Offical MotoGP Thread 2010

[Titch]

Stoner is always fighting, he's a good rider, but only on the Ducati, shove him on any other bike and he'd be average. But because he's the only one who can ride that damn ducati, he's better than average.

i have to agree, him and that ducati go together like bread and butter

[Hecktix]

Stoner is always fighting, he's a good rider, but only on the Ducati, shove him on any other bike and he'd be average. But because he's the only one who can ride that damn ducati, he's better than average.

Nicki Hayden is looking ever more promising on the ducati, I think we could see a few top 5 finishes from him this season, possibly a top 5 in the championship. Will be tough though with the likes of Spies, Edwards and the Hondas always bringing up the rear of the top 3.

Mika Kallio rode the pramac GP9 extremely well considering for years that bike has usually never broken the top ten (with the exception of Elias in a couple of races in 2008) so it will be interesting to see how he gets on with the desmo GP10.

In terms of Moto2, I would love to see Scott Redding running at the front but his team is very small so I don't know if he will be able to infiltrate the big outfits such as Tech 3, Aspar, Gresini etc. Obviously all of those are going to be big names in the championship fight with Takahashi, Simon & Di Meglio and of course Toni Elias who imo has to be the championship favourite ~ afterall, he has won a MotoGP race and you can't say that for anybody else in the Moto2 category!!!

[iAdam]

We'll have to wait and see how moto2 pans out this year.

[Hecktix]

FP1: 20:30 GMT+1

[Titch]

Qualifying at 8.45

[Titch]

Qualifying results.

Stoner - 1st
Rossi - 2nd
Lorenzo - 3rd

[Titch]

well well well, stoner bottled it and dropped the bike.

Rossie wins from lorenzo who had a stunning race considering hes struggled all weekend and still has a broken hand. Dovi in third after a great pass from last corner to finish line. Hayden in fourth. Spies having a fabulous first race finishing in fifth.

[Hecktix]

classic race by the doctor, he knew he couldn't win and was expecting a second, stoner falling off a bit of a god send.

Slightly worried by the Yamaha's lack of power, especially as rossi was slowest through the speed trap, they need to pick this up, ideally before Motegi which has several longish straights.

The speed on the Honda is immense, Dovizioso really becoming a man upon that bike, Pedrosa failing as usual. Lorenzo rode a very interesting race, he knew he had the pace all the way through therefore laid off to protect his hand then made a dramatic finish, the most interesting thing was even though Lorenzo sped up a lot towards the end, Ben Spies didn't get off his tail too much, great things for the new rider.

Gutted for Nicky Hayden, it's excellent to see someone else riding the ducati well.

Unfortunate for Bautista, excellent ride by Hiroshi Aoyahma and Marco Simoncelli.

I've got a sneaky prediction that Rossi will take the title and keep his job at Yamaha for next year, Lorenzo will leave Yamaha and Ben Spies will replace him. Lorenzo will then replace Dani Pedrosa at Honda. Pedrosa has already been told if he doesn't get in the title fight this year he will not ride for Honda in 2011.

[Titch]

Valentino Rossi left bruised after motocross fall

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...es/8626627.stm

MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi has suffered bruising after falling from a motocross bike during a training exercise in Italy.

Rossi, 31, had been preparing in Pesaro ahead of next weekend's Japanese Grand Prix when he took a tumble.



The Italian rider, who won the first MotoGP race of the season in Qatar last weekend, was sent for X-rays after expressing discomfort in his back.



But he was cleared to compete at next week's race in Motegi on 25 April.



The Yamaha rider currently leads the MotoGP leaderboard after recording his 104th victory in Qatar, a race which saw arch-rival Casey Stoner fall from his bike while leading on lap five.



Rossi, who has won nine world championships during his 14 years in the sport, went on to finish the race a second clear of his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.



Second-placed Lorenzo finished runner up to Rossi in last season's MotoGP championship, over 40 points behind the seven-time MotoGP champion.

[iAdam]

He'll be fine, he's a good rider and will bounce back without any 'down time'.

You're correct with you predictions oli.