2008

Message

Gio · #1 Post by **Gio** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 12:22 am

So who do you fancy as the winner.

I'm still convinced Rossi will win as Ducati will be fecked by their riders.

Melandri 2nd and Stoner the gawpin' twat 3rd (mostly on his current performance as the bloke who can't be arsed.)

TBO I rate Melandri as twice the rider Stoner will ever be.

I'd like to see John Hopkins do something as well.

back_marker · #2 Post by **back_marker** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 2:54 pm

Be very interesting now that evryone has had a year to shake out and catch up with Ducati.

Rossi has always got to be the favourite. As long as the Yammy is semi-competitive and Bridgestone are at least as good aws MIchelins then he can always find that little bit more that no-one else can.

Got to agree with you about Melandri, on his day he is very similar to Rossi, he just needs to be consitent and he's finally got the full factory bike he deserves.

Pedrosa is good, but doesn't quite have the edge he needs to beat the mad Italians

Stoner? well, it would be interesting to see if he returns to his old c rashing ways if he's put under real pressure, because lets face it nobody really did last year, by the time everyone elses equipment caught up he was comfortably leading the championship. Lets see how he starts whining when his bike isn't head and shoulders above the rest of the field.

Really want to see JT do well but from past experience I am trying not to get my hopes up too much

Gio · #3 Post by **Gio** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 3:27 pm

It would be good to see JT do well and I expect he'll do better than his team mate did on his switch to Motogp on that dreadful Aprilia.

Interesting what you say about Pedrosa, tbo I can't ever see him winning a series at this level, he's rather like Biaggi was on his elevation to the premier league (not quite good enough). I actually wouldn't be surprised if he returned to 250's.

back_marker · #4 Post by **back_marker** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:52 pm

Think you've summed it up spot on there, comparing him to the Roman Primadonna

Technically brilliant and on paper should win evry time, but just lacking that something extra that sets them apart. In other words what you need to be a world champion and not merely the world title holder.

D-Rider · #5 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:11 pm

I think there are just too many "what ifs" to make a stab at predicting this season.

Michelin and Yamaha's improvement are the biggest question marks.

Also I think it will be interesting to see how it works out for Rossi being the only Yamaha on Bridgestones - I think it's a brave move - especially if Michelin do get things together quickly and there's nobody but him to develop the Yamaha Bridgestone combination. You do wonder if that's a problem whether the other Yamahas will surprisingly loose a bit of performance .......

There again. as long as Yamaha get things together, I wouldn't bet against Rossi - he's still the best rider by some margin.

I do think that this past season JT has shown he has what it takes - the way he over-rode that Honda which was a long way from being the best bike o the grid. Of course it will take him some tome to make the transition but I think he'll be a success - whether that ever gives him the championship is too early to say.

back_marker · #6 Post by **back_marker** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:06 pm

D-Rider wrote: Also I think it will be interesting to see how it works out for Rossi being the only Yamaha on Bridgestones - I think it's a brave move - especially if Michelin do get things together quickly and there's nobody but him to develop the Yamaha Bridgestone combination. You do wonder if that's a problem whether the other Yamahas will surprisingly loose a bit of performance .......

To be honest he's pretty much been the only one developing the Yamaha and it's Michelin boots for the past 4 years anyway - it's not like the Texan Tornado's been pushing the bike/tyre combo to it's limits

Gio · #7 Post by **Gio** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 12:00 am

There is as far as I can see only 3 riders who can give the engineers what they need on the input front.

Rossi, Hopkins and Capirossi.

Ducati have busted themselves I think by ditching Capirossi, this guy has made them successful over 4 years of effort. The same stands for Hopkins at Suzuki, Rossi has proven he knows what makes a good machine as Honda have slumped very badly bearing in mind they supply nearly half the motogp teams.

I think Ducati will fail this year for the simple reason they don't have anyone riding a bike who can explain to the engineers whats missing. Honda will be even further out in the wilderness as they also haven't anyone with technical ability riding.

I also wonder about Yamaha, 2 official bikes 2 types of tyre and how the hell do you stop either riders mechanics talking to the other about the bikes behaviour on track. Its impossible. So on the tech/cheat/yack front (ala McLaren) I predict Yamaha to win with Rossi.

Politics....... great aren't they

Samray · #8 Post by **Samray** » Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:16 pm

The year closed with a final test at the Spanish circuit of Jerez, with thirteen riders taking to the track for their last ride of the year. Many were working with prototypes of their 2008 bikes, whilst there were also a series of novelties which will become commonplace next season.

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/moto/motogp/41919/

Samray · #9 Post by **Samray** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 1:50 pm

This would make a bigger difference than anything the riders did, if implemented.
http://racing.auto123.com/en/racing/new ... rtid=93109

Paulh · #10 Post by **Paulh** » Thu Jan 03, 2008 6:47 pm

Samray wrote:This would make a bigger difference than anything the riders did, if implemented.
http://racing.auto123.com/en/racing/new ... rtid=93109

Never happen - soon all the electronics will be on road bikes and considered standard.

What they should do is bring back the 500's - engine siezures, highsides, tiny power bands - proper bikes from when i was a lad.

Theres nothing like the smell of 2 stroke in the mornings

Pierre · #11 Post by **Pierre** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:58 pm

That makes no sence, instead of taking off the electronics as we'll be using them on the road - we'll replace them all with 2strokes

Face it, stinkwheels are dead. Dee eee dee. DEAD. Far easier to go for a 1 tyre rule but give them Chenshing or something and see if the traction control can work that one out

Or those Tomahawk coloured remolds and be like F1 for dummies. Red for soft, Yellow for medium and Blue for hard.

Back on topic , I'd like to see a Cowaski win a race, even if it means a frenchman onboard (!). As long as no-one wins easy, JT gets a podium and theres some memorable racing I'm not really bothered

back_marker · #12 Post by **back_marker** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 11:14 am

Check out this week's MCN where Jerry Burgess voices his opinions on traction control and the crop of "robots" that are getting it set up so they can use the throttle as an on/off switch.

Possibly a little biased and probably not what he would be saying if Yamaha had the electronics package that Ducati do, but a valid point nonetheless.

I don't agree with what Paulh says about traction control staying when it is standard on road bikes - most cars have tration control these days but they still managed to bin it from F1 (through necessity I might add and if Motogp carries on it's going the same way).

Gio · #13 Post by **Gio** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 6:47 pm

back_marker wrote:Check out this week's MCN where Jerry Burgess voices his opinions on traction control and the crop of "robots" that are getting it set up so they can use the throttle as an on/off switch.

Possibly a little biased and probably not what he would be saying if Yamaha had the electronics package that Ducati do, but a valid point nonetheless.

I don't agree with what Paulh says about traction control staying when it is standard on road bikes - most cars have tration control these days but they still managed to bin it from F1 (through necessity I might add and if Motogp carries on it's going the same way).

I think Jerry saying that is Rossi speaking, its well known he's Rossi's mouth when it comes to deriding the also rans.

I'd like to see traction control and some of the more esoteric bits they put on these trained monkeys type bikes. IMO they added all these bits in an attempt to get a mediocre rider able to beat Rossi.

Well they certainly did it last year and the year before.