Recent comments
GTranslate
Latest Stories
User login
Official MotoGP.com News Feed
MotoMatters.com Store
Get your exclusive MotoMatters t-shirts here!
Follow MotoMatters on Twitter
59 of #58 - Andrew Wheeler's Tribute In Pictures To Marco Simoncelli
Kropotkin's Corner
The most Important Race In The World
How To Save MotoGP, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3
LCR Honda's Inspire Magazine
Help a MotoGP fan fight brain cancer
Recent comments
-
Hugelean
-
S3tigoHide
-
TheBaron
-
bemer2six
-
clx
MotoGP News
- Karel Abraham: Weniger Schhmerzen, erster Punkt
- Jorge Lorenzo: Er schob die Schuld auf die Reifen
- Andrea Dovizioso: «Mugello wird gut zu uns sein»
- Valentino Rossi: Visier beschlagen, dann Sturz
- Nicky Hayden: «Ich kam der Spitzengruppe näher»
- Cal Crutchlow: «Schmerzen hab ich nur beim Gehen»
- Jorge Lorenzo: Die Erklärung des Desasters
- Marc Márquez: «Für mich war das Rennen zu kurz»
- Sieger Dani Pedrosa: «Es war ein wichtiger Erfolg»
- Stefan Bradl: «Ohne Sicht geht’s nicht schneller»
Search
MotoGP News
MotoGP Results
WSBK News
WSBK Results
Plenty of action. Brilliant rides from Dani, Cal and Marquez(Marquez's adaptation to the conditions after only a handful of laps was both spectacular and definite proof the future of motogp is in good hands) and very good rides from the Ducati guys though not quite as good as last year, the proof being there has been almost zero talk about Rossi and the ducati this season). Yamaha despite the bluster about Jorge, appear to be back to where they were in 2003, a target they have been working towards for sometime, serious work needed by both the engineering team and the riders. Despite it being de rigueur to say otherwise, congrats to Honda who have built an outrageous motorcycle...Would like to see Cal on it next year as Bradl and Bautista, are not doing a 'factory' honda justice, by any stretch.
David said Rossi was helped by Pedrosa being 4 seconds slower vs 2012 while Lorenzo was 4.4 seconds faster.
If you went to the trouble of posting a link you might as well paraphrase correctly.
What is it that you're trying to passive aggressively argue? I'm not sure if you're trying to take Marquez down or build Rossi up. Either is a doing a disservice to two amazing talents given their respective results in the 2013 season.
Just trying to figure out the cynicism.
It is amusing how one poor race from Lorenzo is quickly interpreted to mean Marc Marquez is getting inside his head. Two weeks ago the same chattering classes were saying the same about Dani Pedrosa, that Marc was getting inside HIS head! Lorenzo's performances these past few years show that he is hardly ever off the podium. He never seems to have a 'bad day' as a rider. So whether it was tyres, the Yamaha not being set-up well enough for a wet race, whatever, it most certainly will not have been that Jorge suddenly had a mental meltdown. Remember (this may be tough for the chatterers), Jorge won this race by almost 10 seconds last year, in the rain. And in that one, Valentino was second (yes, on the Ducati!), with Casey Stoner third. Pedrosa was fourth, nearly 30 seconds from the winner.
Jorge's race time last year was 49m 39.74s. This year Dani did it in 49m 17.707s. I will spell this out for the 'chatterers': Dani completed this year's race a staggering 51 seconds faster than what it took him last year, in almost identical conditions (air temp, track temp, wet track etc.). Lorenzo took six seconds longer to do the 28 laps this year compared with his winning time from 2012. To me that indicates a problem with the bike or tyres.
And let's not forget the ever battling Nicky Hayden. His race time this year would have been good enough to win last year's race. Instead he was fifth. So, even in the wet, the pace this year is faster.
Hats-off to all of them.
Did i miss some thing here? So if it weren't the tires then what went wrong with JL's race? will we ever find out? BTW an excellent read as always David.
Pedrosa has been building upon his, Lorenzo and Rossi haven't been able to hold on to theirs after Qatar and Marquez just rides as if there is no such thing but simply to go fast no matter where and what.
4 races is too little, but they are telling. Lorenzo will face an uphill struggle against the HRCs and he will need all the help available from Cal and Rossi. I expected Le Mans to be a Honda track, but not a wet race to suit them so well while Lorenzo struggled. Mugello will be the first make or break GP of the season. It has been a Yamaha track ever since Rossi joined and Honda's win came very unexpectedly in 2010. It is the perfect opportunity for Lorenzo (and Rossi even more) the break his slump to remind people who's who. OTOH, if any of the Honda wins, it means business and them having a complete package.
I can hardly wait!
"If it hadn't been for his poor start and those early laps … but that is of course nonsense. Ifs and buts mean little in life, and even less in professional sports. The truth is, he was slow in those early laps, and lost a lot of ground. What was impressive was the way he made it up later, and chased down the leaders."
