Latest from Moto GP.

[Gazza]

I thought Marquez would of binned it big time before now, his ragged edge riding style was ok on a moto2 but surely not on moto GP, maybe thats why he's sitting around 4th pos in testing (so far)

Serious crash forbidding, he'll be world champion in the not too distant future.

Less distance than even I thought. What a fantastic new champion. Great to see Jorge putting up a decent fight too. Made Dani look pretty lame really. Full marks to Jorge for trying and also to Marc for having the maturity to not get involved.

Roll on 2014.

[Coully]

aye it was nice that it was a bit tactical and then a bit of a gamble, backing the field up then seeing if marquez would race but good all round,... I only hope BT Sport are as good, as i'll miss cox and parrish

[Bubba13t]

Serious crash forbidding, he'll be world champion in the not too distant future.

Any chance of PM ing me this weeks lottery numbers

[Coully]

[Coully]

Cal Crutchlow completed his first factory Ducati test in Valencia today, admitting it was ‘nearly impossible’ to improve on his lowly 12th position on the final timesheets.

[Coddy]

Better looking at his wage slip. As that's the reason he went.

[Coully]

oh aye, true enough, call me the eternal optimist though, here's hoping for marginal gains

[Gazza]

Better looking at his wage slip. As that's the reason he went.

One reason I guess. Did he have another choice?

[missile]

Reading between the lines I think he jumped before he was pushed.

Cal was getting some great results mid season, but fell away badly

[Coully]

well the results fell away after he'd sealed the deal to go to Ducati no?

[Gazza]

Reading between the lines I think he jumped before he was pushed.

Cal was getting some great results mid season, but fell away badly

Pol Espargaro already had his seat and Bradley was contacted for two years. He was already out on his butt and Ducati offered the biggest paycheck.

I think his enthusiasm fell away towards season end but he did still secure a good 5th place as highest satellite rider. His work will be cut out at Ducati. I hope he doesn't spend too much time in the gravel.

[missile]

I hope he doesn't spend too much time in the gravel.

He is a trier and always gives 100% effort. Only hope he doesn't try too hard.

[Coully]

into the open class now so they can still develop the bike.... bit last minute eh!

[bill.m]

Or it could just be the smartest move they ever made, extra fuel, extra engines and super soft tyres. Could make for a very interesting season. Now if only I could see it on the telly..........

[Gazza]

Or it could just be the smartest move they ever made, extra fuel, extra engines and super soft tyres. Could make for a very interesting season. Now if only I could see it on the telly..........

Not if Honda have their way....


http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/200859 ... class.html

[Coully]

seems to read that way

[Gazza]

As far as I'm concerned Honda had the same opportunity to go Open Class as did Ducati. They didn't take it.

Tough shizzle

[bill.m]

Might just be some good news for those of us with no access to BT Sport

http://f1broadcasting.wordpress.com/201 ... ighlights/

Lets hope ITV confirm it tomorrow

[Gazza]

Less than one week to go until the start of the new MotoGP season and it's still not clear which rules Ducati will be racing under.

Ducati has applied to switch its official MotoGP team from the Factory to Open class, in order to avoid increasing restrictions on engine development.

“We would like to develop our bike and with the Factory option we simply couldn't do it,” new Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall'Igna, seeking to raise the team from its first podium-less season, reiterated on Monday.

As well as in-season engine development, the Open class allows four litres of extra race fuel, twelve rather than five engine changes and a softer grade of rear tyre.

Honda has made clear it feels these concessions were aimed at helping independent teams, rather than official manufacturers, but that distinction is not in the rules.

Instead the only technical requirement for entry to the Open category is use of the Dorna-supplied standard ECU software, rather than bespoke factory software.

However the Open software has also become a contentious issue after a recent high-performance upgrade, rumoured to be inspired by Ducati's input, proved too complex for all but Ducati to use.

The Dorna/FIM proposed solution was for a 'Factory 2' class, with Ducati running the latest software - and keeping the Open class benefits - but then having its race fuel and engine changes reduced if it achieved a certain number of (dry) top three results.

“Ducati asked to enter as Open riders. But it created a lot of 'reaction', so this is under consideration. After all the registration is upon the discretion of the Grand Prix Commission,” MotoGP director of technology Corrado Cecchinelli told the official MotoGP website earlier this week.

“The proposal from Dorna/FIM is to refuse the [Ducati] entry as Open and create a new technical package [Factory 2] to enter in the Factory option.”

That proposal was to be put before the Grand Prix Commission on Tuesday yet still nothing has been announced, suggesting opposition to the plan.

Meanwhile practice for the season-opening Qatar MotoGP gets underway on Thursday evening...

[Coddy]

I think it's very clever of Ducati to have gone to the Open class, but they are now being pretty stupid in trying to manipulate the ecu's.

Should have gone there, developed the bike and made it stronger. The way it's going they will all soon be racing to Factory 2 rules, although Honda say they won't.
Suzuki should have entered the Open class this season as well to get proper racing development, unless they are even further off the pace than they thought they would be.

Think its game on this year for a few big open class results, especially Aleix Espargaro.

[Gazza]

Well, there you go. What a fantastic opener to the season. Great to see Vale duelling with Marc and the top ten were so close that it looks to be a very exciting year.

Aleix Esparago did well to climb up to fourth (despite the attrition rate) after leading the practise all weekend and then having a disastrous final qualification. A great result for Scott Redding too in his first race.

I don't know what happened to Bradley over the weekend, but he seemed like a new man....until crashing out that is.

Roll on Austin, Texas.

[Coully]

Aye, they were fair trading paint for the last few laps, an interesting thing from that Rookie 93 movie that was on earlier in the week were those not impressed with MArquezs' style/aggression. Curious that Bradl wasn't a fan, naturally Lorenzo either, but Rossi couldn't have nejoyed it more, I guess because it makes some of his stuff in the past look okay.
Oity about Lorenzo comng off and Smith, I hadn't seen qualifying thus got the shock of my life seeing smith on the front row, good lad

I still remain unconvinced about the commentators and was disappointed that Hodgson couldn't see that Cal was furious after the race, I certainly wouldn't have dreamed of approaching him, just from the body language

[Gazza]

Aye, they were fair trading paint for the last few laps, an interesting thing from that Rookie 93 movie that was on earlier in the week were those not impressed with MArquezs' style/aggression. Curious that Bradl wasn't a fan, naturally Lorenzo either, but Rossi couldn't have nejoyed it more, I guess because it makes some of his stuff in the past look okay.
Oity about Lorenzo comng off and Smith, I hadn't seen qualifying thus got the shock of my life seeing smith on the front row, good lad

It's not unusual to hear complaints about faster riders. Same in car racing. The fastest are the ones disliked the most..... I wonder why

[Coully]

oh aye, indeed, Lorenzo comes across a little sour these days, but I was surprised that Bradl, being a bigger lad, was averse to a bit of panel breating

[coops]

not seeing the benefit of Sykes or Toseland in the commentating.....................wooden was the word that sprang to mind more of an annoyance than a benefit. Cal was not happy and it would have been a good time to leave him to whatever time he needed to himself.