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dribbler

2012 Motogp

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Very enjoyable first race of the season. It bodes well for the rest of the year. Lorenzo has given Casey something to think about, arm pump or not.

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Yep. A decent start even if it is still a little lacking in something for me (Simoncelli for one of course, and Rossi too). Arm pump eh? I was wondering what the issue was, haven't had chance to look. Stoner is still my favourite for the championship, unfortunately. Seems odd that he apparently never did a race distance during testing, maybe that was a mistake?

Anyway, looks like a slightly more interesting season than last year since the Yams have some pace. Moto2 was great, too.

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Yep. A decent start even if it is still a little lacking in something for me (Simoncelli for one of course, and Rossi too). Arm pump eh? I was wondering what the issue was, haven't had chance to look. Stoner is still my favourite for the championship, unfortunately. Seems odd that he apparently never did a race distance during testing, maybe that was a mistake?

Anyway, looks like a slightly more interesting season than last year since the Yams have some pace. Moto2 was great, too.

Indeed. This isn't the first time our Caset has fallen foul of ills, you think he would be better prepared. But as you say (and I agree) he looks favourite already.

The arm pump issue was a bit strange in the way that Casey's pace fell away in such a consistent way. There were even some points when he maintained the gap to Jorge. It didn't smack of an obvious physical foible. But hey, what do I know, as they say. I'm sure the caresses of Mrs Stoner would have releived the pain.

Yep, missing Sic enormously. But the show goes on. Rossi looks like a spent force. But just like another seven times champion, I think he's still capable of springing a few surprises.

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So, Stoner is hanging up his helmet at the end of the year. He always said that he would retire early, but surely the death of Marco and the arrival of his baby have hurried things along.

A loss to the sport. Not the most liked character, but a heck of a talent.

My blog was ironically timely.....

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So, Stoner is hanging up his helmet at the end of the year. He always said that he would retire early, but surely the death of Marco and the arrival of his baby have hurried things along.

My thoughts too. I guess car racing (if that's what it sounds like he may do) is a little bit safer...

Not been a huge fan of his in the past, but certainly unusual to see a professional retire at such an early age. But I agree with his sentiments about MotoGP. I started following it in 2006 - and back then it was so exciting. I still remember the Hayden/Rossi battle for the title and the drama in that in the last few races. Since then, for me as a fan it has not been anywhere near as exciting. I really don't get CRT either, it is good to see more bikes on the grid, but what's the point when they are so far off the pace?

Oh well. All the best to Stoner.

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That's a massive loss to MotoGP and every fan of it. I don't think he's the nicest personality on the grid, or the best racer, but in terms of pure riding ability, nobody can touch him. He's a genius on a bike, no doubt about it. Like Rossi said, I think his criticisms of the rules are probably unrealistic. But if he's not enjoying it then it's not worth the risk, and let's face it, MotoGP is really struggling these last few years as a series. I'd rather we lost him like this than like Simoncelli.

Anyway, if it's true then good on him. It takes a lot of courage to give up the only thing you know so early. There's also something very romantic in retiring at the top of your game, which it looks like will be the case after he wins the championship this year.

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Still think Stoner is the favourite but Lorenzo gave me hope; masterful ride at Le Mans today. Rossi proved he's still got it. I never doubted him! That Ducati is a real mystery but something about the rain, Le Mans and Casey Stoner seem to suit it. Just a question of finding the common factor tongue.png

Read and watched a bit more on Stoner's retirement. Seems like he really got burned when Ducati didn't maintain faith in him, especially during 2009 when he took time off due to illness. Ducati really made a colossal mistake in the way they handled Stoner, sort of similar to the mistake Honda once made with Rossi. They should have appreciated him more. As well as the bike issue, apparently he also commented on the media, criticising both their treatment of him and portrayal of MotoGP more generally. This follows the Portugese GP, which according to Stoner was described as "boring", despite the fact he and Lorenzo were within a second of each other for most of the race. I think he has a good point here. Obviously, Stoner has also had a lot of criticism from the press himself, not all unjustified, but mostly just because Rossi was and probably still is the darling of the sport. Again, he has a point.

What this all seems to boil down to: basically, Stoner doesn't feel loved. He doesn't feel appreciated by the fans, the media or even certain people in the paddock, namely Ducati. He seems like a real introvert and obviously his relationship with the media has been pretty awful. Of course, the family aspect plays a part and so does his dislike of the sport's current direction, but those other issues seem to run quite deep. But I wonder if he realises how many fans he has gained now, and how many people do recognise his ability? I don't know why but I find all this fascinating and maybe there is even more to it.

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It's one thing to appreciate his ability (we all do) and another to be a fan. Maybe Stoner needs more than being appreciated along with everyone else. I do think it's quite bad to obviously prefer Rossi to him, the new TV that broadcasts MotoGP in Spain did exactly that. They spent all race telling how everyone wants Rossi to do well, and didn't spare much thought for Casey. They should be less partial, I mean, he's not even Spanish XD

That said, when Ángel Nieto was commenting Rossi's overtaking attempts was the best part of the whole commentary (No, Vale don't go there!; That's it, that's it you almost got him!; C'mon, a bit more, next corner would work. :D )

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It's such a shame that Rossi and Ducati couldn't make Rossi and Ducati successful together. It's undoubtedly a stain on both of them, for Rossi it's the first time he actually failed to do what he wanted on a motorcycle, and for Ducati it's a failure to give a great rider a bike he can work with. The difference is Rossi has nothing to prove to anyone, except himself (that he still has it), whereas this is just the latest in a series of Ducati not providing an adaptable bike and not listening to and/or respecting the opinion of the rider, and acting quickly to implement changes. Somewhere, there has to be a problem in their philosophy.

