motoGP Le Mans 2009 *SPOILER*

[Captain]

Just a reminder the 125's are about to start. Wet track.

[James]

Just a reminder the 125's are about to start. Wet track.

Those KTMs look pretty trick :ayyy:

[Dave75]

what time does it start on pleb tv?

[James]

Will there be any bikes left at the end of this race? Seem to have a few crash every lap :(

[stetto]

Well done melandri and kawasaki, top race

[jasonbw]

Yeah that was good to see Melandri do that.

Hey Birdman, can you ask Nicky what the hell were the marks on the front right fairing... looks like he's leaning it so low he's grinding the fairing away :D Big black square patch at the front mid section (real high).... phark! (or that's where the black Kwakka took him)?? :D
Good fight Pedrosa...!

[Captain]

+1, how good is that for Melandri? Let's hope Kawasaki reconsider their position after today. Perdosa's last few laps were great too ... I've never seen him push so hard.

[Falco]

Big move Edwards on Toseland....that one was spiteful.....loved it!

[Captain]

Rider quotes after MotoGP Le Mans race:

Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 1st:

“Never in all my dreams did I imagine this situation today – winning the race and leading the championship. This season I have been much more calm and careful and so I was really upset after the crash in Jerez because I didn’t expect it! Today has made up for that though. I had a very good pace with both types of tyre and the strategy of our team worked perfectly. I felt happy to stay out on the wet tyres for such a long time and in the end I think we changed at exactly the right time for our race; there was some luck on our side but we were also strong, calm and careful and this paid off. It was the first time in my life that I’ve had to change bikes during the race and I was very nervous, but it went smoothly and I was able to rejoin in the lead. I’m sorry for Valentino because it was bad luck to crash, but now we are nearly on the same points and it seems like the championship is starting again! I want to thank my team because they were very clever today, I’m so happy to be here and to have won a third MotoGP race.”

Marco Melandri - Hayate Racing - 2nd:

It is awesome to be back on the podium. One month and a half ago, to imagine tasting the champagne again would have been so difficult, so it is one of the best feelings I have had in my life. I had a very difficult 2008 season and now I am working to get my speed back. It was tough because at the beginning my wet tyres were probably a bit too soft for the conditions that we had and every lap I wanted to change the bike, but it was still too early. When I changed the bike maybe I should have done it a lap later, so I just tried not to make any mistakes and just keep the pace. In the end I managed to have a really good race. I know it will be tough at Mugello but I just want to enjoy today. I must say thanks to my team and to Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna CEO) who helped me to come back in after Kawasaki pulled out. It would be a dream to get a good result in Mugello, so I hope to get into the top ten there.”

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 3th:

“Again, this is a fantastic podium for me because the conditions were very difficult today and in the end we came through it with a good result. At the start of the race it really wasn’t clear what the best thing to do was. In the first few laps in the wet my pace wasn’t very fast and I was going backwards and losing positions. So I decided to stop quite early and change to the machine with dry tyres - at the same time as Rossi. On the first lap out of the pits on slick tyres he crashed in front of me and this made me even more nervous about the conditions. I really couldn’t see where it was wet and where it was dry so my lap times at this stage were not good - something like 1m 55s. I lost a lot of time at this stage. But then towards the end of the race when I had sufficient temperature in my tyres I was able to get into a rhythm and go faster and faster - eventually closing the gap on Andrea. In the end I caught and passed him on the last lap - really close to the finish. He was riding very well and made it hard to pass, but I was able to get the place, so I’m happy with the podium today.”

Andrea Dovizioso - Repsol Honda - 4th:

“I’m disappointed because we had a good race, the podium was very near and then I lost it at the very last lap. So I’m sorry for the team because they’ve done a very good job throughout the weekend and a podium finish would have been a fitting ending. At the beginning of the race it was a really tricky situation. We had a fast pace in the wet even though we hadn’t tested in these conditions. I was in second place when I came into the pits to change the bike because the track was drying quickly. It was the first time that I’ve done this bike-change procedure and I think it works well. Our timing was okay - though maybe we could have come in two laps earlier. Anyway, I rejoined in third position, I was racing for the podium and I had a good rhythm, but it was not enough and Dani came alongside on the straight on the last lap. I tried to close the door, braking hard, but he had the inside line and that means you’re in control of the corner. I ran a little bit wide on the exit so I couldn’t try to catch him. It was disappointing for me but Dani was fast, especially in the last four laps when his pace was in the low 1m 35s, so my compliments to him.”

Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team - 5th:

“I’m pretty disappointed because I don’t think we realised our potential at all today – the wet bike we started with had a big problem and I couldn’t find any traction from the warm-up lap. I never felt comfortable and I was losing a lot of time but it still wasn’t dry enough to come in for slick tyres. Then when I switched over my other bike had a problem with the steering damper and after four laps I had to take my hand off the gas coming down the straight to fix it. After that I felt much better, the bike was more comfortable and I was able to ride to my potential. I think if it wasn’t for that we would have been able to battle for the podium today but unfortunately these things happen sometimes and we just have to hope things work out better next time. I now really look forward to Mugello, one of my favourite. I‘ve got some good results there and I feel we have a bit better package this year compared to the last one so hopefully we should be able to fight more at the front”.

Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki - 6th:

“It was a really difficult race - which I am sure everyone else will say. We started on wets and we hadn’t done any wet testing so it was really tough for the engineers to get the bike set up for the conditions. They did a really good job and the bike felt reasonable, but if it had been a practice session we would certainly have come in to make changes. When the track started to dry out I saw Rossi crash and thought that it wasn’t dry enough for slicks yet, so I stayed out a bit longer - probably a couple of laps too long - and it made things a bit difficult towards the end. We finished sixth and that is our best result so far this season and it gives us some good points. Now we are looking to improve on that in Mugello.”

Colin Edwards - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 7th :

“I’m really disappointed because it was definitely a missed opportunity today for a podium. In the first part of the race on the wet tyres I just couldn’t get the bike to turn. I’d lost so many places I was nearly at the back and I just wasn’t comfortable. The bike was just sitting on the rear and I had no weight on the front, so I couldn’t get into the corner. I saw some guys come into the pits and I thought it was a couple of laps too early because there were still some wet patches out there. I waited for a bit and came in and on the first couple of laps back out of the pits I lost so much time again. I was on the hard front tyre because I can’t run the soft compound and it took a while to get some heat into it. I had a couple of moments but once it came good, it came really good and I got my head down. I think only Jorge (Lorenzo) was lapping faster than me and once I got my pace going I was catching people pretty quickly. To only finish seventh is a bit frustrating when you look at my times in the dry. At the end of the day I rode a good second half of the race. But the first half wasn’t great and that cost me. I’m confident for Mugello though and hopefully we’ll get plenty of dry track time.”

Nicky Hayden – Ducati Marlboro Team - 12th:

“The conditions were tricky and sometimes you have races that aren’t exactly what you’ve planned. It’s actually good fun on the grid making late decisions on set-up and tyres and things, with the track being wet but the sun shining. I got a decent start and even though I’ve had very little time on this bike in the rain my feeling was pretty good and I was able to move up a few spots. We came in and changed to slick tyre but with the track temperatures being so low it was hard to get any heat into the tyres, especially on the left side now that we don’t have dual compound rubber anymore. I was actually as high as eight at one point but I got unlucky again when Kallio crashed and his bike slid into me. I was lucky to save it because the impact was hard – you can see the rubber on the side of my bike – and I ran off track. It cost me time and positions and also damaged the front wheel sensor. We have two so the bike was working as well but probably it didn’t help things. Overall it’s not a great result but it has been a weekend where me and Juan have been able to work a lot together for the first time, we’ve tried to build an understanding and hopefully we can go forward from here.”

Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 16th +2 Laps:

“I had difficulties from the start today and I really could not ride my bike to its best. Already by the fourth lap I felt that I was quite slow and that I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I decided to change bikes early because usually this strategy – being among the first to change the bike – pays off. Of course I knew that I had to warm the tyres up a little bit but I crashed anyway in that corner because at that point the track was still wet and I just didn’t ride into it in a calm enough manner. Luckily I was able to make it back to the pits and I changed again, but the rule says that if you change the bike again then you have to use one wet tyre, and so this is what we did. When I started that time, the pit-limiter on my bike was not on and so I was given a ride-through for speeding, but by that time it was too late for our race anyway. We’ve had problems throughout the entire weekend with the set-up of the bike and today I was just hoping that I could stay with the riders in front and get some important points for the championship. Now we go to Mugello, my home GP, where I will perhaps be even more motivated than usual!”

[jasonbw]

So Stoner fixes the steering damper by shutting down on the straight... isn't there a saying ... go fast in the fast bits and slow in the slow bits... it took him less than a second to do it (I watched and wonder at the time what he was doing)... surely he could have used on of the few short straights where top speed isn't so important... sighhh... good racing though, he took Vermeulen shortly after and looked good.

[Captain]

This one won't last long

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A36_DtdwPC0

[gazujc]

So Stoner fixes the steering damper by shutting down on the straight... isn't there a saying ... go fast in the fast bits and slow in the slow bits... it took him less than a second to do it (I watched and wonder at the time what he was doing)... surely he could have used on of the few short straights where top speed isn't so important... sighhh... good racing though, he took Vermeulen shortly after and looked good.



