MotoGP Round 1 - Qatar

[patnicholls]

Well, the season's crept up on us, but it's off and running tomorrow in Losail! :D

[tha_jackal]

Very excited.. Bets in!

MotoGP:

1. Rossi
2. Pedders
3. Capirossi
Pole> Stoner

250:

1. Bautista
2. Lorenzo
3. Barbera
Pole> DeAngelis

125:

1. Pasini
2. Talmacsi
3. Gadea
Pole> Talmacsi

Bring it on!

[maxu05]

My picks are,

Motogp
1) Rossi
2) Stoner
3) Pedrosa
Pole- Edwards

250cc
1) H Aoyama
2) De Angelis
3) Lorenzo
Pole - De Angelis

125cc
1) Gadea
2) Pesek
3) Pasini
Pole - Talmacsi

Yeah baby, here we go :up:

[leopard]

Fiat powered bike seems would be strong here :up: :)

[NinjaMaster]

MotoGP
1. Stoner
2. Rossi
3. Capirex
Pole: Stoner

250cc
1. Lorenzo
2. Barbara
3. Dovi
Pole: DeAngeles

125cc
1. Pasini
2. Faubel
3. Pesek
Pole: Pasini


First practice results

MotoGP

1. Edwards - Yamaha - 1m56.665
2. Stoner - Ducati - 1m56.745
3. Rossi - Yamaha - 1m56.787
4. Checa - Honda - 1m57.095
5. Capirossi - Ducati - 1m57.270
6. Hopkins - Suzuki - 1m57.281
7. Melandri - Honda - 1m57.443
8. Nakano - Honda - 1m57.491
9. Pedrosa - Honda - 1m57.705
10. Hofmann - Ducati - 1m58.021
11. De Puniet - Kawasaki - 1m58.238
12. Elias - Honda - 1m58.262
13. Barros - Ducati - 1m58.315
14. Vermeulen - Suzuki - 1m58.559
15. Kenny Roberts - KR Honda - 1m58.774
16. Hayden - Honda - 1m58.924
17. Jacque - Kawasaki - 1m59.598
18. Guintoli - Yamaha - 1m59.679
19. Pitt - Ilmor - 2m00.587
20. Tamada - Yamaha - 2m01.495
21. McWilliams - Ilmor - 2m01.767

Even the most harshest critic of Hayden wouldn't have picked him down that low and 2.3 seconds off the pace. Very early days, I know, but still...
Casey is looking good and Edwards is continuing his good form.

[Ranger]

Those Ducati's are looking good for pace. Edwards looks like he might just win his first MotoGP event this year. :up:

[jim mcglinchey]

Rossi, Stoner ,Edwards, on the front row. Fiat must be pleased already with their investment.

I have only one wish, Lord, please don't let Rossi run away with it.

[maxu05]

I think Stoner is going to give Rossi some stick, but, what are the odds of Casey throwing it into the gravel trap trying ?

[jens]

I watched today's qualifying. It seems that Yamaha is back at the very top again, which is also indicated by Edwards's good form. This only hightens the possibility that Rossi might run away with the title this year...

Youngster Stoner, Elias, Pedrosa - all looking good. Kawasaki's de Puniet led the quali for some time, but had to settle with 8th at the end.

And Ilmor has a lot of work to do to close that 4-5 second gap down.

[jidoka]

I didn't see the qualifying session. But eurosport.co.uk reported "The Ducatis of Stoner and Capirossi are tied together on track...". Immediately after Stoner got pole. Did he get a tow???

[F1boat]

I watched today's qualifying. It seems that Yamaha is back at the very top again, which is also indicated by Edwards's good form. This only hightens the possibility that Rossi might run away with the title this year...

Youngster Stoner, Elias, Pedrosa - all looking good. Kawasaki's de Puniet led the quali for some time, but had to settle with 8th at the end.

And Ilmor has a lot of work to do to close that 4-5 second gap down.

I have never seen the Yamahas so strong.

[ChrisS]

I didn't see the qualifying session. But eurosport.co.uk reported "The Ducatis of Stoner and Capirossi are tied together on track...". Immediately after Stoner got pole. Did he get a tow???

No, Stoner was leading and Loris was behind him, they had almost an identical first sector but then Stoner was able to pull away

[Ranger]

I have only one wish, Lord, please don't let Rossi run away with it.

I'll second that wish. :D

[Rusty]

sorry to bother you chaps is there a link to any live timing as im at work this morning many thanks...

