2015 Moto GP...

[ArnageWRC]

Originally Posted by chunder

Bradl looked good early int eh eyar ut has dropped off a bit now.

I think the tyre situation will obviously affect him more than Repsol.

Such a shame this stuff and the Spanish domination of everything GP happens, I so wish someone else was running our sport sometimes, CRT is beginning to look pathetic, regardless of Ezpeleta;s best intentions, he loks a spoilt little man with lost of power trying to push through hsi own ideas, as these bikesa re a tota joke with joke riders most ofth time

In the wet they look reasonable, but the sameis true in any series

For the sport to progress; meaning lots of factory bikes, riders, etc it really needs to be without the Dorna! They are simply hopeless, they are running a World Championship- not an Iberian/ Mediterranean Championship.....the number of Spanish riders is a joke!
The dropping of the rookie rules stinks; it's quite simply disgusting. Marquez is talented, but he's had loads of backing, support; imagine a young Brit with that type of backing......but no, Repsol & Marquez & Dorna = No rookie rule.
Rant over!!

[Dani Filth]

thing is .. what's stopping a british company to back a brit .. as there are a few quick ones already in the series

[chunder]

Well for a start we dont run the championship, the Spaniards do hence they look sfater their own!

Most of the sponspors involved are Spanish, nearly all of the people who work in the sport are based in Spain.

Of course a British team could do all these things, but they would be trying to do them in a Spanish championship that takes most of its riders from the CEV Buckler series which is also run by the same people who run GP.

You cannot argues with their policy, they have turned GP from ebing a world championship into a Spanish dominated series that is backed, funded and nurtured by its people.

Only trouble is, Spain is broke

But none seems to have told Ezpeleta

[jhansen]

Comments being tossed about that Rossi could continue with Ducati. I wonder if it's reasonable to assume that he has not had a favorable reception from Honda and Yamaha...

[rustyfan]

Originally Posted by jhansen

Honda
Marquez

This has now been confirmed; http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/101135

I'm really excited to see what Marquez can do in MotoGP.

[chunder]

Actually those with long memories will realise these two are peas in a pod.
Pedrosa cleaned up in 125 and 250 before moving up, and really has been a bit of a disappointment in MotoGP when you consider his form in the lower classes.

He was a total alien in 125/250, on maybe not the best bike, but his size was always a huge advantage there as is the case for Marquez. Where if you lok at Casey he was quick in the lower classes without being dominant, Lorenzo was dominant in 250 on the best bike, but Dovi was never on the best but looked good.

Think back to guys like Nakano, Jacque, Cadalora, Biaggi, Pons, Garriga. All amazing on smaller bikes but never as dominant on a GP bike. Whereas guys like Checa, Puig, Gibernau, Barros Criville, Roberts were all much better on a big bike than a small bike.

Its not often about how good you were when being small was an advantage, if he is exceptional I would be surprised, but right now being on a Honda is the place to be.

I personally dont think he will be anything special, very similar to Pedrosa for me.

I think there are other riders who could move up who would adapt better, but this news is about as surprising as finding out this day is Thursday.

What annoys me is the way it has all benn done underhand by changing rules and making what we all know is a Spanish champioship with a few annoying foreign interlopers, even more Spanish.

Pathetic really, but thats what you get when the FIM allow SPain to run the world championships with very little input from themselves.

[FAS33]

MotoGP is boring these days, bring back the 500cc's! :S

[chunder]

If you did that, Stoner would unretire, guaranted, if any rider was born after btheir time it is Casey, he would have been awesome on a 500, possibly the best.

When askwed what would make him come abck, guess what he suggested... 750 2 strokes! Top bloke

[ArnageWRC]

So Marquez signs for Repsol-Honda, to join Pedrosa in all Spanish line up. Blimey, I never saw that one coming..... What an utter farce! The rookie rule was a mistake, but the way it was scrapped.....hmmm

Completely agree with Casey about the direction the sport has gone. Let Dorna continue to run the FiM Spanish MotoGP Championship.....now get somebody to run the World Championship....

[jhansen]

Spies quitting Yamaha. Well, didn't quite see it happening that way. Figured he'd just get sacked.

http://superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jul/120724spiesnoy.htm

Could he be linking up with Suzuki again?

Ducati?

WSBK?

[Tazz]

An all american Ducati team? It might not be such a bad ideea

[gomick]

Wonder if Spies will last the season if he spills his guts on why he is really leaving? I hear that Elias is replacing Barbera at Laguna Seca - why bother?

