Catalunya - The Spanish MotoGP

Apparently we're in for a treat today, according to someone on the BBC 606 website. As far a I'm concerned, we're always in for a treat come MotoGP race day. I'm going to try to get the box on early and red button the 125cc and 250cc races. Then it's for the main event at 12.30pm. Lorenzo is in pole at his home race, with team leader Rossi in second and Stoner in third. These guys are turning into the class of the field, and it is really between them and Dovizioso in 4th spot. Tony Elias could be in the mix if he gets a good start, as he's a very small chappie who can get muscled out. But he's quick, and it's his home GP too.

Look out for Bradley and Scott at 9.50am. Danny Webb broke a finger in practice, I believe.

Catalunya MotoGP qualifying result:

1 J Lorenzo (Spn) Yamaha 1 min 41.974 secs

2 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 1:41.987

3 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 1:42.426

4 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 1:42.594

5 T Elias (Spn) Honda 1:43.139

6 C Edwards (US) Yamaha 1:43.168

7 R de Puniet (Fr) Honda 1:43.175

8 D Pedrosa (Spn) Honda 1:43.207

9 J Toseland (GB) Yamaha 1:43.233

10 M Kallio (Fin) Ducati 1:43.336

11 L Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki 1:43.365

12 C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 1:43.411

13 N Hayden (US) Ducati 1:43.414

14 A de Angelis (RSM) Honda 1:43.422

15 S Gibernau (Spn) Ducati 1:43.714

125cc qualifying result:

1 J Simon (Spn) Aprilia 1 min 51.448 secs

2 P Espargaro (Spn) Derbi 1:51.468

3 J Folger (Ger) Aprilia 1:51.787

Selected others:

7 B Smith (GB) Aprilia 1:52.209

10 S Redding (GB) Aprilia 1:52.536

250cc qualifying result:

1 H Barbera (Spn) Aprilia 1min 46.749secs

2 A Bautista (Spa) Aprilia 1:46.899

3 M Simoncelli (Ita) Gilera 1:46.908

The best final lap of any motor race I have ever seen, even my 4 year old son was jumping up and down with excitement. Can watch a whole season of F1 and never see ANYTHING like that...

I still prefer watching BSB or WSB to MotoGP, it's alot closer.

Did you watch the end of that race?

Went out for a ride today and recorded the race. I avoided the result and have just watched the race. I felt it was going to be something a little special, but all I can say is F**K ME..! That one lap beats Laguna Seca. I think that's just about the best single lap I've ever seen.

If anyone hasn't seen it yet, I think the Red Button is still repeat showing today's races. Just record the race then flick to about 8 laps from the end and watch Rossi hound Lorenzo, after letting him pass when he couldn't get away.

I think I'm calm enough now to review the races today. I'll quickly cover the 125cc and 250cc races. Brits Bradley Smith and Scott Redding showed up in the minor points but the drama was with Smith's teammate Simon, who crossed the line one lap from the end to celebrate victory. Only for 6 riders to pass him as he decelerated. He fought back to 4th, and it was the usual excellent 125cc entertainment.

The 250cc race found Simoncelli falling off, leaving Bautista to run away with the victory. 2nd place was hotly contested though and, overall, the racing was very close indeed.

Step forward the main event. Incidentally, I'd had an invite to go for a ride to the Popham Little Chef [of Heston Blumenthal fame] today, which I must say was really very good, food wise. The braised Ox cheeks were melt-in-the-mouth excellent. I recorded the race.

As I said, step forward the main event. Was this worth waiting for..? You bet. As mentioned in the opening thread, Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner were the class of the field. Off they went from the start, with Lorenzo carving out a 3 bike length lead by the end of lap 1. That's as far as he got away for the entire race. For the first half of the 25 laps, Stoner wrestled the wriggling Ducati behind the rail like pair of Yamahas. There's no doubt the R1 is a fabulous racing bike - honed as it has been, over the last few seasons, by Rossi, Jerry Burgess and the team. And Lorenzo knows how to ride it too. Rossi overtook Lorenzo on half distance, and the pair eventually dropped Stoner, who was fading with exhaustion. Then Vale found he just couldn't shake off Jorge, so he did a Rossi thing - he let him pass..! He then spent the rest of the race finding out where Lorenzo was slow and he was fast. People say there's no strategy in motorcycle racing - oh yeah..?

