If Stoner won the championship....

If Stoner won the championship, wouldn't that be the first time that a
rider won the championship riding a bike other than a Yamaha/Honda/
Suzuki since 1974?

Using my friendly neighbourhood Wikipedia, I note that no 500cc/MotoGP
championships were won by riders on Japanese bikes before 1974 (though
Honda won the 125 and 250 championships in 1961, and there were plenty
of champions riding Japanese bikes in the smaller classes after that),
and no championships have been won by riders riding anything other
than Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki since then.

Could a Stoner championship even be considered historic?

 

Without a doubt. A rookie on a bike that's never come close to winnning
consistently? It would be huge.

....pablo

 

As well as Honda's new (fuk'd-up) direction..

Would

Me too, but I wouldn't completely discount it...

I think the biggest power shift that may

It looks that way so far, but there's still a bunch of places in Europe
where the 'Lin's are boss, how the 'Stones do there will prolly determine
the Duc's overall success...

 

I think Stoner would be doing just fine on lins on a 990 Honda, last
year was his rookie year and he pushed hard and fell off pushing the
limits, he has matured this year and i don't think the change in
capacity, manufacturer and tyres is the only reason he is currently
leading the MGP, the guy has talent and real ability and has shone so
far this year. He was given an opportunity to ride for factory
Ducati, took the chance and is now delivering.

It seems Suzuki is also benefiting from the Stones rise, most notably
Hopkins, if anyone Hoppers deserves a lucky break, he has persevered
with the Suz for so long and finally appears really competitive, I
REALLY want to see him get a podium or better still a win, God knows
he has the talent and now he just about if not already has the bike at
last.

Paul

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not slagging Stoner at all. But if Stoner had
stayed on a 990 Honda, he'd be downstream to the Repsol guys and
Melandri as well, and that's not a good place to be if you want to win
a championship. And of course a 990 Honda would be more competitive
than the 800 is (now), that switch has created an opening for the
others. It's hard to tell how much Capirossi has been impacted by the
baby and how much by the new machine, which he's had problems with,
but in lieu of those issues I'd think Casey would be having more
problems beating Loris. The guy can ride, and he shows real maturing
this year, but a true championship contender on his own already? I
think he's still green. Right now he's leading because Honda has had
problems, Capirossi has had problems, Rossi has had problems, Michelin
has had problems. If you look at the guys who finished in front of him
last year - Hayden, Rossi, Capirossi, Melandri, Pedrosa, Roberts,
Edwards - they've all had something not working for them this year.
But not Casey.

Certainly has helped, but I think Suzuki has taken the biggest jump
forward of all of them with the 800 switch (not that that is
necessarily the reason). The bike just works better, and it would work
better on Michelins as well. Hopper seemed very pleased with the new
stuff tested after Istanbul, so we may see him take another step
forward this weekend. I'd pick him for his first podium; he was 4th
last year, if you recall. And a win is not out of the question.

 

You can, in my opinion. The guy's 21, it's his frist year on a Dicati, and
the Ducati does not have a track record of success, with a reputation on
stability but lazy reflexes. It's quite obvious he rides in a very inspired
way, and takes risks in doing so. May the gods of racing help him instill
some long term changes into MotoGP.

Early on in the season we though Rossi had it wrapped up on a superior
Yamaha. We certainly thought too quickly.

....pablo

 

Its SBK all over!

Ducati rule

BUT of course don't count out TheDoctor, esp. when he is soon back on
Euro tracks, Yamaha needs to lift its game BigTime, as does Michelin

AUS

 

Old George W has obviously put a tax on letters over there in the US
of A, so for T3's tax bill sake, I'll keep it brief. It's all a case
of whether 'i on the 'a can match the speed advantage of of the 'is
with new boy 'r and old boy 'i. And can the 'as with champion 'n and
wonder boy 'a catch up ? And how will the tyre battle between the 's
and the 's and the 's resolve itself ?

Cheers,

 

`

Not sure what you were trying to say, but any $ kept from the Taxman is a $
earned twice, so, somewhat hesitantly, I prolly agree to whatever it was...

 

Honda winning?

LOL. Ducati don't seem to be "ruling" SBK right now, despite their usual
cheating.

 

Even that "normal" weight seems very light to me. I'm pretty sure I
could lift Stoner up above my head and walk around with him held up
there.

 

Russell Watson thinks:

Yea right. Cut taxes but spend like a drunken sailor. That's our
George. The latest in a long line of republifucks that can't use
a calculator.

And then there's the shitheads in Ohio. Who 'lowered' taxes
by eliminating corporate taxes and making a new tax that
taxes all money that changes hand between two entities.
Only exceptions - insurance companies and lawyers. So now
instead of corporations paying tax, more money is raised
(that's lower taxes?) by taxing small businesses.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

Dem's, or Repug's no difference, after all, they're owned by the same
people. These days I'm split between the chaos guys and the anarchist's,
though I do still hold out hope for an all out revolution, not to mention, a
complete redistribution of wealth...

 

There is little doubt that lyin', thievin' bastard of a President is the
worst this country has *ever* and hopefully will ever have and we've had
some real winnerz! Jeez Mike it's Saturday, don't get me started!

Those very same shitheads that stole the election for Georgie boi?

 

'i is a bit of a disappointment. 'r has the edge now. I'd say 's are
still the winner's choice, because the 's seem to work only on the 'is,
while the 's are a good all around choice. You may choose 's only when
desperate for sponsor money.

Apparently they have also run out of humor in the 'ted 'tes of 'ica.

 

I write like some people talk and if he was attempting to mess with me,
sorry, I missed it. Try again...

 

12 or 13 seems a bit high. There are riders who simply don't seem to be able
to ride consistently from round to round, usually making their own errors
one way or another. Perhaps you view them amongst the bottom 1/3, but I
wouldn't be quite as generous as you regarding this subject.

You can bash me all you want for my bicycle-centric point of view, but I
hold no grudge against Capirossi. I find it odd that the speculation is that
he may be more affected by the birth of his child than the bicycle rider he
killed accidentally a few years ago. Birth is a joy. Death, especially
caused by one's hands, is tremendous sorrow. I know all about
compartmentalizing when you have a task at hand, but I don't see where a new
life takes away more focus than taking a life, even unintentionally.

Once again your bias comes into play. How does Elias's size factor into the
problems he caused?

I've been too busy with more important issues to reply to your "hater"
comment in the other thread. But if I actually hated you, why would I send
you my condolences last year when you went to Wisconsin?

 

Four races

Btw, good call on the top 3. I was somewhat surprised Vale and the
Michelin's could hang with Stoner to the end..
Did you watch the SSport race yesterday? Great "salute" Rog gave Davies,
huh?

 

T3 asks:

Actually, incredibly, the election was stolen by incompetent
elections officials in Cleveland, democrap homeland. Yea,
the top bosses were republifucks but the guys pulling the levers
that screwed it up were local officials.

Just my read but I've been watching closely.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

Mark N admits:

Which is in no way AMA policy. You've proven once again that
you don't let facts get in the way of your position.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.