Preview - Valencian Grand Prix. (http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/news/156665-0/preview_-_valencian_grand_prix.html)

Wednesday, 31st October 2007

Casey Stoner has the chance to end a memorable MotoGP campaign by matching Valentino Rossi and Giacomo Agostini with 11 wins in a single season, at this weekend's Valencian Grand Prix.

Only Stoner's fellow Australian Mick Doohan has scored more, taking 12 victories during 1997, and - although in only his second season - Stoner has shown Doohan-like dominance on his way to comfortably winning the first ever 800cc title for Ducati.

Last year at Valencia, it was another Australian leading the way for Ducati. Stepping in for the injured Sete Gibernau, Troy Bayliss took victory from second on the grid, ahead of team-mate Loris Capirossi. Stoner retired from the race on lap seven, but has previously sampled the top step of the Valencia podium in the 2003 125GP - his first ever world championship win.

Former seven times world champion Rossi has bad memories of the tight and demanding track, having thrown away an eight point lead when he fell during the 2006 title showdown - handing Nicky Hayden the crown. But the Fiat Yamaha star won at Valencia during 2003 and 2004 - and just a single point in the 30-lap race on Sunday would at least ensure second place in the championship over Spaniard Dani Pedrosa.

Honda's leading rider has started the last three grands prix from pole position and won three times in Valencia in front of his home fans in both 125 and 250cc races - but never in MotoGP.

The battle for fourth place is much closer with just 19 points separating Marco Melandri, John Hopkins, Chris Vermeulen and Capirossi. For three of those riders it will be their last ride for their current team. Melandri leaves Honda Gresini to join Stoner at Ducati, while Hopkins leaves Rizla Suzuki to join Kawasaki and is replaced by Capirossi who leaves Ducati.

The changes continue further down the championship standings, with Randy de Puniet making his last appearance for Kawasaki before joining Honda LCR, while Spaniard Toni Elias rides the Gresini Honda for the last time before joining Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli at Pramac d'Antin Ducati. Elias will be replaced by Japanese rider Shinya Nakano.

Meanwhile two MotoGP veterans, Brazilian Alex Barros and Spaniard Carlos Checa, look set to make their very last grand prix appearances on Sunday.

37-year-old Barros made his grand prix debut in the 80cc class back in 1986 and has competed in 275 grands prix. He's won seven premier class races, finished on the podium 32 times and has started from pole on five occasions. With his d'Antin seat now taken, Barros is yet to announce his 2008 plans.

Checa has ridden in 219 grands prix, winning two and finishing on the podium 24 times. The current Honda LCR rider started three times from pole and will ride in the World Superbike Championship with Ten Kate Honda next season.

Another former MotoGP race winner set to leave the class is Makoto Tamada. The Japanese took two wins, four podiums and three poles as a Bridgestone-shod Honda rider during 2003 and 2004, but failed to adapt to Michelin tyres with just one podium over the next two seasons. Tamada has taken a best finish of eighth this year with Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3, which will field Colin Edwards and James Toseland in 2008.

Meanwhile, the BMW M Award - decided by adding together each rider's qualifying times throughout the season, plus at the official Jerez test - will be decided on Saturday. Stoner currently leads Rossi by half a second in the chase for an M3 Coupe.

Following the race, a number of MotoGP teams will stay on for testing with their new bikes and rider line-ups. One of those present will be 20-year-old Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, who will sign off his 250cc career this weekend before joining Rossi in the factory Yamaha MotoGP team for 2008.

The Fortuna Aprilia rider chases his tenth grand prix victory of the season after retaining his 250cc title for the second year in succession with third place last time out in Malaysia. Also making their last 250cc appearances before joining MotoGP next year will be Andrea Dovizioso and Alex de Angelis.

The 125cc World Championship will be decided in the 24-lap final encounter of the season. Gabor Talmacsi could bring the very first world championship to Hungary although local hero and team-mate Hector Faubel will do everything to spoil the party.

Talmacsi leads his Bancaja Aspar Aprilia team-mate by ten points after winning in Malaysia but Faubel will have the massive crowd and plenty of local Spanish riders helping his cause. It promises to be some battle.

:corn

Can hardly wait till Sunday, it's going to suck without any racing. ;)

lets hope its a good race to finish the season off:moped

i hate the end of the racin season

that means i don't have shitz 2 do/watch until daytona :(

New MotoGP (http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/news/156701-0/stoners_strike_rate_rises.html#) world champion has now won over one third of the races he has started in the premier class.


Having now taken 10 victories from his 33 MotoGP starts, Casey Stoner has reached a win rate good enough for fifth in the 'modern era' of grand prix racing (since 1975) - and above triple world champion Wayne Rainey.

