Motogp Le Mans 08 [Archive] - Motorsport Forums

jonny hurlock

16th May 2008, 10:13

Pedrosa and Lorenzo fastest in first pratice.

Roby44

16th May 2008, 11:41

I hope no one takes this the wrong way..

But..Can nothing slow Lorenzo!! :confused:

He has arm pump surgery, a BIG off and then.... still quickest!! :eek:

Man on a mission isn't he....

maxu05

16th May 2008, 12:13

Gaining a lot of respect for the guy, that's for sure.

osg

17th May 2008, 01:45

And he fell again in FP2........... he's bulletproof that kid, and i must say i have much respect for him as a competitor and rider.

NinjaMaster

17th May 2008, 02:31

Jorge reminds me of guys like Doohan and Schwantz who could ride through almost anything, such was their determination and competitiveness.

The forecast for raceday is apparently 80-90% chance of rain. Does this kill off any chance of a Pedrosa win (though his wet riding is improving) and would tis be the big chance for Vermeulen, Melandri and West to surge forward through the pack (though CV is going quite well in the dry)?

Corny

17th May 2008, 11:40

Lorenzo has had a big crash this morning..

Second crash this weekend with 2 broken legs..

Mach24

17th May 2008, 11:54

with 2 broken legs..

or 2 fractured ankles.

Roby44

17th May 2008, 12:02

Does he realise the damage he could do to himself..

I know he is only young and that bones heal but ..the long term effects...

I have to give it to him though, he's a "goer"...

osg

17th May 2008, 13:54

NinjaMaster

17th May 2008, 14:10

Quali times:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v433/oosrg/Motorsport/MotoGPLeMansQuali.jpg

Why does Edwards bother..... all he's doing is getting in the way come race time.

Well done to Dani, and also again to Lorenzo the Iron Man....
Well Lorenzo clearly has rockets. :)

I think the race will be very close tomorrow if it's dry or the usual strung out affair if it rains (which sounds likely). Melandri's new-found form and confidence on the Duc were short lived as he and West seem to put down a time early that gives some hope of a platform to launch from and then not really be able to improve on it in any substantial way. 2008 is getting longer and longer for them though their MotoGP careers may be getting shorter and shorter...

jim mcglinchey

17th May 2008, 17:38

[quote="osg"]Quali times:

[Why does Edwards bother..... all he's doing is getting in the way come race time.

Thats starting to bug me too, hes the master on the Michelin qualifiers but once the flag drops hes just an also-ran.
]

NinjaMaster

18th May 2008, 05:22

Edwards runs pretty good laptimes during the race but he makes too many mistakes, which isn't good enough for a veteran of his experience. I think he'll do ok in the race, probably top 5 if he keeps things together.

ChrisS

18th May 2008, 09:59

I think Edwards will win, he was able to put laptimes near the top throughout the weekend

Roby44

18th May 2008, 10:25

I don't where this came from but I saw it in another forum...

Colin Edwards, the Yamaha Tech3 rider who’s never managed to win a single race in MotoGP, says he’s played a critical role in the revival of Yamaha’s fortunes in the 2008 MotoGP season.

With both Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi doing well in this year’s MotoGP championship, Yamaha do indeed seem to be back in business. But would that be because of Mr Edwards? ‘The black and white of it is that there was no Valentino over the early part of winter. And with his lack of experience at that time, Jorge had nothing to do with development in November,’ says Colin, speaking to MCN.

‘Sure, he tested some things to get a direction but the reality is that I did all the testing on the new bike in November. In Sepang, and Jerez, I picked out what I liked about certain things and now we have got a bike that everybody can ride, and not just one guy like we’ve seen in the past,’ claims Colin.

But do not, for a minute, think Mr Edwards is blowing his own horn, for he says, ‘I’m not tooting my own horn, but we have a bike that four guys can ride comfortably at a fast pace, which has never been the Yamaha thing.’ And if that isn’t enough already, Edwards also says that Rossi’s departure from Michelin has helped other riders like Lorenzo and Pedrosa.

