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Post by crikey on Nov 1, 2012 23:17:00 GMT 10
That's not good for his future, Bad form West.
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Post by Bundy on Nov 2, 2012 6:22:32 GMT 10
That's not good for his future, Bad form West. His only saving grace which isn't an excuse but a defence is that he took it by mistake as the actual banned substance is one that is common in training supplements but it isn't listed on the actual packaging, so he may just get away with it for his future driving career but it will be tough, especially with already the barrier of being an Aussie in what is really a European sport.
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Post by Bundy on Nov 9, 2012 6:45:19 GMT 10
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Post by HDT05 on Nov 9, 2012 20:24:13 GMT 10
I wasn't a fan of Biaggi, but I did like it when he won on the Yamaha, which must be said was a dog.
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Post by Bundy on Nov 9, 2012 20:42:52 GMT 10
I wasn't a fan of Biaggi, but I did like it when he won on the Yamaha, which must be said was a dog. It was a dog down the str as it always was but a king around the turns - biaggi did his best but really it was a contest between Gibernau and Rossi back then...
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Post by Bundy on Nov 12, 2012 10:19:40 GMT 10
Well done to Stoner for being inducted in the 'Motogp legend' club Casey Stoner inducted into MotoGP Legends clubRetired MotoGP champion Casey Stoner has been inducted into the ‘MotoGP Legend’ club – an official, exclusive nomination awarded by the sport’s administrators. Stoner was told of his ‘Legend’ status on Sunday night in Valencia after making his final appearance in the premier class before retiring from the sport. The Australian finished third in his final race, run in mixed weather conditions. The Australian becomes the 20th MotoG Legend, joining current members Giacomo Agostini, Mick Doohan, Geoff Duke, Wayne Gardner, Mike Hailwood, Daijiro Kato, Eddie Lawson, Anton Mang, Angel Nieto, Wayne Rainey, Phil Read, Jim Redman, Kenny Roberts, Jarno Saarinen, Kevin Schwantz, Barry Sheene, Freddie Spencer, John Surtees and Carlo Ubbiali. Stoner retires from the sport at the age of 27, having amassed two MotoGP World Championships (2007 and 2011), 45 Grand Prix victories, 89 podium finishes and 43 pole positions. Stoner made his world championship debut as a 15-year-old in the 125cc, riding as a wildcard at Donington Park in 2001. Having graduated through the same academy system that also produced his future factory Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa, Stoner fully capitalised on the bold move made by his family of moving to Europe to further his fledgling career. A full time Grand Prix career started in the 250cc category under Lucio Cecchinello’s guidance in 2002, but it was a step down to the 125cc class the following season that saw Stoner’s talent begin to fully flourish with four podiums and a first victory in the final round of the campaign. In 2004 he challenged for the title, taking KTM’s first-ever Grand Prix win and ending the season fifth overall. A step back up to 250s with Cecchinello’s team in 2005 produced a thrilling battle with Pedrosa for the title as Stoner amassed five wins on the Aprilia, and the next year he and the LCR team debuted in the premier MotoGP class on board a Honda as the Australian displayed flashes of brilliance – which included a pole position in only his second race at Qatar and second place in Turkey – mixed with a few disappointing crashes. He had shown enough to encourage Ducati to make an offer to ride on their factory team the next season, and what followed was a stunning campaign. A maiden MotoGP victory in the first race of 2007 at Qatar was a self-confessed surprise for both rider and team, but once he followed this up with wins at Turkey and China a title challenge became a more than realistic target. His standout performance at Catalunya, where he battled toe-to-toe with five-time champion Valentino Rossi will go down as one of the great races in history, while he dominated the mid-season with pole-to-flag victories at three-consecutive races at Laguna Seca, Brno and Misano. Stoner went on to secure the title with four rounds to spare, and ended 2007 with a total of 10 wins, 14 podiums and five poles. Defending his title in 2008, Stoner fought rival Rossi intensely as the pair crossed swords on a number of occasions, their duel at Laguna Seca still being talked about as one of the greatest battles of recent years, and the Australian eventually ended the season runner-up to his Italian adversary despite taking six wins and nine poles in a strong second campaign on the Desmosedici. 