Moto Gp & Wsb, 2012.

[Lickey]

Dunno if Rea was entirely faultless with Max, lap after lap Rea would come in early to get a tight apex on the corner,[forever the opourtunist] nothing wrong with that, its just his unorthodox style, had he known Max was coming, perhaps he would have picked it up,knowing the Apprilla is faster?? i would think that the brush they had knocked Maxs hand off the brake,causing the collision with Haslam,,

Cal done well, 3rd place, he seems a bit more settled since he re-signed for Tech 3,

Very good suggestion you made BT, Rea should go on the sattellite bike, let young Bradl try the real stuff, but no doubt politics and contracts ect involed,

In an interview with Carelless, he told Duke he doesnt want the new Pancake yet, although its faster and higher revving due to big bore short stroke engine, with 6 races to go, he doesnt want to learn a new bike, i think yhey should let his team mate evaluate it under race conditions to help get it ready for next year,

BSB cadwell was good, Triumph 1/2/3/ BSS race, [Mondays Races] Kawasaki 1/2/ in Superstock 1000, Tommy Hill done the double BSB Swan Yamaha, Shakey & Haga were non-starters cos of shoulder injuries, Saturday crashes,,,

[Lickey]

I like to do lap time comparisons between Moto GP and SBK, the one ive found is from Brno, very similar weather conditions, dry and sunny,

So weve got Tom Sykes, renowed pole sitter this year at 1.58.010,

Jorge Lorenzo, fairly quick bloke on Yamahas best, 1.56.274, a gap of 1.736 secs.

This means Tom would have been 11th on the grid, in front of all but 1 CRT riders,

It does make me wonder if WSB bikes had bridgestone GP rubber and engine and weight restrictions were lifted what they could achieve in a mixed prototype and superbike race,

The days when a rider would compete in all classes has long gone, [thankyou for the days, Kinks] but not in Irish Road Racing, on pure road circuits, none of stop the race, and airbag has been punctured, there aint none,

[soihok]

Cheers guys.

I'm going pretty anonymous(?) over the next few weeks, moving countries = no internet until I get a Malaysian work permit to open a contract.

Will have to search out bars in KL to watch to action in.........oh dear, what a drag

[soihok]

Nothing to do with bikes.......but bloody good all the same..

.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzJ8jAUiDeY

[Lickey]

Good Luck with the move Soihok, im sure you wont be offline for long,

This weekend SBK and BSB,

Ah, Nurbergring, went there in 98, for SBK, got to Hoek Van Holland about 2pm, GF and me ZZR1100, Brother and GF Triumph 900 Trident, from Holland into belgium, and about 20ks from the german border we found a campsite, at 5.30, The boos man said, the bar is not open yet so please go put your tents up, 20 mins later, he came along with a tray of 4 pints of dark beer, "have a drink while you wait for open bar" we got so pissed that night, we didnt go to fridays practice, just went boating on the nearby lake, Saturday it was about 90ks to the Ring, lovely sunny day, great riding on good roads, and the only way i could keep up with brother and get past him was on a few straight bits, he soon took me back on the twistys, and another good boozzy night at the campsite, dark beer and local cheese, we were all blotto by 9.30, Raceday, it pissed down all day, it was cold and miserable, the free spectator banks turned into a mudslide, i cant remember who won, we all wanted to get back to the warm bar and a Fillett Steak with lashings of Beer and wine,,,

[Bluetongue]

Sounds like a lot of fun Lickey. Those were the days of Foggy if I remember.

<p>After last night though the Irish eyes are smiling the Welsh are singing and not in the rain and the Brits are not winning but not whinging either. If you claim the Irish though, you claim half of Australia. Anyway well done to Davies, first win and the plum BMW ride next year. Laverty two seconds sticking like glue to the Aprilia. Sykes wore out the tyres again thought Kwakasaki were supposed to have that sorted. Checa is so underpowered. Johnny made it through without knocking anybody off, except himself in

[Lickey]

Great fun indeed, went to many WSB races in Europe, that was the Foggy era, just checked, he was 13th in both races, a renowned water baby,,

Sykes was saying they have a new tyre,used it in Russia, and ok, but at the Ring, part worn would cause a lot of rear end chatter, hence dropping of the pace again, but all is not lost, 4 races to go, Cmon Tom,,,,

Good racing as usual though, but some of the corner names,Coca Cola curve, MGK bend ect, Perhaps they are sponsors?Perhaps not enough German champions to name the corners after?

