Valencia, Valencia Valencia...

[jihem]

i think nicky is a fast racer, yes, he rode very well, yes, and he's world champion cos he has more points than the others, yes, but is he THE world champion: the best rider of them all ? don't you think he knows he's not the best one out there ?

last time someone won a world championship with so few victories was 1952 and that man won his two podiums on 8 races, not 17 like nicky. nicky only won his two national tracks and he got assen cos colin did an "amateur" mistake.

 

i say great for nicky, and i'm happy for the man and his joy was great to see but a true world class champion ? no way.

 

but i wait for him to show off how great he really is next year, i have no prejudice

 

 

 

what struck me most about valencia was the win by baylis and how much they have improved these machines since troy was last onboard them. it seems to now be much closer to the superbike . better control of power and traction and more fitting troys riding style. ciao gazza

 

absolutely. It's amazing that while the V4, ooops sorry ducati maketing just called me and ask me to write L4, is more powerful and weights less than the road derived 999, it looks like the ride is smoother. We're so used to watch Bayliss fighting it like if it was a bull, and in valencia it seemed a much more controlled ride.

[belfastguzzi]

...etc....Same system, same rules

Consistency, please

Quite right. Which is why a few people could have won – and there'd be no reason for complaint. It's just the wheel of fortune nature of this year that gives the feeling of slight dissatisfaction. It feels a bit like 'the luck of the draw'. That's not to take away from the winner's achievement. And it's not sour grapes as folks are supposing.

 

But it can be said that some riders are clearly seen to consistently battle through adversity and fight back towards the top. Others are seen to blame their tools and blame circumstances and blame other people when things don't fall right. From that point of view, Big J is right about what is champion material and what is not.

Rossi crack-up under pressure? I know who I saw very publically crack-up during the season. And it wasn't Rossi.

 

Anyhows, as has been said, it was actually the wheel of fortune that made this year so entertaining. Great stuff. And as for an 'oldie' coming in on the final race and winning... well,

[Guzzirider]

Next year will be great- and with the reduction in engine capacity, I am sure we will get some surprise new contenders on the pace. I have seen comments from those who have tested the 800cc bikes that corner speeds will be much higher than the current machines- who will this favour? The little guys who were great on 250s?

 

You would assume that HRC will be ahead of the rest in terms of machine development with their massive resources, so Nicky will get a great chance to win it again next year, preferably with style.

 

If he does not, he may disappear from people's minds as a champ. Anyone remember Alex Criville or Kenny Roberts Jr title wins? Are they considered the best rider of their times- or good riders that got lucky 'cos the real daddy had bad luck, was absent or injured?

 

Guy

[gthyni]

like James "Who" Toseland world superbike champion in 2004 with 3 race wins in 22 races, remembered as a champ by noone except hard core racing nerds.

 

nr 2, 3 and 4 in the championship had more race wins

not a good year for superbikes.

[G.POLEGATO]

I'm enjoy with the Hayden success, great boy! Also great Bayliss and Capirossi. Cheers Giovanni

[big J]

My comments seem to have been taken by some to be sour grapes.

 

Not at all,from what I've seen,Nicky is a nice guy who works hard and seems to be a genuinely talented racer.

 

BUT.

 

Surely being on the works Honda we could have seen him give Rossi,Melandri,Capirossi-anyone-a good hard fight for the lead.It would just have been nice to see him battle wheel to wheel with another rider with the same conviction and determination as the others have shown.Instead he seems content to sit behind others and pick up points.

 

He is the champion,though and fair play to him.

 

I'm sure his masters at HRC are satisfied their programme ran to plan.

[robbiekb]

I am a Hayden fan = am totally happy. I was so afraid he'd have a mechanical DNF or something weird even after Rossi fell.

 

But I was surprised that there was no commentary about how Rossi got back on his bike and rode the thing fairly well - I would imagine the bike might not have been in 100% tip top shape. Maybe he was just trying to stay in the race but I do not think he was ever lapped.

 

So frustrating in the US broadcast to see approx 8 or so adverts in the middle of a short race. The broadcast should be commercial free!

