[tonyharrah]

Re: Valentino Wins Again

Valentino didn't do the stand-up wheelie like last year. I guess Biaggi was too close. Like Rainey said in Faster, it'll take someone not currently in MotoGP to take Rossi down. I'm thinkin' maybe Pedrosa--125cc champ first year, 250cc champ first year.

 

[mile_eater]

Kawi in the top10!

 

[zrx]

Rossi makes it look to easy. Tamada on the right tires, not Bridgestone, could give him a good run.

Still hoping the Texas Tornado can get on the right bike to press Rossi. Now that he is with Yamaha will he get the same support as Rossi?

 

[34763]

The best part about Valencia was seeing Troy Bayliss back on the podium. Talk about class ... Ducati makes the unfortunate (and probably unwise) decision to replace him with Carlos Checa, and yet Troy still helps develop the bike and puts Ducati in a good position for off-season testing. His third place finish may have been too little too late to salvage the season, but it shows that someone (Honda?) is going to get one helluva rider added to their team next year.

 

[nokneedragin]

Rossi is just an animal on the track, and I don't think anyone is going to touch him untill he switches to the WCM or maybe the Aprillia. At least the races would be more even if he rode the WCM or Aprillia, like maybe he'd only win 6 races a year.

Isn't there a rumor that KTM and BMW are developing a GP race program, maybe he could jump to one of those progams and make more history.

 

[kpaul]

As tonyharrah said and Kevin S. said it is going to take someone not currently in MotoGP do knock Rossi off. Poor Nicky did his best, maybe next year. Keep your eyes on Jason Disalvo of the AMA series. He has the attitude (the I don't care who you are thing) and talent to become a MotoGP rider. But he will probabaly move up to AMA SuperBike if Yamaha has the guts to compete with Mladin and Honda.

 

[fernandopan]

Texan Tornado (are you kidding?)

Edwards didn't beat Rossi, Gibernau, Biaggi, Barros and Tamada (in the last races) with a Honda. What makes you think he can get those guys with a Yamaha? (It's much more difficult to ride).

 

[longride]

Yeah, MotoGP is very balanced. Take Rossi out of the mix, and add 5 more factory Honda's, and it would probably be Honda in the top 10 places. That's balance for ya! If it wasn't for Rossi and his exceptional talent, Honda finishes 1-2-3 this year, next year, and as many years as they want. It took Superman to win on anything else. Fortunately for Yamaha, they had him.

 

[24905]

Yeah, it's a shame Hopkins stayed at Suzuki. Somehow Checa doesn't inspire much better than Bayliss.

 

[13630]

Ducati replaced Bayliss with Careless Chucker? I wonder what the logic was behind that decision.

 

[rock06r]

You're missing the point of MotoGP

When Rossi *was* on a Honda (i.e. last season and the season before) everyone was howling how the Honda bikes were making him the best rider on the circuit. It was all about how Honda with their big bucks was winning everything. He asked for more $$ and Honda gave him the cold shoulder, essentially telling him (and every reporter that would listen) that it was their bikes, their technology, and their money that was winning the races, not Rossi. Funny how a year later, EVERYONE is saying that Rossi is to "blame" for winning everything. Never mind the Yamaha under his butt. According to what *some* folks are saying, he could probably still win riding a vespa. And they're probably right - if they allowed him a two-stroke vespa (ya I know it's nuts??).

Anyway, my point is - you can't cry about how it's the Motorcycle one year, and then the next year when you're proven wrong start blaming the rider?!?!

 

[pdad13]

KTM has abandoned their MotoGP effort to concentrate resources on the RC8 Superbike. However, they have developed a MotoGP engine that will probably end up in the Protons next year.



BMW is entering MotoGP, possibly as soon as 2005, with a 990 cc triple and a chassis of their own design.



Might we see duolever in MotoGP?

 

[Steven_Verschoor]

I, too, was hoping that Hopper would get a better ride. Well, Suzuki put up some fast qualifying times at some of the circuits. Maybe they can make a break through this winter and be competitive next year.



I hope Bayliss beats Ducati next year... and I hope Edwards beats Honda.



Oh, and Gibbers seems like a real decent guy. I hope he beats Rossi... even though I like Rossi, too.



Aw heck, I hope each of my favorite riders wins a race or two next year

 

[39220]

Re: You're missing the point of MotoGP

I went back and viewed the podium results for the season and it was more grossly dominated by Honda than I remembered. But, that didn’t prevent this from being an interesting season for me.

Like you say, watching Rossi prove everyone wrong who said it was the Honda winning races and not him was great. IMO, Rossi’s a great champion and you can’t help but like him and it was great to see him validate himself against the criticism. Up to Phillip Island the quest for the title was a nail biter. Sete made a great run at it all season. And I don’t know if you can ask for a more exciting race than we saw at Phillip Island, an incredible duel between Val and Sete. And what about the first lap there?!?! Even after the season is decided we get treated to another close finish at Valencia. Rossi vs. Goliath was a lot of fun.

Next season will be the deciding season for Hayden and Hopkins to prove their merit in MotoGP. That will make it interesting for fans of the US riders. Will Kawasaki continue to improve and be a legitimate team? Maybe with another season or two we’ll see one more legitimately competitive manufacturer. Ducati seems to be the most likely candidate. How nice for Bayliss to get a podium on his final ride for Ducati? It will be interesting to see what team (if any) picks him up and if he will prove Ducati wrong in releasing him.

I agree with what some others say though. It’s probably going to be someone not currently in the premier class to come up and challenge Rossi. But even that will most likely take a couple years. Coming out of the 125cc and 250cc class to the top level takes time for improvement. Who's it going to be??? Hopefully Val won’t be racing cars before then.

You have to take pleasure in some of the less salient details to enjoy most sports, MotoGP is no exception.

 

[34763]

Probably something on the order of: Spanish rider + Marlboro sponsorship = more cigarette sales. Or maybe Ducati feels they need a good Spanish crasher in case Xaus moves on. Either way, I'm sure Checa will have one great race on the Desmo just to make sure everyone knows how much he's underperforming for the rest of the year.

 

[zrx]

Re: Texan Tornado (are you kidding?)

Your right he didn't even come close to matching Gibernau or Biaggi. But we can always hope for better results next year.

Edwards finished behind Barros in points but Edwards did have a better season then Alex Barros, because Barros had the full factory support of Honda (Respol) and he did finish ahead of Tamada-san in points.

Can you tell that I’m fishing for reasons why Edwards didn’t set the Moto GP world on title?

I think Tamada is the only one who could hang with Rossi, given the right bike and tires. Biaggi and Gibernau faded under that pressure.

When Gibernau started to apply pressure Rossi just turned it up a notch and Gibernau wilted.

 

[34763]

OK, so Honda wins the manufacturer's title by a mile, but Suzuki, Kawasaki, and Ducati all made noticeable strides this year. And even if Honda's off-season R&D takes them right back to the top, I think the tire war in MotoGP has added a great competitive element. If Bridgestone brings their race tire up to the performance of their Q, then tire choice will go a long way towards equalizing Honda's dominance.

 

[Steven_Verschoor]

Re: You're missing the point of MotoGP

It will be interesting to see what team (if any) picks him up and if he will prove Ducati wrong in releasing him.

I watched the webcast on MotoGP.com, and Bayliss specifically said that he would be back in MotoGP next year. He didn't specify with whom, but he did state very clearly that he would be in MotoGP.

 

[23063]

The press buzz was that he'd go to Formula 1 car racing after next year.

 

[Buzglyd]

Re: You're missing the point of MotoGP

He'll probably ride for BMW so he can scuff up those heads like you do.