2012 Round 8 Sachsenring Race Topic ***Spoilers***

[Rusty Bucket USA]

eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland



First GP : 1998
Length : 3675m
Longest Straight : 780m
Rank: 11th Longest Straight
Lefts : 10
Rights : 4
Width : 10m
TimeZone : GMT+1
Wet Races: 7.7%

Track Map:

Weather: http://www.myweather2.com/Motor-Racing/Germany/Sachsenring-Circuit.aspx
Current Track Conditions: http://www.myweather2.com/activity/hourimage.aspx?tagid=20101709191205&id=42080

[Zaphod]

Looking forward to hearing "Plunging down the hill"

....might run a count of how many times I hear it.

[tz250w]

The way Colin's CRT bike has been performing, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see it burst into flames while plunging down the hill (and later to find out he was holding the lighter).

[CLX]

It's do or die for Pedrosa, IMO. If he can't a pull a win this weekend on one of his strongest tracks, where will he? Not to mention see either Stoner or Lorenzo continue to slowly and surely pull away in the points (except for JLo's DNF, obviously).

I hope Stoner isn't too banged up for a strong weekend.

[Tourn46]

I hope Stoner isn't too banged up for a strong weekend.

Don't forget, Lorenzo is also pretty banged up.

Pedro must see this as his big chance to steal a victory.

[Cam D]

I hope Stoner isn't too banged up for a strong weekend.

Don't forget, Lorenzo is also pretty banged up.

Pedro must see this as his big chance to steal a victory.

I was going to say that injuries haven't really slowed him before...

2008 Lorenzo was thrown from his bike during practice for the MotoGP Grand Prix of China. Lorenzo suffered a chipped bone and snapped ligament in his left ankle, and a fractured bone in his right. He was still able to finish the race in 4th place. Two weeks later at Le Mans, Lorenzo suffered two accidents in the practice sessions but managed to post a 2nd place result.

but if you get enough of them....

In the following race in Italy he crashed during the race after qualifying seventh on the grid,[11] The next week at Catalunya he experienced his fifth crash in four meetings, the practice session accident forcing him to miss the race.
Another major crash for Lorenzo at the 2008 United States Grand Prix.

At both Donington Park and Assen, he was observed to be riding more conservatively after a series of injuries, but moved up the order in the later part of the race to finish 6th in each case. He has commented that he is stronger in the latter parts of races, preferring the bike when it is low on fuel. In the next meeting at Sachsenring, however, Lorenzo crashed out of the race during very wet conditions.[12] Lorenzo suffered yet more injuries to his feet at the USGP at Laguna Seca on July 20, when he experienced his seventh crash in only three months. During the first lap a spectacular highside left Lorenzo with a sore right foot (or ankle) and three broken bones in his left foot, specifically the third, fourth and fifth metatarsals. At Misano, Lorenzo clinched 2nd place. Indianapolis saw him on the podium again this time in third position. He eventually finished the season in 4th position.

Still... it was an amazing come back to get second at Misano and finish the season 4th.

Sorry to go off topic but you kind of forget how much these guys can get banged up but still perform at such a high level. I'm not sure that Dani is riding aggressively enough to beat Jorge or Casey in a head to head, hope I'm wrong though. Makes for a more interesting season, and I'd like to see Dani stay at Honda.

[Gar]

I think if Stoner's injury was going to affect him he wouldn't have won last week - although Sachsenring is brutal (bordering on ridiculous imo) on a MotoGP bike.

[tz250w]

Brutal, yes. And with the tire issues of late, Bridgestone is probably hoping for rain... Them's a lot of lefts for only 4 rights.

Of course, in the rain... I still have images of Dani stuck on the air fence at turn one like a bug on fly paper.

[eddahenry]

Looking forward to hearing "Plunging down the hill"

....might run a count of how many times I hear it.

Moot gp race only ?
19

[Zaphod]

After Assen, it's this guy for the win........







...... a sneak preview of Bautistas new helmet and leathers,







Marquez drops into the HRC Moto garage to aquiant himself, "Hi-ya Dani !"





Rossi's synapses collapse from all the pressure....





Dovi buys some more parts to try and put some distance between himself and Cal.






Resulting in Cal having a quite word to the team.....





.....and seriously looking at Kawasaki's proposed re-entry to motoGP






Stoner is then observed to be absolutley bursting with joy at being a Dad, the sight of Rossi crumbling, the championship being level, Honda starting to get on top of the chatter and knowing that after the end of this year, he's a free man.

