MotoGP Round 4 - Pramac Grand Prix of China, Shanghai China

[flying finn]

MotoGP Round 4 - Pramac Grand Prix of China, Shanghai China

Friday 02.05
Free Practice 1 > 10.00 - 11.00
Free Practice 2 > 13.55 - 14.55

Saturday 03.05
Free Practice 3 > 10.00 - 11.00
Qualifying > 13.55 - 14.55

Sunday 04.05
Race (22 laps x 5.281km = 116.182km) > 15.00 - 16.00

note > above times are in Shanghai time
preview > http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2008/M...+Chinese+visit

Championship Standings

1. LORENZO Jorge SPA > 61
2. PEDROSA Dani SPA > 61
3. ROSSI Valentino ITA > 47
4. STONER Casey AUS > 40
5. TOSELAND James GBR > 29
6. CAPIROSSI Loris ITA > 26
7. HOPKINS John USA > 24
8. EDWARDS Colin USA > 22
9. DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA > 21
10. HAYDEN Nicky USA > 19
11. NAKANO Shinya JPN > 16
12. VERMEULEN Chris AUS > 14
13. MELANDRI Marco ITA > 12
14. DE PUNIET Randy FRA > 8
15. DE ANGELIS Alex RSM > 7
16. ELIAS Toni SPA > 7
17. WEST Anthony AUS > 3
18. GUINTOLI Sylvain FRA > 3

[Pro Racer]

i want to see Duc (Marco needs to pull his finger out and help get Casey and the team get the bike going) and Suzuki (need to make the bike a little quicker over 1 lap as it's got race pace just no qualifying pace) bounce back from their slumps.

[chunder]

Erm havent Suzuki been in a slump since Kenny won the title!!

[Pro Racer]

yep, i would like it to be now that they rise out of the slump.

[CDK 7]

Originally Posted by flying finn

MotoGP Round 4 - Pramac Grand Prix of China, Shanghai China

Friday 02.05
Free Practice 1 > 10.00 - 11.00
Free Practice 2 > 13.55 - 14.55

Saturday 03.05
Free Practice 3 > 10.00 - 11.00
Qualifying > 13.55 - 14.55

Sunday 04.05
Race (22 laps x 5.281km = 116.182km) > 15.00 - 16.00

note > above times are in Shanghai time
preview > http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2008/M...+Chinese+visit

Championship Standings

1. LORENZO Jorge SPA > 61
2. PEDROSA Dani SPA > 61
3. ROSSI Valentino ITA > 47
4. STONER Casey AUS > 40
5. TOSELAND James GBR > 29
6. CAPIROSSI Loris ITA > 26
7. HOPKINS John USA > 24
8. EDWARDS Colin USA > 22
9. DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA > 21
10. HAYDEN Nicky USA > 19
11. NAKANO Shinya JPN > 16
12. VERMEULEN Chris AUS > 14
13. MELANDRI Marco ITA > 12
14. DE PUNIET Randy FRA > 8
15. DE ANGELIS Alex RSM > 7
16. ELIAS Toni SPA > 7
17. WEST Anthony AUS > 3
18. GUINTOLI Sylvain FRA > 3

1st rossi 2nd hayden 3rd toseland

this w/end for me

[Dani Filth]

you got 1st right .. but only that

[bestfit]

Not the way to defend you championship lead.



Lorenzo had a huge highside in FP1 and has a suspected fractured right ankle and additional damage to the left ankle. He has been taken to hospital for checks.

See Here

[Pro Racer]

FMD thats frigen huge can't wait to see video of it.

[Matt_S]

Some more pics of Lorenzo on Crash.net - http://www.crash.net/news_view.asp?i...0&cid=6&news=y

[alonso11]

poor guy, just when his arms were getting OK... would be surprised if he doesnt ride tomorrow tho (even with a chipped bone), he's hardly that type of fella.

what do you think of the new .com site? one wonders what they were working so hard on, massive step backwards IMHO

[Gerben24]

That was a huge (almost classic) highside. And it didn't seem he was trying that hard! Hope he gets better soon. We have to trust Dr. Costa can do his magic again!

