Sacked At The Ring, Moto GP Rnd. 10

[jhansen]

Casey Stoner leads the championship by 21 points after Valentino Rossi took victory at Assen. The Doctor heads to another of his favored hunting grounds, Sachsenring. For the second consecutive race we have a tight technical circuit without a long straight. Can Rossi go back to back? Will Stoner stop his momentum? Or will someone step up and play the spoiler?


1. CASEY STONER, DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM, 185
2. VALENTINO ROSSI, FIAT YAMAHA TEAM, 164
3. DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA TEAM, 119
4. JOHN HOPKINS, RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP, 94
5. CHRIS VERMEULEN, RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP, 88
6. MARCO MELANDRI, GRESINI HONDA, 87
7. COLIN EDWARDS, FIAT YAMAHA TEAM, 75
8. ALEX BARROS, PRAMAC D'ANTIN MOTOGP, 69
9. NICKY HAYDEN, REPSOL HONDA TEAM, 57
= LORIS CAPIROSSI, DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM, 57
11. ALEX HOFMANN, PRAMAC D'ANTIN MOTOGP, 53
12. TONI ELIAS, GRESINI HONDA, 49
13. RANDY DE PUNIET, KAWASAKI RACING TEAM, 40
14. SHINYA NAKANO, KONICA MINOLTA HONDA, 25
= CARLOS CHECA, HONDA LCR, 25
16. MAKOTO TAMADA, DUNLOP TECH 3 YAMAHA, 20
17. SYLVAIN GUINTOLI, DUNLOP TECH 3 YAMAHA, 18
18. ANTHONY WEST, KAWASAKI RACING TEAM, 12
19. FONSI NIETO, KAWASAKI RACING TEAM, 5
20. OLIVIER JACQUE, KAWASAKI RACING TEAM, 4
= KENNY ROBERTS, TEAM ROBERTS, 4
= KURTIS ROBERTS, TEAM ROBERTS, 4

[gomick]

i'm gonna put $10 on a rossi/hopkins quinella - i reckon "hopper" is just about due...

[Nivola]

Im throwing the Barros hat into the ring. He always done well here.

Will Randy and Westy find something interesting????????????????

[georgeboi999]

I think Rossi will dominate it.

[bestfit]

Originally Posted by gomick

i'm gonna put $10 on a rossi/hopkins quinella - i reckon "hopper" is just about due...

I hope it goes better for Hopper than it a couple of years ago when he had 2 MASSIVE highsides.

I think it will be another Rossi / Stoner duel. Gut feeling says Stoner to win.

[Pro Racer]

IMO it will play out a little like this: Rossi, Stoner, Hopkins, Barros, Pedrosa, Vermulen, Hayden, West, Edwards, De Puniet.

[jhansen]

I think Hayden has a chance to put it on the box. He went well here last year. If he's not on the podium I'd just like to see him in front of Pedrobot.

[f1manoz]

Randy de Puniety out of nowhere!

[chunder]

Gotta say I think de Puniet is on fire at the moment and that bike is looking one of the quickest out there, if only the silly bugger could stop crashing!

[Hazza]

The Hopkins crash was equally as scary because he'd broke his ankle or foot, and it was in a cast, and he couldn't feel it.

So when he accidentally pushed down and flipped the bike down a gear he had no idea what happened untill he hit the gravel!

I wonder if they still use the road pattern on the Suzuki...

[chunder]

Its up to the rider if he uses road pattern shift or not, its very easy to change the linkage on most bikes, a mate of mine used to race and its just matter for rider preference.

Any top team would be able to set up a linkage in seconds, I think Biagg uses road, as does Chris Walker.

Uts a bit like left foot braking in rallying, doesnt really make you any quicker.

I might be wrong but Rossi or Doohan might have used road linkage aswell, not sure?

[Hazza]

I'll have to check on the video I have of '89.

[bestfit]

Uts a bit like left foot braking in rallying, doesnt really make you any quicker.

It is mainly due to the incredible lean angle the bikes achieve now a days. The race patten allows the rider to change up through the gears easily while at high lean angles by pressing down on the gear lever. Using the road pattern requires the rider to get his toe under the gear lever to shift the lever up to go up a gear. This can lead to problems at high lean angles resulting in missed gear changes. I don't think there would be many 800s using a road pattern gear change.

[chunder]

King of lean Luca Cadalora used a road patter so that scotches yer theory there mate!!

[bestfit]

Originally Posted by chunder

King of lean Luca Cadalora used a road patter so that scotches yer theory there mate!!

Obviously the theory is total bunkum if one (great) rider 15+ years ago used a road pattern.
I first heard the reasoning for the reverse pattern in an interview with Mick Doohan a few years ago. He said he found the race pattern easier to use. But what would he know ...

[Hazza]

The issue is that when Caladora road, they weren't the extreme lean machines they are now, I would assume.

He was still in the "point and shoot days".

[Gerben24]

Originally Posted by Hazza

The issue is that when Caladora road, they weren't the extreme lean machines they are now, I would assume.

He was still in the "point and shoot days".

Nah, Cadalora was the smoothest rider out there, who rode the bike out of the corner. Pedrosa reminds me a bit of him. That's probably the reason he couldn't get along with the MuZ, as that was a point and shoot bike.

[jhansen]

Saturday times:

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 22.737 secs
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 23.083 secs
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 23.366 secs
4. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha (D) 1min 23.387 secs
5. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR (M) 1min 23.413 secs
6. Marco Melandri ITA Gresini Honda (B) 1min 23.430 secs
7. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP (B) 1min 23.548 secs
8. Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 23.613 secs
9. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 23.645 secs
10. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 23.667 secs
11. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 23.683 secs
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 23.687 secs
13. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP (B) 1min 23.856 secs
14. Makoto Tamada JPN Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha (D) 1min 24.090 secs
15. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 24.106 secs
16. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 24.200 secs *
17. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda (M) 1min 24.208 secs
18. Michel Fabrizio ITA Gresini Honda (B) 1min 24.748 secs
19. Kurtis Roberts USA Team Roberts (M) 1min 25.316 secs

* time set in FP1

Hayden ended the second session when his Honda nuked itself down the front stretch.

[Dani Filth]

it's not Saturday .. not yet

[jhansen]

Oops.

[jhansen]

Some commentary from Sachsenring:

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2007/Jul/e/n070713i.htm

Thought this was interesting:

"...and Carlos Checa has been fast from the get go not least because he's using an upgraded chassis - the first of the Honda satellite riders to get some new parts."

Melandri must be fuming! Maybe this is another sign that all is not well at Gresini. And I'm not just talking about a pouting Italian and a wounded Spaniard...

[BootsOntheSide]

Amazing that Checa should get the upgrades first - Melandri is the strongest non-works Honda rider in the championship by a country mile, few would argue that Checa is as talented, and Gresini have been running strong Honda bikes for several years. Maybe the Honda top brass see LCR as a team for the future and want to put one of their riders on a second bike for them next year?

[jhansen]

Boots, I have read rumors that the Grasini team is in trouble.

[chunder]

I cant imagine LCR getting parts quickr than Gresini, Marco is the third works rider in the HRC heirarchy, which is why he has been complaining!!

Checas bike is like Nakano's, just a leased Honda, no special bits. If you ahve heard otherwise, fine, but no mention was made of it yesterday on the telly and they talked about Carlos a lot!

[Dani Filth]

so far it looks like a Bridgestone track..