Come 3 laps from the end and the bikes were starting to get within cigarette papers of each other. The lead changed hands back and forth, even though the guys were taking the fastest lines they could. On the last lap, commentator Steve Parrish was sure Jorge had got the measure of Vale, as the corners were running out. But on the second from last corner, Rossi carried so much speed he practically ran into Lorenzo, but then used it to power on the straight to pass Jorge into the last corner and surge out onto the finishing straight. Anyone viewing this would have probably been eating the sofa cushions by now, or trying to remove their head from the ceiling. I'm almost certain several cardiac arrests were recorded throughout the world as a result.

An utterly astonishing race which I urge anyone with even the slightest inclination for motorsport to watch. MotoGP should come with a government health warning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00l926l/MotoGP_2009_Round_6_Catalunya/

Find out the result yourself.

The final drama for Simon in the 125cc put the icing on the cake, when he thought he'd fought back up to 3rd and turned up in parc fermee, only to have to walk away in a huff and have his bike removed after the photo finish was reviewed. and put him back to 4th.

Did you watch the end of that race?

I did, and I agree it was a good race, but overall, I prefer the closer races that seem to happen in WSB and BSB.

I did, and I agree it was a good race, but overall, I prefer the closer races that seem to happen in WSB and BSB.

A good race..? What does it take for you to call a race great then..?

FWIW, I also occasionally watch WSB and BSB, and although the racing is often very close indeed, inevitably the quality of machinery, the skill levels, and the occasion is just not on a par with MotoGP.

A good race..? What does it take for you to call a race great then..?

 

FWIW, I also occasionally watch WSB and BSB, and although the racing is often very close indeed, inevitably the quality of machinery, the skill levels, and the occasion is just not on a par with MotoGP.

I don't know about skill levels, it's totally different style to ride a WSB compared to a MotoGP bike. Look at Biaggi, left MotoGP as a rider who was often near the front and struggled on a WSB, then you look at Bayliss and Toseland, awesome in WSB and couldn't get near the front on a MotoGP. It's not skill levels, it's just the difference in machinery and again, it's not quality. I look at it as Le Mans and F1, to win in Le Mans means a different driving style to F1.

And a good race, go on Youtube and watch Bayliss and Edwards at Misano (I think) in 2002/3, overtaking each other at every corner.

I looked at Bayliss and Toseland in 2007 at Assen. What I saw was great, not just good. Which still asks the question... what does it take to get you to categorise a race as great rather than just good..?

I looked at Bayliss and Toseland in 2007 at Assen. What I saw was great, not just good. Which still asks the question... what does it take to get you to categorise a race as great rather than just good..?

But I don't see an extra 'level' of riding in MotoGP. As a rider said to me not long ago, MotoGP is about the bike, whereas WSB is about the rider.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhsb96QLYQY

Edit. Longer better version.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egiqzJ5MPmc&feature=related

But I don't see an extra 'level' of riding in MotoGP. As a rider said to me not long ago, MotoGP is about the bike, whereas WSB is about the rider.

The Desmosedici says different. That machine makes it all about the rider.

The Desmosedici says different. That machine makes it all about the rider.

I still don't know with that one, you've had some very good riders on that bike in the past and they've failed. It's just a very hard bike to ride.

Tbh, I think it is very much the rider, whether it is BSB, WSB or MotoGP. But in MotoGP we are talking about a bike which can be setup in hugely different ways. They are not motorbikes in the conventional sense, as we know them, and the rider has a huge, huge input. Remember, for example that Edwards, Toseland, Rossi and Lorenzo are very much on the same machinery. Stoner, Hayden, Elias, Kallio, Canepa and Gibernau are also on very similar machinery. What they do with that machinery is another matter. To get the bike into the best possible setup requires huge input in the short practice sessions by the rider, backed up by data from previous seasons and races. To me it all suggests that the great racers can feel the best setups of their bikes more acutely than others. More power and respect to those that can do this, which incidentally means that despite Casey Stoner's often slightly iffy personality, in the past, I have the greatest respect for his riding talent.

That's the thing MotoGP is so much about getting the bike right, as you explained. I remember getting bored watching the Qatar MotoGP.

But I don't see an extra 'level' of riding in MotoGP. As a rider said to me not long ago, MotoGP is about the bike, whereas WSB is about the rider.

Lee saint, there is a huge gap between MotoGP and WSB. We are talking about prototype bikes which can be altered into a thousand different setups - some completely off-the-wall, and WSB, which have a fixed amount of changes that can be made, as they are meant to resemble the production bikes on which they are based. In all cases, the setups are the ultimate responsibility of the rider. If he can make his machine faster, then more power to him.

I still don't know with that one, you've had some very good riders on that bike in the past and they've failed. It's just a very hard bike to ride.

That's kid of my point, Lee. Some riders (Melandri, Hayden) really struggle on it but Stoner makes it work really, really well. To me, that makes it more about the rider than the bike.