Qatar MotoGP (spoiler)

Now that qualifying has been completed at Qatar, I thought I would kick things off and offer up what my blind ass has seen, by order of qualifying position.

1. Casey Stoner, what can you say, has been able to pull out three tenths anytime he needs it. My pick to win the race.

2. Valentino Rossi, Has been fast all weekend, but just can't seem to find that last .4-.5 of a second to come even with Casey. Rossi always seems to race better than his session numbers indicate.

3. Jorge Lorenzo, took him a bit to get up to speed, but he's been fast since the end of FP1. I look for it to be more of a race between Rossi and Lorenzo, than I do between Rossi and Casey. Hopefully I'm off on that one.

4. Andrea Davizioso, Maiden HRC ride, has been solid all weekend, he's also been progressively quicker as the sessions have run. It's good that he will have a little more exposure, with Dani back a few rows. Should have a solid race.

5. Colin Edwards, top 3 FP1, off the pace and 8th FP2. Looks to have settled into a time slot which should put him around 6-8. Punked James Toseland like a little bitch, out qualifies him by 7 grid positions. That was a throwdown statement by Colin after all of the offseason team antics.

6. Loris Capirossi, the Suzuki has shown to be a changed race machine for '09, Loris has been at the sharp end of the field throughout preseason testing and now after qualifying. I look for a Capirossi, Edwards, Toseland, Vermeulen battle for the 5-8 slots.

7. Randy DePuniet, He's been consistantly hovering around 10th on time all weekend. New Playboy sponsorship is cool. pretty much pulled one out of his tailpipe to qualify 7th on the grid. Look for Randy to drop back at the start, his times haven't been quick enough to stay with that second group.


8. Chris Vermeulen, I would have to think that Chris was expecting better, I know I was expecting a top 5, has had an up and down weekend so far and hasn't been very consistent...don't know if it's him or the setup, another of the second group battlers.

9. Alex DeAngelis, another rider that has shown good pace, but fallen to inconsistent session results, had an off track trip in FP1, showing the potential is still there. Expect him to drop back a few spots on the start and then spend the race leading the third group.

10. Mika Kallio, surpising, then somewhat dissappointing, he should feature well in the race. Considering his satellite team status, rookie to MotoGP, he's had a great weekend so far and his race pace was good. Wild card pick for the podium. Great effort by Mika and Pramac.

11. Marco Melandri, after watching Nicky in QP, I'm sure he was thinking to himself that Nicky was gonna find out just why Casey is the only one who can ride that bike. Marco's had a great weekend so far, on an under developed machine, no chance for further upgrades and minimal assistance from Kawasaki, they have been quicker than what the QP times indicate. Hopefully Marco has a good race, he's very fast and went through a terrible year last year. It is the Cinderella story of Qatar.

12. Elias, very happy to be back at Gresini...however his results have been marginal this weekend. Has been running around in the shadows of 10-15th position every session. Will finish 12th, my prediction

13. James Toseland, ah James, cried to Herve Poncharal all winter until they finally restructured the team to get him the crew chief he thought he needed. Bad idea, pissed off Colin Edwards and his performance has been lacking. look for James to remove the twat moniker and battle for the 5-8 slots......after starting from 13th on the grid. If he doesn't, he'll still be the big UK twat.

14. Dani Pedrosa, wasn't even supposed to attend, has been showing a little heart by riding every session. I suspect he will improve his 14th grid position on the start. You can say what you want, but the kid is tough.

15. Sete Gibernau, Gypsy Curse Lifted? would be surprised if he actually finished the entire race.

16. Nicky Hayden, Crashed, possibly injured, gridded at the back of the field. disastrous first weekend with Ducati. He will regret this move. Should finish in the points, might get a few...don't see him getting any higher than 10th.

Ok, there's my take. now for the three responses i'll get.....

 

I would have to agree with most of your predictions. Pretty much spot on. Maybe a couple of small position changes but overall, I think you've nailed it. Too bad about Nicky, hopefully he's not injured. But the one result I really enjoyed to see was Edwards' 5th place. Like you said, show that whiner Toseland how to ride and to piss off. Great job by Edwards!

