Moto Gp & Wsb, 2012.

[soihok]

Got the TV coverage eventually, but here in Malaysia only one race is being shown (typical- as there is Aus V8 supercar repeats all day).

Will be watching, it will be intense.

Cheers

[soihok]

Wow, what a first race. When Max went down anything could have happened.

As it is, there are 3 guys that could win the world championship in the last race of the year.....what a finale.....and its not being shown in malaysia....bleeding V8 supercars are instead.

Sad

I really hope Tom does it

[Lickey]

You done better than me Soihok, i got all settled down at 3pm with my beer and prawn mayo sandwiches, nothing on the net at all, well there was but it was all blocked, the only way i could sorta keep in touch was WSBK homepage, watching the race times and positions, i rekon i found 6 new sites to watch, but it was the same story, never mind it will be on the tube in a day or so,

As far as im concerned Tom is equal champion to Max, 1/2 a point ?? its nothing, the honour should be shared,

Top manufactors Apprila,Bmw,Ducati,which is very good for Europe, top Jap, Kawasaki,Honda,Suzuki,

Already looking forward to next year, Hopefully Triumph will join in, [perhaps Slippery Sam with Percy Tait ]

So weve got BSB showdown at Brands [season finale] cmon Shakey, and Motogp next weekend,

[Bluetongue]

Max had Lorenzo in his pit, must have been hoping for some of Lorenzo's luck to rub off, which it did, eventually.

No here we had the V8s on at times during the day and after the first race but got to see both SBK races in entirety. You see yesterday was the Bathurst 1000 and it runs for about 6 hours. I have posted recently about Bathurst when the bikes used to go there, this is now just about the only meeting per year now. It is a public road. Anyway saw Stoner in the crowd, they focused in on him so I say if hes fit to be watching then he can race, he must be on a flight from Sydney today hopefully to Tokyo not Tamworth. Have now confirmed this.

Tom couldn't hang on in that wet first race, Guintoli, not Checa helped Biaggi by winning it, then when Tom could win in Race 2 enough people had fallen off or whatever that Biaggi just had to stay where he was. He even had an extra two points from a tame Laverty in his pocket if he needed them. A shame he didn't really have to race for it, but Tom and Kwaka can hold their heads high.

I found myself kind of hoping that Max would announce his retirement but he didn't so I suppose its one more year for him, that will test him I reckon.

[soihok]

Cheers guys.

It must have been nail biting second race................congratulations to all involved for some outstanding racing throughout the year. Max, well, he could'nt have planned acloser finish to the year winning the championship and good on him.

My hero of the year has to be Ninja Tom.

Edited October 8, 2012 by soihok

[Lickey]

Heres a coupla links to race 2,

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

and Toms podium interview,

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

Max said "its my time now, and Tom is next" Lets hope so, thanks to all the riders for a great year, Motogp isnt going to the last race like WSB did im sure,,

On reflection, i would say that what Max said, "its my time now, but next is Tom" that was great, and a lot of us want that to come true,

Yes, with you Soihok, thanks to all the riders for a great years racing, its been a love/hate sorta year, but thats normal,

Cheers, Lickey..

[Bluetongue]

John Hopkins is taking 2013 off to get over his injuries, what a run he had with the finger eventually being amputated after 4 surgeries, then breaking the same hand a few weeks later, then doing a hip. There's a vacant Suzuki ride may be the Aussies can still get a rider in, Josh Brookes currently on a Suzuki isn't he.

Honda has replaced Aoyama with Haslam? that bike will be a threat next year and if the Pancake is as fast as they say?, should be another tough fight for the gong.

[Lickey]

Just watched both races on the Tube, awesome stuff, the wet race 1 was a display of how top riders can gel with there bikes, feeling the feedback and ride as fast as possible in poor conditions, many top riders didnt make it though, shall we say hot blooded italians and spanish?

