Moto GP

[curium]

Awesome ride from the Roman Emperor! Both he an Checa seem to have conspired to prevent a full face off with Checa highsiding race 1 and Biaggi running off in race 2.

Now we have to wait a month for the face off at Imola. Home advantage for Max?

[Wickedkitten]

Ah fuck, if only Carlos hadn't highsided!!!

[unspec]

I'm join first in the MCN Fantasy Road Race!

There is no way I'll ever be this high again so I may as well enjoy it while it lasts!

[McFly]

Have i been really thick and selected 2 injured riders for WSB? As i have 0 points.

[Wickedkitten]

Oof yeah, Hopper broke his hand back before Valentine's Day and Chaz Davies broke his wrist during the qualifying the other day

[McFly]

at myself

[unspec]

Well it's another good start for my team with a pole and a 4th, but you never can tell what's going to happen in a race!

WSBK grid as it stands:

1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'46.748
2. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1'47.221
3. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1'47.423
4. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1'47.458
5. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'47.611
6. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1'47.642
7. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1'47.643
8. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'47.740
9. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1'48.108
10. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1'48.137
11. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'48.299
12. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1'47.893
13. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1'48.267
14. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1'48.382
15. Leon Camier (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'48.415
16. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1'48.631
17. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'48.857
18. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1'48.904
19. John Hopkins (Crescent Fixi Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'49.790
20. David Salom (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'49.854
21. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1'50.009
22. Brett McCormick (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1'50.266
23. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1'50.670
24. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'50.999
25. Lorenzo Alfonsi (Team Pro Ride Real Game Honda) Honda CBR1000RR 1'52.993

[Meatball]

Pole and third for my guys, fingers crossed for some good results in the races. Nasty high side for Rea at the end of superpole there, took a big whack to the head, got up and walked away, so hopefully he's fine.

Bit of good news. MotoGP in HD on the BBC this year. Just a shame there'll be a bit of messing about with not showing it live in HD for every race...

BBC Sport will show the 2012 MotoGP season in HD for the first time, with all 18 races live across the BBC.

Australian Casey Stoner won the 2011 title and starts as favourite again, although with the bikes increasing in size to 1,000cc this year things could all change.

Matt Roberts  returns to your screens to present all the 2012 action, and he will once again be joined by seasoned commentators Charlie Cox and Steve Parrish,  with Azi Farni  bringing all the news and interviews from the pit-lane.

Coverage starts in Losail, Qatar, with the race shown on 8 April at 1930 BST, live on the Red Button and repeated at 2320 BST on BBC One and BBC One HD.

Analysis

"Cal Crutchlow carries the weight of British expectation on his shoulders, and his testing has gone well. He has convinced himself he will be better suited to the 1,000cc bike, but we will see when we get to Qatar."

All 18 races will also be shown live on the BBC Sport website (UK users only).

BBC's head of MotoGP Ben Gallop said: "We're excited to be able to offer the 2012 MotoGP season to fans in HD, and are looking forward to a very exciting year on the track. We're also really pleased to have the team of Matt, Charlie, Steve and Azi back together again to guide you all through it.

"As in previous years the season-opener in Qatar falls at a busy scheduling point, in prime-time on Sunday evening - so to give the race the full live coverage it deserves the red button is the most appropriate available place for us to run it.

"Fans can then see a full re-run that evening on BBC One and HD."

The majority of the season will be live on BBC Two and HD, with the exception of the race at Assen, which will be live on the red button, with a re-run later.

Live MotoGP coverage will feature full pre-race build-ups and analysis, plus a 30-minute MotoGP Extra on the red button after the race, bringing immediate reaction from the experts and the riders themselves.

Live qualifying coverage of the 2012 MotoGP season, plus the Moto3 and Moto2 races, will all be available to view on the BBC red button and BBC online [uK users only].

[unspec]

Pole and third for my guys, fingers crossed for some good results in the races. Nasty high side for Rea at the end of superpole there, took a big whack to the head, got up and walked away, so hopefully he's fine.

Bit of good news. MotoGP in HD on the BBC this year. Just a shame there'll be a bit of messing about with not showing it live in HD for every race...

Such a shame the commentary from Eurosport pisses all over the BBC, I want Eurosport HD coverage

[Wickedkitten]

Awww damn, check out Meatball

[Meatball]

Woop! Joint 1st in the overall leaderboard too

Was some good racing, good to see Sykes getting the results he's capable of. Hopefully if they can work on the setup and find a bit more life from the tyres he can challenge for the wins. And hopefully Hopper will be up to fitness for the next round and racing up near the front.

[Meatball]

And actually, while on the subject of TT3D it got me thinking it might be a good idea to suggest if there's any other racing related dvd's or books any of you fine people would recommend watching or reading that a fellow racing addict would possibly enjoy?

My own suggestions for books would be...

Stealing Speed: The biggest spy scandal in motorsport history

Am currently reading and almost finished on this one at the moment and it's very interesting. It tells of how after WW2 the East German motorcycle maker MZ recruited brilliant engineer Walter Kaaden, who used Nazi rocket tech to help develop and advance their two-stroke engine above what anybody else could manage and then how that technology was eventually stolen and smuggled out of East Germany and sold to Suzuki by their star rider Ernst Degner who wanted to escape the communism. It's a great glimpse into a part of racing's past and also a bit of an interesting history lesson as well. Thoroughly recommended reading.