When Rossi did similar in race 1 you said that those in front helped him. When Marquez does it it's "impressive". You also said that Lorenzo "thrashed" him at Qatar. Is it fair to say that Pedrosa "thrashed" Marquez?
http://www.motomatters.com/analysis/2013/04/08/2013_qatar_motogp_sunday_...
Just trying to figure out the journalism.
great race. Another amazing come to podium for Marc Marquez.
glad Rossi wasn't injured, but as a fan, I hope more winning/podium for Rossi.
Dovi, i was hoping for the podium. He almost had it but alas.
"The earth is slow, but the ox is patient", as Buddhists are often wont to say.
The season won't end for a while yet, so let's just keep our powder dry and decide on careers once we've had a chance to evaluate the full gamut of Rossi's slide and Marquez's ascendance (if indeed that's what they turn out to be).
The scary bit is how quickly MM adapts and learns. Dunno if he's really in Jorge's head just yet, let's just see how the champ responds. A wet race is probably not the best barometer.......
Some interesting comments, but I always struggle with those that level silly comments like so and so "should retire", "is finished", "can't compete" or "couldn't possibly win the title". I've heard them directed at Dani, Jorge, Cal, Rossi and others at various times over the years based on a performance in something as small as single race (or even a single test!?). If you've been watching this sport, or nearly any sport really for a decent length of time, you know a surprise can happen at any moment and none of us know what the hell is going to happen next.
On the satellite Yamaha is not an unusual achievement. That's been happening for years now -except when Casey was riding it. However, Cal is riding great.
Rossi is not done yet. I say he has 2-3 years left. It's still too early to count him out.
As for Marc getting inside Lorenzo's head? You have to be kidding me. Jorge is just not that mentally soft. You don't share a garage with Valentino and make him blink first by having no moxy!
Did you see him taking off from the foul line or have anywhere near the charisma? Posting up on the blocks not what we think of when talking about Jordan.
Please accept my apologies!
You are correct, there wasn't an immediate response available 20 years via motomatters, which is probably why I don't recall any complaining, QED!
The Spanish are motorcycle mental & the Spanish world champions of the 50,80,125 & 250 classes are numerous, it's only as recently as 1999 that a Spaniard won a first 500cc(MotoGP) title.
As for why American's don't watch MotoGP, I'm sorry I don't have the answer to that one (perhaps being unable to spell 'maybe' might have something to do with it!) I don't know any Americans to ask either, but I think they should watch MotoGP seeing as they've 3 riders taking up seats & doing little with them (although Nicky put in a reasonable ride at Le Mans today!)
As for Rossi, "Le Mans... IN THE WET" it's his race in the bag or so I thought, however, unlike 10 years ago, people now are complaining Rossi ISN'T winning anything!
But what do I know?
Kind regards,
Andy (Eurosport Bike GP watcher since the eighties)
From what I saw, the race was quite interesting due to the high number of mistakes and/or setup difficulties by basically all riders. Pedrosa won it well, but he too made a few errors which would have been punished in previous years where most races saw at least one alien ride a perfect race with no mistakes. So basically the race was better, because it was worse! :)
Will be interesting to see how both Lorenzo and Rossi bounce back from such poor performances, and every weekend right now is fascinating to watch Marquez' amazing progress - his improvement throughout the race was stunning. If Marquez becomes as good as it seems he will, then I can forsee some extreme whinging on here at the "boring" races coming up in the next few years...
And all the while Pedro is putting together solid weekends and justly leads the title, I really hope he can land the title this year, because as others have said, we are probably in for a Doohan-esque reign from the remarkable Marquez.
Not yet at least. Save for Austin he's there or thereabouts. Lets not jump the gun, it feels disrespectful, not just to Rossi, but all these guys (Edwards, Capirex, Checa) that decide to stay even though they know they're past their prime. We, the fans, should support them. Or at least not demand that they retire! And you're highlighting an other issue with Rossi. His previous successes have rendered any result other than victory almost unacceptable by many of his fans. It seems to me that he gets pilloried after races like today's or Jerez because of his outstanding past rather than his quite decent present performance, which is top 5 standards, if not better.
Heh....In Michael Jordan's final year with the Washington Wizards, he averaged 20 points per game and played in all 82 games. That's still superstar playing. Bad comparison.
@Neuro
Yes agree with you about Rossi but I wouldn't say its Cal fans, more like the same folk that wrote Pedrosa off after Qatar. Vale is still trying to figure a setting on the M1 that he's happy with, but I must admit I'm a little surprised (dismayed?) it's taking so long. I hope Mugello is a turnaround for him. It's just a pity there isn't another works M1 available for Cal now and for next year, as even if a Ducati becomes available I can't see it being a good move.
I want him to win and consider myself an enormous fan of his but it is because of all he's accomplished that he should not stay on in mediocrity.
Also, bear in mind that too often super stars of sport can't realize when to stop because they do love to compete. Should Michael Jordan continued to play past his prime for the Wizards? Should Joe Montana gone on to play for the Chiefs? Should Freddie Spencer come out of retirement only to get canned ? Etc.