2009 did not run a smooth course for Stoner, a mid-season three-race break due to fatigue uncovered a lactose intolerance that had affected his physical condition on the bike, and he ended the season fourth overall in the standings. The 2010 season was to prove not much easier as he took only three wins – all in the final third of the season – on an increasingly hard to tame Desmosedici. By that stage it had already been announced that Stoner would ride for the factory Repsol Honda team in 2011. The switch to Honda proved a resounding success as Stoner. Pole position and victory in the opening round in Qatar was a sign of things to come, and by the time Stoner won the race in Phillip Island to clinch the title with two more rounds to spare he had already taken nine victories. Added to that race success was an incredible consistency, which saw him finish off the podium just once – in the second round at Jerez where he crashed out through no fault of his own. Winning his home race in Australia for a fifth consecutive season handed Stoner not only his second World title, but his 32nd career MotoGP victory, as he took victory from another pole position – his 11th of the season; this represented a new record for the most poles in one season in the MotoGP four-stroke era. Stoner went into the 2012 season as clear favourite after his dominance in 2011, however the first races revealed that Jorge Lorenzo would prove a much tougher challenge than the year before. In addition to this, rumours about his retirement had been rife from the second race in Jerez, which the Australian ultimately confirmed in Le Mans. His year was cruelly interrupted by a nasty injury obtained in a crash in Indianapolis, which saw him fracture his right ankle and damage his ligaments badly, keeping him out for three races. He came back from injury in Japan, yet it was not until his final home race in Phillip Island that he once again showed his true colours, with one of the most dominant performances of the year. He bowed out in the final race in Valencia with a podium finish, taking third in the championship with five wins, ten podiums, five pole positions and 10 front row starts. www.speedcafe.com/2012/11/12/casey-stoner-inducted-into-motogp-legends-club/
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Post by crikey on Nov 12, 2012 11:38:14 GMT 10
Well deserved for Casey, Fitting for the end of his bike career.
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mach24
Karting Driver
Posts: 116
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Post by mach24 on Nov 14, 2012 21:41:53 GMT 10
Rossi through a leg over the M1 today for the first time. The track was wet so times were all over the place. I reckon he is going to be a threat in 2013!
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Post by Bundy on Nov 15, 2012 0:04:07 GMT 10
Rossi through a leg over the M1 today for the first time. The track was wet so times were all over the place. I reckon he is going to be a threat in 2013! He probably will with the calibre of riders Honda are going with - pedrosa is like Frosty - a can short of a 6 pack while Marquez will probably need at least a year to be truly in the hunt.
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Post by HDT05 on Nov 16, 2012 19:40:02 GMT 10
Rossi through a leg over the M1 today for the first time. The track was wet so times were all over the place. I reckon he is going to be a threat in 2013! I don't "reckon" - I know! Him and Lorenzo ! Oh yeah, the band is back together!
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mach24
Karting Driver
Posts: 116
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Post by mach24 on Nov 27, 2012 21:12:01 GMT 10
Aussie Bryan Staring has been signed to ride the Gresini CRT bike in MotoGP. Bryan is a good rider and now becomes the token Aussie in the premier class.
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Post by Bundy on Nov 27, 2012 22:06:37 GMT 10
Aussie Bryan Staring has been signed to ride the Gresini CRT bike in MotoGP. Bryan is a good rider and now becomes the token Aussie in the premier class. It's on a CRT bike though The best he can do I guess is try for top honours in the class - but I'm not holding out much hope as the Gresini CRT bike this year wasn't all that quick...
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Post by Bundy on Nov 29, 2012 21:39:30 GMT 10
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Post by Bundy on Jan 11, 2013 9:39:07 GMT 10
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Post by crikey on Jan 11, 2013 18:42:03 GMT 10
That would have cost Monster a few bucks, But well worth it with the exposure the 2 riders they have for this year.
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Post by Bundy on Jan 11, 2013 18:43:54 GMT 10
That would have cost Monster a few bucks, But well worth it with the exposure the 2 riders they have for this year. Probably used some of the money they were going to spend on JW. HDT will think its money well spent ;D
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Post by HDT05 on Jan 13, 2013 15:16:37 GMT 10
Yay!! - we FINALLY have a title naming rights sponsor, instead of Yamaha having to spend money on the team.
