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31 Jan 2012, 16:50 (Ref:3019442) | #1 | ||
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Moto GP 2012 - Pre-Season Testing
Day 1 at Sepang is finished.
Pos - Rider - Team - Time - Laps 1 - Jorge Lorenzo - Yamaha Factory Racing - 2:01.657 - 30 2 - Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team - 2:02.003 - 48 3 - Cal Crutchlow - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 2:02.221 - 32 4 - Ben Spies - Yamaha Factory Racing - 2:02.234 - 28 5 - Valentino Rossi - Marlboro Ducati Team - 2:02.392 - 43 6 - Andrea Dovizioso - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 2:02.751 - 20 7 - Hector Barbera - Pramac Racing Team - 2:02.773 - 41 8 - Katsuyuki Nakasuga - Yamaha Factory - 2:02.829 - 32 9 - Alvaro Bautista - San Carlo Honda Gresini - 2:02.869 - 45 10 - Nicky Hayden- Marlboro Ducati Team - 2:03.151 - 33 11 - Stefan Bradl - LCR Honda Team - 2:03.668 - 44 12 - Karel Abraham - Cardion AB Motoracing - 2:03.781 - 45 13 - Franco Battaini - Marlboro Ducati Team - 2:04.986 - 35 14 - Kousuke Akiyoshi - Repsol Honda Team - 2:07.163 - 4 15 - Colin Edwards - NGM Mobile Forward Racing - 2:08.240 - 21 16 - Jordi Torres - Avintia Racing Team - 2:10.671 - 42 17 - Ivan Silva - Avintia Racing Team - 2:11.267 - 12 A few things to mention. Stoner sat the day out with a back flair up. Dovizioso and Hayden are still on the mend. Rossi finished the day by patting the Duc on the tank. He also mentioned that for the first time he can load the front tire and also work on set-up and actually make progress. I have not read any comments from Hayden yet. The pundents are guessing that motor is still 90 degrees, but has been radically moved in the chassis. And finally, the CRT's are being severely hampered by lack of electronics. |
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1 Feb 2012, 23:58 (Ref:3020048) | #2 | ||
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Day 2 times:
1 - Casey Stoner - Honda - 2:00.895 - 29 2 - Ben Spies - Yamaha - 2:01.052 - 38 3 - Jorge Lorenzo - Yamaha - 2:01.068 - 40 4 - Dani Pedrosa - Honda - 2:01.508 - 35 5 - Cal Crutchlow - Yamaha - 2:01.565 - 42 6 - Hector Barbera - Ducati - 2:01.788 - 50 7 - Valentino Rossi - Ducati - 2:01.886 - 44 8 - Alvaro Bautista - Honda - 2:01.933 - 46 9 - Andrea Dovizioso - Yamaha - 2:02.160 - 42 10 - Nicky Hayden - Ducati - 2:02.354 - 41 11 - Stefan Bradl - Honda - 2:02.414 - 41 12 - Karel Abraham - Ducati - 2:02.598 - 66 13 - Katsuyuki Nakasuga - Yamaha - 2:02.941 - 40 14 - Franco Battaini - Ducati - 2:04.311 - 38 15 - Colin Edwards - Suter BMW - 2:05.603 - 37 16 - Ivan Silva - FTR Kawasaki - 2:10.297 - 16 17 - Jordi Torres - FTR Kawasaki - 2:11.893 - 2 18 - Robertino Pietri - FTR Kawasaki - 2:12.546 - 5 Well Stoner back where he was last year. Spies and Lorenzo showing the Yamaha is rather quick, and Crutchlow backing them up. The Duc looks a little less stellar today, but it's early days. Non Aprilia CRT bikes are still looking dismal. |
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2 Feb 2012, 03:48 (Ref:3020091) | #3 | ||
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Rossi posted two pictures of himself on the Duc from Sepang Turn 3. The first one is from 2012 and the second one is from 2011. Most are saying he looks better on the current bike. I'm not sure I can see that, but he definitely enjoys the new bike better.
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2 Feb 2012, 09:53 (Ref:3020173) | #4 | ||
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Still a second off the pace in reality, but if he feels happier then he might be able to work on it.
Nice to see Cal is looking a bit happier too. But I dont think anyone wil see Stoner this year, that honda is just a bored out 800 by the loks of it! And that bike was so much faster than everything out there! |
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2 Feb 2012, 18:31 (Ref:3020551) | #5 | ||
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Day 3, and Stoner smashes the lap record.