For me the race of the day was the British Superstock 1000 from Donnington, the new Duke Pancake led for all the race, until he got into a powerslide on the race to the line, he was pipped by a Suzuki, 1000th sec, 3rd place fight was brilliant, about 7 bikes going for this, chopping and changing all the race, looking forward to more,

[NormanW]

Come on Jonnie Rea show em ow its done 555

Free practise 3 starts at 09:15 Thai time.

[Bluetongue]

Well, done and dusted now aint it. Any race that Rossi can get on the podium you (I) have to say is obviously down on the breadth of the field this year. Shame for Pedrosa but that's his luck.

Lucky Lorenzo strikes again.

Well done Johnny Rea is due as he A) stayed on the bike sorry this should be a b with a bracket but for some reason this smiley keeps appearing!) didn't knock anyone else off C) finished ahead of all the CRT in a quite credible spot.

Moto2 is going down an equally predictable path (Marquez) as is Moto3 now (Cortese). I'll have to take Mr Lickeys advice and go looking for more exciting stuff one the net. Maybe if I get an aircard I can speed up sufficiently to download video? At least the SBK is still open. Stacey is recovering in regional NSW, probably the family property at Tamworth. He hopes he can be back for Phillip Island, not having a go but that seems a long time, I mean he doesn't have to walk only sit on the thing.

Edited September 19, 2012 by Bluetongue

[Lickey]

Hi Bluetongue, in a way i agree that some top riders were missing or crashed out, but Rossi has a new swingarm and different steering head angle, [stuff hes been waiting for a long time] so his 2nd place was great, youve still got Dovi in the mix, regular top 5 finisher,

Rea, top works Honda, beaten by the sattelite bikes,suprised he got to the end really,

The link below is irish road racing from Youtube, its a fast download, if you can watch this with your present setup without a break, you might be ok for live streaming..

dont know about aircard ect? always had BB from the landline here,

[Bluetongue]

Hi Lickey

Depending on the time of day it could take me 30mins to watch it, its taking me 6mins in peak hour for the first 14 seconds. Sometimes its quicker. I'm on a GPRS connection, landline stops about 5k down the road. I was told wireless was coming to the village this year but I haven't seen it yet and its end of September. I heard about Aircard when I first moved here but didn't bother because AIS the only reception in this area didn't have one now they do apparently.

yes I shouldn't denigrate Rossi too much I didn't really know what improvements he had as I wasn't really listening. For sure with Pedrosa and Stoner in there he would have been fourth. Maybe Bradl held the others up a bit and allowed him to get his rytthm and a little tiny break. It was an odd starting sequence with the false start and what happened to Pedrosa this may have unsettled a few too.

[Lickey]

Blimey mate, that is slow,,, bit like early dial-up, I saw a friend tonight who uses an aircard, he says hes never had much luck with it as far as youtube goes, but then it depends on reception,weather ect, i think the start price is 1200bht with 30hours free, worth a try..

So folks, im looking forward to Superbike Sunday, BSB goes to Assen for the first Showdown, and WSB from Potimao, Just read that Effenbert Liberty have sacked Maxine Berger, so thats Smrz and Guntolli, all 3 sacked, and race winners too, theyve taken on another rider for the last 2 races, i think the team will be wrapped up over winter..

[Bluetongue]

Effernbert is Czech beer right, it's web site doesn't really say whats going on (calls it reorganisation of human and team resources or something) but it must be money. Those contracted riders might have wanted to be paid or at least have a guaranteed ride, whereas Lanzi and whoever at this stage of the season are happy to just front up, got nothing better to do.

I never thought I would be barracking for a Brit but go Tom. As far as BSB goes at least I can go for Joshimura Brookes

[soihok]

Hey guys..........now resident in Kuala Lumpur, but no internet connection or tv until my work permit has been processed, so on a dongle via the mobile at the moment.

Missed all MotoGP races and WSBK races over the last 2 weeks, will miss the WSBK races on Sunday also..........dam_n and blast.

On an upnote though, I am living about 40 minutes away from Sepang, so expect to be going to the Moto GP races ther next month,,,,,,,with the thoughts of my visit there last year in the front of my mind.

Cheers.........................................................................................................