From the telly it looks like only Ducati have bothered with a different fairing. It shows in the topspeed charts (what I've seen of it, which was the last 20 min. of 2nd practice).

Maybe this weekend we'll get the classic we've been asking for (for a while now)...

[Gerben24]

I have just been let to believe that this will be Anthony West his last GP. Marco Melandri will replace him. I don't find this too hard to believe, but it's also said that either Barros, Biaggi or Canepa will get the 2nd works Ducati... Now that I think we can call BS.

Time will tell.

[bestfit]

Any link to that Gerben?

[BootsOntheSide]

Bike racers are brave, but maybe they're not quite brave enough to race with 2 imperfect feet.

[Gerben24]

Originally Posted by bestfit

Any link to that Gerben?

Hows your Dutch these days?

http://www.racesport.nl/nieuwsberich...t+exit%3F.html

This site is usually pretty accurate. In this instance they've covered themself by saying it's a big rumour in the paddock!

[Dani Filth]

i wouldn't mind if it was to happen .. Melandri is wasted on the Duke and West is wasting the kwaker ..

[Gerben24]

Agreed!

[bestfit]

Hows your Dutch these days?

Arrgh

I'll take your word for it.

[chunder]

I think both riders are a little unlucky.

West is clearly not right for MotoGP, but maybe he was making De Puniet look better than he was last year! I still think he would be podium fodder on a 250 or WSS bike

And as for Melandri, I feel genuinely sorry fot eh bloke. You don't win umpteen GP's and a world championship by being useless.

Clearly there is something about that bike that forces him to back off, far more than anyone else, he obviously doesnt feel safe riding that machine so I think for his own well being he should just leave.

Who you put on there instead is debatable, as noone seems able to ride a 800 Duke like Stoner.

That says a lot about Stoner but not much for Ducati in my book? Just like Ferrari and Benetton did with Schuey in F1.

[bestfit]

The Ant West situation at Kawasaki is very interesting. He is obviously struggling for form at the moment and like Milandri, Elias and Guintoli, has not come to terms with the 08 bike. However in my opinion he is the rider most likely to deliver Kawasaki's first MotoGP victory. Given a wet race!

Westy is an absolute genius in the wet and has put in several truly classic wet rides over the years in both 250cc and WSS. Last year at a wet Donnington in his very first MotoGP start, he blasted from 17th to 9th on the first lap and then worked his way up to fifth, passing Rossi twice in the process, before running off into the gravel at turn 1.
At Motegi in the wet/dry race he was in the lead by lap 2 and going away before getting a ride through for a (marginal) jump start. Rejoining in 14th he made his way back to 7th even after pitting again to change to the dry bike. Whether he would have won without the ride through we'll never know but he was certainly in with a good chance.

Hopkins will out perform West by a long way this year, and is already looking impressive on the Kwaka. But it doesn't look like the bike is capable of winning in the dry yet. However throw a wet race into the mix and it is a whole new game. It then becomes entirely possible that the combination of West's wet weather ability and Bridgestone's superior wet tyres, could deliver a sneaky first victory for Kawasaki. (Remember OJ rapidly hunting down and almost catching Rossi in the 2005 Shanghai monsoon?).

I'm sure that Kawasaki would be desperate to get that elusive first win and if it is more likely than not they will need a wet race to achieve it, is it worth persisting with West in the hope he can pull the rabbit out of the hat? Chris Vermuelen gave Suzuki it's first 4 stroke victory at Le Mans last year in the wet, leaving Kawasaki as the only current manufacturer without a first class win.