‘With no Valentino to spearhead Michelin development, we all did our own thing and Michelin started to decide to build tyres for certain guys. Instead of focusing on just what Valentino wanted, we all got our own direction. We don’t have Valentino on Michelins, and nothing against him because he won on Michelin a million times, but he swallowed up a lot of development,’ says the man who’s never, ever won a single MotoGP race in his entire career.

Colin, perhaps Rossi “swallowed up a lot of development” when he was with Michelin because he’s a five-time MotoGP world champ, and you’re not. What say, Mr Edwards?

Roby44

18th May 2008, 10:29

According to teh commentators on Fox tonight, Colin told the powers that be, when they were in China, that he would WIN the Le Mans race!!

thats a big prediction.. :confused:

Corny

18th May 2008, 10:33

he's probably got the fastest mouth of all, but in therms of riding there hasn't been a big success until now..

Roby44

18th May 2008, 10:43

This rain is going to cause havoc if it continues.. Maybe Ant West and Chris Vermuelen might get lucky tonight..

Ant needs to have a good one...

Ranger

18th May 2008, 11:04

For those of us who have no coverage at the moment, how's that rain coming along?

F1boat

18th May 2008, 12:36

I want Casey to win!

maxu05

18th May 2008, 14:14

For those of us who have no coverage at the moment, how's that rain coming along?

If you want to watch it, and have no coverage, send me a PM and ask me how to get live free coverage. I watch it live, for free. I can watch it on TV for free, but the comentry is in Chinese, so, I have found a different way.

maxu05

18th May 2008, 14:18

Great win by Rossi, and an amazing ride by Heehaw. Great to see Colin perform in the race and pick up another podium. Great to see Mike win the 125's, great for the crowd being a home win. Debon was just in a class of his own in the 250's, and what a great move to go out on slicks from the start. Great racing in all categories IMO. After all that, i feel, well, Great :D

Roby44

18th May 2008, 14:26

I want Casey to win! So does Casey!!

Roby44

18th May 2008, 14:27

Corny

18th May 2008, 14:34

Like I said before, it seems like Pedrosa is not the best overtaker!

Livio Suppo: Casey had problems with his front tyre on the right side, he had to hold his bike up with his body in right corners.. (from BBC)

Sure I've seen better races than this one, but at least it was fun watching MotoGP..

osg

18th May 2008, 20:13

Jorge Lorenzo........ i hope you are taking notes.

THAT is how you celebrate victories and milestones.

jim mcglinchey

18th May 2008, 21:04

patnicholls

18th May 2008, 23:28

Good races today.

(I would comment more, but did a 6-mile run for charity today and have had a busy day since!)

Rides of the day for me aside from the winners -all great - were Jorge (wheelchair to podium) and Manuel Poggiali (the enigma returns).

jens

18th May 2008, 23:31

Casey is starting to drop out of the title contention? Last year the whole season looked like a smooth run and this year he has suddenly fell into trouble, helped by his own mistakes and now by unreliability.

A shame that Hopkins retired. At the moment I'm probably cheering for him and Kawa more than anyone else. :p : At least they are step by step finding competitiveness in terms of speed.

leopard

19th May 2008, 05:33

I've been waiting so long this could happen (again) from the last result of one two finisher of Yamaha Marlboro when Biaggi and Checa took the victory in 2001 ever since, if my memory works well.

Rossi obviously dominating again he started to unify his skill on the Bridgestone, Edwards who usually rides slowly if not crashed had his best performance yesterday, let alone Lorenzo who hasn't recovered from injury at Shanghai and crashed again during free practice and dropped his position at 11th finally finish 2nd. Yamaha was perfectly on form at Le Mans.

Yamaha riders (the Fiat ones) only need a step forward to be entertainers, play drama and filmed. :)

ShiftingGears

19th May 2008, 06:51

Like I said before, it seems like Pedrosa is not the best overtaker!

Yep. Simply won't commit to a move.

ChrisS

19th May 2008, 13:16

Yep. Simply won't commit to a move.

