I try not to watch motoGP because it makes me feel like a beta-male ------.

 

I watch it and it makes me feel the same way. Really, those guys are riding at a ridiculous level of skill and bravery.

 

I don't understand how they can just slide those things at such high speeds. And they threshold brake so well, it's ridiculous.

 

A few years ago Tony Elias won a MotoGP race. The really cool part was watching him back the bike into turn one all the way across the front straight. It was awesome. I think everyone stayed the freak away from him in turn one because his line looked so evil. During the podium interview Rossi said "Tony rode like the Devil".

"Backing it in" is when the rider is braking really hard into the turn and the rear wheel is almost completely unloaded. He can get the rear end sliding and the bike rotated sideways to get it pointed to the inside of the turn. It is an uberskill and it looks really, really cool.

 

Some more cool bike sliding from the slidemeister, Gary McCoy. Consider in the first video he is on an old, evil 500cc two-stroke doing that ****.

 

Time for a MotoGP spinoff thread?

 

Timmay, Vettel needs V-bands, lol.

 

el oh el

 

Turned out to be a good race.

Don't know if we can post spoilers yet...

Saw it early this morning, and have been getting drunk with father in law since.

 

Meh, those who care about F1 have likely seen the race already. Disappointing to see Vettel helpless to maintain his lead, though I was expecting he'd fall back farther than he did. I wonder if Red Bull's new low-exit exhaust played a role?

 

I agree with the announcers. I don't think the exhaust design had anything to do with it's failure, just not enough reliability testing. Apparently they installed it for the last test before this race. I wonder if they'll keep it.

 

I liked the race because:

-we finally saw where the cars are at
-Alonso's incredible skill level will keep everyone chasing him this year
-we know that Hamilton can give him a good chase
-Schumi proved he hasn't really slowed down. I'm convinced he's on pace with what the car will do, and he was driving the **** out of it at the end.
-It was good to see Massa on the podium

Ferrari made the right choice writing off the second half of last year engineering-wise, as the F10 is obviously much quicker than the other teams' hardware.

Ferrari also pulled a clever little play before taking the lead. They told Alonso over the radio that his car was overheating and to hold back a little. I think they summed it with: "It's not just about this race, we've got the whole year"; which must have been code for: "take him in the next chicane". Kind of a dirty ploy when you know everyone's listening...but that's Ferrari.

It was nice to see Massa on the podium...but he should have been 1st. He was just as fast as Alonso most of the the race, and helped him get to the front. Ferrari is no stranger to team directives and could have given him the win in a sentimental nod. That's easy to say, but at that level I guess it's all business, and they're banking on Alonso for the championship.

Too many cars dropping out, and too many slow cars. Field isn't near as close as I thought it would be. I really hope some of the teams catch up.

 

Even though I liked your first analysis I have to disagree with you in a few points you make here:

1) Ferrari is not quicker than the rest. I think Red Bull is faster. It just lacks reliability in longer stints. I do think the Ferrari chassis is better suited for taking care of the tires (which btw, is going to end up being the key to who wins this season). Ferrari did their homework in the offseason. Their tests were designed to search for the best way to use the tires. I think that's their advantage right now. We'll see if other teams catch up to them in this regard and how long will it take them.

2) The race was boring. The famous diffusers are making it too hard to get close to the car in front and much more to pass them. This will no doubt affect the competition this year. I'm sure the FIA will change the ruling for next year.

3) Massa didn't help Alonso get to the front. Massa made a mistake going into the first corner and he never recovered from it. Later on in the race he had issues with his car. He admitted that much on the press conference after the race.

4) I think Schumi is slower. Maybe he'll get some of his past form back but; as of right now, Nico is faster than him. I think Mercedes has a chassis that tends to understeer and Michael hates understeering. And I know this will sound controversial but I always thought Michael wasn't the fastest driver. He was the cleverest one. He has a knack for knowing where everyone around him is at all times. I think Alonso is similar to him in this regard. To me that is what separates these two guys from the rest. FWIW; to me, Hamilton is faster than both Michael and Alonso but he's always on the ragged edge.

 

TV was awesome. The Indy race was pretty fun to watch, and F1 was cool, even if it was not a nail-bitter of a race.

Next weekend is better though IMHO, Sebring

I doubt Shumaker is up to his full potential yet. He apperantly still races karts once in awhile to stay sharp, but thats just not the same. He certanly looks like he kept himself together in the off years (no detectable beer gut, decent posture etc) so I bet he will be faster over the next 2 or 3 races. Coming back after three years and finishing 6th is pretty damn good really.

Anyone else think he is back partially because Ralph is in DTM an not F1?


Edit: The bike guy is amazing. Thats awesome. I want to see on-bike fottage of the throttle modulation on that.

 

IMO, sports car racing is, was, and will continue to be more exciting than F1.


1. Alonso was sand-bagging. He will continue to obliterate the field through the season. Call it caring for tires, or call it outright sand-bagging. Ferrari will be ahead just a bit through the season, although there will be the odd win by Mclaren and RB.

2. Yes, the race itself was a bit boring. I will continue to come back to view them, but it was processional, even more than in previous seasons.

3. Massa was not on form. The Ferrari was, at the end of the race, very consistently quick, but Massa could not keep up with Alonso. I think it will be more of the same all year, and Massa will be relegated to the neo-Barrichello role. IMO, he was so fuxored by his injury, he will not even care that he is taking the domestique's role.

4. I also think that Michael was not the fastest driver. Kimi, Alonso, Montoya had that role. They also had/have wicked personality flaws that make it such that they can't consistently win races unless their boyfriends/daddies pay them enough attention. Michael (almost) always manned up and got on with the business of racing the car. He won races he shouldn't have because others gave up too early in the face of adversity. Kimi, in particular, was guilty of this many times. If Michael weren't such a cheating ****, I think he would be an awesome role-model for his robot-like determination.

Alonso makes Hamilton look like a goofy child in terms of raw talent. He is also a douche-pickle, and his antics will limit his success, even if just a little bit.

 

That's what I get for not watching the whole race and still acting like I know what's going on. Didn't see the press conference, so thanks for the good analysis.

I do think some of the boringness we saw due to the lack of real competitive teams...and will continue throughout the season. While many seasons have had a two-tier grouping, this season is pretty well pronounced, and I thought the cars would be close due to there only being four engine choices. Maybe the chassis builders will catch up, but it looks like a 6 team run for the front with a bunch of tag alongs.

The RBR cars are fast. I was watching in Spanish with the volume low enough not to wake them up, and didn't realize Vettel was held back by his car, I thought he just couldn't match the Ferrari's pace.


Also, I was wrong about Lotus and Virgin. Interesting, but non-stories.

 

I just found this article about how boring it was: Fry: F1 needs to react to Bahrain bore | Planet F1 | Formula One News

 

Yeah, as per the article, throwing in another stop would TOTALLY make it more interesting .

I don't know how Indycar manages to be fairly exciting, maybe it's the spec chassis/engine. But, to make things more interesting, pretty much for all series, F1 and nascar included, this is what I would do:

Chop engine displacement in half for n/a, cut them by to 1/4 for FI. Make the tires at least 25% narrower. Bring back h-pattern boxes, outlaw all add-on wings and spoilers.

Nascar needs to do the same. Restricted cars suck, they need to bring in EFI and data aq. They also need to lose some weight, and think about independent suspension all around. When displacement is severely restricted, you can lift a lot of the other restrictions and not have speeds get out of control.

 

I still think Vettel can do it if Red Bull can keep his car reliable. He was clearly dominant until his header gave out or whatever the problem was.

 

I doubt that Ferrari will go along with that