Gerben24 has posted that the Dutch press is reporting that West may be dropped after this round, to be replaced by Milandri. Assuming this were true (it is not being reported anywhere else that I can see, so at this stage I don't believe it), I can't see any benefit with switching one rider who can't come to grips with their bike with another rider who can't come to grips with his bike. I have seen it reported that Barros may be called in to replace Milandri if his results don't improve. I doubt this also but it would allow Milandri to become their test rider. Possibly allowing him to become friends with the GP8 away from the pressures of a race weekend.

Just some thoughts to ponder.

[Schummy]

Results of the 3rd Session:

1  	 V.ROSSI 		YAMAHA FIAT 		1'59"690 	+ 0"000 	+ 0"000 	158.84 	23 	 
2  	 D.PEDROSA 		HONDA REPSOL 		1'59"738 	+ 0"048 	+ 0"048 	158.78 	21 	 
3  	 C.STONER 		DUCATI 			1'59"908 	+ 0"218 	+ 0"170 	158.55 	19 	 
4  	 C.EDWARDS 		YAMAHA TECH 3 		2'00"102 	+ 0"412 	+ 0"194 	158.30 	18 	 
5  	 S.NAKANO 		HONDA GRESINI 		2'00"141 	+ 0"451 	+ 0"039 	158.24 	22 	 
6  	 N.HAYDEN 		HONDA REPSOL 		2'00"339 	+ 0"649 	+ 0"198 	157.98 	21 	 
7  	 L.CAPIROSSI 		SUZUKI 			2'00"350 	+ 0"660 	+ 0"011 	157.97 	24 	 
8  	 J.HOPKINS 		KAWASAKI 		2'00"553 	+ 0"863 	+ 0"203 	157.70 	20 	 
9  	 A.DOVIZIOSO 		HONDA JiR 		2'00"621 	+ 0"931 	+ 0"068 	157.61 	22 	 
10 	 C.VERMEULEN 		SUZUKI 			2'00"692 	+ 1"002 	+ 0"071 	157.52 	13 	 
11 	 T.ELIAS 		DUCATI ALICE 		2'00"715 	+ 1"025 	+ 0"023 	157.49 	21 	 
12 	 R.DE PUNIET 		HONDA LCR 		2'00"731 	+ 1"041 	+ 0"016 	157.47 	19 	 
13 	 A.DE ANGELIS 		HONDA GRESINI 		2'00"751 	+ 1"061 	+ 0"020 	157.44 	5 	 
14 	 J.LORENZO 		YAMAHA FIAT 		2'00"799 	+ 1"109 	+ 0"048 	157.38 	20 	 
15 	 J.TOSELAND 		YAMAHA TECH 3 		2'01"081 	+ 1"391 	+ 0"282 	157.02 	22 	 
16 	 M.MELANDRI 		DUCATI 			2'01"476 	+ 1"786 	+ 0"395 	156.50 	8 	 
17 	 A.WEST 		KAWASAKI 		2'01"487 	+ 1"797 	+ 0"011 	156.49 	21 	 
18 	 S.GUINTOLI 		DUCATI ALICE 		2'01"502 	+ 1"812 	+ 0"015 	156.47 	17

At last Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa look strong *at the same GP*. A three-way fight would be awesome (but, thus, not probable).

[Gerben24]

Originally Posted by bestfit

However in my opinion he is the rider most likely to deliver Kawasaki's first MotoGP victory. Given a wet race!

After all this gossip it might just start raining tomorrow and he'll win the race!

[bestfit]

Originally Posted by Gerben24

After all this gossip it might just start raining tomorrow and he'll win the race!

Judging by the press releases most of the teams are expecting a wet race.
GO WESTY!!!

[jhansen]

I don't see how you can keep a rider around for a wet race win. It's not like Suzuki are reaping any benefit from Vermeulen's win last year. I say so what. You need points over the course of a season. And statistically we have more dry races then wet. However, I really don't like to see riders sacked mid season. But we'll see what happens.

[Hazza]

That's if Edwards doesn't win...


Okay back in my box....