 

Bob

 

 

Hey Bob , I am in process of encoding the full US commentary of the race and the European EuroSport feed . i'll post both on my media server for folks to watch. Even though the MOTOGP.com feed comes with uninterupted coverage i can't stand the commentators. the Europsort feed is trully fantastic with great excited British commentators with Randy Mammola roving in the pits getting EVERYONE to talk with him

 

The last 20 so laps of the race were truly nail biting for us here in santa monica as well. Rossi is such a phenominal talent that I had visions of him slicing through the field, then being waved through by Checca and then Edwards leading him up to 7th or 8th place to win the championship by a few points. Its what we've come to expect from "the Doctor"

 

For me the defining moment of the race was right at the start when Rossi uncharacteristically bogged off of the line. A malady that has beset Hayden since post Laguna all year. Going into the first couple of turns, you can clearly see Hayden right alongside Rossi and the two touch. If thats not Aggressive hanging it all out racing I don't know what is. Rossi is such a phenominal talent that he pretty much always seems to have the rest of the grid psyched out into believing that he can win every race before they even suit up. It's been great to see that this year he has been matched on several occasions for aggression as personally I was getting tired of watching Rossi run away with every championship and the rest fighting it out for scraps.

 

 

That said I feel like Hayden's window of opportunity is closing with the move to 800's. Hopefully he'll prove me wrong, but the smart money would have to be on the new crop of younger ex 250 riders as the consistant challenger to Rossi's dominance.

 

I might be wrong on this too, but i don't hear a lot of people sounding bummed out for Capirossi. Without the accident with his teammate , Loris would have been much much closer in the final standings. things are looking really good for Ducati metinks.

[jihem]

I might be wrong on this too, but i don't hear a lot of people sounding bummed out for Capirossi. Without the accident with his teammate , Loris would have been much much closer in the final standings. things are looking really good for Ducati metinks.

 

you didn't hear me cos it hurts when i think about it...

it's pretty obvious the ducati is now head to head with the other factories, the aggravating factor being Bridgestone who hasn't been totally consistent. So much that there has been talks between Michelin and Ducati late this year. Capirex was getting to the core of it and the ducati was starting to be good at nearly every circuit.

 

Will it be the same with the 800 ? Loris seems to think the 800 is going very well already...

[badmotogoozer]

Congrats to Nicky on winning the points championship.

 

But what an anticlimactic race. Very disappointing. After Rossi crashed everybody just set themselves on cruise control. I was really hoping Vale would grab a couple more places back at the end and bite Nicky in the ass for riding like a prude.

 

I would be happier for Nicky if he had raced his way to the championship instead of cruising his way into it by a hair. What he does next year will determine if this is a remembered championship, or one that fans just forget about.

 

What a yawner!

 

Rj

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

great time in Valencia even though the wrong man became champion

 

^Somebody get me a cheeseburger

[antonio carroccio]

Mcdonald's

Xàtiva 21

46002 Valencia, Spain

 

963 509 496

 

I wonder if Goran has been gone there???

[gthyni]

Mcdonald's

Xàtiva 21

46002 Valencia, Spain

 

963 509 496

 

I wonder if Goran has been gone there???

 

I fact I did, to honour the champ, a McRoyal menú

but not at the Xàtiva one, at the one close to the cathedral

 

didn't get more fun than that,

all americans seems to gone home to sleep,

if Vale would have won it would have been italian car horns honking all night for sure.

[antonio carroccio]

All Italians are horny at the night, Goran. There is alway some occasion to be horny, not just a victory.

When Americans go to sleep, Italians gets Horny............

 

 

What??? Did you said, horns.......oh, I am sorry.................

[stobie]

You guys should take a peek at Kropotkin's blog for some well-written commentary and some interesting perspectives. The writer is a Brit living in Holland with a completely unbiased eye. The commentary on the Estoril debacle is especially good.

 

As for Nicky dogging it for points, I wouldn't be surprised to see a more aggressive Nicky now that he has a championship under his belt. He should have little left to prove now that he's World Champion, and maybe that will free him up to go after more race wins.

 

I doubt that many of you European fans have seen Nicky ride balls-out. He certainly didn't have a rep of being a boring, conservative rider when he was in the AMA's.

[gthyni]

You guys should take a peek at Kropotkin's blog for some well-written commentary and some interesting perspectives. The writer is a Brit living in Holland with a completely unbiased eye. The commentary on the Estoril debacle is especially good.

 

only one problem with that piece:

 

Pedrosa said that he didn't attempt to pass Nicky in that corner,

and Randy Mamola said on the motogp.com podcast that:

after studying the incident over and over again he had no reason to think otherwise.