It all probably depends a lot on where he felt most comfortable and the safest in shutting down the throttle as a longer straight will allow full throttle and probably settle the bike better for the next corner. I woudl expect that should he do the adjustment on a short straight his concentration and the bike will likely be unsettled slightly which may eventually lead to an issue and/or more lost time immediately.

But, to me he seemed to have bigger issues as he says with the set-ups of both bikes (something that was near universal judging from comments) but still, fifth and he got points back on Rossi so all good at the moment.

Great stuff for Melandri but in fairness these type of races are a lottery and really not that reflective of the season as a whole but that result for MM should hopefully garner interest for his future.







Gaz

[Birdman45]

Fukin awesome pass by Colin on JT, and he was carving once he got the dry bike working. Shame about the wet though, he had SFA........ I am amazed he got to 7th after what , 16th at one point?

Great ride by Pedrobot too, awesome to just keep ploughing away and get Dovi on the last lap. Commentators are dopes though, you knew he'd catch him the way he was going and they come out with "well, Dani will have to settle for 4th, he's too far away now" . hahahaha didn't even see he was lapping 1 or 2 sec a lap faster , they were talking while the splits at the bootm read "3.2.............2.6............2.3............1.9" and they're saying he won't catch him? haha

side note, I think Melandri, regardless of the terms of the race, showed that the Duc is actually a piece of shit ........... and I rekon he will continue to show that the further we go. it suits Stoner (most of the time) and that's it.

[Col]

am so happy for marco to be on the podium
c'arn the underdog :D

[slow bro]

Gone.

[wade193]

Good race. Lots of action and drama :ayyy:

[Johnny]

Suprised Rossi made the calls he did, to pit three times ? who's call would that be, his, the crews ?

[triumph]

his .

[stetto]

He only wanted to pit once, id say the third was just to get on the dry bike and do some practice

[WET4URacing]

1 point can win a championship. but he didnt get it.

[wade193]

This one won't last long

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A36_DtdwPC0

Captain, what was shown in the video?

[Captain]

the official motoGP does a very nice video after each race, it's professionally assembled and 'cut', all the best bits etc like you see in a promo clip or a preview. Never last long, as soon as they get onto it they have it pulled for copyright infringement.

[Captain]

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_jorgelorenzo08.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_jorgelorenzo00.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_jorgelorenzo03.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_marcomelandri5.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_valentinorossi05.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_valentinorossi08.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_valentinorossi04.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_stonerhaydenlemans07.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_suzukicapirossivermeulen03.jpg

http://static.blogo.it/motoblog/motogp-2009-le-mans-01/big_danipedrosa09.jpg

[wade193]

Awesome photo's :ayyy:

[Boony]

Must say i used to think Melandri was a bum and couldn't ride turns out he really can ride totally forgot about his win at Phillip Island in 06 if he keeps going well we might get a few more green one back next year

[wonnaride]

Suprised Rossi made the calls he did, to pit three times ? who's call would that be, his, the crews ?

First for slicks - his call
Second for broken bike - his fault.
Third for the right tyres - they sent him out with a wet on the front and slick on the rear.Teams fault his call.

[Falco]

Third for the right tyres - they sent him out with a wet on the front and slick on the rear.Teams fault his call.

Im almost certain I heard the comentators say the rules are that if you swap bikes for the second time you must have one slick and one wet tyre.

Can someone clarify the above?

[Krack]

That's right . You can't swap for the same tyre combo. So after crashing on slicks he can't then go and swap bike s on slicks. Hence the wet/dry combo.

[Naked Twin]

Am I right in saying that the Kwaka still hasn't got any carbon fibre frame or swing arm?

Maybe he just can't ride bikes with carbon fibre :lmao:

Very impressive on a pit of shite, wonder what he will do next year.

Nick

[jasonbw]

There's a rule from years ago which lets you swap if your tyres are considered dangerous... grey area.. but surely you could argue it was - that's if the rule still exists.

Whats the rule on Ride through penalty... not allowed to stop??? pity he couldn't coming the ride-thru with the machine swap... I bet that wouldn't be allowed :)

[Dr freedom]

There's a rule from years ago which lets you swap if your tyres are considered dangerous... grey area.. but surely you could argue it was - that's if the rule still exists.

Whats the rule on Ride through penalty... not allowed to stop??? pity he couldn't coming the ride-thru with the machine swap... I bet that wouldn't be allowed :)
I would say it is .. its that way in F1.. no pitting when a drive through penalty is being served.

Im not a fan of whoregay, although he did very well to win this by the margin that he did.. good team work as well considering the bike swapping etc etc.

[spotcom]

On another note...