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Post by Bundy on Jan 13, 2013 18:27:43 GMT 10
Yay!! - we FINALLY have a title naming rights sponsor, instead of Yamaha having to spend money on the team. And a non-spanish or italian one at that
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Post by Bundy on Jan 13, 2013 23:53:29 GMT 10
Honda: Door always open for Stoner returnMotorcycling giant Honda says that it will re-sign recently retired rider Casey Stoner in a heartbeat should the Australian’s passion for MotoGP ever return. Stoner hung up his leathers at the end of the 2012 season, allegedly knocking back a $15 million per year deal from Honda to continue racing. The 27-year-old has yet to confirm any future racing plans but is expected to move into V8 Supercars’ second-tier Dunlop Series with category benchmark squad Triple Eight. Far from resenting Stoner’s decision to walk out on its MotoGP program, the Honda Racing Corporation’s vice president Shuhei Nakamoto says the two-time world champion could slide straight back into the team should he wish to. “Casey is a rider I really love. I couldn’t imagine anything better than racing with him,” said Nakamoto. “We were constantly shocked that the bikes we had made could go so fast when Casey was in the saddle. When Casey is confident and relaxed about his riding, there is nobody in MotoGP who can come close. “We held a farewell party for him on the Monday night after the Valencia GP. After the party was over, the two of us stayed on, chatting, and I found I couldn’t control my tears. I really felt so sad about him leaving MotoGP. “The following day I was asked by a number of Casey’s friends what I said to him that night. When I asked why they wanted to know, they said that Casey, who had never wavered until then in his decision to retire, had said “maybe after all I should keep on racing…” “Right from the first day Casey came to ride for Repsol Honda, pretty much every day he came up with something new that astonished us. I don’t know of any other rider that is such fun to work with. “I hope he quickly recovers from his injury, and if he ever decides to come back he will find a warm welcome waiting. I told him that’s always on offer.” Nakamoto also revealed that Stoner, who announced his retirement in April, 2012, first informed Honda of his plan to quit as early as October the previous year. “It was after he won the Australian GP to secure the championship (that Casey first spoke of retirement),” he said. “He still had one more year to run on his contract with us, so he said he would ride for Honda in 2012, but it was quite a shock to hear he wanted to retire. “Ever since the season began, he kept saying he wanted to make his decision public. Naturally, we really wanted him to continue with us and repeatedly tried to persuade him to reconsider, but Casey’s mind was made up. “It was at Round Four in France that he finally got his way and announced his plans during the Thursday Press Conference. I was OK with that, since I thought it would motivate him to win his final championship and retire in a blaze of glory. “Unfortunately it didn’t turn out like that, but he still had a great final season.” Stoner has been replaced in the factory Honda team for 2013 by 19-year-old Spaniard Marc Marquez, who last year won the Moto2 world title in dominant fashion. www.speedcafe.com/2013/01/14/honda-door-always-open-for-stoner-return/
Some interesting comments in this article - the VP of HRC basically saying that Stoner left on good terms with them and they're willing for him to return if he regains his passion for riding. Other thing is that he was contemplating retirement as early as october 2011, just after he won the aussie gp. It looks to me that Stoner didn't care how well he was going as he already made up his mind that he just didn't want to ride anymore - hopefully he can do well in V8s if that's where he ends up.
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Post by Bundy on Jan 27, 2013 15:11:13 GMT 10
New Repsol livery - very spanish indeed I think
Also just for your information how the new qualifying format will work New Procedure
1. The three existing sessions of free practice will be unchanged, however, the combined times from those sessions will determine participation in the final qualifying practice.
2. The ten fastest riders will be seeded through to Qualifying Practice 2 (QP2).
3. All other riders will take part in Qualifying Practice 1 (QP1).
4. The fastest two riders in QP1 will progress to QP2, making a total of 12 riders competing for the first 12 grid positions.
5. The riders not in the fastest two places in QP1 will take grid positions 13 and above according to their times in QP1.
New Practice Timings
Day One:
Free Practice 1 - 45 Minutes, Timed for Qualifying Practice Participation
Free Practice 2 - 45 Minutes, Timed for Qualifying Practice Participation
Day Two: Morning
Free Practice 3 - 45 Minutes, Timed for Qualifying Practice Participation
Day Two: Afternoon
Free Practice 4 - 30 Minutes, NOT Timed for Qualifying Practice Participation
Break - 10 Minutes
Qualifying Practice 1 - 15 minutes
Break - 10 Minutes
Qualifying Practice 2 - 15 minutes
www.motogp.com/en/news/2013/New+Qualifying+format+for+2013+MotoGP+season+explained
Can't see it having too much of an impact. Traffic will probably play its part to prevent some riders from reaching QP2 and also weather.
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