A victory in Valencia on Sunday would move the Ducati star up another place in the list, above Freddie Spencer. The list is still headed by Valentino Rossi (http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/news/156701-0/stoners_strike_rate_rises.html#), although this season the Italian's win rate has fallen below 50%.

Rossi and Stoner are the only two riders in the top ten currently racing.


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Career winning percentage in 500cc/MotoGP:

1. Valentino Rossi 131 (starts) 62 (wins) 47.3%
2. Mick Doohan 137 (starts) 54 (wins) 39.4%
3. Kenny Roberts (Snr) 58 (starts) 22 (wins) 37.9%
4. Freddie Spencer 62 (starts) 20 (wins) 32.3%
5. Casey Stoner 33 (starts) 10 (wins) 30.3%
6. Wayne Rainey 83 (starts) 24 (wins) 28.9%
7. Eddie Lawson 127 (starts) 31 (wins) 24.4%
8. Kevin Schwantz 104 (starts) 25 (wins) 24.0%
9. Barry Sheene 98 (starts) 19 (wins) 19.4%
10. Wayne Gardner 102 (starts) 18 (wins) 17.6%

ya, now break out Agostini with an 80+% win rate.

VALENCIA, SPAIN, NOV.2: Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner dominated both the morning and afternoon sessions for the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix on a cloudy bright day near the Spanish east coast.
The 2007 MotoGP World Champion finished the morning with a best lap of 1:33.083, a time that he dropped to 1:32.968 in the afternoon. Neither of the laps approached the outright circuit best lap of 1:31.002 set by Valentino Rossi last year.
In the morning Stoner had a gap of .679 of a second on the next fastest rider, Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda), but the gap in the afternoon was narrower; only .116 of a second on Yamaha Tech 3’s Sylvain Guintoli. The Frenchman, who will move to the d’Antin Ducati team next year, used a Dunlop qualifier for his fast lap.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa moved into the second fastest spot with around 15 minutes to go and stayed there. With Stoner on Bridgestones, Guintoli on Dunlops, and Pedrosa on Michelins, it was that rare occasion when three tire companies finished in the top three places.
After Pedrosa came a string of four more Bridgestone riders, all closely clustered. Melandri was fourth, just in front of Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen, Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet, and Pramac d’Antin Ducati’s Alex Barros, the Brazilian who announced on Thursday he was 90 percent certain to retire after this race.
Those four were covered by just over two-tenths of a second, with Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi trying very hard, but only finishing eighth. In search of the elusive tenth of a second, Rossi ran off the track at least twice, and was still nearly .7 of a second down on Stoner.
The gap behind Rossi was only .030 of a second to Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden, with Rizla Suzuki’s John Hopkins an identical interval behind in 10th.
Colin Edwards, riding his Fiat Yamaha for the last time, finished with the 13th fastest time.
Chaz Davies crashed the Pramac d’Antin Ducati in the morning session and didn’t ride in the afternoon. He may have a broken bone in his hand, though nothing was officially announced.



Free practice times (combined) - Valencia.


Full MotoGP (http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/news/156738-0/free_practice_times_combined_-_valencia.html#) free practice times (1 and 2 combined) from the Valencian Grand Prix, the 18th and final round of the 2007 world championship.




1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 32.968 secs
2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 (D) 1min 33.084 secs
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 33.150 secs
4. Marco Melandri ITA Honda Gresini (B) 1min 33.319 secs
5. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 33.501 secs
6. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 33.519 secs
7. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin (B) 1min 33.541 secs
8. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 33.620 secs
9. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 33.650 secs
10. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 33.680 secs
11. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR (M) 1min 33.831 secs
12. Makoto Tamada JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 (D) 1min 33.899 secs
13. Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 33.972 secs
14. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 34.000 secs
15. Toni Elias SPA Honda Gresini (B) 1min 34.218 secs
16. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda (M) 1min 34.352 secs
17. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 34.413 secs
18. Chaz Davies GBR Pramac d'Antin (B) 1min 35.029 secs *
19. Kurtis Roberts USA Team Roberts (M) 1min 35.335 secs

* time set in FP1.


2006 Valencian Grand Prix:
Pole position: Valentino Rossi ITA Camel Yamaha (M) 1min 31.002secs
Fastest race lap: Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 32.924secs

:crash

is that uccio?:crash

^ I think it vale or R1L :crash

ya, now break out Agostini with an 80+% win rate.

The article stated clearly 'modern era'... :r1lover

^ I think it vale or R1L :crash

I ain't that chubby, so got to be R1L... :lmao

I ain't that chubby, so got to be R1L... :lmao



:lol :owned

R1L has a Honda tatoo on his back?? Traitor!!!!!!! :mad

R1L has a Honda tatoo on his back?? Traitor!!!!!!! :mad

His also got a Harley one on the front... Biga told me... :secret

Blasphemy.

