MotoGP's Sad State...

[chunder]

Precisely chap and why do you think that might be?

Hayden won that championship on a bitsa bike with a load of development parts on it for the 800, he wasn't supposed to win! Hence his reaction when Dani took him down.

HRC were disinterested in him, and I blame Puig for that largely, he is a very domineering man apparently, and perhaps is responsible for some of Dani's issues.

I do like Dani, but he is a bit fragile and sadly that's always an issue when you have to really crash once or twice a season, as you have done since the 500 days and before

[littleman]

I'm the first to admit, I have nothing like the knowledge of bike racing and MotoGP that some of you guy's on here have.

I've watched bike's on and off for years and especially MotoGP since 2005. I now prefer it to F1,never thought that would happen!

Quite clearly the Spanish do dominate the sport, but that said, Marquez,Lorenzo & Pedrosa are pretty damn special. There were over 104,000spectators at Valencia on Sunday - that's impressive.

I've seen several non Spanish riders join the series in recent years, on decent bikes, and none of them have been as impressive.

I'd like to know who out there, who isn't Spanish, should be on the factory Yamaha or Honda?

[wnut]

Originally Posted by chunder

Precisely chap and why do you think that might be?

Hayden won that championship on a bitsa bike with a load of development parts on it for the 800, he wasn't supposed to win! Hence his reaction when Dani took him down.

HRC were disinterested in him, and I blame Puig for that largely, he is a very domineering man apparently, and perhaps is responsible for some of Dani's issues.

I do like Dani, but he is a bit fragile and sadly that's always an issue when you have to really crash once or twice a season, as you have done since the 500 days and before

to be fair to Dani he has been partnered with possibly the best ever rider - Stoner, and now his successor who looks to be a bit OK
Marquez! Also pitted against Lorenzo!

Look how good Mr 7 times champ looks up against all of them!

Ouch, how lucky can one man get?

[EGG]

It is very spanish centric at the moment. I don't know if it's comparable to australian/american domination of the 80s/90s as for parts of those times, those countries didn't hold a race, rarely had non-ciggy sponsors, didn't run teams and produced brilliant riders at random, or not at all (americans late 90s).

I wonder if it's sustainable, but the lynchpins are Honda/Yamaha, if either of them pull out the series is on life-support. Honda will stay so long as they're winning, and are writing the rules. Yamaha will stay as long as they have a chance of winning and ditto on the rules.

[Dragger]

Originally Posted by EGG

It is very spanish centric at the moment. I don't know if it's comparable to australian/american domination of the 80s/90s as for parts of those times, those countries didn't hold a race, rarely had non-ciggy sponsors, didn't run teams and produced brilliant riders at random, or not at all (americans late 90s).

I wonder if it's sustainable, but the lynchpins are Honda/Yamaha, if either of them pull out the series is on life-support. Honda will stay so long as they're winning, and are writing the rules. Yamaha will stay as long as they have a chance of winning and ditto on the rules.

Good point, and it's not sustainable, the Spanish economy is in the gutter and manufacturers/riders continue to depend on electronics which it ruining the show. I still believe spec ECU's without tac/launch/wheelie control are the way to go, give the series back to the riders, Honda can threaten to leave, they'd be back if they did because they want the ad dollars that Yamaha, Ducati, Aprilia, and Suzuki will be enjoying. Something's gotta give.

[ghinzani]

Originally Posted by EGG

It is very spanish centric at the moment. I don't know if it's comparable to australian/american domination of the 80s/90s as for parts of those times, those countries didn't hold a race, rarely had non-ciggy sponsors, didn't run teams and produced brilliant riders at random, or not at all (americans late 90s).

I wonder if it's sustainable, but the lynchpins are Honda/Yamaha, if either of them pull out the series is on life-support. Honda will stay so long as they're winning, and are writing the rules. Yamaha will stay as long as they have a chance of winning and ditto on the rules.

Looking at the Moto GP classics on BT Sport at the moment you forget just how many Japanese riders were in the top class in the 90's and early 00's (and before in the 80's) , I guess their economy has been the death knell for them coming over, and the end of their own 500cc Champs in 94 and its conversion to Superbike status. Such a shame... then again Britain had a 500cc national championships too.

I'd prefer to see a Moto2 National champ or two myself, as well as out current Motostar mixed 125 and Moto 3.

Anyway back to my original point, despite the proliferation of Japanese riders in the old days why not so wins?

[chunder]

THe best bet is that GP racing just isn't that popular or important to the manufacturers as it once was.

I don't really understand it, as Japan was one of the biggest growth areas of the sport in the early 90's, withy countless race winners and top riders in the bottom two classes, and then guys moving into the top class and doing well.

Katos accident seemed to really pin it all down, followed by Abe dying too, and that all coincided with teams like Kawasaki and Suzuki really toning down their involvement, and guys like Honda and Yamaha not doing wil card riders etc like they used to do.

THe talent maybe isn't there either, there were also a host of guys who didn't do much in the top class. But most were good.

I really cant explain it too much, seems very odd, maybe the riders just cant get the backin anymore as there isn't the appetite in Japan to set up teams etc.

[m355y]

MotoGp still has its moments, but I think it was at its absolute best in about 2006 and has lost a bit of its magic since then. I'm using that season as an example because it had everything, (except a competitive Brit of course) - a superstar in Valentino Rossi, lots of different manufacturer teams, very competitive satellite teams, a feeling of a 'changing of the guard' with youngsters like Pedrosa and Stoner first coming to prominence, close racing, tight finishes, shock results (Elias' win at Estoril, Hayden winning the championship), loads of potential winners, Ducati at their most competitive, it was bright, it was vivid, it was exciting and it had a huge future. It continued very strongly after but I dunno, maybe was always going to run out of steam a bit.

Thing is, it hasn't really but that's due to the Spanish backing and I think the Spanish dominance has alienated people in the UK. On paper it still looks pretty strong and now we have Crutchlow too - three of the all-time greats at the top of their game in Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Marquez, with Rossi there too and still winning. Crutchlow could easily have got a win this season. Monster Tech3 show that the competitive satellite team is still alive and well, and MotoGP has survived the retirement of Stoner much better than it might have expected. On the flipside the CRTs are a bit of a sideshow, like half a grid made up of Marussias and Caterhams rather than four slots at the back. Ducati are sh*t.

And that bloody TV deal. That boils my p*ss because its probably the absolute worst thing to do with a series with dwindling interest in this country - stick it somewhere most people won't be able to watch it, genius.

So much as I still love MotoGP, I won't be able to see it next year anyway.

[chunder]

M355, I couldn't have put it much better myself, I agree with your years, though I quite enjoyed the Lorenzo Rossi rivalry recently after 2006, but when you thnk everyone else was streets behind it made it a bit daft, but to be fair when Schwantz and Doohan or Rainey were battling the grid was strung out too.

The tv deal stinks from head to toe, but you can only blame Dorna, BT will bid for anything right now to try and get you to sign up for broadband and tv so you cant blame them, maybe also blame Eurosport and BBC for making pathetic bids.

Either way the crowds and stuff will be awful next year as the vast majority of fans wont be able to watch it. Utterly ridiculous, but typical of Dorna I am sad to say.