People say the fact nobody can ride a Ducati except Stoner means he's a genius rider, let me say this: I think Stoner is a genius of a rider in pure riding ability, one of the fastest ever, but that's not the reason he can ride a Ducati. Stoner did not adapt to the Ducati, he never had to, and that's a "luxury" no other rider has had. The truth of this lies in the fact Stoner appears to ride a Honda in exactly the way he rode the Ducati; plenty of lean, throttle and sliding all over the place. Stoner can ride a Ducati because his style is unique, not because his talent is unique. The point is the fact that nobody can ride a Ducati except Stoner, says so much more about Ducati's bike and its strange handling, than it does about Stoner.

What all of this boils down to is a more interesting MotoGP 2013 edition, with Rossi announcing his return to Yamaha alongside Lorenzo. There's surely going to be fireworks again, though Lorenzo should have the edge in terms of the team, and his understanding of the bike and general development as a rider. What will be interesting to see is how he handles the pressure of expectation being on him to beat Rossi, which was of course completely the other way around last time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOoFEMAwkMk&feature=g-u-u

Game on!

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Interesting reading.

I still don't understand why Rossi left Yamaha for Ducati. I said long time ago in this forum that it was the easy way for Rossi, a win-win situation for him. If he had been able to win on a Ducati everybody would have said he is a genious but if he didn't win then everybody would blame Ducati not being up to the task.

I have no doubt about Rossi's talent but I doubt he can go back to Yamaha and beat Lorenzo straight away. Lorenzo is a better biker now and Rossi needs to get back to his peak performance to beat him. Will be an interesting fight nonetheless.

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Interesting reading.

I still don't understand why Rossi left Yamaha for Ducati. I said long time ago in this forum that it was the easy way for Rossi, a win-win situation for him. If he had been able to win on a Ducati everybody would have said he is a genious but if he didn't win then everybody would blame Ducati not being up to the task.

I have no doubt about Rossi's talent but I doubt he can go back to Yamaha and beat Lorenzo straight away. Lorenzo is a better biker now and Rossi needs to get back to his peak performance to beat him. Will be an interesting fight nonetheless.

There is an element of that "win win" with Rossi, but only because he's such a likable guy. I also think it genuinely is more Ducati's fault, that team/bike has failed to work for plenty of riders now, and mistreated others. But Rossi readily admits he didn't achieve his goal at Ducati so he definitely doesn't see it as a win and his fans should accept it was partly his fault. I don't think it was necessarily the easy choice for Rossi, I just think it was the romantic one, an Italian dream to win on an Italian bike. He would have made the move eventually, I think, but the reason he made it when he did was because in his words he was "p**sed off with Yamaha for putting a strong rider in the team making his life difficult", going on to say "but I understand now that was the best decision for Yamaha's future".

I don't doubt his talent either but I too don't expect him to beat Lorenzo straight away. I'm not even sure I would use the "straight away" to qualify it; maybe he'll never get the measure of Lorenzo again?

Whatever the case next season will be a lot more interesting, with Marc Marquez also graduating to the top class. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with.

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2013 is going to be a great year with Perdosa/Marquez Vs Lorenzo/Rossi - got to favour Yamaha in that one if they keep away from each other

but 2012 is far from over, and after the increadable finish last time out, with Pedrosa taking the win on the line from Lorenzo and the much stronger team mate Pedrosa is gonig to come from behind and take the title

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I don't doubt his talent either but I too don't expect him to beat Lorenzo straight away. I'm not even sure I would use the "straight away" to qualify it; maybe he'll never get the measure of Lorenzo again?

Rossi agrees with us. He reckons it will be hard to beat Lorenzo but if Yamaha produce a good bike and he's able to make it work for him as he did in the past he'll have a shot at the championship. It could be a dream season if there's a bit of equality and unpredictable winners as in F1 this season.

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/182887/1/valentino_rossi_itll_be_hard_to_beat_lorenzo.html

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OK, I haven't watched more than 3 races this season, and I can't even remember when those were ran, but I just read that Maverick Viñales has left the Moto3 championship and flown back home... which is baffling to say the least.

Whatever reasons he has for doing this, it's a very extreme decision and will only create a bad image for him. Also, he just signed an extension of his contract and wanted to back off from it? It doesn't make sense to re-sign with your team if you think they are average and hinder you, which is the reason Viñales has given so far. If anyone can shed some light or share their thoughts, maybe it will make sense in the end.

A comment I read stated that his agent had tricked him into re-signing, which is very weird but would be one of the few reasons solid enough to warrant such behaviour. Even so, it sounds incredible, did the boy just go crazy?

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Very strange turn of events, I thought he was doing pretty well in Moto3? Second in the championship. I admit I don't watch it, I'm too busy worshipping Marquez in Moto2.

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Haha, it's just that his name popped up a lot in Spanish broadcasts... mainly because he's good. I'm all angry because now he's jeopardising his brilliant career. Anyway, he was second in the championship, the only opposition of Cortese (I think it's Cortese) and has the most race wins in the season :S

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Angel Nieto, that was a biker. A legend. He achieved more than any other driver in the lower categories but he didn't cry for not being able to get a bike for the 500 cc. Championship. Too many pussies these days. :P

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Still shocked after reading that Marc Márquez has won from dead last start.

Now I'll have to download the race. I have to know how many SC helped him out. :D

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