MotoGP Round 4 debacle (spoiler)

[Valguard]

Holy F! What a race. Good show from almost everyone.

Ok... Simoncelli - in the wrong? Victim of circumstance? Pedrosa in too hot? I cant believe he broke his other collar bone. So sad. Pedrosa just cant catch a brake.

Discuss!

[tecknojoe]

Simoncelli should not have gone for that IMO. Pedrosa is out for at least several races now with another broken collar bone because of his actions. Waiting to hear Simoncelli's comments on the matter.

good on Dovi for holding off the dr

yay stoner

[CaneZach]

I'm a fan of Simoncelli, but the dude just can't get out of his own way. He'll post up some of the fastest lap times, lead a race by several seconds, then crash out for no reason. He's ultra-aggressive, which I don't necessarily consider a bad thing, but he becomes so aggressive he bifs himself or someone else. If he can learn to control himself, he could be a real challenge for the crown. Until then, he'll be another "win it or crash it" guy.

[tecknojoe]

Oh yea, and I just heard about stoner punching de puniet during warm up. un called for



stolen article from elsewhere:

A&R

The tenor of temper tantrums and drama in the MotoGP paddock seemingly escalates with each passing day, as the Warm-Up session at Le Mans saw further scuffles from MotoGP riders. Punching Randy de Puniet in the arm, Casey Stoner has been levied a €5,000 fine by Race Direction for the contact with the French rider. With such a physical act is clearly out of order and unsportsmanlike in any sort of motorcycle race, but the issue about slower riders on the racing line has also surfaced, with many in the MotoGP paddock looking for some intervention from Race Direction on that issue as well.

The incident came about as Randy de Puniet and Álvaro Bautista had slowed on the racing line (seemingly having their own moment with each other), with Stoner rapidly approaching on his Repsol Honda. With de Puniet looking back over his shoulder, the French rider seemingly moved to get out of the way of Stoner, who was on the inside of the two riders. However moving to the outside, Randy blocked Casey’s line, as the Australian went to the outside as well to make his pass over the slower duo.

Visibly upset about having not only slower riders on the racing line, but also getting blocked on his faster lap, Stoner punched de Puniet on the upper-arm/shoulder as he rode by, with the two riders exchanging other gestures that we haven’t been able to identify in the ASL dictionary. For this act, Race Direction has fined Stoner €5,000, though no penalty has been assessed to Randy de Puniet for his part in the incident, with the Frenchman simply getting a warning for his part. Slow-lappers on the racing line has been an increasingly problematic issue in MotoGP, and is a personal pet-peev for Casey Stoner, who doesn’t like riders latching onto his Honda and getting a tow around the circuit.

So far Race Direction has not handed-out fines or penalties for the plethora of riders sitting on the racing line and waiting for a tow, and many in the MotoGP paddock are waiting for the officials to step-in on the issue. There’s no doubt that lately there’s been a laissez-faire approach to the melodrama that has become MotoGP racing in 2011, with riders publicly scuffling with each other essentially from the Spanish GP onward.

[Sean]

Good race for sure. Looked like Rossi is finally figuring out his setup. Bummer about Edwards, it seems like his chance at the title is slimming. The Honda's are just killing the hell out of everybody. Stoner won by 15 sec! And Dovi rode his ass off keeping Rossi in 3rd. nice. What happened to Jorge?

At first I liked Marco because he was gutsy, but now I think he's just pulling some dick moves. I'm not a racer, so I really don't know shit about the proper etiquette, but I think he crossed over the line with Dani. Either way, Marco sure can ride. Curious to know what some of the MRA guys think about the pass? Rubbing is racing? Or thumbs down?

[tecknojoe]

nah not rubbing is racing. way too aggressive and immature IMO. Now dani will likely have 0 chance at the title this year... so early in the season for something like that

[Mother Goose]

From the angles I saw, it looked like there was room for Pedrosa to hold his line. Marco didn't cut down on him. When Pedrosa stood it up because he was going in too hot, that's when all hell broke loose. If he had been able to hold his line, they both would have made the corner.

[drago52]

Simoncelli lived up to his reputation again! It was really a fun race to watch. I think it would have been hondas 1-4 if Simo hadn't blown it again (no surprise here). Lorenzo and Rossi got lucky to get so many points.

[ian22]

Simocelli is a jerk - he needs to be punished more severly than just a ride through - he has now affected someone else's season. He needs a dose of reality, just because you can run fast lap times doesn't mean you can win or even finish on the podium.

[dirkterrell]

Yeah, that wasn't the smartest move by Simoncelli. At that point in the race, he didn't need to make the pass that deep.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

I've been a fan of Simoncelli for a while now, he's a very fast and agressive rider, and is doing amazing things on an older Honda.....BUT, he also has a long history of being TOO agressive, and pulling some clearly dick moves, like this one. Biaggi did NOT deserve his ride-thru penalty last weekend in the worst officiating I've ever seen (clearly costing him the race), while Simoncelli certainly DID deserve this penalty, and probably a fine as well. Not only that, but I'm sure corporate Honda is going to have a little chat with him and the team for his indiscretion.......

[salsashark]

What's all this talk about Pedrosa and Simoncelli?

The real news from this weekend...

Viñales snatches stunning maiden win from Terol in Le Mans

Sunday, 15 May 2011

Maverick Viñales (Blusens by Paris Hilton Racing Team) claimed his first victory in the 125cc class in just his fourth GP by beating Nicolas Terol (Bankia Aspar) on the final lap at the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France in a thrilling race-long battle. Efrén Vázquez (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) was third.

that's hot!

