Recent comments

Sometimes I read his comments and think damn he's pretentious, but lately I can't get enough of these interviews. It seems like most poeple don't like his attitude but he's raw. I'm a huge Stoner fan and I even get put off by his comments. Anyway, he's right about the bike. Hayden's doing way better so its obviously easier to ride but even at the first race of Qatar you could see that Honda just walking away from the Duke! It was a sign of what was to come the rest of the season.
Don't go Stoner! Don't Go!

Will the real Tech 3 machine please stand up.

Maybe David can ask Colin whats up with this contradiction the next time he sees him?

How bout it David?

won't see much in the way of factory improvements from Yamaha once Vali is confirmed to Ducati. Jorge will get all the trick developments.

I hope Stoner stays at Ducati as he and Hayden make a great team.

We both agree Debon broke no rules, therefore he can't be punished for anything. The "criminality" of the crash is only 1 consideration. The remedy for damages to the other teams is the second consideration. Debon was at fault in an accident that cannot be construed in any way as a racing incident. Suspension is a remedy to the teams who lost equipment, championship points, contingency money, and possibly sponsor bonuses.

I'd prefer that the governing body just dock -5pts for every rider you take out regardless of the cause. This would be a -45pt affair for Debon. No need for suspension, just move on to the next race.

The motomatters edition.

I think we have different outlooks on what is the purpose of a rule.

You don't suspend riders to teach them a lesson. It is a penalty for the havoc you wreaked on your fellow competitors including Tomizawa who was #2 in the championship. If racing were society at large this issue would be settled in civil court and one team would pay the other damages (some of which would be punitive). This isn't society and the civil court system is racing governance which calls for non-monetary remedy to other teams or fines to the governing body which are donated to charity.

You need to stop thinking about the incident from a criminal point of view. There is no punishment and rehabilitation. There is only a civil system between teams. Debon took out 9 riders. His team cannot pay for the damages even if they could it's not permissible b/c it would create bad incentives within the paddock. The FIM have either got to dock riders championship points on a set schedule (i.e. 5 for every bike taken out) or suspend for several events.

Which riders didn't attempt to dive bomb the most inside line on a corner that was clearly going to be full of bikes? No one has a breaking marker on the start as you never practice entering that corner at those speeds with that kind of traffic. There were about 5 bikes out front and the rest all wanted that corner at the same time. Yes, he was at fault in this instance. I'm just saying that it's not the case of a 15 year old 125 rider that needs to learn to regret these decisions. The benefit of a suspension will be to serve as a warning to the entire grid. It will happen again at Motegi and in Portugal and maybe even in Germany next week. Hopefully the issue will get the proper attention.

The comment about him being injured wasn't arguing that he shouldn't be suspended. But just that he likely won't remember his rash thoughts that got him suspended.

I'm a huge fan of Nicky and Stoner (and adriana even more :) so it's never fun to see them and a honda come out of a corner into a long straight, and have the honda steadily and noticeably pull away from them. It's still not as bad as seeing Biaggi on the Aprilia earlier this WSBK season just obliterate the rest of the field down the straights, but it's got to definitely weigh on the minds of the two MotoGP ducati men.

Also, quite a bit off topic, but on the subject of Ducati, someone mentioned before that as of June 22nd, some quite-stringent advertising rules went into effect regarding tobacco/alcohol (that were even more severe than before??) which I guess made Ducati not feel comfortable putting the barcode back on the bike after a few rounds ago. Marlboro surely cannot be liking that, so I wonder if they're just sucking it up for the rest of the season, then when Vale comes to Ducati next year (and perhaps bring Fiat with him?) that the ducati & marlboro relationship will come to a close. If so, Ducati had best hope that Rossi does sign for them, as if there's no marlboro money (which seemed to carry a carte blanche) then perhaps that might hurt Ducati's development funds. [Note: I just find the marketing aspect of racing to be quite interesting]

It doesn't matter whether Debon hurt himself or not. He missed his braking marker by at least 20m in an attempt to dive bomb the inside line which was clearly going to be full of bikes by the time he arrived. He took out 9 people.

There is more than enough cause for a suspension. Suspensions used to be quite common for mistakes at the start, but the FIM have gotten away from them. This is the time to reintroduce race suspensions for dangerous first corner antics regardless of Debon's health. If he is injured, a suspension is for his own good and the safety of the other riders.

I found your site after THE great RACE / FIGHT in Laguna Seca between Stoner & Rossi.
Some days later I was "googling" for comments on that race on the web and after 4/5 attempts whithout any interest i found you race report......it was like reliving all the emotions i got from seeing the race on TV.

From then on i visit motomatters daily looking for news & insights.

Here in Portugal, motogp is for the two last years payperview cable and....you pay for a realy BAD service! I refuse to pay for that!
So i´ve been getting the best info through this site. And like many others have said here...I realy miss your race report.
I miss it as bad as i miss the "smoking powerslides" out off the corners!!!! -that´s how much i miss it!!

Keep up the great work!

I totally agree with jb_motohead.

I love this seasons up-close reports and interviews. It really shows mr. K is right in the middle of it all, giving us great first hand insights in the world of MotoGP.

Yet, I also really miss reading the race reports. It was a ritual to me: screen on F11, mug of coffee in hand, grinning whilst reliving the race and enjoying the analysis *sigh*. Still, this is one of the very best MotoGP sites out there and improving all the time. Keep it up!