Race 2, tom led the whole race, well ok, bluejean got through for a mille second, and that was it, Tom new what he had to do and done it,

Blimey BT, youve into next year already!!, dunno if Tyco Suzuki will let Josh go, specially if he wins BSB this weekend, {Cmon Shakey, you can do it!! } Wouldnt Brett McComick be a better choice now that Effenbert have collasped, he knows the circuits and had a good result at portimao, To be honest, i think Cresent Fixi Suzuki could poach any Ducati rider right now, until the Pancake proves itself, Scott Smart has ridden one in BSB this year, and its more or less broken down every time, clouds of smoke, electrical of course!!! but they seem to be doing well in Superstock guise, not so much engine tuning allowed,,

Jack Burnicle and Jamie Whitham were saying that the reason Yourgaye was there was because Max got him into racing, and that Tom Sykes lived a few doors down from Mick Grant, Whit was told by Grant about Tom, and they nutured his career together, gotta love the commentary these 2 give,

Sylvan Guntolli lives in UK, and his english/french accent with a tinge of cockney makes me laugh, great bloke!!

[kartman]

Dorna to run WSBK...F%#k no more reruns on Youtube .

[Lickey]

Watch it all live on this link, the latest ive found this week and is very good,

Check British Eurosport TV listings for times ect,

http://www.oleoletv.com/watch/live/stream/online/free/tv/video/channel/feed/link/broadcast/vivo/gratis/p2p/4/october/12/2012/2/18/176/v-397656/eurosport.html

Bluetongue, seems Josh has already signed for Tyco Suzuki next year, Tommy Hill is looking to get back to WSBK, so he might be a stand in for Hopper,

Rossi 5th in FP2 Motegi, thats good, Redposa top, Lor 2nd, will be good to see QP1, Smith & Redding 2.3 in moto2 FP,

[kartman]

I do but some times clashes with something else,out or internet speed not good(live in the sticks only TOT )so Youtube was a backup.

[Lickey]

Well yes, i live in the sticks too, 525bht month tot BB, and watched all the BSB races today, ok, bit of refreshing going on, but i dont think you can get BSB on any Asian sat channel?

Shakey done it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! first Kawasaki championship since John Reynolds, 1992, Shakey won all 3 races, Brookes was leading the last race till about 15 of 20, Byrne slipped through,[didnt need to] and won,

17yo won the CS on Kawasaki in the 600 superstock race, Lee Jackson, Glen Richards [ozzie] is BSS champion on a Triumph,

All in all, a perfect days racing, Wasnt there something going on in Japan?

Ive seen the results and a big pat on the back for Danny Kent, well done!!

[Bluetongue]

Yeah couldn't understand what Cortese was going on about viz-a-viz Kent but then again his first name is Sandra.

Just watched FP2 for MotoGP, the factory Honda's and both Yamaha teams didn't come out, Alex Asparagus was top, due to the touchy conditions. Rained in the Moto2 FP2 and Pol Asparagus is top after FP1 and 2 combined. Two tins of asparagus thanks.

Shaky congratulations. Looks like we get the Macau GP live next month just for a late year fix.

Lickey I like my motorcycle racing thats why I have to talk about next year. Cant imagine why we have to stop for European winter they could show us the Kiwi Superbikes that starts in January. Lorenzo has a 28 point lead that is just sufficient for him to still win if he runs third in each race to Pedrosa and Stoner can step up and get second. Assuming of course that Stoner doesn't win once. Which means that for Pedrosa to win someone other than Stoner and Pedrosa has to beat Lorenzo. That hasn't happened this year. Oh what am I trying to say, ho-hum.

Guess who else is in Yourgay's camp.

[Lickey]

You got me with the pic BT, Yourgaye looks about 8 years old and with Fiat Yamaha shirt, really dunno mate, unless they are talking him into doing the Rockstar shoot?

Josh Waters [Ozzie SB champ] was testing for Crescent Suzuki at Arragon with Leon Camier, so he might be a possibillity for next year starting at Philip Island Feb 24th, so thats not so far away im pleased to say..