[Ranger]

http://www.motogp.com has a free livetiming link just above the Circuit bar which runs across the top of the page. :up:

[dwf1]

that ducati is a bit fast down the straight! :lol:

[ozrevhead]

I think Stoner is going to give Rossi some stick, but, what are the odds of Casey throwing it into the gravel trap trying ?
pretty long Id say!!

AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE! O1! O1! O1!

:D

[dwf1]

WOOO well done Casey!

[ozrevhead]

an omen for next week perhaps

[T-D]

the ducati's power! :eek: my good ness, just breathtaking. and stoner, i kept saying "keep it upright" and the lad did. really strong start to the season with someone beating rossi in a straight up fight.

hopper did well, but not edwards, i thought.

hope the duc/stones package can continue this form at the slower tracks.

[Neil J]

Nice one Stoner, by heck that Duc. cant half shift.

Vales furry no. 46 on his leathers made me chuckle.

[fatman]

Excellent job by Mr Stoner. When Casey came booming past Rossi at the end of lap one, you just knew the kid had one hell of a bike. Rossi was much faster in the corners at first, but Duc clearly had the most power on the straight. Even Dani's honda looked to have an edge over Rossi on the straight, but Rossi was clearly more confident on the brakes. Dani seemed a little intimidated out there.

Big up for the Hopper. I was praying that he would get past Dani but obviously he was in a lot of pain. I wonder how he would have done if he was perfectly fit.

Disappointment from Hayden, Edwards, Melandri, Capirossi and ChrisV. I think what we saw here was the effects of the new tire rules. Make the wrong choice in tires at the start of the weekend and pay the price come sunday (or Saturday in this case).

Anyway, just awesome to see Casey beat Rossi straight up and leaving the Doctor no choice but to settle for second. I'm not sure I've ever seen Rossi settle while being so close to the front.

[tha_jackal]

Congrats to the Stoned one, fantastic race, man that Duc's quick down the chute.. :eek: Westy got some points, will only improve from here (his top speed was second slowest, beaten only by Laverty, surely theres something wrong there? Hope its sorted by Jerez.)

15 Days to go, lets hope Vermy gets up there with Stoner @ Jerez and lets hope Westy n Co. sort their bike out..

Cheers..

[CaptainRaiden]

Well, my F'n cable went poof with 5 laps to go. Aarrrgghh.

Could someone tell me what happened in the last 5 laps? Anything exciting?

[NinjaMaster]

X-ecutioner, basically Rossi pressured Stoner everywhere only to get blown away down the straight. He actually got by with 3(?) laps to go but Stoner stayed close and regained the lead down the straight and set a new lap record on the last lap. Hopkins sat right behind Pedrosa at a similar gap the whole time but couldn't really get close enough to have a go and settled for 4th. That was about all.

[NinjaMaster]

the ducati's power! :eek: my good ness, just breathtaking. and stoner, i kept saying "keep it upright" and the lad did. really strong start to the season with someone beating rossi in a straight up fight.

hopper did well, but not edwards, i thought.

hope the duc/stones package can continue this form at the slower tracks.
Haha, everyone in my family was doing the same thing! I was so tense and could feel my heart beating hard. I'm so happy for Casey, he really deserved that win. For Rossi to say that he had to give up I thought was a very big statement for him to say and a very nice compliment to Casey.
I was also rapt to see Stoner and Pedrosa joking and getting along really well after the tension of their 250 days. Great to see.

[CaptainRaiden]

X-ecutioner, basically Rossi pressured Stoner everywhere only to get blown away down the straight. He actually got by with 3(?) laps to go but Stoner stayed close and regained the lead down the straight and set a new lap record on the last lap. Hopkins sat right behind Pedrosa at a similar gap the whole time but couldn't really get close enough to have a go and settled for 4th. That was about all.

Thanks a HEAP for that man. Big thanks. :)

And yes i am goin for satellite cable tommorrow. :D

[jens]

I also watched today's race.

Four different bikes in Top4, so that is a good sign. Ducati was really good, which was also indicated by the fact that Capirossi was rising all the time until retirement. Stoner had "slick mediums" and Rossi "slick hards". Therefore I thought that the Italian is going to win somehow at the end again, but it turned to be otherwise as Casey managed to create a slight gap for the last laps!

