I thought of starting a thread on it last after the tragic death of Daijiro Kato but didn't think there would be much interest or discussion here. And sorry, but none of your poll questions apply to me. I've heard of it and follow it a little bit, but I don't think it's the best. It will be interesting to see how Valentino Rossi does at Yamaha this year. When does the season start?
I do. Been following 500cc for many years and now its evolution into MotoGP. Some races are thrilling; 45 minutes of all out, in your face riding. But like any motorsports event, one dominant rider/machinery can take away the competitive excitement from the season. I believe Rossi could be the greatest rider of all time, even surpassing Agostini. His switch to Yamaha is similar to Schuey's move in F1 to the (then) underperforming Ferrari back in '96. Who knows, we may have a classic season this year, just like 2001.
mm yeah i guess it's not much followed out of europe anyway i guess it starts in march...don't know exactly
When I said I don't think it's the "best", I didn't mean I dislike it, just that I prefer F1 to it. The only motor sports I really follow are F1, MotoGP and WRC. The last couple of seasons have been dominated so much by Rossi - winning the championship with several races to spare - that it was hard to keep interested at the end. Another problem for me is that the coverage here (in the US) is limited to one hour of tape-delayed race coverage, interrupted by commercials. No coverage of qualifying. And because I watch Serie A on Sunday mornings, I have to be very careful not to hear the results of some races before watching them.
after the first tests in Sepang Rossi came 1.7/10 of a second behind Biaggi, the fastest among Honda riders, and 1 second faster than the other yamaha's, definitely a season to watch. anyway i like F1 too, but last seasons have been simply boring, almost no overpass out of pit stops, and too much team work by someone.... hope this season will be different
Don't know if this will be a continuing discussion thread on this, but I'm posting the season schedule here for reference: April 18 South Africa May 2 Spain May 16 France June 6 Italy June 13 Catalunya June 26 Netherlands July 4 Brazil July 18 Germany July 25 Great Britain Aug 22 Czech Republic Sep 5 Portugal Sep 19 Japan Oct 2 Qatar Oct 10 Malaysia Oct 17 Australia Oct 31 Valencia
almost all the teams are testing in sepan, tomorrow will be the 3th day, with max biaggi being the fastest so far, though it doesnt mean much since many teams have just presented their new bikes a few weeks ago or days ago talking about the new ducati desmosedici (http://www.ducati.com/docs_eng/downloads/wallpaper/gp4/01_800.jpg !!! simply Beautiful) anyway among the others, heyden seems to be one of the title contenders as rossi, his ex teammate, said. He made the 4th time and has been proving himself constantly fast in these winter tests with the official honda 2004 (with barros he will be the only honda rider with a brand new bike, the others could get it just before welkom) while rossi is 5th but as he said he was focused on testing the new motor more than trying to run faster
yes he is, and today he made the fastest lap of the 3 days. here's the list: 3. Max Biaggi (ITA) Honda, Camel Honda Team 4. Alexandre Barros (BRA) Honda, Repsol Honda 6. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Honda, Camel Honda Team 7. Carlos Checa (SPA) Yamaha, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha 9. Nobuatsu Aoki (JPN) Proton KR, Proton Team KR 10. Kenny Roberts (USA) Suzuki, Team Suzuki MotoGP 11. Ruben Xaus (SPA) Ducati, D'Antin MotoGP 12. Troy Bayliss (AUS) Ducati, Ducati Marlboro Team 15. Sete Gibernau (SPA) Honda, Telefonica Movistar Honda MotoGP 17. Norifumi Abe (JPN) Yamaha, Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 21. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki,Team Suzuki MotoGP 33. Marco Melandri (ITA) Yamaha, Fortuna Gauloises Tech 3 45. Colin Edwards (USA) Honda, Telefonica Movistar Honda MotoGP 46. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, Gauloises Fortuna Yamaha 50. Neil Hodgson (GBR) Ducati, D'Antin MotoGP 56. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Kawasaki, Kawasaki Racing Team 65. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, Ducati Marlboro Team 66. Alex Hofmann (GER) Kawasaki, Kawasaki Racing Team 67. Shane Byrne (GBR) Aprilia, Aprilia Racing 69. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda, Repsol Honda 80. Kurtis Roberts (USA) Proton KR, Proton Team KR 99. Jeremy McWilliams (GBR) Aprilia, Aprilia Racing To be confirmed. Harris WCM, WCM To be confirmed. Harris WCM, WCM (?! i have no clue what it is)
At long last the season begins this weekend in South Africa. I think it's later than usual because Suzuka is not on the calendar this season for safety reasons after last year's tragic death of Daijiro Cato there. The anticipation for this season is huge after Rossi's move to Yamaha means there is no clear favorite to be champion. Without claiming to be an expert, I'd have to say last season's runner-up Sete Gibernau and American Nicky Hayden (last year's Rookie of the Year) are probably two of the top favorites. Qualifying takes place Friday and Saturday. The race is Sunday and will be shown tape-delayed on Speed Channel at 2 pm EDT.