Yes i reckon Yourgaye is up for it this year, cant see anybody heading the top 3 now, unless they take eachother out in every race,

What was up with Sandra, Danny got past, sandra tried to get back at him, took out 2nd place and hiself, and blamed Danny, but he did apologise later,

This BSB showdown thing, nobody likes it, J Brookes got the most points this year and Shakey won it because of Podium credits? Same last year, Shakey got the most points but Tommy Hill won it?? bloody weird setup, but it gets the fans in apparantley, so theyve not gonna stop it anytime soon i suppose, gonna have a look at the Tube now see if there is any Kiwi SB racing, i think ive nearly exhausted all the other races, Cheers..

[Bluetongue]

Josh Waters would at least give us one entry in one of the headline series. He had a couple of wildcards this year or last. A family of motorcycle racers that one.

The fellow talking to Lorenzo is Randy Mamola in 2008. I think they were talking about Jorge giving him a lift to the airport.

[soihok]

Cheers guys. After several weeks of seeing no Moto Gp action I decided that I should take myself to Sepang to watch the Malay round live, as Im only living about 40 minutes away. The day started off well enough other than the main grandstand tickets being sold out, so had to settle for a seat at the end of the start finish straight. This ended up being a good move in the end as I didn't see any of the Moto Gp race and half of the Moto 2 race.

It all started well enough watching local guy Fahmi nearly win it, the crowd were ecstatic .

Then it started raining and I sat on my spectacles, this where my afternoon took a dive. Couldn't see a thing and really wet. Kept asking the lady sitting next to me what was going on.

So half way through the Moto 2 race I left the ground and jumped in a cab and got home after driving through some horrendous rain. As I got in my wife had the cancelled Moto Gp race on, absolutely howling down. I was really happy that I left when I did as it would have immensely depressing leaving at the same time as the other 77 thousand there.

So this weekend I'm going to park my ass in front of the tv for the races from AUS that will be on in the afternoon here. At least I got to see Sandro Cortese win the title.

Next year I'll stay at home to watch

[Lickey]

Yes that rain did look bad, Eurosport commentators were convinced that Sandra was gonna let the Malay fella win it, as he had already won the title,

Sad in the Moto 2 race as well, red flagged and went back 2 laps, Angelis won, Not Gino Rea,,, Ant West finally made the podium,

Any rider who finished in the GP is darn good, to handle 200+bhp in those conditions,

Ringside seat for me nowadays too, with some sarnis and a few beers, cant beat it,,

[soihok]

The last 2 years at Sepang have been depressing, Marco's passing was really sad.

Then again, watching Rossi win the 2009 world championship there was pretty cool.

I can't understand why they hold the races during the monsoon time..........better change the time of year if you ask me. If its the same time next year, I am staying at home.

[Bluetongue]

In our youth, aaarr whats a bit of rain but now when you have it on the box its a no brainer. All those times I went to Phillip Island, could be as wet as Sepang but throw in freezing and windy as well, no TV option there. They kep saying to change the date, I dont think that would make a difference frankly, the weather in Southern Victoria is renowned for being unreliable, the Island has a direct run all the way to Antarctica and is just north of the winds they call the roaring 40s. Although the year Stoner first won the championship I lashed out and bought a ticket into the Ducati corporate area, so that was a brilliant idea, no free grog but beautiful coffee and cuisine. Got to see and hear the little muggins close up too, and covered heated seating if necessary, after one lap he was leading by the length of the straight so it was a happy area too. In Sepang bought a ticket into a lounge area, that wasn't a bad idea, but that year it was the searing heat more than anything, and free grog too. At the end of the day one of the Bangla Deshi waiters pressed about a dozen tinnies of Tiger onto me so I had plenty of supplies for wandering about the pits and waiting for a cab.

Getting back to the races, well the Malaysian guy in the Moto2 nearly stole it, considering the conditions that was a brilliant race. I say none of you are going to chip Stacey for his statement " well at first I thought I would not even start, then blah, blah, to be honest if they hadn't stopped the race I was going to win"

I think he was revving Lorenzo and Pedrosa for this weekend. No championship on the line for him so he can say anything.