[Lickey]

8.5 hours on Superbike Sunday, WSB & BSB, i must admit that this time the net wasnt good, lot of stuttering ect, re-freshing and stuff, from about 9pm onwards it was perfect,

Mrs thought id gone potty when Tom won the restarted 1st race and Shakey Byrne won the 1st at Assen, could have cried when the Kwacker expired in race 2, and then Brookes done the classic last bend manewvoure on Shakey, there was a backmarker in the way of shakey, but the "creative' overtaker Brookes won the drag to the line, {jamie Whitham comment]

Melandri, what was he thinking of? hes got a fast bike, let the race settle down, and then pick them off, gawd knows how Max wasnt took out as well? if Max had gone out, Tom would look very good for the last round in France,, ah well, perhaps next year??

[NormanW]

Aragon this weekend for Moto GP.

Can't wait for the battle to continue.

Is Stoner back from his scratched toe nail yet?

[Bluetongue]

Casey is not saying, clearly it is not Aragon though. He had a checkup on 14 September and everything was fine. Why bother flying back to Europe for one race, my bet is he will be in Japan. The official line is Phillip Island though.

Its a tough time for us Aussies no one in MotoGP, Ant West beating Feem Wilarot for 25th in Moto2, a couple of young blokes (Sissis, Miller) who need time in Moto 3, Jason Crump speedway legend is retiring from the World Series, AJay died at the weekend. All we have is a slim chance for Bryan Staring in the World Superstock, and Josh in the BSB. A few talented young blokes coming up who will be lucky to receive 5% of the red carpet that Marquez and Vinales get.

Speaking of injuries Marco Melandri just about tossed away a championship on Sunday, couldn't get back on the bike even for Race 2, a couple of slightly fractured ribs, makes me think of Troy Bayliss coming back after losing a finger. There was someone on the weekend who was waving at the TV minus one finger but cant for the life of me think who it was, any takers.

Aragon si Lorenzo primo comprendi. Go Cal.

[Lickey]

Rea is definitly riding this weekend, and on Crash.net Stoner talks about V8 supercars next year, [another boring series]from what ive seen on the box,

Cmon Blue Tongue, dont be down in the dumps about lack of Ozzie riders, like UK, youve had a good share of them in the past, heres my favourites,,

1 A Gobert WSB

2 Rob Phillis WSB

3 Troy Corser WSB

Troy Bayliss WSB

Kork Ballinyton MGP

4 Wayne Gardener MGP

5 Mick Doohan MGP

6 Ant West Chris Vermullen Jack Ahearn

And more i cant think of right now, Ive always liked Ozzie racers, all laid back and get on with the job, although ive read that Doohan was a toughie in the pits pre-race,,

Didnt see the missing finger man, was it the little finger? classic low-side injury, When i met Phil Read in the Brands hatch paddock 1972/3 his little finger was curled up and dead, but ideal for the twistgrip he told me,

Oh yeah, i do remeber at the Salzburgring Corser got unhinged about something,and bopped some pit lane marshalls, 94/95 WSB, that was a good race, Fogarty & Corser Dukes, cleared off at the front Gobert Slight Nakai Tardozzi? having a real battle for 3rd, it was well worth the 1100mile journey, and it was as hot as hell, had to drink a lot of cold beers after the schintzel an potatsalad,

[Bluetongue]

Well we have had some good ones although Kork Ballington is not an Aussie although he was living not to far from me in Caboolture a few years back, I ran into him having coffee in West End. You may be confusing him with his Kwaka team mate Gregg Hansford also a Qld boy, ran a Yamaha shop after many years of riding the Kwaka. Died in a touring car race (forerunner to current and said boring V8 Supercar series) in the 90s. I will remember him for ever as having bought his factory bikes to Bathurst in 1980 winning everything including the Unlimited GP on his 350. Beating AJay (Andrew Johnson) who died on the weekend. He had a TZ750 Yamaha I think, dynamite on the straight (over 2km back then called Conrod Straight awesome) but no brakes or handling. That was a trip 6 of us on 4 bikes decided to leave on Easter Thursday got going about 6pm after work, slept rough 1000kms, nearly ran over an emu, plagues of locusts, 900SS running like a dream, two days of races, watched the ritual burning of the police car and the mob storming the compound. Loved it so much went for 4 years running until the NSW police canned the whole thing.