I've just had the pleasure of re-watching the race, but this time, with the UK version. Now I know one of the reasons why I've found the WSBK more exciting than MotoGP for many of the races this season... CHANNEL 10 COMMENTATORS!

I know we don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but for farks sake, do they need to feed our guys Valium before each race?

In the first third of the race, when there was all that complex bike swapping, tyre choice, overtaking, etc., going on, our guys WENT SILENT. It's like they were stunned, and couldn't think of anything to say.

Someone must have fed them some coffee, because they came alive after the first break.

I tell you, Channel 10 must be on an absolute shoe-string budget, and these guys must be the only ones they could drag up that would work for peanuts.

Watching the UK version was SO much better. Can't Channel 10 just pay to get their feed?

Rant over.

Loved the race, by the way. It was gripping! Bad pun intended! :lmao:

[Captain]

Didn't know that, spot, as I usually watch in on Fox. The english commentators have always been the best in motorsport IMO, these two tend to bicker a bit too much (make the off snipe remark at one another) but they're good.

[spotcom]

Well, as I said, my comments are relating to the Channel 10 guys, not Fox. And, because I'm not paying for Fox at this point, having bad commentators is better than no commentators.

Now, anyone who watches Channel 10 want to comment?

[WET4URacing]

no . open your wallet and spend. if u dont then dont winge. the 10 guys are loads better than magoo and that other twit when the uk feed dosnt come thru. Beatie is a dude and knows his shit

[Krack]

I haven't watched the 10 commentators in years but surely they can't be much worse than fucking Nick Harris on MotoGP and who's that twit with Steve Martin in SBK. What a complete knob jockey. I don't know how Steve hasn't punched him in the face. Keith and Julian. I want them back.

[Nuff]

The UK guys are good, that's why I always download the Eurosport version. It's a lot more exciting to watch, not to mention informative as well.

[spotcom]

Again, I do appreciate the free to air coverage. Better than nothing. No, I'm not about to dive off and pay for Fox just yet, but that doesn't mean I can't express an opinion.

My opinion? Yes, Beatie does seem to know his stuff. Just is, he's boring as a commentator. I think it's his monotone voice. It's exciting, guys! Show some emotion!

As I said, I was surprised at the difference when I watched the Eurosport feed. Channel 10 could do better.

[Captain]

No, I'm not about to dive off and pay for Fox just yet, but that doesn't mean I can't express an opinion.



Now, anyone who watches Channel 10 want to comment?
So why can't I do the same?

Seriously though, even if you only spend a few hrs in front of the idiot box, payTV is so worth it. Think of how much money we waste on other stuff, it's probably the cost of a coffee a day.
Funny how there's this resistance to paying for TV, isn't it? Anger at the way everything is going user-pay, I guess.

[RobotPimp]

If you don't like the commentary you can always turn down the volume and provide your own!

[spotcom]

If you don't like the commentary you can always turn down the volume and provide your own!

:lmao: Might just try that next time! :ayyy:

[Belinda]

If you don't like the commentary you can always turn down the volume and provide your own!

No, I will just listen to your commentary..:ayyy:

[Falco]

Im with you Spotty......the English guys are more exciting to listen too.
However,I do like Bettie's interviews when the Aus GP comes around. He asks all the real questions and backs it up with factual information when gettin around the garages over the whole weekend.
As does Magoo, only trouble with big Kev is he trips over mid sentence and I find myself watching him trying to get it together rather than whats being said....good fella though.
As Wetty pointed out.....those other clowns.....uni students come sports comentators are a waste of breath. The NRL has em too....piss em off and have the guys that have been there for mine.

[Birdman45]

It could always be worse, the day they get Gus Gould commentating GP, is the day I stop watching, sound or no sound. haha

[Falco]

lol.

[spotcom]

It could always be worse, the day they get Gus Gould commentating GP, is the day I stop watching, sound or no sound. haha

Or Daryl Eastlake. :lmao:

[WET4URacing]

darryl is the best . he even makes surf boat racing watchable

[triumph]

i like the late barry sheene he tells it how it is .

[spotcom]

i like the late barry sheene he tells it how it is .

Barry Sheene :notworthy::notworthy::notworthy::notworthy:

He was the best. Knew his stuff, AND could commentate!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5tLfiu7an4

[Johnny]

Fair go on Beattie guys, how can any normal person commentate, even have a conversation sitting alongside that fucktard Russ ?.. Full credit to Beattie for sitting along side that moron without getting up and knocking him out, let alone commentate..

[Boony]

Shh don't give Gus Gould any ideas no no no no no that would be the end of bike racing for me ten has nothing on fox

[SIX36]

Bill Woods he knew his stuff.... NOT