The fastest has gone fishing

good he was a whining crybaby, no doubt will be bleating that he doesn’t get enough respect in V8 bumper cars.

He wasn’t the fastest last year, if he was he would of won the Championship 😉

i still cant believe people write Rossi off.

Agree.

There was a comment (by Whitham in the BSB coverage on Eurosport earlier on Sunday) about the styles of riding. About how Alex Lowes’s differed to that of Shakey’s. Shakey was quite sit-up whereas Alex hung off the bike.

And if you watched the Rossi/Marquez dual you could see exactly what Whit was talking about, as Marquez hung off and Vale stayed sat up.

Rossi has been around that long I’m struggling to remember when he wasn’t racing, and I’m old enough to have watched the Roberts/Sheene era.

Did Lorenzo not beat Stoner to the World Championship last year?

But Stoner did miss races because of a broken ankle, effectively handing the title to Lorenzo!

I aggree that Lorenzo is fast, but he has never had to battle toe to toe to win his two championships. Each title was one at the missfortune of others. No. 1 was won when Rossi crashed at Mugello and No. 2 was won when Stoner broke his ankle missing a few races and DP crashing out alot.

I know consistancy is the key but this year it will be nice to see how JL fairs when he has to really battle, not only with VR but also MM.

I think it was a complete master stroke by Stoner – Rossi has done the mind game thing with two amazing riders (Gibbers and Biaggi) and ruined both their careers. Stoner proved a point when Rossi went to Ducati and couldn’t turn it round in the 80 seconds or whatever Burgess said. Stoner left at the right time, he went out on top after proving his point. A moaner he might have been (and I didn’t particularly enjoy watching him ride) but IMO he was easily the fastest out there.

Lorenzo is quick, of that there is no doubt. But for entertainment purposes he lacks something, a bit like he’s trying too hard. I’m putting my money on Marquez to carry on after Rossi. He’s clearly got talent and he doesn’t mind knocking folk about, which is always entertaining. Rossi is and always will be the greatest though – the man is a legend

And if you watched the Rossi/Marquez dual you could see exactly what Whit was talking about, as Marquez hung off and Vale stayed sat up.

Maybe this is why Rossi failed on the Ducati- his style is different to Stoner. Remember Rossi wasn’t the only rider to fail with the Ducati.

Casey is the fastest rider i’ve ever seen in over 35 years of following bike racing. He’s not the best racer (that title is Vale’s, and probably remain so for a few years yet) but he (Stoner) was unbelievable to watch.

Euro – Member
Casey is the fastest rider i’ve ever seen in over 35 years of following bike racing. He’s not the best racer (that title is Vale’s, and probably remain so for a few years yet) but he (Stoner) was unbelievable to watch.

+1

I used to regard Hailwood as the greatest natural talent. Who else could manage to come back from such a long retirement and win such an important race straight off?

If Doohan had stayed in one piece, who knows what he would have finally achieved?

But Rossi has transcended the old racers. He has only one thing left to prove – that it was the Ducati that was crap, not him losing his touch. For a brief moment I thought Dovi was going to prove him wrong – another wasted rider.

Gardner was the bravest – I still reckon that wet GP he didn’t win was one of the best GPs I’ve ever watched, crash after crash, he’d get up and regain his position.

Rossi will be running up front with Lorenzo, so now we’ll see Lorenzo pushed to his limits, and that will be great racing.

Pedrosa is no slouch and now he’s got a point to prove with Marquez so they’ll be hammer and tongs.

Crutchlow is the dark horse, and I pleased to finally see a UK rider who can run with the leaders.

And Brad Smith? I enjoyed watching him backing his Moto2 bike into the corners last year. he’s got a riding style that’s perfect for the bigger bikes. I’m expecting him to punch well above the weight of the bike he’s on.

Interesting 1st practice times @ Austin

1. Marc Marquez ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 8.756s
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 2m 9.009s
3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 2m 10.356s
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Ducati Team (GP13) 2m 10.665s
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP13) 2m 10.801s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 2m 10.828s
7. Alvaro Bautista ESP Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 2m 10.910s
8. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 2m 11.232s
9. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 2m 11.929s
10. Ben Spies USA Ignite Pramac Racing (GP13) 2m 12.813s
11. Yonny Hernandez COL Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) 2m 13.058s
12. Claudio Corti ITA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 13.321s
13. Bradley Smith GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 2m 13.339s
14. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Kawasaki CRT)* 2m 13.694s
15. Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) 2m 13.970s

Marquez likes Austin- i’ll put a tenner on him winning it 😀
Hopefully with Rossi and J-Lo elbowing him for the victory

Watching on Eurosport now, good god Marquez is quick around Austin. Get your money on him now. Feel a bit sorry for Dani as I can’t really see him beating Marc anywhere this year.