Poor old Anthony Gobert doing it tough these days as a petty drug crim on the Gold Coast, his brothers are still going OK. Mick Doohan has a brother, Scott who stopped racing after a head injury in a race in the US, he was a tough nut too. They used to come to Lakeside (the only track near Brisbane after the Gold Coast shut) all the time back in the early 80s. I was often there watching and helping my mate with his efforts.

One you missed and a personal favourite of mine was Kevin Magee.

[Lickey]

Good info BT, thanks, yes i had forgot Magee, just watched some youtube stuff on the acciedent in Usa, with Bubba Shobert, seems Shobert was congradulating Lawson on his win while Magee was doing a burn-out on the slow-down lap, these are normal antics on the slow-down and Shobert wasnt watching the track, and a fierce collision happened, seemed it was the beginning of the end for Magees career and certainly the end for Shobert.

Aragon free practise, it was pissing down, Spies is top, with Redposa a close 2nd and Lorenzo 3rd, Hayden 4th, and the forecast is it could be wet for the race,

During the start of the Moto2 practise, the comentaters asked people to twitter in the GOAT, [greatest of all time] riders, getting replies like Rossi,Ago,Hailwood,Swantz , Rainey,Lawson,Fogarty, Geoff Duke, Read, Sheene,Roberts,Mamola,Minter,Stoner ect, i agree these are all great riders.

These riders couldnt hold a candle to Joey Dunlop, 26 TT wins,24 Ulster Grand Prix wins,North West 200, 13 wins,5 times Formula 1 TT world championships, MBE & OBE awarded for his charity work, he was never outspoken and mainly prepped his race bikes himself,

So onto the weekend, Motogp Aragon, BSB Superbike showdown Silverstone, Steak & Kidney pie and veg, a box of Leo, and im all settled for the action..

[Bluetongue]

I'm just off to get my supplies now. As it is raining wouldn't be able to pretend to do any work anyway. Might get a carton of Archa and a bottle of plonk. I'll settle for any food the missus wants to make me, its all good.

Kevin Magee now commentates in Aus, he made a brief comeback on Motards four or 5 years back. He also lost a nephew Liam to road racing a few years back.

Joey Dunlop was a gentleman for sure he helped a lot of people including my mate when he came over to have a go at IOM. Another life for the sport in Estonia of all places wasn't it. After surviving all that Irish and IOM stuff too.

[soihok]

Not sure if I'll get to see any races today....again.

No tv contract yet, plus options are to sit in a bar watching tv for hours, but my 4 year old isn't really interested in this.....

Not to worry............

I'ld like Cal to get on the podium, as it sounds like the Pedrosa and Lorenzo show will continue......that being the case I would also like to see the points lead that Lorenzo has, narrowed.

After the shocker of a race that Dani had last time out, he will be burning to get the win.

I'll be going to Sepang in a few weeks as its not far from where I live at the moment.

Completely missed the WSBK races last week.

Cheers

Edited September 30, 2012 by soihok

[Bluetongue]

Well just so you know and any that dont want to know, look away - now.

Dani blitzed it, he got away in second but after a few laps behind Jorge he overtook him and pulled away, all over redposa.

Bradl was third until he chucked it away. Spies held up Cal and Dovi for a bit, for about one lap I thought Spies might do this but no, the Monster boys tussled each other Dovi got on top, then both passed Spies and Cal tried a few times but in my view at the wrong place and Dovi ended up 3rd. Bautista was sixth, Rea 7th and Rossi 8th after contact with Rea sent him on a safari. To be fair it was not Rea's doing. Hayden went off track stayed upright until he hit the fence and then went sailing over it, fortunately he's OK, why didn't he bail?. Alex Asparagus was first CRT bike and his brother Pol Aspagarus won the Moto2,

Moto 2 and 3 were both very exciting races filled with chances to the end, well done podium for Redding.

[Lickey]

Soihok, you dont know what youre missing mate, got WSB final this weekend, Tom is in with a chance if things go to shit for Max,,

GP sorta unfolded slowly, after the crashes ect the only thing for me was the way Vale got through the CRTs back up to 8th, but 8secs off Rea, Rossi afterwards said he was taken by suprise by Reas slow corner entry speed,

Yep, well done Scott, that was a hard race for all concerned, 250 the same, must be getting near the end of season and some riders havent got a place next year??