[ghinzani]

Jules Ryder reckons Spies is off to BMW. Isnt Melandri joining BMW Italia in WSB? So are they coming Moto GP?

[chunder]

I have to admit that current GP is really sarting to fall apart, it is becoming increasingly obvious that is basically a SPanish championship, so many of the riders end up going to utterly useless Spanish riders and most of the teams are from there.

I dont know about Spies and BMW, I think he meanet going home to be Suzuki perhaps, he only spent one year in WSB.

I think BMW might be going GP, but only as a supplier, more involved with MarcVDS GP effort that is likely.

[ArnageWRC]

I think Stoner is doing the right thing and getting out. MotoGP and the power brokers are dismantling the sport. It’s meant to be a WORLD series, yet seems increasingly like a Mediterreanean one. Have the FiM ever considered giving the Promoter role to somebody else? I feel Dorna are clueless, and just rely on Honda & their Spanish backers to keep bailing them out.
Remember a time when the 125/250 series were almost as important as the 500 class? There would be major teams/sponsors in those classes as well as the 500 class. Dorna have fallen into the trap of copying Bernie’s F1 model......as the WRC did.....

[chunder]

If you remember this has been going on for years, back in the 90's there was the Ducados series, big money and hugely beneficial to people like Aspar, Pons and Roberts for bringing in new talent, it's where guys like Gibernau, Checa, Lavilla, Roberts Jr, Rossi raced aswell as European series.

It's always been the case, but these days it seems far harder for teams from Germany, Italy, US etc to get involved, there just isn't the world involvement, you used to have Japanese teams like FCC and TSR, there is no Docshop now, or Stiggy, or QUB, or Roberts. With the loss of these European and Japanese teams it's easier for the Spanish to dominate as all the series is run there, financed there, and you have the feeder series running Buckler aswsell, just like Ducados Open did.

Its always been the same. the issue now is that Spaniards can ride better, they are not just pay riders like Cardoso, Puig, Giro, Gibernau, Criville were when they first came in, they would come in backed by Campsa, Fortuna, Ducados, Coronas, that would give them leeway.

Now your Marques, Vinales, Pedrosa, Elias are world beaters. Whereas before they would be up against Japs, Italians and French with a few other in there, now it is mainly Spaniards

[JohnnyFiama]

This is sounding like a lot of sour grapes... it is inevitable that the championship will have a lot of Spanish riders and teams. Motorcycle racing is huge in Spain and Italy, all the kids ride bikes (no doubt helped by the weather), it is a massive sport there. Whereas most kids in the UK who enjoy motorsport want to be Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button most Spanish and Italian kids want to be Pedrosa, Lorenzo or Rossi.

They have more riders, more spectators, more sponsors, more money and so, of course, more success in world championships. It would be like the Spanish complaining there aren't enough Spanish cricket players...

The rookie rule wasn't removed because of some Spanish conspiracy theory, it went because none of the privateer Honda teams wanted to have Marquez for a year. They have their own engineers and long-term sponsors so Marquez turning up for a year with his own crew and painting the bike in Repsol colours would cause a huge disruption. When he then left after a year to join the works team they would have to pick up the pieces and try to carry on.

Riders like Spies and Edwards have had a good moan about "having to have the right passport" but I didn't hear them complaining when the American arm of Yamaha funded their careers. Likewise, Hayden (who to be fair hasn't complained) has lasted so long at Ducati because he's American and has helped sell a huge ammount of bikes in an important market for Ducati.

Over the years, the organisers have put a lot of money into getting riders from different natiionalities into MotoGP, there was a lot of pressure (and money) put into getting Toseland at Tech3, I didn't hear any complaints about that at the time.

The last few years with Stoner v Lorenzo v Pedrosa v Rossi will be looked back on as a golden era, enjoy it while you can. Unfortunately, on this forum and many others all you hear is moaning.

[FAS33]

too many spanish riders, its a complete joke! it was pretty obvious with a spanish guy running the show , they'd let the rookie rule go. and let marquez in. whats so exciting about having so many spanish riders in a race series? No wonder the World Champ is leaving all this BS behind, This will be the demise of the motoGP. good job Dorna.. you all suck!

[chunder]

Lol, hilarious rubbish.

It.s been the same for years, the Spanish have dominated GP racing since the early 90's when the Ducados series was feeding talent into the championship.

Edwards got into GP because he dominated WSB racing, as did Bayliss, they both came in from being dominant in another form of racing, not because of where they come from. Same reson Xaus got in, and Russell, Gobert, even guys liek Mladin, Hodgson. Nowt to do with nationality.