[lebowski]

Ha,ha! Nice work ^

Only FP1 but Rossi the best part of half a second off Nicky. Stick a fork in his ass and turn him over. He's done. At least with Ducati. Not good for them I'm afraid.

The execs at Malbaro and Duc who treated Stoner like shit should be held accountable. No way that will happen though.

[Oscar]

Stoner is then observed to be absoluteley bursting with joy at being a Dad, the sight of Rossi crumbling, the championship being level, Honda starting to get on top of the chatter and knowing that after the end of this year, he's a free man.

Scott Jones, eat yer heart out - that so captures Stoner....

[Zaphod]

Bautista, FP 1

[Squidpuppet]

Marquez drops into the HRC Moto garage to aquiant himself, "Hi-ya Dani !"

I see he is sporting the official colors and testing the new Alpinestars toe sliders on his boots.

[Zaphod]

...And he stole Dovi's hat !!!



Saw via Alex Briggs that Passini and one of KA' mechanics had a coming together. Scary stauff !!

Alex Briggs ‏@Alex__Briggs

"Was a bit of action in pit lane this morn. Directly outside our garage Passini hit 1 of Abrahams Mechanics stepping off pit wall. Both walked away. Passini helmet smacked the ground & the mechanic has a bit of bark off him.
The bike all but spun into our garage. Only thing that stoped it was the dividing concrete post, Bernie turned it off -

Its kinda Funny now talking about it, but was really scary & a wake up call. I was in Jerez when Wakai died in very similar circumstances."



....And before anyone jumps in defending Bautista, I'm a fan of him and his riding.

Just having a bit of fun.

[Tom94]

Sachsenring has the problem where the entry into the pits is at the crest of the hill. You really need to be on your toes as both rider and mechanic while towards the entry you can't see stuff until the last second.

[raisinberry777]

Sachsenring has the problem where the entry into the pits is at the crest of the hill. You really need to be on your toes as both rider and mechanic while towards the entry you can't see stuff until the last second.

This was down near the end of pit lane, way past his pit box.

[Cam D]

Was just thining that if it rained, Jorge can just use his old motors and save the new ones. Small thing, but could make a difference down the track.

[CLX]

So, Mini P for the win? I'm usually suspicious when he blasts away at all sessions until the race, Brno 2011... Usually he seems there and there about until get get that last tick of speed on raceday or things fall his way.

[Grahluk]

[quote="lebowsk

The execs at Malbaro and Duc who treated Stoner like shit should be held accountable. No way that will happen though.[/quote]

Can we finally leave behind the Casey Stoner as Rodney Dangerfield routine? He's more than moved on, why can't the fans?

[Squidpuppet]

Crazy last ten minutes of QP. Bradl and Hayden look good.

Whats the deal in Moto2? Luthi, Iannone, and especially Redding and Pol are nowhere.

[Nachlauf]

MotoGP qualy was amazing really. What Bradl did there was very impressive. Today he showed a performance completely at level with the current cream of MotoGP riders. He has every right to be proud about it.

Bravo Cortese too. He was in the pit with only 10 minutes to go, because they had to change the damper or something. And then he went out and found a a shortcut somewhere, haha. A huge gap to 2nd place there.

@squidp
Weather got worse again in the latter part of Moto2 QP. Marquez and Simon somehow kept getting faster anyways. And the others must have had bad timing shortly before the rain came back, so they are further down than usually.

[dave_m]

Now riders and teams are openly mocking Barbera for getting tows during FP and QP:

[Nachlauf]

It's kinda lame if you ask me. Barbera is just trying to get a fast lap by any means. It's difficult enough for him, as he can't use the factory guys' data for reference. People put in so much effort trying to explain why Rossi has a hard time but nobody cares about what Barbera has to deal with. At least he isn't waiting for his tow as carelessly as the guys in Moto2 and Moto3 usually do.

[Cam D]

It's kinda lame if you ask me. Barbera is just trying to get a fast lap by any means. It's difficult enough for him, as he can't use the factory guys' data for reference. People put in so much effort trying to explain why Rossi has a hard time but nobody cares about what Barbera has to deal with. At least he isn't waiting for his tow as carelessly as the guys in Moto2 and Moto3 usually do.

+1 .... at least he's trying his hardest to get so kind of result.