Hayden was clearly beaten by his team-mate and was unintelligibly slow. It seems that it's gonna be extremly tough for him to retain the title. Another disappointment was Elias, who qualified 4th, but was slow in the race and also took a trip across the gravel trap, ending only 14th. Hopefully he can find himself in the next races.

[jso1985]

Really impressed me how fast the Ducati's were, congrats to Stoner, he really deserved it.
on the other hand I'm fed up Lorenzo's arrogancy and dissapointed with Hayden's and Bautista's performance

[Ranger]

Wow. I am the happy right now. The year has started just the way it finished! :D

Nice to see he didn't bin it. If he keeps this performance up he may just nab 2nd or 3rd in the final standings. A bit iffy there, though.

Still, I'm tipping Rossi to be champion. Stoner will probably make mistakes, dunno about Capirossi, and the Repsol Honda looked a bit slower than it should be - particularly Hayden.

But, 4 manufacturers in the top 4 - Bring it on! :D

[millencolin]

holy crap that Ducati is fast down the straight

and good work Casey!!!!

Aussie's have won the last 2 motogp races... HELL YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[XR8]

Missed the race! But I am glad to hear that Casey beat Rossi especially as I had heard last year that Rossi said that Stoner would be in his team over his dead body(or words to that effect) "Take that Rossi" I can hear Stoner saying.Now for the rest of the year!

[jim mcglinchey]

That was the start that I really wanted to see. Livio Supo was well pleased with Dukes winning last time out and the first time out in the new formula, Loris will be thinking how come the two Aussies can do it but I cant, but wait and see him next time out.

Delighted for Hopper, he made Dani work really hard for that 3rd and almost grabbed it, Suzook must feel great to have a bike that'll run with the No1 Honda team. 7th for Chris was highly commendable, even if a few guys in front dropped out.

Not the start to the season that Nicky wanted.

[leopard]

A good combination of the track suitability, powerful bike, dauntless rider, Stoner has made a brilliant debut on the new Ducati, how Yamaha and Rossi weren't fast enough and must give it a way for Stoner.

Except he has sufficient experience like Rossi, he could possibly be a meaning regular block for Rossi. Their style are almost equal riding bike, as opposed to Dani Pedrosa who tends to ride in smooth way.

I don't hope Stoner will do the job like last year, brightly in the beginning but getting worse in the second half of the season.

Apart of the result at Lossail he and ducati have to thank to German architect Hermann Tilke, who has designed Lossail with such long straight race and enable Ducati use the power optimally. :)

[fatman]

It will be interesting to see the ducati run at the more technical tracks. They might have a disadvantage OR they may have a nice set up which works at technical tracks as well.

Stoner rode flawlessly tho. If can at least pull of 5 or 6 more performances like that during the rest of the season he could have a serious chance at taking the title.

[The Phantom]

I'm not sure I've ever seen Rossi settle while being so close to the front.

My thoughts exactly, I was very surprised to see him back off in the last two laps.

Pity Hopper was not able to take third, but still a fantastic result.

Go Stoner! Livio Suppo was asked afterwards if it meant that they finally had an answer to Rossi/Yamaha, he said "Well let's just go one step at a time" : )

[tha_jackal]

Pity Hopper was not able to take third, but still a fantastic result.

Go Stoner! Livio Suppo was asked afterwards if it meant that they finally had an answer to Rossi/Yamaha, he said "Well let's just go one step at a time"

I was cheering for Hopper nearly as much as I was for Casey.. Just coz he was injured etc..

Livio has it dead right, remember Casey's start to last year? He nearly won a race and was very quick, then he began to get less consistent and crash more as the year rolled on.. Lets just hope Stoner keeps it going all year and gives the title a real shake..

[leopard]

'Valentino Rossi says that Yamaha cannot compete with Ducati until they find more power from their M1 - and he does not expect that to happen in time for round two at Jerez in a fortnight.'

thought he isn't an observer

[Ranger]

'Valentino Rossi says that Yamaha cannot compete with Ducati until they find more power from their M1 - and he does not expect that to happen in time for round two at Jerez in a fortnight.'

Well, we don't want to make it too easy for him. :D

[maxu05]

I think Rossi will bounce back, and will attack at more technical circuits. He may get blown away at tracks with a long straight, but he will come out with the gloves off for sure. It's going to be a great year of racing, that's for sure.

