| Author | Message | ||
     Rocket_in_uk |
Just another facet to the Moto GP Spanish armada. Rocket in England | ||
| Bads1 |
Little Tid bit from Kevin Schwantz on Marquez. I also agree.... nobody is in this kids head. Rossi being the king of head games has shown he can hold Marquez pace. Why hasn't Rossi pushed him in Practice?? http://msn.foxsports.com/speed/motogp/motogp-marqu ez-and-mind-games/ | ||
| Jaimec |
Ya know, if Honda is going to continue dominating this way, I'm VERY rapidly going to lose interest in this series... | ||
| Fast1075 |
The fastest Moto3 bike at Argentina went 227 kph today. That is only 26 kph (16 mph) slower top speed that the slowest SBK at Assen. Who says a 250 single can't be awesome dipped in kick ass? Love me some Moto3. Some damn good racing. And it looks like another Aussie is on the rise. | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
I often wonder if some of these moto journalist actually watch the race when they write shit like this..... His title defense got off to a flying start in Qatar when he was merciless against seven time world champ Rossi who had no response to Marquez’s stellar last lap charge to victory. Colin Young needs to watch again! If only a couple of minutes or so's worth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SRSzBbEHis Rocket in England | ||
| Trojan |
Oh dear.....Much as I love watching Marquez ride the wheels off his bike, I am not looking forward to a season of utter dominance by him  I hope somebody starts to get a grip and manage to challenge him for wins or it is going to be a long year. Thankfully Moto2 and especially Moto3 make up for it  | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Rossi might have made 2nd had the hard front worked a little better earlier. Or maybe the Bradl pass was a Rossi mistake? Hard to tell with the one view I saw. More laps and he might have caught Lorenzo. That aside. I can't help but feel we are seeing the GOAT as great as ever but the Yamaha is just not the tool to race Marquez on a Honda with. After this long season ahead (yes it's early days)and with all Aliens out of contract end of season, the best thing that could happen for Moto GP would be to pair up Rossi and Marquez as teammates. Accepting Rossi (at least in my belief) appears to be pretty much his usual self and remains so for the remainder, and early contract deals don't happen to spoil any chance of a dream team......... Sorry, my imagination ran wild for a moment. Oh well Rocket in England | ||
| Trojan |
That aside. I can't help but feel we are seeing the GOAT as great as ever but the Yamaha is just not the tool to race Marquez on a Honda with. Sadly I think that the GOAT mantle is in the process of being passed from Rossi to Marquez this year. Honda and Yamaha are almost (but not quite) equal and the biggest single factor in every session was Marquez himself. Would Marquez win on a Yamaha? Probably yes. If we are looking for people who can possibly beat Maquez I think we have to look to Moto2 and Moto3 rather than the current MotoGP riders. Maverick Vinales won his first Moto2 race at the second race of the season (Marquez had to wait until round 4 for his) and Tito Rabat also looks better than ever so far this year. Trouble is for them to ride a competitive bike in MotoGP someone else has to leave Even with all the top guys out of contract this year I can't see any of the top teams taking a risk on Vinales or Rabat just yet, and sadly not even Bradley Smith is very unlikely to get a factory Yamaha ride ahead of Pedrosa or Pol Epagaro I can't see a Rossi/Marquez team coming any time soon. More likely a Marquez/Lorenzo pairing at Honda next year (with Rossi/Pedrosa at Yamaha). | ||
| Jaimec |
My take, the Honda is the most dialed in it's EVER been. There is no way Pedrosa is as good a rider as Lorenzo, but the way he stalked and passed Lorenzo at the end shows the Honda's superiority. At this point, Marquez could probably go out and win on a bone stock Honda Ruckus, so it doesn't matter WHAT bike you put him on. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
This year's problem is that Bridgestone introduced tires that suited HONDA........... Lorenzo did not like the 2014 Bridgestone tires , and Lorenzo is the only rider capable of racing Marquez...... | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Marquez has not raced anywhere near enough to be countable as the GOAT no matter his fledgling career brilliance. Even then, Rossi's earlier premier class prizes are likely never able to be repeated. Looking to who can beat Marquez. Rossi damn near did Qatar and was unlucky not to have. Marquez had he come 2nd would have been equally so, the fight and finish so good and close. Lorenzo on a Honda will prove a career downfall. He's only ever been great on a Yamaha it nurtured to suit his smooth style. No way could Lorenzo race an RCV in the 'neck wringing' manner Marquez does - the only way to win on it against Marquez. Moto GP is doomed then Rocket in England | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
There is no way Pedrosa is as good a rider as Lorenzo Based on what? Rocket in England | ||
| Jaimec |
Two world titles versus NONE, for one thing... | ||
| Pwnzor |
Wow... haters gonna hate. Whatever, I'm enjoying every minute of watching the rookie wipe the floor with everybody else. Maybe it won't last, but damned if it isn't a fun ride. World Champion for 3 out of the last 4 years, and well on track for 4 out of 5. | ||
| Trojan |
Looking to who can beat Marquez. Rossi damn near did Qatar and was unlucky not to have. Marquez had he come 2nd would have been equally so, the fight and finish so good and close. I think Qatar was probably the best chance Rossi had of beating Marquez fair and square this year. Since then MM has just looked untouchable and able to pull a half second a lap at will (using a hard tyre that nobody else likes too). It will take some bad luck or injury for Marquez to be beaten this year I think. Does this doom MotoGP? Not really but it makes things a lot more boring for spectators. But as Mick Doohan once said 'What do you want me to do, slow down?' The onus is on everyone else to speed up. | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Three different commentators wrongly believed Rossi was on a medium front. Pre race stats showed him to be on hard hard same as Marquez. Rocket in England | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Two world titles versus NONE, for one thing... That hurt Rocket in England | ||