And you're right, we're probably not there just yet but a few more dnfs and Top 5s are going to see people start asking questions if ge still has "go it"
It's GP. Period. You can't go up. Only down. For some I guess it's the money. Maybe most. It won't be long before they're booted out anyway. The next Gen is coming up. And they're hungry.
Never going to happen. Nicky has his championship, Time to go. Once he's done getting Ducati GP money, he'll move on. That will be next year. Too many up and coming riders to hold onto a mid packer like Hayden. He's been upstaged at every round so far by his, new to the bike teammate. Who's nothing special. The only reason you saw Dovi up front this race, it was wet. Even on a competitive bike in the dry, he was an also ran. While Nicky may be a nice guy and all. He won't win another race(not that he's won that many) and he's not a championship contender. He barley was when he won his. He needs to take his title and move on. Good rider, great personality, great cooperate guy. Leave while he still can.
Easy there. So Rossi fell in a race that he probably couldn't win anyway, but perhaps had a shot at the podium. And now he should retire? Can't see the logic in this one... I see you're probably Cal fans and it's perhaps expected to consider Rossi an obstacle in his factory plans but really, Rossi is 34 and is at least capable of the odd podium. Enjoy him while he's still there. He will retire soon, but calling for it doesn't suit neither his current abilities nor his history. I really think he will know when to retire...
I have a question... Why do Edwards, Hayden, DePuniet and even Spies continue to crack on as best they can despite that they know they will never win a race again? ALL world class riders, but when they have a chance to shine in WSB for example, they will hang on in MotoGP as long as they can. Why?
Would love to know! Edwards for example. Is it the lifestyle? The money? The Kudos of being in the premier class? Ego? What keeps them them clinging on even though they don't stand a chance of winning a race?
Would love to hear from someone who has an insight!
Cheers
Everything you say...
Dani's race craft has come on leaps and bounds especially in the wet, i didn't care too much for him in the past but with rides like the 2nd half of last year and rides like today he has moved very high up my estimations of him as a racer.
I feel Jorge has been very rattled by Marc's meteoric rise to prominence in the elite class, which is a little strange considering Rossi was the master of mind games etc and could not rattle him in the slightest, but it seems Marc is able to do it, so maybe 7th really was the best he could do today, bad tyre, bad setting, whatever excuse he comes out with, Marc passed him, ran wide and got re-passed by Jorge then got his head down and did it all over again, and then cleared off.
Now, Cal is showing to be a different breed like Marc too! Three hefty crashes in practice/qualifying over two race week ends and also a fracture in his leg still cannot dampen his enthusiasm to prove to the 'Factories' that he is the real deal and given the right tools he will be an even stronger challenger to the big boys.
Now, as much as i admire Valentino for what he has done for what has mainly been a second rate championship the last few years, he really should hang his Dainese & AGV lid up and move over for a.n other rider to have a shot in the limelight. Cal #35 would be mine and most others prime candidate. He really has nothing more to prove to us or himself so he should knock it on the head while he is at the top of his game (well maybe a level or two down now) from what we have known of him pre two years ago. I think it would be better for him and the sport for him to leave sooner rather than later and not end up doing a Doohan etc (retiring through injury) and give the championship time to recover from his leaving. Unfortunately MGP has relied on its golden child for too long and it could end up being damaged (more than what ezpeleta has done already) unless things move on quickly. Rossi will just be a distant beautiful memory for all of us in a very short time once Marquez firmly establishes himself with numerous championships to his name. I feel, if he doesn't hurt himself big time then he will just win everything that is put in front of him. I also feel by the end of this season he will demoralize most of the field with his sheer speed and quick learning.
On a final note, it is great to be able to say 'i will watch that race again' and re-live the great moments in that race which is something none of us have said for a few years of the processional crap we have endured.
Here's looking to the rest of the year of some awesome races........ And then we have it all taken away by ezysplatta & BT vision as of 2014 :(
A little bit unfair on Nicky, he is still a class act.
Picture this hypothetical silly season scenario; NH is without a seat at the Ducati Factory for 2014, Rossi has retired and Crutchlow is upgraded to the factory Yamaha.
Nicky would be a great selection for the Tech 3 Monster Yamaha. Might be slightly far fetched but stranger things have happened.......
Infact, scratch the above, consider a straight swap between Nicky and Cal, he could still do an impressive job.
Totally deserved win. I'd love to see SR on a proper prototype in 2014. In reality he'll probably get one of the new 2014 Honda or Yamaha lease engined bikes or a Pramac Ducati if BS leaves the series.
I'd like to see Colin back in SBK. He can't be happy with this continued slide backwards. He's a former champion for crying out loud. He should either race in a series he can run at the top in or retire. He's damaging his legacy. And for what, money? He's got plenty of that. He'd be a blast to watch in SBK and the same goes for Nicky. Neither one of those guys will ever get another factory Moto GP ride on a Honda or a Yamaha. But they could in SBK. It was fun watching Biaggi and Checa and it could be the same with Nicky and Colin.