BlueTongue, i really hope you get a decent connection soon, the BSB 2nd race has been descibed as the best ever in the history of BSB, yes it was so bloody good mate, well, both races were superb, Shakey is leading with Brookes 2nd going into the showdown at Brands, Shakeys home track, and Ozzie Glen Richards now leads the Supersport on a Triumph, that was a helluva race too, the superstock was exciting, Farmer, Kawasaki won that, and i think crowned champion, with a race to go,

Silverstone seem to have suffered from crowd attendance again, a spectator circuit it isnt!, flat as a witches tit, went there for the 1st GP after IOM lost its status in 1976, saw some bikes come past on the hangar straight and that was it, Before they built the new pits complex at Brands, you could watch from Paddock hill bend and see the whole Indy circuit, Brands Cadwell and Oulton being my favorites, Arrogon looked great from the air,

Just to end on a bit of sad news, My pet mouse Elvis died today, he got "Caught in a Trap"

[soihok]

Sorry about Elvis.

I'll try to get to wtach the races somewhere, but options are limited to sitting in a bar with a 4 year old....not exactly ideal.

Never know, I may get the tv on before the end of the year.

On a plus though (nothing to do with bikes), I have been given a brand new Triton 4WD to drive around KL in.......bikes are ridden the same way as in Thailand but with more disregard.......no-one looks behind at all when negoiating the streets on the highways, and motors are really moving. The speeds are higher.

[Bluetongue]

Sorry about Elvis.

I'll try to get to wtach the races somewhere, but options are limited to sitting in a bar with a 4 year old....not exactly ideal.

Never know, I may get the tv on before the end of the year.

On a plus though (nothing to do with bikes), I have been given a brand new Triton 4WD to drive around KL in.......bikes are ridden the same way as in Thailand but with more disregard.......no-one looks behind at all when negoiating the streets on the highways, and motors are really moving. The speeds are higher.

I seem to remember they used to have little roads off to the side for motorbikes on some of the busier roads anyway.

[soihok]

Its bikes everywhere, I'm trying my best not to wipe anyone out.

GOOD NEWS!

I get connected to the satellite TV (Astro) tomorrow, meaning I'll be able to watch the WSBK races on Sunday.

What a turn up it'll be if Tom gets it? Max will be riding around without taking any risks, to ensure he gets enough points to clintch it in the first race.

Either way, looking forward to it..............I've missed too many races lately

[Bluetongue]

goodonyamate, enjoy. QP1 results have Sykes, Checa, Melandri, Googyegg, Rea, Fabrizzio then Max 7th.

By my reckoning Max has to score about 19 points to secure victory regardless of what the others do. If he gets 1st or second in Race 1 he has won it. Any lower place and the results of Tom and Marco make it a mathematical equation. My bet is he will safely get a 4th or something in Race 1 meaning he only has to get a 10th in Race 2. He certainly wont want to risk early trouble so dont predict a fast start, but therein lies his dilemna, if he backs off too much then he will have all the wannabes all over him, and run the risk of one of them knocking him off. Perhaps I should wait for superpole and I will but I have a premonition that Checa will help Biaggi, not deliberately but by being up for the win of at least one race.

Chris Holder going well in the Speedway with two meetings to go, not sure if that is real time or not though. Perhaps an Aussie worthy to succeed Jason Crump's Aussie speedway success

[Bluetongue]

OK, Tommy is on pole, go Tommy. Chubby Checker is 2nd, Bluegene Laverty is 3rd, Marco is 4th, Biaggi is 10th.

Tommy needs a Biaggi DNF I feel, although all sorts of combos compute. Melandri even more so. At least Melandri has that shiela with enormous shirtfront to console him. Tom's girl looks pleasant enough, even Biaggi had his out last time, I think they said she was ex Alitalia trolley dolly.

[Lickey]

Im pretty sure we all wonder where Tom would have been in the points if the Kwacker engine hadnt blown last time out, Hes got a steep hill to climb but even 2nd would be quite acceptable, I was hoping Baz would be up there, but who knows what will happen? im backing Tom, so keep your powder dry Tom and go for it, Join Softglu by winning another championship for Kawasaki, going to be great racing tommorow, off down the beer shop in the morning,

Eurosport are showing all, SB,WSS,WST 1000 and WST 600, Starring has an outside chance in WST 1 class, although the weather forecast isnt that good, it might go in Toms favour if its wet,

Fingers crossed, big day and last one this year for WSB,