Qualifying isnt going so good for Rossi.....

2007 MotoGP Valencia Ricardo Tormo - Valencia 02/11/2007 Qualifying 1
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'32.968
2 Sylvain Guintoli (http://console.mxlogic.com/redir/?1jspss7e6zASCUCqehPXbxI04mRniuBUXqk2fbU2ZJa175qPG hmOcAfyaP_ls8JOxeFYK006XCXCO5mUmY55JlQDFs6CaNaYKrh spjjjdEECzByXb3P2pJBcSdRDk91oQg1Dj_xqmCy0Kq81uf-q80J7rjBrPj0rDUvf0srodEFCQT4PhOeophdZUEb79XO) Yamaha (http://console.mxlogic.com/redir/?1jspss7e6zASCUCqehPXbxI04mRniuBUXqk2fbU2ZJa175qPG hmOcAfyaP_ls8JOxeFYK006XCXCO5mUmY55JlQDFs6CaNaYKrh spjjjdEECzByXb3P2pJBcSdRDk91oQg1Dj_xqmCy0Kq81uf-q80J7rjBrPj0rDUvf0srvdEFCQT4PhOeophdZUEb79XO) FRA 1'33.084
3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'33.150
4 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'33.319
5 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 1'33.501
6 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 1'33.519
7 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 1'33.541
8 Valentino Rossi (http://console.mxlogic.com/redir/?FKcKe3D3hOrjsjd78VZBMS02bqHFfiYtJa17BY1uSB0zyJpR8 Hp6i7N5p_GKhHiAK006XCXCO5mUmY55JlQDFs6CaNaYKrhspjj jdEECzByXb3P2pJBcSdRDk91oQg1Dj_xqmCy0Kq81uf-q80J7rjBrPj0rDUvf0srsdEFCQT4PhOeophdZUEb79XO) Yamaha (http://console.mxlogic.com/redir/?1jspss7e6zASCUCqehPXbxI04mRniuBUXqk2fbU2ZJa175qPG hmOcAfyaP_lszmB9s00dTdTdAaJMJUabqHFfiUdclylVsSyUOC CCrhhd7b5Sm7C4PrapIrHeEi2NEw3eD_2QJd41sQg2YvYQg1qe SDaTCC0TfM-u0USedEFCQT4PhOeophdZUEb79XO) ITA 1'33.620
9 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 1'33.650
10 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 1'33.680
11 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 1'33.831
12 Makoto Tamada (http://console.mxlogic.com/redir/?arzbzwVMQsCQT4PhOevpsdw0ySGWjQL7riwhVv0nJFg8UHmti aShAxYhmvWHAZlR3u006XCXCO5mUmY55JlQDFs6CaNaYKrhspj jjdEECzByXb3P2pJBcSdRDk91oQg1Dj_xqmCy0Kq81uf-q80J7rjBrPj0rDUvf0srudEFCQT4PhOeophdZUEb79XO) Yamaha (http://console.mxlogic.com/redir/?1jspss7e6zASCUCqehPXbxI04mRniuBUXqk2fbU2ZJa175qPG hmOcAfyaP_lsDGKErM00TsTsSgGT2TwEJGKAZbwQNm9nBPqbza qqpJ54QsInpouojdIFCNKIWx8b6y0cWvYbiQQg5Ph0bN_Ph05E XqsHuqo3s_3VU3zpEVdEFCQT4PhOeophdZUEb79XO) JPN 1'33.899
13 Colin Edwards (http://console.mxlogic.com/redir/?kT6n71PxEVdFK9CzAs-OUr015JlQDFueSB0zO-0LriwhNmIWAlIz93UyI_Rnfgcr52D003tPtPp2Hsbu2ySGWjQK 3j5oBundEKcFFFCQkjhONtBxVxcSOCr6WPG4wIq80PF_MJbjh0 nd40L7_d40mzJFOJVFwdPYfDwedETdEFCQT4PhOeophdZUEb79 XO) Yamaha (http://console.mxlogic.com/redir/?FKcKe3D3hOrjsjd78VZBMS02bqHFfiYtJa17BY1uSB0zyJpR8 Hp6i7N5p_GKuwoSa5e006XCXCO5mUmY55JlQDFs6CaNaYKrhsp jjjdEECzByXb3P2pJBcSdRDk91oQg1Dj_xqmCy0Kq81uf-q80J7rjBrPj0rDUvf0srhhdEFCQT4PhOeophdZUEb79XO) USA 1'33.972
14 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 1'34.000
15 Toni Elias Honda ESP 1'34.218

Kw QP takes place on Saturdays, also if you look above I have already posted the combined times from Friday. :r1lover

Full free practice times (3) from the Valencian Grand Prix, the 18th and final round of the 2007 world championship.