Just stumbled across this on iPlayer, The Degner Defection...

http://www.bbc.co.uk...gner_Defection/

[Wickedkitten]

fucking hell, Rossi qualifying in 12th. 12th!

The really shit bit is that it could actually just be Rossi since Nicky is doing well but when you have history's greatest motorcycle racer riding your bike and he has been having issues with the thing since he got on it, it's really going to make your bike look bad.

[Stigweard]

Fantasic last few laps by Lorenzo, I'm glad he did Stoner. Great finish for Crutchlow too, hope he manages to get himself on some podiums this year

Rossi in 10th though

I take it the BBC aren't broadcasting the GP anymore then seeing as though Eurosport are now doing it live. Plus no mid race breaks durring a live race too

[Wickedkitten]

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! I'm over the moon with all three races really. Silly Casey not actually doing an entire races worth of riding, tut tut. Well pleased he came in third even if it does mean that Meaty gets a load of points

It's only this race that Eurosport are going live, all the rest will be as per the usual.

I was wondering if Luthi was going to hit Marquez and it turns out he did!

[unspec]

Fantasic last few laps by Lorenzo, I'm glad he did Stoner. Great finish for Crutchlow too, hope he manages to get himself on some podiums this year

Rossi in 10th though

I take it the UK aren't broadcasting the GP anymore then seeing as though Eurosport are now doing it live. Plus no mid race breaks durring a live race too

It was on BBC HD. Not that I noticed as it's better (even in SD) on British Eurosport.

What a race though. Yay Crutchlow!

[Meatball]

It was on BBC HD. Not that I noticed as it's better (even in SD) on British Eurosport.

What a race though. Yay Crutchlow!

Well, it will be on BBC HD later when they show the repeat at 11:30 or something. Was live on the red button today.

Good race and some good points for my fantasy team. That start from Pedrosa

Rossi Well shit seeing him running round so far off the pace.

Was working today so haven't seen the lower classes yet, will iPlayer / download them if poss.

BSB tomorrow should be Interesting with Hill starting from way back.

[zxcvbnm]

Just about to start on BBC HD now......

[Stigweard]

I meant BBC dunno why I said UK. Well I'm a Eurosport man anyway, so I'm pretty glad they are doing it live again

[wev]

Really enjoyed yesterdays race, but the main course is todays BSB

[unspec]

Really enjoyed yesterdays race, but the main course is todays BSB

I think the main course is going to be soup, it's properly soaking out there!

[unspec]

After a mental World Superbike race in Assen, it's starting to look like three teams are pulling away.

Standings are as follows:

I've taken a risky strategy to try and pull away with more points by dropping the very reliable Byrne for a Kirkham/Brooks combo. This might well be a terrible mistake.

[Wickedkitten]

If only Checa had done better, that or I didn't get rid of Biaggi in order to get money to even up bsb

[Meatball]

After a mental World Superbike race in Assen, it's starting to look like three teams are pulling away.

Standings are as follows:

I've taken a risky strategy to try and pull away with more points by dropping the very reliable Byrne for a Kirkham/Brooks combo. This might well be a terrible mistake.

It was bloody amazing that first race, until it got stopped for rain

Not a great weekend for my fantasy team with Sykes pulling out of the first one and then Checa like a muppet picking frigging wet tyres in the second one

Strengthened up my GP team, ditching Petrucci and drafting in Crutchlow and also have full replacement of the BSB squad, bringing in Easton and Muff.

[Wickedkitten]

Strengthening your GP team? I'm guaranteed to drift into second now!

[unspec]

Strengthened up my GP team, ditching Petrucci and drafting in Crutchlow and also have full replacement of the BSB squad, bringing in Easton and Muff.

With the BSB triple header coming up with a potential haul of 144 points, moving strength to GP seems quite risky!

[Meatball]

Well I may have forgotten about Oulton being a three race meeting, but oh well, we'll see how we go. Easton has done ok so far so hopefully he'll carry on and get me some decent points there.

[Meatball]

Pretty mental Moto3 race there. Track conditions looked well tricky to say the least. That Fenati kid is a bit special, stunning ride for the win.

Save of the ever from Jakub Kornfeil Shame he dropped it straight after though.

[SteveH]

So Rossi then? Bit bored of the commentators (especially Neil Spalding) making excuses for him. Last year it was the fact he was on the new bike with last years engine. This year they have mentioned setups numerous times....the fact he is wearing his dick on the left instead of the right....anything it seems, but the fact he just doesn't seem capable of riding that bike.

I can't abide Stoner, but I reckon he would be performing a lot better than Rossi is right now. I said when it was announced he was moving to Ducati that it was a bad move, and I stand by that.

[ASM]

It's a really interesting situation, I guess Rossi feels like he isn't getting what he wants from the team and isn't prepared to ride round the problems. Rossi (rightly or wrongly) thinks he has nothing to prove, and knows that even if he goes for it he has not got a bike that can win, and will probably end up crashing. I thought it was really telling where Nicky ended up in the race, he qualified well but he must have been pushing really hard to qualify that far up the grid and he couldn't keep that pace for a whole race. I hope they can turn the corner, I would love to see him win on a Ducati, but I can't see it happening anytime soon.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Rossi in his own Honda factory team next year, maybe on the Gresini bike.

Fenati was incredible, it's amazing that a 16 year old is capable of doing that.