| Jaimec |
OTOH, the surest way to become World Champion seems to be having Pedrosa in your garage. It worked for Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner and now Marc Marquez! | ||
| Crusty |
No; Nicky Hayden became World Champion in spite of having the little Rat Weasel in his garage. Little Dani did his best to prevent that. | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm reasonably sure Dani didn't do anything to assist Casey or Marc either. As a matter of fact, the year Dani had TWO teammates, Andrea Dovizioso finished higher in the standings than Pedrosa did too. It's just that Dani's manager had an iron grip on HRC's (censored) so Dovi got cut, not the "Golden Boy." | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
It's odd how riders like Lorenzo, Hayden, Dovizioso, Stoner, are championed against Pedrosa as if you've been blind to Pedrosa's brilliance. That Pedrosa hasn't bagged a title is not reason to merit his ability less than some who have. Frankly Hayden couldn't hold a candle to him. Not now and not ever before. And if truth be told Hayden won his championship by points consistency with only two race wins in the season bag. Dovizioso is another who failed to show better. He's had his chance to shine alongside Pedrosa, but consistently Pedrosa finished ahead of him with Dovizioso only managing to beat Pedrosa few times. Looking at Pedrosa's career wins, ignoring he has no championship win, Pedrosa is an Alien and has every right to be. As for that corner in Portugal. As I argued here at the time, gutsy move. Pity it didn't work as Rossi would have 10 and not 9, and frankly it should have been Rossi who took the title that year with 5 wins against Hayden's 2. In fact, had Elia's not had the surprise win in Portugal where he stormed off the last corner to beat Rossi by 0.002, Rossi would have tied Hayden at season end and taken the title by races won. Rocket in England | ||
| Jaimec |
And Lorenzo won more races last year than Marquez. Your point? To quote Max Biaggi: "In order to finish first, first you must finish." (Message edited by jaimec on April 30, 2014) | ||
| Trojan |
Looking at Pedrosa's career wins, ignoring he has no championship win, Pedrosa is an Alien and has every right to be. Pedrosa is already the most succesful rider never to win the title, has many more wins than Hayden over his career and in many peoples eyes is more deserving of a title than Nicky was (especially outside the USA). Dani has been unlucky with injury at crucial times in his career, but then has been on probably the best bike for his entire career too, so you have to say he has had his chances and failed to take them unfortunately. Will Honda let him go? probably not. They already have the best guy in the paddock right now, so unless Lorenzo moves to Honda next year there are very few candidates that can beat Pedrosa on a good day, and I can't see Honda sacking him (unless Jorge wants his place that is). With Pedrosa and Rossi pretty much confirmed for next year somewhere inthe top 4 teams it seems that there is very little room for new talent to come in unfortunately, unless it is at the expense of mid field veterans such as Hayden. Colin Edwards is leaving of course but his ride is unlikely to attract a top newcomer. MotoGp simply doesn't have enough top teams at the moment unfortunately so I don't see a challenge to Marquez until Yamaha nad Honda have spaces (or Ducati & Suzuki can improve). | ||
| Blake |
I hate social justice in racing. No one "deserves" to win the title unless they actually win the title. Anything else is just girly emotion talking. Man up. Hayden is a Moto GP Champion. Period. Pedrosa isn't. Deal with it. It's easier to win a drags race when you're 40 pounds lighter than the competition. Tire endurance performance also improves. Much of Pedrosa's success owes to his diminutive size. Good for him! Add 40 lbs and then see how his "skill" stacks up. He'd likely be 2nd tier. The point being that his success is owed to more than skill. | ||
| Trojan |
The point being that his success is owed to more than skill. Pedrosa is the third highest points scorer in MotoGP behind only Rossi and Lorenzo I think. When history looks back at succesful racers I think Hayden will be a bit further down the list. Despite 'winning' a championship he has only managed to win 3 races in his MotoGP career I think (I may be slightly amiss without checking, but it isn't many more). Pedrosa is small but that can actually go against him too, particularly when it comes to injuries and also in some riding dynamics. Handling a 250bhp bike takes skill and muscles! There has been a lot of talk about rider weights over the last couple of years and the consensus in MotoGP was that there are pros and cons to both sides. One thing is for sure, Pedrosa does not lack skill. On a different note...Bridgestone have announced that they are leaving MotoGp at the end of 2015 and the tender process has already begun for their relacement as spec tyre supplier. The new supplier is expected to be named by the end of May..... Pirelli are probably favourite I think, although apparently Michelin have been seen testing 16.5" front slicks in Italy recently. | ||
| Jaimec |
Wow! That's is definitely going to shake things up in 2016!! http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresul ts/MotoGP/2014/May/may0114-bridgestone/ | ||
| Jaimec |
By the way, I'd point out that in the three years Ben Spies was the AMA Superbike champion, Mat Mladin actually won far more races. Standing on top of the podium isn't as important in the long run as ALWAYS being ON the podium. THAT was how Nicky won the title. | ||
| Crusty |
Come on; you know that you should never let facts get in the way of a strong opinion! | ||
| Jaimec |
Crusty, it's also how Marquez won the title last year, as Lorenzo actually won more races too. This year, it's going to be a moot point; unless the kid gets hit by an asteroid, he'll not only ALWAYS be on the podium, but also on the top step as well. | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Jaime, you assert Lorenzo is better than Pedrosa based on two title wins. But you want it both ways. In Hayden's case and his title you state lack of races won isn't as important in the long run. Yep that's one way to measure Pedrosa's brilliance - to suit your opinion. Me? I just watch the little rat weasel and know he's hard to beat and often great to watch. Unlike Lorenzo who is mostly boring to watch. Rocket in England |
