Recent comments

I wonder what would happen if Nicky, realizing that he was doomed to run the engine on Lean mix, had just put the fuel-guzzling map on and just rode it to win, and when it ran out of fuel, just walk away and say "Yup that's what happens".

Wishful thinking and would not have been productive for anyone, but it still was not fun seeing him hamstrung out there.

Did he ever say if he regretted going out on the soft tires?

Q: And the MSMA don't listen to the riders.

CS: Not a lot. They're engineers, they're technicians; they do that and they want that, and they don't care.

Q: And it's up to you to ride the thing.

CS: Pretty much.

I guess the engineering marvel you slid around PI was built by a bunch of uncaring engineers and techies eh? I have to listen to this drivel every day. People don't study for years because they lack caring bud, quite the opposite.

Great to read an article like that,thanks. Good 'pot shot' he took at the MSMA.
Not paying much heed to what the riders want. Just do their own technical rules thing. Now, if they negotiated with the riders to a certain degree and stopped being so autocratic, just maybe the GP grid would not be in the mess it is and the racing better.
Reminds me of way back when, regarding safety issues with Roberts and Sheene almost leading a rider walk out and forming a breakaway series. Must it come to this before the powers that be finally lend an ear to the blokes, who at the end of the day are actually the ones risking their necks and putting up the show on track.

Stoner's comments are a little more intriguing in hindsight, when considering what happened in the subsequent race.  What happened to Nicky Hayden can only be considered a travesty, even if Ducati intend to lay it off on a technical "glitch" or code error.  Does every team make him their fuel-map guinea pig?

Reading between the lines, what Stoner appears to have established is that, with all the rain and lost practice time, Ducati did not have a fuel map for the race for these engines in the dry for Estoril.  So they guessed?  Or, more correctly, they told the bikes to guess? 

I wonder how Stoner's race would have turned out if he'd gone full distance.  It seems logical to assume he would have faced the same difficulties.  I wonder what that would have looked like.

And, just to keep beating the drum...  Anyone who's read What If I Had Never Tried It? already knows the answer to the big-bang vs. even-firing engine question.  The real question is, how many times will they be allowed to have these fuel map problems rear their head with Rossi aboard?

This is a very very very good interview. Compliments to both.

Very very good questions, thankyou.
I am now very interested to read Valentino's reaction to the screamer engine when he gets to try it.

Australia's TV channel 10 (and more recently ONE HD sporting channel) have had many an in-depth interview with Casey and I'm pretty sure there is some Youtube footage of some of these floating around that covers his background in the UK etc.... They are very informative.

It's interesting that when Casey is interviewed in a situation where he is able to give answers that are not dependent on the current contractual situation, he is seen as mature and informative and frank, and will give real answers that show great insight into the racing world. It is all too often seen when big money sponsorship and team/manufacturer pride or message or marketing strategy is on the line, that the rider is reduced to purely a one or two line PR mouthpiece, and that just makes for uninteresting and predictable reading.

If the teams, manufactures and sponsors realised that these types of interviews can actually enhance their brand (even if what is said is being critical) to a broader audience than just that of their core fan base, then the profile of MotoGP and hence their team/brand/marketing message would receive the benefits that come with mass media exposure....ie Money.

It is intensely frustrating then, that so often Casey (and others) is seen in a bad light because some websites/publications seem to prefer to take 1 or 2 lines of a post-race frank parc ferme and make it into an apparently legitimate story that really only serves to further fuel those that would call him a whinger, moaner, spoiled brat and ultimately spend money on their tabloid mag.

If only those publications realised that interviews like these can sell a weekly publication in the UK too.

Every time I see interviews like this I just wish someone would manage to convince Casey to sit down for a 60-minute in-depth interview across the entire breadth of MotoGP, Moto-2 and 125 his background, thoughts and experiences.

Unfortunately he's still probably the hardest rider to get to agree to it though. But maybe if David can keep asking interesting questions there's a chance!

My own (and Lowdcahn's) deliberate puErility was what I was making fun of. Perhaps too subtle for you, even with the smilie.

Comments more suited to this site's pre-eminent position in racing enthusiast's commentary might perhaps have been about the perilous state of MotoGP at present, the pitiful and still-shrinking grid sizes, the horrendous expense and scarcity of MotoGP bikes, the engineered under-performance of the satellite bikes, the unfortunate season that has befallen one of the best talents out of Japan in years, or the sad fact that sponsorship to run non-Italian/Spanish riders is so difficult to find.

But at that stage, the only 2 comments on the best racing website in the world were about the lamentable imminent disappearance of the best outfitted grid girls in MotoGP. I found that amusing.

Whilst this isn't good news for Aoyama or the Gresini team (can't afford to run 2 bikes is a big worry if there are to compete the whole year), I would think all is not lost for Hiro.....

2011 will be the final year of the 800's and with the switch to a potentially mixed formula in 2012 (800's/1000 81mm bore) it might be more advantageous for Hiro to go to Moto2 next year.

It would be fair to say that Moto2 has totally outshone MotoGP with it's spectacular racing and depth of field, and it would be also fair to say that it has generated huge interest from sponsors, TV, teams, riders etc.....

So if Hiro went to Moto2 I can only see the pros.

a) Being an ex-250 champ and MotoGP rider he would most likely get a good ride
b) More than has the potential to ride at the front
c) Would get more opportunity for sponsorship and career development
d) Have a better chance of scoring a good ride in MotoGP for 2012 as there will (hopefully) be more seats

Sometimes you have to take 1 step back to take 2 step forward. Look at Elias. The interesting thing to really consider though, is just how big Moto2 might get on a global scale.......

Scott takes fantastic photos. I love your work. I'd love to browse around and find one that I could have framed and signed. Im positive that a gallery or something to that effect has been mentioned here before. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction? =)

That actually sounds like a fantastic solution.

I use the calendar to track my dog's medication and have learned to make the mental translation similarly to when living in another country that uses a different system of measurement (or several if you are talking about the UK :P).

You get used to it pretty quickly but still shading the weekends would make the process really easy.

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