And yes, I'll even give kudos to Pedrosa for toughing it out and riding in all sessions and qualifying just 5 weeks after his surgery. He claims, he is only 60% healthy. Pretty good for 60%.

 

This is too cool, I was actually thinking about doing a similar post

As to Stoner and Rossi, a fair assessment, but Rossi has proven that he can pressure most anyone into mistakes, especially Stoner. I also expect the Doctor has something up his sleeve that we havent seen yet

Lorenzo and Davizioso. Both strong and Lorenzo borders on reckless at times. Andrea a consistent performer that doesnt rattle easily

Edwards is a surprise in my opinion, I believe he will do a bit better than your prediction however. Confidence makes him better

Capirossi . Suzuki has indeed improved from all I've read recently, and this should be interesting to see them truly competitive

Pretty much have the same opinion as you on Depuniet and Vermeulen

DeAngelis. For some reason I like this guy, but he is inconsistent

Kallio... the new guy, even though on a "second level " team, I look for him to lead the pack of also rans and agree that he may even podium

Melandri...good to see the old guy have some luck and things flow his way a bit

Elias..sorry, I just dont know much about him

Toseland..dont get me started. Actually talented IMHO but as you mentioned has the crybaby label

Dani Certainly is exhibiting his willingness to gut it out. Until he's at 100% it is difficult to assess how he can do

Gibernau. What can you say about a guy that just wants to race to be happy? Good on him. Physically still not quite up to it yet

Nicky...well what can I say? My boy crashes trying to up his grid position and may be hurt ....damn I'm bummed

 

No, it doesn't look for Nicky tomorrow night. Unless he is a really quick healer, I won't be racing tomorrow night. Too bad.

>>> MotoGP - Nicky Doubtful <<<

I haven't been able to find a video clip of the crash but by all reports, it was quite a spectacular high side. And he'll most likely spend the night in the hospital.

 

Here are some hi-res picks from Qatar.

>>> MotoGP Matters - Qatar - Day 1 <<<

:thumbsup:


Here's one that really caught my attention,

 

It wont work RWB, I'm not a Dani hater, just a Nicky fan. heehee

 

Looks like you called that one NCB, only two of us responded

Sigh.........

 

Ah I wish I got speed. Just might have to buy the day pass....

My money is on Rossi, as always.

 

Fabulous thread!!! What separates you from most Motogp die hards and makes you almost unbeatable in Team Management is your knowledge of the bottom half of the field, just for the record, as much as I hate Pedrosa, I have always thought your bet on Pedrosa vs. Nicky was a wise one...

 

Another thread:

Sure you did.

 

Who knew both would be fighting injured and at the bottom of the pack, though? Weird.

 

Now it has come to this as far as the wager goes, for the first race anyway,.........who hurts the least?

Damn, now its the battle of the walking wounded.

I am also reading up some on Elias, I had forgotten that his win in 2006 gave Nicky the margin over Rossi

Also Canepa, about whom I know little

Uhoh, now I see there is a rain delay

 

Make no mistake I want you to lose the bet, nothing would make me happier than to see the little pole smoking midget miss half of the season and Nicky build up a lead, as much as I love Nicky the fact remains Nicky will never be a serious threat to win a championship on a 800, IMHO I believe WSBK would be a much better fit for him now...

 

You and I both Rick, Hayden should go to WSBK and get that crown, then if I read it right he would be the first to pull that off. But I bet Ben might have something to say about that.

 

I emailed that pic to my decal guy, I want a couple sets of those HRC Anniversary decals. Thanks for posting that pic.

 

As much as we would like it not to be so, you may be correct, Nicky needs to ride an overpowered hard-to-handle machine for his style to work best.

 

If you can get that decal from your "decal guy", let me know. I'd love a couple of them as well. Let me know the cost.

:thumbsup:

 

Nicky Crash Video...


Hayden crash in Qatar QP | The Official MotoGP Website

 

Check out the Speed Schedule for Tuesday.
SCHEDULE - PINKS, My Classic Car, Unique Whips, American Thunder, Super Bikes! - SPEEDtv.com

 

You need a MotoGP Video Pass package to view their videos. :sad:

Since I can't count on Speed's coverage, I guess I should pony up the $$$ and get a MotoGP Video Pass.