[Mother Goose]

So Marco gets a penalty for that, but Whore-Gay doesn't get anything for his move on Dovi?

[Sean]

I was pretty surprised by Stoner punching DePuniet. Being out front must be winding him up pretty tight these days.

So Marco gets a penalty for that, but Whore-Gay doesn't get anything for his move on Dovi?

I don't think they were the same. Maybe it would have been different if Dovi crashed? From the back angle it seemed like Marco cut Dani's line and Dani had to hit the breaks and stand it up. From the front angle it didn't look bad, from behind it seemed like more of a dick move.

[Mother Goose]

I was pretty surprised by Stoner punching DePuniet. Being out front must be winding him up pretty tight these days.


I don't think they were the same. Maybe it would have been different if Dovi crashed? From the back angle it seemed like Marco cut Dani's line and Dani had to hit the breaks and stand it up. From the front angle it didn't look bad, from behind it seemed like more of a dick move.

When you're burning rubber on someone's leg, there isn't any room. That's what whore-gay did to Dovi. Marco and Pedrosa had room for both of them to go through on their own line. It looked like Marco dove in on him (on board camera) because Pedrosa stood it up and then ran into the hip and rear tire of Marco.

It's funny, I watched the BBC feed and got to see the whole race and how they saw the move. They saw it as I did. I went and watched the Speed feed of it later that night, and they barely showed anything of it and was all over Marco. Then they skipped 4 laps for a 2 minute commercial break, TOTALLY missing Marco having to take the RIDE (not drive, fucking Creamer is a dipshit) through penalty. Then going back to watch all the replay action that they missed, you missed another lap. Again, great "live" race coverage.

[Sean]

I"ll go back and watch it again tonight. I didn't think it was that bad, maybe I'm wrong. I don't do Speed. They suck balls. I download Eurosport from RU.

[Mother Goose]

Good man. Get the BBC one, they had a lot of great coverage before the race started.

[drago52]

I went and watched the Speed feed of it later that night, and they barely showed anything of it and was all over Marco. Then they skipped 4 laps for a 2 minute commercial break, TOTALLY missing Marco having to take the RIDE (not drive, fucking Creamer is a dipshit) through penalty. Then going back to watch all the replay action that they missed, you missed another lap. Again, great "live" race coverage.

lol. so true. I hate watching races on speed. 20 minutes of actual racing coverage for a 45 minute race in a 1 hour time slot. I go straight to the eurosport or bbc coverage for everything now.

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Yeah, I'm gonna have to look into that, SPEED totally sux ass.

[jrthomas6]

Good racing for sure. From Pedrosa's onboard camera it didn't appear that he had any time to react after Marco jumped his line. Lorenzo got a little too bumpy with Dovi earlier. I want all my interviews to be like Rossi's at the beginning of the race with all the Monster girls and the hot tub!

[Pharmgirl]

Marco Simoncelli is a menace. He races like an idiot. Of course, race direction let him do it for years in 250s, so why should they stop him now?

He better watch out for those Spanish crowds in Catalunya.

[spideyrdr]

IMO, Pedrosa stood it up because he felt he needed to brake with Simoncelli making a pass on the outside. Ya gotta be a little upright to get any braking so he stood up and likely avoided a lowside INTO Simonceli. I watched in slo-mo and there's no way Dani knew he was there until the last second and in that last second he must have felt the need to scrub off some speed - possibly because he knew he was going to run into Simoncelli.

Simoncelli's pass seemed really dumb and cost Pedrosa dearly. Pedrosa's hopes are shot and Rossi made it so Stoner didn't finish a race. If Simoncelli has any talent, he could have made the pass SAFELY in another corner. Instead he made a foolish move.

The factory Honda team seems to have the fastest bikes but the worst luck, I just hope it doesn't hand the series to an undeserving rider....

[Cap'n Crunch]

I really like how Simoncelli has been going after the top guys, but I agree that his pass may have been a little to much... He really going to have to tone it down now, which is too bad, because he really could've pulled off some upsets this year.

I'm just glad that Valentino is looking good again... hopefully more to come.

And what the heck happened to Bens Pies? I had high hopes for him this year....

[The GECCO]

From the angles I saw, it looked like there was room for Pedrosa to hold his line. Marco didn't cut down on him. When Pedrosa stood it up because he was going in too hot, that's when all hell broke loose. If he had been able to hold his line, they both would have made the corner.

I'm with Wicky on this one. What I saw was Pedrosa with the HP up the inside on the straight and Simoncelli better on the brakes with a wider line going into the corner. Remember, Simoncelli was leading in the previous corner, Pedrosa was the one trying to pass.

Take a look at this picture (yes, its a picture of my TV because I have no idea how to get a screen capture off my directv box)



At the moment of this frame Pedrosa's rear wheel is slightly (but definitely) off the asphalt. When it comes down the bike wobbles very slightly. From this moment on Simoncelli continues on the same arc through the turn he is currently on, but, because of the wobble, Pedrosa cannot turn in as sharply as he planned. His arc widens until he stands the bike up and hits Simoncelli's rear tire.

I don't think Simoncelli is the cleanest/smartest/whatever rider on the grid, but, in my opinion, he got screwed by a hasty, incorrect judgement by the officials. That accident was not his fault.