1 - Casey Stoner - Honda - 1:59.607 - 21 2 - Jorge Lorenzo - Yamaha - 2:00.198 - 35 3 - Dani Pedrosa - Honda - 2:00.256 - 26 4 - Ben Spies - Yamaha - 2:00.495 - 16 5 - Valentino Rossi - Ducati - 2:00.824 - 42 6 - Hector Barbera - Ducati - 2:00.929 - 40 7 - Cal Crutchlow - Yamaha - 2:01.108 - 26 8 - Andrea Dovizioso - Yamaha - 2:01.257 - 40 9 - Alvaro Bautista - Honda - 2:01.384 - 34 10 - Nicky Hayden - Ducati - 2:01.729 - 19 11 - Stefan Bradl - LCR Honda - 2:01.894 - 38 12 - Karel Abraham - Ducati - 2:02.218 - 38 13 - Katsuyuki Nakasuga - Yamaha - 2:02.334 - 27 14 - Franco Battaini - Ducati - 2:03.033 - 35 15 - Colin Edwards - Suter BMW - 2:04.722 - 36 16 - Ivan Silva - FTR Kawasaki - 2:08.225 - 41 17 - Robertino Pietri - FTR Kawasaki - 2:09.640 - 16 18 - Jordi Torres - FTR Kawasaki - 2:10.184 - 29 Funny tidbit, Ducati still have not matched Stoner's quickest ever lap on a Ducati at Sepang. |
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3 Feb 2012, 08:00 (Ref:3020874) | #6 |
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Casey is on fire. One wonders what he could have done in the past if on a bike other than the Duc.
jhansen, who has Honda factory backing this year? |
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3 Feb 2012, 12:50 (Ref:3021000) | #7 | ||
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I would say the Repsol bikes
And maybe also Bautista. |
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3 Feb 2012, 16:07 (Ref:3021081) | #8 | ||
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Honestly, I think it will just be the Repsol bikes. But I think Bautista will get a bit more support than Bradl, but nothing like what Simoncelli got.
I can't believe Edwards turned down superbike rides for this. |
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4 Feb 2012, 23:08 (Ref:3021661) | #9 | ||
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Impressive time by Edwards compared to other CRT bikes...
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5 Feb 2012, 18:16 (Ref:3021908) | #10 | ||
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Edwards I would expect to be quick, the bike is quick and uses a factort engine pretrt much.
And to be fair those two Spansih guys wouldnt trouble the top ten in WSS, so are likely a couple of seconds slower than Edwards anyway. More worrying is Stoner's speed. We may, sadly, be in for a period of Doohan like domination like the mid 90's. And people will turn off like they did then until Rossi and Roberts brought the series to life |
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6 Feb 2012, 08:09 (Ref:3022039) | #11 |
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What made Rossi's dominance watchable? His character? The fact he was Italian?
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6 Feb 2012, 09:52 (Ref:3022065) | #12 | ||
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I think the issue with Vale winning races was he was never a "run away" merchant.
Even Mick often got poor starts and fought through the field! Vale would often play to the gallery and also play the waiting game with his opponents, especially Gibernau and Biaggi. He would often not show his hand fully and rocket away going much quicker than everyone else. Casey just runs away, he doesnt play with opponents as Vale did, which though it was false at least made it entertaining! Valentino is as rutless as any rider, but he does know and appreciate fun. Guys liek Mick, Dani, Casey and the like dont seem to have much fun racing motorbikes. They obviously do or they wouldnt do it much, but Vale has FUN, and is not afraid to show it. It's why he left Honda, why he chose Yamaha over Ducati and why he still even now manages to receive such support. As a fan I can appreciate both ways. I love watching Casey and I also love the fact that he shoots from the hip. He has a great sense of humour and I can warm to him. Same as Mick, you had to admire his ruthless spirit, similar to Fogarty. Carl was so utterly over arrogant and OTT with it that you ended up feling a bit opposed to him, but since he stopped he has sort of explained his way, much like Mick, Lawson and Rainey have. People warm to Vale coz he has a human touch, Lorenzo has it too in a way, but a lot of people cant forgive the way he was before he matured at Yamaha. Hence they dont warm to him. Being Italian has nothing at all to do with it in any way! |
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8 Feb 2012, 18:26 (Ref:3023275) | #13 | |||
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Quote:
if that was a 10 .. unfortunately most of last season was barely a 5 |
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9 Feb 2012, 22:00 (Ref:3023856) | #14 | |
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I rated 2011 much higher than a 5, I thoroughly enjoyed Stoner rubbing in just how good he is, and Rossi proving that Stoner wasn't pushing the Ducati hard enough in 2010.
"When he has ridden the Ducati, we'll talk." Stoner in response to Rossi bagging him (Stoner) and his riding in 2010. |
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10 Feb 2012, 06:36 (Ref:3023955) | #15 | ||
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so it wasn't the racing that you enjoyed actually ??