»

1. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 (D) 1min 32.670 secs
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 33.132 secs
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 33.236 secs
4. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin (B) 1min 33.239 secs
5. Marco Melandri ITA Honda Gresini (B) 1min 33.240 secs
6. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 33.407 secs
7. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 33.487 secs
8. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 33.505 secs
9. Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 33.518 secs
10. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 33.569 secs
11. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 33.580 secs
12. Toni Elias SPA Honda Gresini (B) 1min 33.757 secs
13. Makoto Tamada JPN Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 (D) 1min 33.988 secs
14. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 34.006 secs
15. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda (M) 1min 34.258 secs
16. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 34.327 secs
17. Kurtis Roberts USA Team Roberts (M) 1min 34.487 secs
18. Chaz Davies GBR Pramac d'Antin (B) 1min 34.960 secs
Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR (M) no time


2007 Valencian Grand Prix:
Fastest Friday time: Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 32.968secs

2006 Valencian Grand Prix:
Pole position: Valentino Rossi ITA Camel Yamaha (M) 1min 31.002secs
Fastest race lap: Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro (B) 1min 32.924secs

the 2 ex world chumps are struggling a bit, hope they get their act together for final q this afternoon:80500:02mgp

Bad stuff happening in qualifying. Will not give it away though.

Bad stuff happening in qualifying. Will not give it away though.

pedrosa
stoner
hayden


rossi crashed on his 6th lap on the final left, 3 broken bones in hand and back pain, probably won't race sunday.

guintoli top yamaha! more to follow.

