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Jima4media
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 04, 2005 - 12:40 pm: | 
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I suppose Mat figured if he could get the race red flagged with his bike on the track, he could get it back to the pits, and fix the clutch and try to get back in the race.
As it was, he lost a lot of points, due to rookies crashing in the back of the pack, TWICE!. |
BadS1
| | Posted on Wednesday, May 04, 2005 - 02:42 pm: |
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Al Matt at GP??? Matt is now 34 years old at his point in carreer I don't think Honda or any of the GP teams want a guy that isn't gonna be racing in a few years possibly.Hayden,Hopkins....guys like these are young and still have potential at a future in GP for years to come.Matt if he went there he would not fare any better then are other US riders that we have there now.It may take him two years and then maybe.....maybe he'd hit it once.But then again he'd be 36-37 years of age.I think what he's doing now is smart and also being a team owner that means he's planning to be in the sport in some capacity for the future.Hey what he's doing now just makes the up new commer's strive for what he has even more.
(Message edited by bads1 on May 05, 2005) |
Trenchtractor
| | Posted on Thursday, May 05, 2005 - 07:21 am: |
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Maybe if Mladin were to race a Buell his Australian importing company would actually support Buell owners and start stocking parts for them... No market in Buells my ar5e. |
Henrik
| | Posted on Thursday, May 05, 2005 - 03:19 pm: |
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Here's a few words from Mladin himself about racing in AMA today, how he sees things and what he believes it takes to be on top:
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2005/may/mladinCol-barb-fon.htm
Can't accuse him of sugar coating anything, but he's got some good points.
Henrik |
BadS1
| | Posted on Thursday, May 05, 2005 - 03:39 pm: |
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Good column Henrik. |
Coyote_xb12s
| | Posted on Thursday, May 05, 2005 - 04:01 pm: |
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If any of you watched Wind Tunnel on Speed this past Sunday when they interviewed KR and Eddie Lawson, EL made a comment about how Rossi compared to himself, Wayne Rainey, Doohan, & Kevin Schwantz, was due to the fact that he was serious about what he was doing. If you guys remember the rivalry between Rainey and Schwantz, and Kenny R and Freddie Spencer, how does the Rossi/Gibernau match hold up?? Rossi has Sete's number all the way.
As far as MM making it in MotoGP- in my opinion, and a comment made by Kurtis Roberts made earlier on Superbikeplanet.com, Mat would be one of the strong riders at that level. Mat is a very dedicated and a serious rider. He is about the only one who is "old school" as can be. Ben Spies is learning from him it seems.
I am an Eboz fan, but when he was with Kawi, now with Ducati, he is always making comments about how Mat's bike is always better than what he has. You don't hear Neil saying that do you? He just mentioned that Ducati needed to step up their program if they wanted him to stay competitive.
I believe that a petition should be started to get Mat a wild card ride on the RSV at Laguna this year. There was a comment above made by 12R about how serious things are in MotoGP- well, I would say if there is anyone who takes his job/sport serious it's Mat M!! Do you all remember what he did the last time the WSBK were at Laguna?? If he hadn't gotten sick he would have spanked them.
I don't claim to be an expert, but I have been watching AMA, WSBK, and MotoGP (500 GP) since the early nineties and have seen who does win and why. Just remember how polite Fogarty was. Mick Doohan as well.
In closing, I don't recall any of the greatest ever, and I mean EVER, admitting that they wouldn't be able to keep the pace. Much less, mention that they had an injury. Schwantz made a comment one time when he had a hurt wrist that he kept it secret because Rainey would use it as motivation.
Just my 2.5 cents worth. |
Coyote_xb12s
| | Posted on Thursday, May 05, 2005 - 06:40 pm: |
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Interesting reading:
http://superbikeplanet.com/2005/may/mladinCol-barb-fon.htm |
BadS1
| | Posted on Thursday, May 05, 2005 - 06:53 pm: |
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Ummmm Coyote I think Henrik already posted that.
(Message edited by bads1 on May 05, 2005) |
Coyote_xb12s
| | Posted on Thursday, May 05, 2005 - 08:16 pm: |
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Oops! |
12r
| | Posted on Friday, May 06, 2005 - 07:11 am: |
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The thread that wouldn't die...
No doubting Matt's ability and he's great in AMA yadda yadda - but did you know that in MotoGP, ability is the SECOND most important quality ?
The most critical aspect is what the rider can bring to the team in terms of finance (groan). One of the factory teams wanted Neil Hodgson at the start of 2004 but he didn't get the ride because he is not an 'A' class bike celebrity. Britain and Germany are the biggest markets for sportsbikes in the world and yet the top rides are mostly with second-rate Spaniards and Italians (no offence). In these countries MotoGP riders are household names and with that comes huge personal sponsorship which in turn they bring to the team.
Minimum expenditure for one season in MotoGP team is $6 million, Honda's is closer to $15 million which is serious finance even for them.
Living in England, I don't know what Mladin's profile is like with the non-biking public in the USA, but does he appear on chat shows, advertisements and switch the lights on in NY at Xmas ? |
Trojan
| | Posted on Friday, May 06, 2005 - 09:41 am: |
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The last time Mladin raced against World class opposition was in the WSB round at Laguna in 2003 I think. He managed a 4th place in race one and a DNF in race two. With Suzuki now back in WSB and dominating proceedings, don't you think they would have picked him instead of the 'other' Aussie.
By the way, whoever said Hopkins parents were Australian should wash his mouth out with soap and water! They are from London, hence the Dick Van Dyke accent |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, May 06, 2005 - 07:59 pm: |
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I liked Matt before. I'm a huge fan now. Great stuff, thanks for the link Henrik! And you too Marco. |
Team
| | Posted on Saturday, May 07, 2005 - 11:43 am: |
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I'm think I'm going to •••• myself, Too much coffee this morning.FUNNY! I just did a search for Mat Mladin, and You know what was the first thing to come up was? Mat Mladin Riding for Buell Next year! It's the subject of this forum on MSN Search and it was the first thing that came up, very funny< I'm sure A lot of people are going to be confused If they read that title. I'm still laughing thinking that one of Suzuki team members are bored and just do a quick search and See that as the very first thing. What the @#@#? |
Team
| | Posted on Saturday, May 07, 2005 - 11:50 am: |
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Search key words were (Mat Mladin flipping off Miguel Duhamel) |
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