And I'll add to the list of favorites an obscure rider named Valentino Rossi, who has provisional pole after the first day of qualifying. Gibernau is second, Loris Capirossi is third and Max Biaggi fourth. Hayden (who took Rossi's seat at Honda) is a disappointing 6th. BTW, noticing the poll that originated this thread, I see that there are as many American riders as Italians this season - Kenny Roberts, John Hopkins, Colin Edwards, Hayden and rookie Kurtis Roberts (Kenny's brother - their dad is a former world champ).
What an awesome race this past weekend, I'll definitely try to catch as many races as possible this season!
I haven't seen the race yet, but I know Rossi won. Can't wait to watch my recording of it. Doesn't bode well for the other competitors that he can still beat them on an "inferior" machine.
Enjoy watching the race. BTW the camera work was fantastic, the overhead shots are very nice not to mention the on-board cameras. I thought the camera work in F1 was good, but MotoGP blows it away!!
Yes, a fantastic race. I only wish I could've watched without knowing the result, but oh well. What a duel between arch-rivals Rossi and Max Biaggi. Later, Rossi said something like this was his best performance ever. He could not afford to make a single mistake, and he didn't.
Rossi won provisional pole in Spain on Friday, but rain is making Saturday's session very difficult. I'm not sure how qualifying works, does anybody else know? Do they combine times or just take the fastest time of the two sessions or what? Anyway, it's supposed to rain all weekend which could make the race very interesting.
Rossi was on the pole, but homeboy Sete Gibernau won the rainy Spanish GP on Sunday, ahead of Max Biaggi. Rossi only managed fourth place, so it looks like there will be a championship race this year after all. After 2 races: 1. Gibernau 41 pts 2. Biaggi 40 pts 3. Rossi 38 pts
A truly great Italian GP this past weekend with Valentino Rossi winning a 6-lap "shootout" after rain had stopped the race. Rossi was leading what had already been a magnificent race when the rain started so he was on pole on the restart, but rode with caution and was running back in 6th or 7th for a while as the other riders tried to spring a surprise. Anyway, it looked for a while like there would be at least one surprise on the podium, but it ended up with Gibernau and Biaggi third. The championship now stands at Gibernau (86 pts), Rossi (76) and Biaggi (72). The Catalunyan GP comes up right away this weekend.
Another great win for Valentino Rossi this weekend, as he passed Gibernau on the final lap at Assen. Rossi has now equalled Gibernau on points in the championship race, but he leads in the tiebreaker with 4 wins to Sete's 2. Can there be any doubt that he is the greatest motorcycle racer in the world, racing as he is on an "inferior" machine.
An exciting GP in Brazil on Sunday with Makoto Tamada getting his first victory ahead of teammate Max Biaggi. Both Gibernau and Rossi crashed out of the race, so Biaggi's 20 points pulled him back to within shouting distance of the two leaders, who remain tied on 126 pts. Biaggi has 113. Kentucky native Nicky Hayden got his first podium of the season, finishing 3rd while Californian Kenny Roberts finished 7th after starting from the pole.
Biaggi finally got a win last weekend in Germany, while Rossi only managed 4th place, and Gibernau crashed out yet again. So now the standings are Rossi 139, Biaggi 138, Gibernau 126. This is great. British GP this weekend before a month's break. BTW, it was a second straight podium finish for American Nicky Hayden though he's still way down in 6th place on 70 pts.
Shame that Rossi had tire problems in the last couple of laps. I coudln't believe how many people crashed out of this race, at least no serious injuries. Looking forward to this weekend's race for sure!