP site. Which is ok if you're watching
everything live. But then yesterday, I needed to record the 125 and 250
and Eurosport-Virgin managed to screw up and couldn't decide between
them what was actually being shown on British Europsort 1 and 2. So I
ended up watching the replay on the red button only to find the same
MotoGP commentators. Except of course that you can't use Virgin+ to
record off the red button or use the fast forward or replay.

Grrr... Maybe next year, Dorna will sort out the French and German TV
companies and we can just go back to Eurosport-Moody-Ryder-Mamola.

 

Dunno who screwed up for you, but which ever channel it was on (I forget
now), that's what Eurosport had previously scheduled, so that's what I
recorded correctly.

Ah, that's worth knowing.

I can with Freeview

Mugello wasn't bad when Ryder kept that Kirby in check, but James Haydon
just doesn't have the presence or confidence or something.

One of my peevs with Kirby is that he claims to speak/understand
Spanish, yet he can't pronounce any of the names properly.

 

In response to several comments about the Ducati's top speed deficit,
I think it's the new electronics package. I've read that it's better
to ride, but more intrusive and that it pays a penalty in fuel economy
as a result. I suspect the Ducati could make the same power as ever
but they had to dial it back to make race distance on the allotted
fuel.

-Dirt-

PS: Mark, does everything have to be a conspiracy? I always enjoy
your posts, but damn, they're a real wet blanket on the weekend
sometimes.

 

You can also do this with the Eurosport internet stream.
Or maybe Burnicle will put his oar in...

 

I'm so glad I don't live in your world.

 

H1N1 hits ?