Wow, what a race *contains MotoGP & AMA results 6/24*

KawTipping · 06-25-2007, 10:06 AM

Though Speed was smoking crack with the timing of the races yesterday (to the point that I have not seen the end of the GP race), there was some awesome racing action going on! I got to see most of the Superbike race, as it was still on when the GPs were supposed to start. What a battle for 3rd place!!! It was good to see 3 different factory teams battling for the last podium spot. Though I don't know exactly why or how Miladin ended up in 3rd at the point I started watching, it was great to see him behind something other than his teammate. The battle that was to follow between Miladin, Hayden, and DuHamel was great to watch. And the fact that Honda ended up with two spots on the podium was a very welcomed sight. Of course Spies ended up checking out on everyone (which I am sick of seeing the Yosh Suzuki's do), the huge back and forth battle for third made up for it!

But the real action was the GP's. Rain races are always a fun thing to watch...though the end usually has riders spaced fairly far apart (and from what I have read, this one was no different). Stoner had a bad start and ended up in 12th spot going into turn one. After that though, he started to move through the pack with relative ease. Eventually he ended up taking the lead from Colin, and checked out to a huge lead. So much for Ducati being a straight line speed demon only!! Colin ended up holding on to second...which is a very welcomed sight as well. Hopefully he is coming to grips with the bike, and ends up finishing on the podium a lot more often this year. Though Rossi had a very decent early pace, he just wasn't up to par with everyone. Ending up in fourth is not a terrible thing, but it did give Stoner another chunk of points. The three things I was very happy to see yesterday were: 1) Pedrosa jumping to an early lead...but then start thinking about things to much, as he dropped like a stone in the standings. 2) Hayden finally coming to terms with his Honda. Sure he ended up crashing and destroying what could very easily have been his strongest finish of the year, he did at least get back out on the track to finish the race. 3) Both Kawasaki's finishing in the points!!! I think Jesus is ice skating in hell right about now. The best part is the replacement for OJ showed what the bike can do for once (though OJ must have put a crashing curse on the bike). West battled through a lot of very good riders to reach all the way up into the top 5 before crashing on the same corner Hayden went out on a couple of laps before. Unlike previous Kawasaki riders, West remounted the bike and fought his way all the way back up to 11th. West's more experienced teammate DePuniet, ended up all the way up in 6th...which is a huge surprise to me. I would have guessed that his bike would have been laying in a gravel trap long before the end of the race

Anyways, I hope to catch the whole race tomorrow when they re-air it for TWT. New things to look forward to for Laguna...Kawasaki is going to field 3 bikes! No, OJ will not be making a return, it will be piloted by another Hayden. Turns out Roger Lee is getting a shot for a wild card ride. I don't know how that will play into the rest of his weekend though. Playing a support role with Superbike, and then jumping on a GP bike might be bitting off more than he can chew so to speak.

Janir · 06-25-2007, 10:12 AM

Mladin wiped himself out while he was in the lead and they red flagged at the 6th lap. He was hurt but got back into the race while his crew managed to fix his bike. That he managed 4th hurt was amazing in itself.

Damn Speed TV! I do hope the TWT version has better timing on the GP race.

bittersweetryan · 06-25-2007, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KawTipping

... New things to look forward to for Laguna...Kawasaki is going to field 3 bikes!

Is Roger finally confirmed to ride? ** Edit I just saw on crash.net that he is. Awesome! ** I also can't wait to see West on a dry track as he looked great yesterday, especially since it was his first race on the ZX-RR.

EDIT

danch · 06-25-2007, 10:41 AM

Casey Stoner not crashing is a scary thing. Up until this year, he'd have been glad to finish 5 of 8 races, now he's won 5 of 8!

The italian press is apparently saying that it's all the bike. If so, where's Loris?

Murf99 · 06-25-2007, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by danch

The italian press is apparently saying that it's all the bike.

Well, partly so. Last year he was on a second-rate satallite Honda. He was very fast on it, as seen in qualifying. However, I think his race mentality was:

'I'm gonna ring the tits off this peice of shit, make it as I can. If I crash it, I crash it - but if I finish, I know I will have made the most of my race by because I couldn't have ridden the bike any harder.'

This year, he doesn't need to have the 'hero ride' mentality, because he is on a great bike.

I don't think Casey was particularily 'crash prone' last year - I think his performances clearly reflected his strategy.

In retrospect, Casey wasn't in it for the points last year - he was trying to acheive several highlite finishes upon which he could stand on to get an "A-Team' ride. Which he did. Bravo to him for playing the game well!

KawTipping · 06-25-2007, 04:36 PM

Not only did he play the game well...he is now schooling those that were in the hunt for the championship most of last season. As for the Italian press...well, they should just be happy that an Italian something is winning. Sure they are just pissed that it isn't Rossi...but to say it is the bike, thats just ignorant. Good on ya' Stoner, and keep it up. And for the record, I did pick Casey at the start of the season to win the championship.