VALENCIA, SPAIN, NOV.3: Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa will start the final grand prix of the 2007 MotoGP season from the pole position in a session that was filled with surprises.
That the Spaniard on top wasn’t a surprise; it was his fourth pole in a row and it came on a warm, sunlit afternoon in Valencia, Spain. Neither was it surprising that Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner was second fastest by less than a tenth of a second. The session ended with Stoner winning the BMW M Award for being fast qualifier at all the MotoGP races and the official pre-season MotoGP test in Jerez, Spain.
Stoner was leading the BMW M Award standings when the day began and he secured the award when Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi had a vicious high-side in the left hand turn one, his M1 bucking three times before throwing him over the top. The 28-year-old Italian was holding his right wrist and clearly in pain at the side of the track before being taken by ambulance to the medical center. The initial diagnosis is a broken fifth metacarpal, a broken pyramidal, and broken wrist.
If the injuries force him out of the race, it will be the first time he’s failed to make the grid in 191 races. It would also put his second place in the championship in jeopardy. Pedrosa is currently 24 points behind and would pass Rossi if he won the race and Rossi failed to score a point.
Valencia has not been kind to Rossi. Last year he had control of the championship, only to suffer an uncharacteristic crash while out of contention for the win. The title went to Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden.
Hayden was having a miserable weekend until the very end of qualifying. Unable to get heat into his tires, he languished near the bottom of the order for much of the session, keeping company with Kurtis Roberts and Chaz Davies. But he jumped up the order to seventh place, then into second with 9:30 mins. to run in the one hour session.
With 2:28 to go he went to the top with a lap of 1:31.903. But in a span of less than a minute he dropped to third. Stoner went faster at the two-minute mark, followed by Pedrosa’s hot lap with 1:35 remaining.
Still, Hayden was happy to be on the front row and hopeful something could be found overnight to make the bike more raceworthy.
“Well, it’s honestly been a bit of a nightmare so far this weekend,” Hayden said. “Just for whatever reason, I cannot get the tires to work for me here. I’ve had a lot of luck with the 16 (inch tires) the last few weeks, but here it’s been really tough. But when I put in the qualifiers the bike was really good and really fun to ride. That was by far the most fun I had this weekend and I dropped 2.5 seconds.
“Luckily, I got some good guys around me and good team over there. We’ll have to definitely try something huge tomorrow. But being on the front is a big advantage, so I know these guys are going to make it tough. But we’ll come in here tomorrow, definitely, and see what happens.
“Race day’s always a different story. Anything can happen. We’ll just try to stick our nose in there and be able to put a bid in and try to finish off the year really good. So, see what happens. I’m pretty excited about the race. I wish I was quicker on race tires. See what happens when that light goes out.”
Hayden will certainly be chasing Pedrosa and Stoner. Pedrosa would like to win his first MotoGP race in front of his home crowd, but like Hayden, he needs help with his race set-up.
“It’s a long race-30 laps-so we will try tonight to look for something more and we will see tomorrow, I hope,” he said.
Stoner was happy with the performance of his Desmosedici GP7 on worn tires and confident he could be consistent over race distance.
“We’re just still trying to get a bit better lap time towards the end of it, just to make sure we’re competitive at the end of the race,” he said. “But, so far, the weekend’s gone quite well for us. We seem to miss out on that pole position by a few hundredths quite often this year. But I’m pretty happy again. We’re on the front row and we have been concentrating hard on the setting.”
Stoner's combined best qualifying laps over 19 events was 2.184 secs. better than Rossi's, though nearly 1.7 of that came today.
In his last race for Kawasaki, Frenchman Randy de Puniet qualified fourth fastest. De Puniet had been on top a few times in the first half of the session, then again with 5:30 to go. He held it for nearly three minutes before he was dropped to the second row.
He was joined, in something of a surprise, by Yamaha Tech 3 teammates Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada, both of whom made quantum leaps at the flag to give Dunlop control of the second row.
Rizla Suzuki’s John Hopkins led off row three from Marlboro Ducati’s Loris Capirossi, the rider who will replace him for the 2008 season. Honda LCR’s Carlos Checa, who will move to the Ten Kate Honda World Superbike team in 2008, will start his final MotoGP race from the end of row three. Checa spent the morning session in the hospital with an intestinal ailment. He returned to the hospital after the qualifying session.
Gresini Honda’s Marco Melandri, who moves to the Marlboro Ducati team in 2008, is on the row four pole with Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen and Pramac d’Antin Ducati’s Alex Barros by his side. Barros said he was 90% certain to retire after this race.
Konica Minolta Honda’s Shinya Nakano qualified 13th in front of Gresini Honda’s Toni Elias and Fiat Yamaha’s Colin Edwards. All three will be changing teams next year, with Nakano going to Gresini, Elias going to d’Antin Ducati, and Edwards to Tech 3 Yamaha, but on Michelin tires.
Kawasaki’s Anthony West was 16th, with Rossi sliding down to 17th after his crash in the eighth minute of the session. He finished just in front of Team Roberts Kurtis Roberts, with Chaz Davies 19th on the Pramac d’Antin Ducati.
Davies damaged three fingers on his right hand in a Friday practice crash, then fell again on Saturday.
MotoGP Qualifying:
1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1:31.517
2. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1:31.603
3. Nicky Hayden (Honda) 1:31.903
4. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki) 1:31.963
5. Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha) 1:32.074
6. Makoto Tamada (Yamaha) 1:32.151
7. John Hopkins (Suzuki) 1:32.165
8. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) 1:32.261
9. Carlos Checa (Honda) 1:32.273
10. Marco Melandri (Honda) 1:32.367
Other:
15. Colin Edwards (Yamaha) 1:33.021
18. Kurtis Roberts (KR212V) 1:33.431
19. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 1:34.436

Argh. Completely sucks for Rossi. At least it's at the end of the season when he's got time to let it heal properly.

quitter :P

"ohz noz, I can't take losing so I'll destroy my bike and hand so that I can quit... right up until it's time to test my new tires, then my hand will be ok and everyone will hail me as a hero!"

sorry i didn't post up more, am in the middle of moving house, went up in loft, managed to knock my ladder down, was stuck up there for over an hour!:rofl

^ :rofl


They should have left you up there :poke

mmkay...

1. Stoner
2. Pedrosa
3. Capirossi
4. Hopkins
5. Hayden

:fact

"ohz noz, I can't take losing so I'll destroy my bike and hand so that I can quit... right up until it's time to test my new tires, then my hand will be ok and everyone will hail me as a hero!"

That's total bullshit jr and you know it :fact :poke

^ :lmao

I missed that post JR.

R1L I think he is right :crash

Damn that sucks about Vale..... :(


You guys are just haters.... I think you belong in the basement... :)

I'd normally make some smartass comment about Rossi about right now , but I hate to see any of those guys get injured. Plus, I'm just havin' fun picking on and being picked on by Rossi fans more than I am raggin' on Val , so hope he gets well soon , there's always next season.







That fuckin' quitter.















:stir :lmao

I dunno what's BS and what's not. I don't think anyone breaks their hand on purpose tho, LOL.

Alright, I just watched that crash, there is nothing funny about it. I t happened at the 50 minute mark. So it was still on race tire set up.