Marc is awesome to watch on a bike.. I think its going to be a good race for 2nd place on sunday as if Marc keeps this pace up he will be winning by quite some margin.

Only worry with Marquez is that he’ll start crashing as he does seem to be giving the bike a proper thrashing. Most riders seem to have a season of crashing when they move up to the top class. Rossi did it, as did Lorenzo and Pedrosa.

Visiting friends and watching practice from Austin, what a top track.

Moto GP – Marquez fastest in 3 out of 4 sections. I cant see by him for the win tomorrow.

Moto 2 – Redding for the Win.
He really needs to move up next year. Even with the extra minimum weight rules this year he’s two kilos down on all his competitors at the front.

Redding on pole 🙂

Marquez… *speechless*

Marquez was pretty special.

He’s a bit quick isn’t he! Cal is showing up demigod Rossi at the moment isn’t he!

How do u figure that out Tom?

He’s outqualified him on an inferior bike twice in a row…..hasn’t he got reduced factory support for the first three races?

Cal is on last years bike it is a satellite team, he will only get the newest upgrades when the factory have superceded them. As I have said before qualifying is willy waving, Rossi second in Qatar Cal was 5th. You score points in races not quali.

Good to have a bi of banter though, Honda benefit today because of the “seamless gearbox”

I thought I was going to miss the “OMG how does he make the bike do that” spectacle that was Casey Stoner but Marquez is doing a good job of filling the void!

Learning the hard way…

Also of notable mention has to be Scott Redding with his first Moto2 pole – that was by some margin – 0.689


Apparently the Dunlop tyres are unlikely to hold on to their grip much past the 5th lap so it should be interesting!

It’s rare that Moto2 isn’t interesting!
Here’s hoping Redding can get tp the top pf the podium.

Scott did really well last time out, getting 2nd on a slower bike. Let’s hope he can win it today.

Is the motogp on television today?

Looks like the moto2 & 3 are on red button, but I can’t see the motogp listed 🙁

bbc3 coverage 7.30pm race 8.00pm

http://www.tvguide.co.uk/?systemid=&thistime=17&thisday=4/21/2013&ProgrammeTypeID=&gridSpan=03:00&catColor=

I can’t stand the BBC commentary… Steve Parish annoys me so much I bought a year pass on motogp.com 😆

Marquez… *speechless*

Tenner on him to win the race- he currently owns Austin!

(Not owns AN Austin) 😆

Oh and Come on Scotty!!!!

Pigface – Member

Cal is on last years bike it is a satellite team, he will only get the newest upgrades when the factory have superceded them. As I have said before qualifying is willy waving, Rossi second in Qatar Cal was 5th. You score points in races not quali.

Good to have a bi of banter though, Honda benefit today because of the “seamless gearbox”

Vale & Jorge have the ‘seamless’ gearbox on the Yam.
Which gives them the added drive out of the corners that Cal so obviously lacked in Qatar.
Cal and Brad don’t & probably won’t for quite some time.
See this weeks MCN for further details.

As I have said before qualifying is willy waving, Rossi second in Qatar Cal was 5th. You score points in races not quali.

Cal was obviously cornering at a very similar pace to th’aliens at Qatar.
His lack of acceleration off the corners was the sole reason he couldn’t challenge for a better result.
Remember the Team KR triple strokers?
Fastest through every corner speedtrap in qualifying, when they weren’t being held up by everyone else.
No good in a race though 😀

Moto 3 has been red flagged- Big crash by Jesper Iwema 😯

Moto3 rerun was a cracker!
Salom reckoned his tyre’s shot,should be interesting for the 600’s..

How is the rider that crashed? Looked nasty.

Alex Rins- that was a great ride, seeing as he thought he’d already won it! Maverick didn’t half come back into it!
Jesper Iwema is ok by the way 😀

Not going to plan for Redding. Pretty average race thus far.

Fantastic last lap to end a not so great moto2 race.

Some serious bike skills amongst the Edwards dynasty! He’s still my favourite rider. What a bloody nice bloke.

Someone tell Kallio its moto 2 not speedway ffs 😀

He is without a doubt one of the most likeable men on the planet.

Do all country’s do the national anthem before a race? Can’t say I have ever noticed it before.

Someone needs singing lessons.

Commentator keeps questioning Marquez’s ability to keep racing to the end, when Pedrosa has many times shown to have questionable endurance.

Awful anthem wasn’t it!

Cal is going well-I hope he has a tyre left at the end though. Smith just doesn’t seem cut out for the big bikes.