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10 Feb 2012, 10:16 (Ref:3024024) | #16 | ||
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Sadly these days, it seems people are only interested in the fake rivalry between some of the riders.
Most people seem to fall into a pro Rossi or pro Stoner camp, and you only have to look at how most threads end up being a slanging match between the two to see this. I don't really mind the two. Stoner is undoubtedly the quickest rider around right now, on the best bike and that is fair enough. Yes, he can try and rub Vale's nose in it by saying he can't win on a Ducati, and he has a point. But Valentino has won far more races, far more titles and been a success on every bike he has ridden apart from the Ducati, so Stoner can either respect that or shoot his mouth off about the Ducati which he has done. For me, in a fight on bikes they are both happy with Vale would beat Stoner in a fight, but maybe wouldn't be able to catch him if he got away. But in a fight I would always back Rossi, thing is these days he can't get close enough for long enough to mix it. And also I think Rossi is still a bit old school, and that doesn't work on the modern bikes, he can change his style like Mick and Wayne and Eddie used to, to accomodate a worn tyre. That skill has been eroded with electronics, and Stoner has adapted better. I also think Casey can ride that way, but I just don't think he is quite as adaptable, and as I say, in a scrap I would always back Vale. |
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10 Feb 2012, 16:33 (Ref:3024161) | #17 | ||
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There is a piece on Agostini in the recent Road Racing World that had some interesting quotes. In one instance Ago was comparing himself to Hailwood when they both were on the same team. At a test they decided to switch bikes. Ago found Hailwood's bike to be very ill mannered and Hailwood proclaimed that Ago's bike was amazingly well setup and easy to ride. Ago said that Hailwood was never bothered about setup and just rode the wheels off the thing. He then said that perhaps Stoner is like that, and that Rossi is more sensitive to the bike.
The important part to me is that both Agostini and Hailwood were amazing, as are Rossi and Stoner. As for the spectacle, I just hope that Lorenzo and Stoner are on a similar level this year and that we will see some dicing (ie both on good bikes). Last edited by jhansen; 10 Feb 2012 at 16:50. |
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10 Feb 2012, 22:49 (Ref:3024340) | #18 | ||
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I'm neither pro Stoner nor pro Rossi. I'm more anti-moto-GP because of horrible thin grids. Looking forward to Moto2 and Moto3 however.
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11 Feb 2012, 10:03 (Ref:3024497) | #19 | ||
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Mystery, this has happened before in the 80's, it took the foresight of Yamaha and Kenny Roberts to offer a pretty much factory YZR500 to anyone to up the grid sizes a bit.
Ezpeleta to credit him wants the grid full of CRT bikes, theya re cheaper, easier to source and far cheaper to run, and if you look at the times, Edwards is a way away, but the bike is struggling with chatter. Remember he is up against teh might of Honda and Yamaha, and he isnt that far away really, so he is the yardstick this year for me. The manufacturers are protecting their investment in technology and Ezpeleta is trying to make the show better, so who wins? The makers of course as they put the bikes out there this year. I would expect another year of dullard racing, then 2012 should be a lot better if Carlo can get CRT on the whole grid again, but even then I would bet than the big 4 and Ducati will still find away to have better bikes. |
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11 Feb 2012, 17:02 (Ref:3024575) | #20 | ||
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Until there's any kind of media profile in bikes it'll stay that way too. There's hope though - manufacturers dont dominate F1 but the RBs and McLarens of this world can attract budgets. Until motogp can do that the bike sellers will always win.
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21 Feb 2012, 16:00 (Ref:3028970) | #21 | ||
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There is testing going on at Jerez this week. Looks like most of the Aprilia CRT teams and I heard the Ducati test team will make an appearance. Day 1 saw Randy de Puniet about two seconds off the fastest race lap record. Not all bad I suppose.
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23 Mar 2012, 17:23 (Ref:3047182) | #22 | ||
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Last test session of the pre-season before Qatar is underway at Jerez. Day 1 is complete with Stoner fastest. He pulled that lap off late in the session to go P1.
Times can be viewed here: http://www.motogp.com/en/TestResults...erez+Test+2012 Ducati are still over a second off the pace... |
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28 Mar 2012, 15:18 (Ref:3050077) | #23 | ||
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Well Stoner ended up fastest, no surprise. And on top of that, he thinks the bike can get better. Ominous. Lorenzo was close, and Pedrosa and Spies are there or there abouts. The Ducati? Yeah, not really. It seemed better, but they (err Rossi) are still well of the pace at this point.
As for CRT, it's all about the Aprilia. Considering that many of these bikes are very green indeed, it might not be all bad by the end of the year. |
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