[leopard]

Well, we don't want to make it too easy for him. :D

perhaps, for those non-technical race like Lossail last weekend :)

[Kropotkin]

Well, my F'n cable went poof with 5 laps to go. Aarrrgghh.

Could someone tell me what happened in the last 5 laps? Anything exciting?


I wrote a Qatar race report (http://blogger.xs4all.nl/daisy/posts/190772.aspx) on my site, you can relive the whole thing if you want to :D

[tha_jackal]

I wrote a Qatar race report (http://blogger.xs4all.nl/daisy/posts/190772.aspx) on my site, you can relive the whole thing if you want to :D

Top read :up: You gonna join the fantasy league Kropotkin?

[Kropotkin]

Well to be honest, I'm better at telling what happened, rather than what's going to happen. Otherwise I would have retired on my winnings from bwin.com ;)

I'll have a gander.

[fatman]

I wrote a Qatar race report (http://blogger.xs4all.nl/daisy/posts/190772.aspx) on my site, you can relive the whole thing if you want to :D

Hi Kropotkin, welcome to the forums. I've been a fan of your site since discovering it around mid season last year. You write some of the best race reports and previews online. Keep up the good work and I hope you stick around to contribute to the forums!

ps: Although the season has started you should check out the Forum Fantasy League here and enter a team (see sticky threads).

[Kropotkin]

Thanks for the compliments, fatman! I'll check the fantasy league out...

[The Phantom]

Great to see you here Kropotkin, I too enjoy your MotoGP musings very much : )

[jim mcglinchey]

I think Rossi will bounce back, and will attack at more technical circuits. He may get blown away at tracks with a long straight, but he will come out with the gloves off for sure. It's going to be a great year of racing, that's for sure.

It reminds me of three years back when Rossi could out race all the Hondas on his new Yam but he couldv'e won or lost the championship depending on how many of the tracks had very long straights.

It took Yam a little while but they got the extra power that they needed.

[Kropotkin]

It reminds me of three years back when Rossi could out race all the Hondas on his new Yam but he couldv'e won or lost the championship depending on how many of the tracks had very long straights.

It took Yam a little while but they got the extra power that they needed.

I read that Jeremy Burgess said that the Japanese engineers had been very conservative with the fuel consumption estimates, so Rossi finished with lots of fuel left. I expect him to finish at Jerez with less fuel left, and probably with a bit more top speed. It could just be as simple as that.

Oh, and thanks for the welcome, Phantom, and glad you enjoy my writing!

[jim mcglinchey]

That makes sense. Finishing 2nd is alot better than leading and running out of squirt within view of the chequered flag.

I too enjoyed the race review, Kropotkin.

[jim mcglinchey]

MCN reports that the differnce in top speed is nothing to do with mapping mode. Ducatis engine is a high revving all-top-end screamer with an extra 2000 rpm and thats where the extra 12mph on the straight comes from

[Kropotkin]

It's interesting seeing the difference in revs. The Ducatis are reaching close to 20K, while the Yamahas are revving to around 17.5K, and the Hondas still aren't breaking the 16K limit. At least, that's what I made of the telemetry I could see...

[tha_jackal]

It's interesting seeing the difference in revs. The Ducatis are reaching close to 20K, while the Yamahas are revving to around 17.5K, and the Hondas still aren't breaking the 16K limit. At least, that's what I made of the telemetry I could see...

I heard on the motogp.com commentary (cant remember who said it) that Ducati had reduced their revs from 20K to 17K from testing to the first race.. Unless im mistaken?

[The Phantom]

I've read that too somewhere, Jackal - supposedly it's because the Desmodronic system is not as reliable at 20k rpm. Ducati tried to have pneumatic valve operation banned as it allows the other teams to safely get higher rpm out of their engines.

Is the on-screen telemetry accurate? Perhaps the Yamaha telemetry adds a few thousand 'ghost' rpm (using the R6 principle : )

[Kropotkin]

I've read that too somewhere, Jackal - supposedly it's because the Desmodronic system is not as reliable at 20k rpm. Ducati tried to have pneumatic valve operation banned as it allows the other teams to safely get higher rpm out of their engines.




This is exactly why I think Ducati are ultimately doomed. They can't get rid of the desmodromic valve system, as it's the system their franchise is built upon. But it has difficulty handling higher revs. By the end of the year, we could see Suzuki and Kawasaki hitting 20K+, at which point Ducati will start to lose out.

I expect we'll see the Honda running pneumatic valves, at least by next season. They are way down...