Toseland similarly, was managed by a clever marketeer and wanted to move up as did Cal who used his Yamaha and Monster connections to move up.

Italians and French have struggled since fag money left. Bayle, Cadalora, Romboni, Biaggi have all been heavily sponsored by fag money and pressure from Phillip Morris and Altadis to have certain nationalities involved, this is why you have so many Spanish now, as since fags have gone, most of the sponsors are Spanish and influenced by Spain!

You may call it moaning, I call it fact, just like the Italians in WSB, all the teams pretty much are Italian, the riders necessarily aren't, but how can you say Canepa, Lanzi or Fabrizio deserved factory Ducati rides over other riders, they got them coz they are Italian!

This is a fact, Spain run GP racing, and have for 20 years, hence they are going to look after their own, the trouble is their own is a bit of a mess right now financially!

Where is the Japanese interest of the 90's? We hardly have any teams from mainland Europe now, few German/Austrian.Swiass teams. No British teams, hardly any Italian teams.

You cannot argue with the stats, call it moaning, I call it fact.

[ghinzani]

Anyway the hugely overrated Rossi allegedly signed for Yamaha.
Must have a fetish for being destroyed by Jorge...

[chunder]

Can't say I think that is a good move really.

I dont think the Yamaha is going to benefit Vale unless they can turn off all the traction and electronic stuff, and even then I am not sure he would be able to contend with Jorge.

I feel a little for Valentino, he can't seem to realise that he is not what he once was, if I was planning on going anywhere, it would not be into the team of the guy who battered me so relentlessly 2 years before and won my championship!

Stupid move, but he seems to be a desperate man.

[FAS33]

Originally Posted by chunder

Lol, hilarious rubbish.

It.s been the same for years, the Spanish have dominated GP racing since the early 90's when the Ducados series was feeding talent into the championship.

Edwards got into GP because he dominated WSB racing, as did Bayliss, they both came in from being dominant in another form of racing, not because of where they come from. Same reson Xaus got in, and Russell, Gobert, even guys liek Mladin, Hodgson. Nowt to do with nationality.

Toseland similarly, was managed by a clever marketeer and wanted to move up as did Cal who used his Yamaha and Monster connections to move up.

Italians and French have struggled since fag money left. Bayle, Cadalora, Romboni, Biaggi have all been heavily sponsored by fag money and pressure from Phillip Morris and Altadis to have certain nationalities involved, this is why you have so many Spanish now, as since fags have gone, most of the sponsors are Spanish and influenced by Spain!

You may call it moaning, I call it fact, just like the Italians in WSB, all the teams pretty much are Italian, the riders necessarily aren't, but how can you say Canepa, Lanzi or Fabrizio deserved factory Ducati rides over other riders, they got them coz they are Italian!

This is a fact, Spain run GP racing, and have for 20 years, hence they are going to look after their own, the trouble is their own is a bit of a mess right now financially!

Where is the Japanese interest of the 90's? We hardly have any teams from mainland Europe now, few German/Austrian.Swiass teams. No British teams, hardly any Italian teams.

You cannot argue with the stats, call it moaning, I call it fact.

moaning? just taking the pi$$ mate
was all in good fun. I bet next year gonna be a boring race unless Rossi gets that Yamaha seat, even then Lorenzo will be too strong.

[BootsOntheSide]

The championship may be full of Spanish riders, but I don;t think it can be seen as a conspiracy. Most of the guys who've got competitive rides have done a good job with them. The Spanish riders tend to be quite small and slight, and the modern bikes suit those guys much more than the old two-strokes. Despite Alonso's success, Spain is still one of the few countries where bike racing is more popular than car racing, and the limited sponsorship money available in a recession-hit post-tobacco-money world can only go so far. They've got a domestic Moto2 series ahead of anyone else, which shows the money and interest they have.

[gomick]

So, the secret is out - Rossi/Ducati split & Rossi/Yamaha join in 2013... Hope he can push Jorge all the way!
Does Crutchlow now join Duke?

[chunder]

Staggeringly shameful news really.

I feel so sorry for Dovi, he has outperformed Spies and Cal most of the year and now doesnt get a chance on the factory bike.

I think Valentino's reputation is far below where it was 4 years ago where he was top of the world and the GOAT.

GOAT no more I am afraid he has looked at sea for the past two years and running back to Yamaha to get beat every week by Lorenzo is rather sad!!