[Lickey]

Good story there BT, reminds me of 1975 Transatlantic Match races Easter,of we go to Brands thursday night, put up the tents, go to paddock hill bar, have a few sherberts, take some bottles back to the camp, light a fire, fry some sausages and onions, off to bed nicely half pissed and stuffed with food.

Wake up about 8am and everything is covered in snow and bloody cold!!, walked down to the track and the organisers had got all the race teams Vans and cars going round the track trying to clear the snow and slush, then it snowed again, racing canncelled! of we went to Mallory Park, it was cold and damp and saturday night some lads got all the ticket boxes and made a big fire, warmed us up a bit, Racing on Sunday was wet but ok, Sunday evening we went to Oulton Park, set up camp ect, and it rained most of mondays races,and the Yanks beat us that year, first time in 4 years, Who said the Yanks couldnt ride in the wet??

Spose Moaner will win Sunday, but it is never a dead cert, all could change on raceday as we know,a number of things could happen, and why name a corner after him?? there are plenty of other more deserving Ozzie riders, anyway, Gary Macoy is the king of slide,,,,

Sent to you from my "Campfire" at a snowy Brands Hatch.

[soihok]

Well you were right, Casey smoked everyone good and proper, it is a shame that he won't be racing next year.

Dani must have been devastated by falling whilst at the front although he would have half way resigned to not winning the championship, again. He has to be right up there with Randy Mamola as being the most successful runner up.

Well done to Marc Marquez, look forward to seeing him in MotoGP next year.

The weekend was certainly one for Aussies to remember and celebrate, Aus riders on the podium of each race.

The last round in Spain will be a must to see, the last time we will see Casey Stonor sideways whilst destroying the competition.....

[Bluetongue]

It looked like great weather, but I bet the wind had a chill on it. I've been a "moaner" about Aussie riders a bit but Sissis in Moto3 showed a lot of fighting quality, albeit assisted by the 4 jump starts amongst the top guys, so we look like we have a future winner there.

Westy has always been a good rider, hampered by a lack of good machinery, his lack of personality, and his old mans tendency to punch out team managers. I'm pleased to say that this year his personality has apparently matured, he keeps his old man off the piss in Aus and out of Europe, and a bit of Arab money never went astray. Good on him. I hope he gets a decent gig next year.

But Casey is our star and we aren't replacing him next year. Right about now, midday in Victoria Australia, the unoffical last round of the World Superbikes is taking place in the run home, particularly from Bairnsdale to Mt Hotham and beyond. The year I did it, the roadworkers had closed the road for about 20 minutes which allowed a pack of about 300 bikes to start. Only 2 died. Amusing or just madness to be one of about 30 bikes passed by an ape with no shirt riding a Triumph at over 100mph across a double line in a perilously short straight with everyone else doing 80 already.

[Lickey]

BT, was that the Bairnsdale bikers Toy Run? its on the Tube,

As for PI, yep quite predictable that Moaner was gonna win, Westy and Sissis did great though, funny how a home race can make a rider better,perhaps these super-perfoming home racers should join the national series, that goes for all nationalities,,

Aussie SB has finished now, Josh Waters the winner, Suzuki, will have a dig round see if i can find Hoppers replacment, if there is one??

Seems Sepang is a favourite for pre-season testing, cos of the guaranteed good weather i suppose, come race day all dry data is no good, Soihok, if you get a day off keep an eye on the testing schedules,you might be re-paid for your raceday discomfort !!

[Lickey]

Leon Camiers partner is Jules Cluzel on the Fixi Suzuki,

sorry about the underline, cant get rid of it,

[Bluetongue]

Leon Camiers partner is Jules Cluzel on the Fixi Suzuki,

sorry about the underline, cant get rid of it,

I am surprised Waters didn't get the ride, they must not nave been impressed with his 2 secs off the pace when he tested it at Aragorn.