His physical characteristics dont help either. Because he is such a small guy he doesn't have the power to brake late and keep control of the bike.

ChrisS

19th May 2008, 13:31

Overall there were good races this weekend.

At 125 a French rider won the French GP, that made the fans happy, Debon took a risk at 250 and it worked out great for him, the rest fought for 2nd, Takahashi once again doing his best but the old Honda doesnt have the power, good to see Poggiali once again near the front.

In MotoGP Rossi just walked away with it but the fight for 2nd between Pedrosa, Stoner and Edwards was entertaining

Watching them side by side you could see the rider's and bike's weaknesses. Stoner was fast on the straights but had to work much harder in the turns, Pedrosa was fast in the straights and going through turns but had to brake so much earlier. Edwards was a bit down on speed in the straights but was the best at the turns.

Edwards needs to start overtaking if he wants that win, If he had a clear track I think he would be on Rossi's pace

ShiftingGears

20th May 2008, 11:51

His physical characteristics dont help either. Because he is such a small guy he doesn't have the power to brake late and keep control of the bike.

But thats not an excuse as he can build up muscle strength with training, like any rider can.

leopard

21st May 2008, 07:54

In MotoGP Rossi just walked away with it but the fight for 2nd between Pedrosa, Stoner and Edwards was entertaining

Watching them side by side you could see the rider's and bike's weaknesses. Stoner was fast on the straights but had to work much harder in the turns, Pedrosa was fast in the straights and going through turns but had to brake so much earlier. Edwards was a bit down on speed in the straights but was the best at the turns.

That's the problem, If three dogs fight for a bone, the fourth walks with it to his home. :)

21st May 2008, 11:26

Good races today.

Rides of the day for me aside from the winners -all great - were Jorge (wheelchair to podium) and Manuel Poggiali (the enigma returns).

Great to see Poggiali finish in 6th place. I hope it's the start of better results for him.

The Phantom

22nd May 2008, 13:49

Whats with all the chains breaking? Chris last time out and Hopper this time, Loris was lucky that it didnt wrap round his front wheel and I noticed Nicky back off 'cause he thought it was the snake that nearly bit him in Malaysia last year har har.

Australia's free-to-air MotoGP coverage has Darryl Beattie as a commentator - he's not much chop, but occasionally comes out with something based on his knowledge that makes sense. He speculated that traction control could be putting stresses on chains that they aren't designed to take, which makes some sense.

jim mcglinchey

22nd May 2008, 20:52

I cant picture it, but theres something happening if the 990s didnt break chains and suddenly the 800s do.

I used to love watching Darryl Beattie work through the field on his Lucky Strike Suzuki 500, beating Doohan on the good days.

JETFX...

26th May 2008, 00:18

JETFX...

26th May 2008, 00:32

Way to early to predict the championship yet either.... Its the best since the 500 days of that theres little doubt. Parity is close all round and theres little between the usual contenders so far. Its simply to early to guage with anything other than a guess.

If Ducati were to sort there chassis out at the next round and onward it will swing around dramatically thats a no brainer. If HRC are able to introduce the new engine also look out Honda are due and Nicky will be back......
If Yamaha was to have it all there own way as in the last couple of rounds through others woes only then would either Horhay or Rossi be fair bets!!!
I would then put some $$ on a fit Horhay myself "IF" that was the case.

CaptainRaiden

26th May 2008, 06:27

As much as I hate him as a person, I think Jorge is gonna take the championship this year. He is just too bloody fast, broken bones or no broken bones. Even the almighty doctor would have his hands full I reckon.

NinjaMaster

27th May 2008, 14:49

Chains breaking! as far as Iam aware thats only happening on "one" type of bike, the same one as is having a whole list of woes at present. The chain issue is on the growing long list of fixes to do....
Both the Suzuki bikes had chain issues in China as well. Interestingly, Kwak list AFAM, DC and EK as partners and Suzuki show AFAM, RK and DID (all makers of chains). Seems odd to me to have a number of different companies covering one area (AFAM may well just be sprockets though) when every other area seems to be looked after by one supplier. So whose chains failed?