[Loboboy]

Barros success on the Yamaha is completely dependant on how much progress Yamaha makes in relation to Honda. Judging from test times so far this year, it looks like Barros might be sucking the hind teat of Capirossi's Desmodeci. As for Carlos Chubby Checa, it seems like whatever fire may have once burned in his belly has been extinguished. I'm a Yamaha fan--I ride a Yamaha--but I'm not holding my breath waiting for the M1 to succeed. I'll be happy if it does, but as it now stands, it looks like Barros' formidable skills may not be utilized to their utmost degree.



Honda certainly did ***** away some talent this year, but in its defense, it had far too much talent for the rides available. Damn shame about Colin Edwards, though. I hate to see someone with that much talent circulating the track on that monstrousity, the Aprilia RS Cube. I like Aprilia and think Edwards is one of the finest competitors in modern racing, but damn, that bike is a ****eheap. I'll be overjoyed if Colin can make it work, but have severe doubts. I'm afraid he's going to have to settle for duking it out with the Kawasaki and perhaps the Proton in some sort of epic battle of the backmarkers.

 

[Loboboy]

They didn't. I was basing this on comparing Ducati and Yamaha test times to existing race and qualifying times at a given track.



Using that criteria, Yamaha did quite well in its most recent testing. The bike definitely shows improvement over last year. Of course this won't mean diddly if Honda makes equal or greater improvements.

 

[Loboboy]

Re: How About Colin Edwards

I've got the utmost respect for Edwards both as a rider and as a person. Whether he's winning or not, he handles himself with grace and humor, and he's undoubtedly one of the finest riders ever to throw a leg over a motorcycle. But as much as I want him to succeed in MotoGP, I just can't get enthused about that steaming pile of feces he's going to be riding this season. If he does well, I'll be overjoyed, but I'll also be extremely surprised.