No it was not the Bairnsdale Toy Run, nor the annual Barry Sheene run which goes from Bairnsdale to Phillip Island and concludes with a lap of the track. This is just whoever happens to be on the road at the time, thousands of guys ride down from NSW and Queensland every year. On the Monday they commence the trek home. One of the popular routes is the Great Alpine Way and this is the start of it. It keeps us off the boring straight police infested highways.

[Lickey]

BT, found 1 on the tube for the great alpine way, lots of snow on the mountains ect,, looks fun!!

Another week to wait for the last Motogp, and no doubht you fellas have been keeping up with the latest news on the net, lots of close season stuff going on,

Just gonna reminise a bit now, the last MotoGp i went to was Donnington Park, Mick Doohan won, 95 i think it was, Last WSB was Nurburgring 2000/01? Last BSB was Snetterton 2006 with my Thai mrs, [she got a little sunburnt,,,] which is very unusual for an old airfield circuit with plenty of wind,,

So comon fellas, what and where was the last race you were at?

Cheers,

[soihok]

Sepang a couple of weeks ago........not a total loss, the Moto3 race was great...........then I sat on my specs, so went home.

First race was the TransAtlantic races at Donnington in 83 or 84 (I think), saw Sheene, Roberts, race. Great day out that was, never seen so many bikes in one place up to then.

[Bluetongue]

OK, that's easy. Motorcycle Sportsmen Qld, Club Races or Southern Downs Championship, Morgan Park Raceway, Warwick Qld, July 8, this year. A lot of young guys mostly although I did recognise some of the veterans. The highlight for me was the Supermoto where a fellow named Beau Laing starred. He would let the field go off the grid, then lap them all in about a 6 lap race. The corner I was watching from right above he would wash off speed by countersteering in the direction of the corner, thus hanging the back wheel out to his right before countersteering in the opposite direction and hanging his back wheel out to the left, then perfectly apexing the tight right hander. Every one else only hung it out in one direction. Beautiful to watch. Before that Thai motocross club day, Soi Dao, Chantaburi about a year ago. Before that, MotoGP Phillip Island 2010, took the missus and the 2 sons, they didn't really enjoy, the raceday would have been enough for them without qualifying. Stoner won of course, De Angelis won the Moto2, and Marquez the 125.

Westy has failed a doping test after the French GP in about May, he has a one month ban which will put him out of Valencia, subject to appeal. Shame. What is methylhexaneamine anyway.

Race of Champions to be held Bangkok 15-16 December, Lorenzo, Doohan, Vettel, Schumacher and others all supposedly confirmed, but it a car race only I think.

[Lickey]

Westys drug,,

According to Wikipedia, Methylhexaneamine was originally intended as a nasal decongestant and "has been marketed as a dietary supplement in combination with caffeine and other ingredients, under trade names such as Geranamine and Floradrene, to be used as an over-the-counter thermogenic or general-purpose stimulant."

I would think any over the counter drug is a stimulant, cos its sposed to make you feel better, otherwise what is the purpose??

This weekends finale is the last for Moaner and the last for Vale with Duc, Dovi with Tech 3 Yam, Vale doesnt like Valencia, tight and twisty, not many flowing corners, ,, should be good, cos no pressure now, all the WCs done with,,

[Kwasaki]

This years done and dusted but will be still good to see the last 2012 MotoGP race.

As for next year I keep thinking what Jeremy Burgess said some time back when Valentino Rossi went to Ducati,

" Yamaha need more speed."

As a Rossi fan I wonder if this is still the case, I think JB was thinking more about acceleration in certain places & getting out of corners more than top end speed, if Dani gets to stay on a flier they have got to do something, same for Jorge.

I have put my order in for a RC213V.

For those who haven't read stuff, this was interesting :- http://www.motorcycl...re-crt-by-2014/

And the lastest from JB :- http://www.motorcycl...-yamaha-return/

Edited November 7, 2012 by Kwasaki