[Herbivator]

Helloooooo, Helllloooooo, hellloooooo

Incredible echo around here today.

Dovi wins

Colin second

Randy third.

I think its safe to say what's wrong with Stoner is, he's done .... psychologically beaten. Wouldn't wace on de howibble swicks coz it was too scawy. Awww.... there, there.

Rossi could have finished the championship off today but left the door slightly open after crashing, remounting and racing from 11th to 5th, all this after lapping the factory ducs.

I don't get why poor old Nicky copied Stoner's terrible decision - he has got to be feeling like an ass, especially when you consider who got on the podium and after his team told him to race slicks.

Drama, drama drama, who was saying the other day that MotoGp has no edge.

I love this stuff. And I'm getting more rain races than I could have hoped for.

 

[94CobraR]

I don't think Stoner is done. It was a gamble that didn't work. Nothing else. It WAS raining at the beginning of the race and they took a chance.

 

[998R]

Rossi could have finished the championship off today but left the door slightly open after crashing ...

Are you kidding? There are still 7 races left in the championship. You don't have to look all the way back to the 2002 Bayliss/Edwards battle to see how a huge points lead can quickly evaporate--just look at what happened to Haga's rather sizable points lead from just a few races ago. Besides, Rossi would've had only a 39 point lead had he even won the race.

 

[DucmanST3]

When you gamble on tires you can look like a genius or an idiot.....it's really a crap shoot....Ducati rolled the dice and lost. Don't see how that plays into the Stoner mental illness theory, did Hayden catch it too?

 

[kingsnake1650]

I can see why Hayden took the gamble with the tires.... he qualifies poorly and really doesnt have anything to lose. Stoner on the other hand should have gone with slicks when he saw Rossi, Lorenzo, and Pedrosa on slicks. There is no reason to gamble he just needed to get out of the race with a good finish. I dont think Stoners is done, but today might have wrapped up his shot at the title this year. Rossi is on a roll and it wouldnt shock me is he won the last 7.
Good racing! Glad to see Colin on the podium!!!

 

[Herbivator]

I don't think it was a gamble so much as Stoner worrying about crashing. It was Stoner's decision to go on wets against the recommend of his team. He said it was too risky to ride slicks because he might crash and risk injury. I mean, that's no way to win a championship - it doesn't show much.... ummm, what's the word, ballz, that's it. If he'd gone on slicks he would always have been in contention for a podium finish. I think his decision was just simply irrational.

Also a great ride by Colin. I wish he could have won it.

I think the Factory Hondas are definitely back. When Pedrosa wasn't worrying about the wet, he would just burn by De Puniet.

The reason I proposed Rossi could have sealed the title with a win or even 2nd is, this is now 4 races in a row he has increased his gap on his 2 closest rivals - I see no reason why that trend shouldn't continue. Jorge is going to have to risk everything to get back in to this. And with his tendency to make immature mistakes (today he crashed on the white line) he is always going to be his own worst enemy. 40 points lead for Rossi is completely different to 40 point s for the preternaturally ill-fated Haga. But its just an opinion from a devoted Rossi fan.

 

[crashman]

I think its safe to say what's wrong with Stoner is, he's done .... psychologically beaten. Wouldn't wace on de howibble swicks coz it was too scawy. Awww.... there, there.

Wow, thats quite an opinion to have from the comfort of your sofa. Are you trying to be a dick or is it just instinctive?

 

[Matt_P]

I for one wish Colin had won today.


As far as the ducati guys going on rain tires, it was a gamble that totally made them look stupid; but in retrospect if it had pissed rain like one would expect it to at Donnington then they would have walked all over everyone.

 

[Herbivator]

Wow, thats quite an opinion to have from the comfort of your sofa. Are you trying to be a dick or is it just instinctive?

Just for the record, I watch every race from an armchair, wrapped up in my favorite Stoner binky.

Butt seriously, if Lorenzo had come out as the only rider on wets, because he was scared of crashing, and come in dead last, what would a reasonable person say about that.

 

[DucmanST3]

Wow, thats quite an opinion to have from the comfort of your sofa. Are you trying to be a dick or is it just instinctive?

maybe Haga shared his meds LOL

 

[Herbivator]

Ducati MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo,

“We actually informed both riders that all the other guys were on slicks and that we thought it was the right choice but they were both adamant it was too dangerous and at the end of the day we have to trust their instinct in a tricky situation like that. ”

Amazing then that Stoner, in a post race interview with BBC, stated that Rossi, "is so so lucky" and "never had problems with his bike in his entire career." This opinion was volunteered when asked about his own tire choice for the race. As if crashing out of the lead, when riding slicks in the wet, remounting and chasing down 6 riders to earn 5th is lucky.

 

[Pilota_Scuro]

"never had problems with his bike in his entire career."

Huh? Where the hell did he get that? I guess he doesn't remember 2006 when Rossi had several DNFs due to bike problems. Had he finished those races in the points, Hayden likely wouldn't have been champion that year.

 

[kingsnake1650]

Huh? Where the hell did he get that? I guess he doesn't remember 2006 when Rossi had several DNFs due to bike problems. Had he finished those races in the points, Hayden likely wouldn't have been champion that year.

No doubt!!! The case for Stoner being mentally ill just gets stronger and stronger. I dont blame Hayden for taking the tire gamble, Stoner should have known better

 

[whippersnapper]

Great to see Colin get second, I remain a fan even if he never quite made it to the top echelon of MotoGP. Both Yamaha's go down and yet Stoner can't capitalize because he screws his tire choice up. Hayden despite all the rhetoric to the opposite is no faster on the Ducati now than he was at Catalunya.

 

[998R]

I can see why Hayden took the gamble with the tires.... he qualifies poorly and really doesnt have anything to lose. Stoner on the other hand should have gone with slicks when he saw Rossi, Lorenzo, and Pedrosa on slicks. There is no reason to gamble he just needed to get out of the race with a good finish.

+1. Exactly what i was thinking.

 

[Fred00]

Rossi may have thrown away a couple of points by crashing, but he's still the real winner in this race. He increased his lead over Stoner and Lorenzo by 10 and 11 points respectively. The "usual" Rossi 1st and Stoner or Lorenzo 2nd and 3rd would have seen Rossi increase his lead by just 5 and 9 points.

 

[crashman]

Holey cow, I cant believe all of the armchair quarterbacks that are continuing to second guess the tire choices made by 2 former world champions. If the rain would have come sooner the same people that are critical now would be praising them for their brilliant tactics. Hindsight is an amazing thing, isnt it.............

 

[whippersnapper]

Not really. Hayden's choice was fine and he admits himself he did it because a gamble that could result in a chance to win was worth it for him faced with the prospect of finishing 12th yet again.

Stoner's rationale for choosing wets seems to be he didn't think he could compete in the dry so he hoped it would be wet if you actually read what he said

 

[Goner]

Yeah, well the rain didn't come earlier and all but 2 guys in the field played it right - although a few guys who went in for wet tires with 8 laps to go dropped a few pegs - KALLIO- all in all a disasterous weekend for Ducati. Let's see what happens after the break - Stoner gets to rest, Kallio's finger gets repaired and Hayden, well, whoever has the answer to that one, please call Mr. Suppo.

 

[Herbivator]

Hindsight is an amazing thing, isnt it.............

Not as amazing as foresight

Stoner could have ditched the wet bike and jumped on his dry bike after a couple of laps, when it was obvious his decision was a mistake. You could see his team were hoping he might, because they had it ready in the pits. With such a short pit lane and riding conservatively he could have earned points. Maybe his team were trying to distance themselves from Stoner's decision, no matter how much they all like to use the word "we."