VALENCIA, SPAIN, NOV 3: Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi is going to try to ride in Sunday’s season-ending Valencia Grand Prix, despite breaking three bones in his right hand in a qualifying session high-side.
Rossi made a surprise appearance during a technical presentation Yamaha management was giving on the YFZ-M1.
Appearing with his right hand lightly wrapped in blue tape, Rossi was in good form, chiding a Honda Europe employee for attending the briefing before making a short statement.
Rossi, who normally has a debriefing with journalists at 4:30 p.m. every day of the race weekend, said he showed up “Just because for the journalists I don’t see after the practice. I want to say that I’m quite good. I have three small fractures in this hand and in the finger.” He said it was giving him a little bit of a problem and that he would try to ride in the morning warm-up. “So I wait for this night and I will decide tomorrow morning if I try to race and if is not a big risk or too much pain.”
Rossi broke the fifth metacarpal, his wrist, and a third bone when he was bucked of his Fiat Yamaha YZF-M1 early in the afternoon session. Fifth at the time, he fell to 17th overall and will start Sunday's race, if he does, from the sixth row.

Just goes to show how little confidence he has in his equipment right now.....that was his third highlight of the weekend on MotoGP.com. He's not happy, and it's showing.

Hayden is going to go backwards quick....

Hayden is going to go backwards quick....


they have no race setup because of tyres, pete benson, nicky's crew chief said they would be lucky to finish the race:oh

I'd normally make some smartass comment about Rossi about right now , but I hate to see any of those guys get injured. Plus, I'm just havin' fun picking on and being picked on by Rossi fans more than I am raggin' on Val , so hope he gets well soon , there's always next season.







That fuckin' quitter.















:stir :lmao

Hayden sucks too :P

rossi is out in the morning warm up, slowest, but he's out there:respect

That has to a painful ride

result.

pedrobot
bridgestoner
big ears hopkins


rossi had an engine failure......again. was not a happy camper:mock

and he finishes 3rd in the standings by 1 damn point:mad

Damn that sucks... poor Rossi I bet he is ready to kill someone. :)

^ Uccio!? :crash

So will Rossi be trying for 4th spot next year????

:lmao

^ Uccio!? :crash

So will Rossi be trying for 4th spot next year????

:lmao

by a single point ofcourse.

hopper scares me:shock

^ Uccio!? :crash

So will Rossi be trying for 4th spot next year????

:lmao


You want to go back in the basement? :whip:whip

You want to go back in the basement? :whip:whip

:yes

Dam, now I need a new sig :rant

VALENCIA, SPAIN, NOV.4:


Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa clinched second in the 2007 MotoGP World Championship by taking a very popular win in front of 132,500 sun-drenched fans in the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix.
In order to take second, Pedrosa had to win the race and hope that Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi didn’t score a point. Under normal circumstances that wouldn’t happen. But Rossi was racing with three broken bones in his right hand and wrist, the result of a Saturday qualifying session highside.
Forced to start 17th by virtue of his performance before crashing, Rossi was in the points on the 14th lap and stayed there until running wide in turn one starting lap 18. When he rejoined he was over seven seconds down and pitted a lap later.
The final standings have Pedrosa beating Rossi by a single point, 242-241. It was the first time since clinching his 125cc World Championship in 1997 that Rossi had finished below second place.
“Yes, I’m very happy,” Pedrosa said after becoming the first rider to win 125cc, 250cc, and MotoGP races at Valencia. “The race was very difficult. All the time pushing, pushing and very hard. The pace was very fast, so I must say thanks to the team because they worked really good and really hard all the weekend. So the tires were perfect, also the bike. So I must be happy on that point. But also about second place in the championship. I didn’t expect that, so after this difficult season second place is not really, really bad, anyway. So I think everybody enjoyed this weekend and, I mean the people, the crowd, and I hope the next season I can enjoy also.”
Second place today went to Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner. Pedrosa drafted past the 2007 World Champion starting the sixth of 30 laps and the battle was on. But it wasn’t very spirited. Stoner never really attacked and lost large chunks of ground as the race wore on.
The margin of victory was 5.447 seconds.
“I didn’t really have anything left,” Stoner said. “You know, we got a really good start, I led for the first few laps and the lap times seemed to be okay. And, you know, I kept as consistent pace as I could and pretty much pushed the bike as much as I could. I had a few front loses and things like that and we just couldn’t go much quicker. We were doing low 33s and obviously Dani [Pedrosa] was just doing a tenth of a lap quicker or something like that and sometimes I’d catch him back and he’d pull again. So, you know it was very close for a long time during most of the race.
“And then with only a handful of laps to go the left hand side of my rear tire seemed to give way on me and I had a couple of rear end loses so I just decided to give up at that point. Dani rode a perfect race, he didn’t make any mistakes. And definitely running a lot quicker pace than what I expected for the race. So congratulations to him and thanks to my team and everybody for such a fantastic season.”
John Hopkins put the Rizla Suzuki on the podium for the fourth time this year with his third-place finish. Hopkins, who moves to Kawasaki for 2008, passed Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden in turn two on the fifth lap. While Hayden got involved in a tussle with Gresini Honda’s Marco Melandri, Hopkins took off, quickly building a cushion on fourth place. He would finish nearly 15 seconds behind Stoner and 4.4 up on Melandri.
The third-place finish would net Hopkins fourth place in the championship, his best ever by one position.
“I mean, the ultimate goal today was to go out and get on the podium whether it be the top step, second or third,” Hopkins said. “So, no, we’re happy with what we could take.
“Basically Suzuki has given me a life in MotoGP. It’s made my career and made it what it is today. So I can’t thank them enough. It’s an emotional time right now. It’s the last race with them for five years, so it’s been great. Bridgestone tires have been unbelievable to me. No, I’m just really happy.
“My family’s here. My fiancee’s family’s all here, so it’s a great, unbelievable moment for me and hopefully we’ll be able to share it throughout the evening with the Rizla Suzuki team.”
Melandri drafted past Hayden on the front straight on the 22nd lap. The pair had a pitched battle until Hayden’s lap times began to increase. Melandri pulled out a comfortable cushion while Hayden began to regress. By the end of the race he’d dropped to seventh, passed by Marlboro Ducati’s Loris Capirossi, Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen, and Pramac d’Antin Ducati’s Alex Barros, the final pass coming on the penultimate lap.
Vermeulen nearly caught Capirossi, but Barros and Hayden were well clear, with Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet and Gresini Honda’s Toni Elias close behind.
Tech 3 Yamaha’s Sylvain Guintoli finished 11th, one spot up on Honda LCR’s Carlos Checa.
Colin Edwards finished his last race on the Fiat Yamaha in 13th place. Behind him were Konica Minolta Honda’s Shinya Nakano, Tech 3 Yamaha’s Makoto Tamada, and Kawasaki’s Anthony West.
MotoGP:
1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda)
2. Casey Stoner (Ducati)
3. John Hopkins (Suzuki)
4. Marco Melandri (Honda)
5. Loris Capirossi (Ducati)
6. Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki)
7. Alex Barros (Ducati)
8. Nicky Hayden (Honda)
9. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki)
10. Toni Elias (Honda)
11. Sylvain Guintoli (Yamaha)
12. Carlos Checa (Honda)
13. Colin Edwards (Yamaha)
14. Shinya Nakano (Honda)
15. Makoto Tamada (Yamaha)
16. Anthony West (Kawasaki)
DNF:
Valentino Rossi (Yamaha)
Kurtis Roberts (Honda)

Repsol Honda’s Nicky Hayden couldn’t wait for this season to end.
The defense of his 2006 World Championship was disastrous from start to finish, with Honda delivering a motorcycle that was rarely capable of being competitive and Michelin chiming in with tires that weren’t up to snuff. The pair conspired to produce a motorcycle today that didn’t work on race tires, no matter what was tried. At the end of the day, Michelin apologized, Hayden said, and now he’s looking forward to Tuesday when he gets the first glimpse of what he hopes is a vastly improved 2008 machine.
http://www.cyclenews.com/photos/Nicky.jpg Hayden ran third early in today’s season-ending Valencia Grand Prix before tire problems sent him on a backwards trajectory. He finally landed in eighth.
“Just finished off the season about like it started and pretty much how everything was in between, really,” Hayden said at the end of a long day and long season. “It was tough because I like this track so much. But all weekend, I just-on race tires-could not go anywhere.
“I know an easy excuse right now, but you know I chose all 16’s this week and looking back now, we don’t understand, Michelin don’t understand why they didn’t work. Even the wear on them doesn’t look like they’re wearing right. They just haven’t worked.
“Actually today, we changed the pressure a lot in the tires today, like half a bar, like more than I’ve ever done anything, more to try to get the tire to get hotter and to get it to work. And this morning it actually worked better than it has all weekend. But in the race it was really tough. Actually I felt like a jack-ass because I just stuffed (Marco) Melandri, pushed to try to get by him, but when I did I went straight to 34’s. That’s when I ran into some problems. At that time I still thought if I could get by him-I was doing 33’s-try to make a push at (John) Hopkins, but no, it wasn’t happening. And the last few laps it was just really tough in the left-handers.”
The problem was that the tires never got up to a proper working temperature.
“We changed pressure, not because of the rubber, we just couldn’t get the tire to work. I mean even on the data, I mean the steering lock, they never seen so much opposite steer in places. And to go 2.5 seconds faster in qualifying. I can’t complain about grip all weekend and then put on a qualifier” and go 2.5 seconds faster than he’d gone in practice."
Hayden said that he and race-winner and teammate Dani Pedrosa had different tires. Pedrosa uses a much different construction. And they also had different engines. Pedrosa was able to motor past second place finisher Casey Stoner (Marlboro Ducati) on the straightaway.
Hayden’s RC212V was slower because he had to use a leaner fuel-air mixture.
“One thing, I really had to lean by bike out all weekend because I was spinning so much,” Hayden said. “And, just in general, I use more fuel than him, so they say. And this was about as lean as I’ve had my bike in a long time.”
Now, Hayden says, "It’s over. You know it hasn’t been an easy...but I mean I guess none of them are. So I guess definitely shake this one off and be done with it. It’d have been nice to went out with a good result and had some momentum, but certainly, we’ve got a lot of work to do. It starts when I get over there for a meeting. I guess I’m glad that it’s over. It just seems like nothing’s went right. From the start, really. I’ve never had so many first corner incidents. Best race of the year had a Honda engine break (at Phillip Island). I mean, come on, seems like it’s been one of those years."

Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi put in a valiant effort to retain second in the MotoGP World Championship.
Riding with three broken bones in his right hand and wrist, the Italian was in the points and on pace to hold off the resurgent Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) when he ran off the track in the first turn on the 18th of 30 laps. What wasn’t known at the time was that the engine had locked up. And though it re-started, it was never the same.
Rossi circulated for one lap before pulling in to watch Pedrosa win the race and take second in the championship. It was the first time Rossi had finished lower than second in the point standings since he won the 1997 125cc World Championship.
“So, now the pain is not a big problem, because I have injection before the race with Claudio (Costa), and in the race I was in quite good shape. For sure, not at the maximum, but I was able to ride,” Rossi said, adding that the hand injuries would take four weeks to heal. “The problem was the effort for nothing, and I saw for a lot this time all the people say to me to don't race, but I feel confident. I feel good. It is like I have the situation under control, and I think to be quiet and make a normal race, just for take one point. In fact I was controlled behind Carlos (Checa) and Colin (Edwards), and I think is possible arrive maybe 11th or 12th. I was quite fast anyway.
“But in the braking of the first corner when I shift down, the engine lock, like in Misano race.
“I don't know if you saw on the television, but my bike lock very aggressive. I release the clutch and I slow down. And after, the feeling was not the same, because I have a problem in braking, like always the rear tire locking. So I stop.
“Now they don't understand what is happening in the engine, but something wrong happened. The bike was very slow.”
The next question was about tires. Rossi had been coy about his tire choice for weeks, but he finally broke his silence.
“Yes, I can say something. Yes, I think we race with Bridgestone,” he said. An announcement is expected Sunday evening.
He wasn’t having second thoughts, despite Michelin winning today with Pedrosa, and he wanted to thank the French company for their five world championships.
“The problem is it is not enough, the tire,” he began, “and so, if you want to try to win, is not possible try to win with a bike that is slower than the last group of bikes. So … they have to work a lot,” he said, referring to both Michelin and Yamaha.
The concerns that Michelin wouldn’t allow him to test came to pass. Rossi said they’d prevented him from testing either here in Valencia, later this week, or in Malaysia mid-month. He pointed out that his hand precludes testing until the end of the month, when he’ll begin testing in Jerez, Spain.

It’s official: Valentino Rossi will race his Fiat Yamaha on Bridgestone tires in 2008.
The announcement came in a press release about 5 ½ hours after the completion of the season-ending Valencia GP, though Rossi had confirmed it with reporters a few hours earlier.
Teammate Jorge Lorenzo will enter his rookie MotoGP season on Michelin tires, the release confirmed.
The teams will be split in two “to ensure confidentiality of data for each tire company, Yamaha will organize separate rider pit boxes, but the Fiat Yamaha Team will continue to operate and race as one team.”
The teams will have separate managers and team coordinators. Davide Brivio, the current team manager, will manage Rossi’s team. His brother, Robert, is the team coordinator. Daniele Romagnoli will manage Lorenzo’s team, with Emanuel Mazzini the team coordinator.
Rossi’s departure means that Michelin is left with the Repsol Honda team of Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden, the Tech 3 Yamaha team of Colin Edwards and James Toseland, Honda LCR's Randy de Puniet, and Lorenzo. Team Roberts, which used Michelins this years, hasn’t confirmed its plans for the 2008 season, though they hope to race satellite Ducatis with much of their current backing, but in a much larger scheme.

Didn't rossi do well LOL he's got to be beyond frustrated at this point.

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




rossi's crash from saturday:oh