MotoGP

[FJ_Hooligan]

Just finished watching the race at Quatar.

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE RACE!!!

Not bad for an old guy......

[Arnie]

Great race. :-)
Lots of surprises and good (fairly) clean racing.

Lets hope COTA is as good

[aviationfred]

What a finish.....Wow the Ducati's are fast. Usually don't see that type of drafting outside of Daytona.

Fred

[PaulG]

We get ZERO coverage of any racing here other than BASHCAR.        I have to download everything off the internet.  So I spent my Monday afternoon doing a marathon of the British Telecom coverage of all three classes.   

I think Rossi beat the Ducatis as opposed to Yamaha.  Hopefully it won't be a dog and pony show again this year for the championship.  Though I think Marques is brilliant (as good as Rossi 15 yrs ago), and the individual racing is beyond belief, it kinda takes the edge off when the championship is a foregone conclusion 1/2 way through the season.

I hope the old dog goes out on a high note this year.  Can't wait to see his Moto3 team move up to MotoGP and see how he does as an owner/manager.

The umbrella chicks are even more f'n awesome this year too.... 



I went to COTA in '13 for the inaugural race.  Enjoyed it despite the somewhat disorganization of the facility (they only had the F1 race and and a Daytona Sportscar event previous).  Only gripe is with the new track designs.  You are sooooo far away from the track you become somewhat disconnected from the action.  I guess I'm spoiled with old-school tracks like Mosport (only 1 hr away).  You can get to within a few feet of the track and taste the high-octane exhaust.   


Mosport Turn 3 at the last ALMS race.

[axiom-r]

We were overjoyed in our camp to see Rossi deliver such a conclusive victory.  Lorenzo too had more than was shown in qualifying... Wonder if Yamaha was sandbagging a bit in qualifying to unleash an unanticipated level of competitiveness during the race...

PaulG, do you know something we don't? Rossi signed on for two more seasons last year and is already contracted to ride for Yamaha in 2016, right?  Also, I got fed up with the extremely poor commentators on SPEED a few years back and have been buying the video pass on MotoGP.  I stream the race from my iPad and send it to the Apple TV.  HD full session coverage with no commercials!!!  I can watch anytime on or after the race date and it includes; Free Practice 1,2,3 & 4 : Qualifying 1 & 2 (which I now enjoy as much as the actual race) and of course the races. The Pass includes all three classes; Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP....  It is about 95 euros and so worth it.  I would never go back to trying to "watch" the race on US tv.... I was so happy with it I went and got the World Superbike Video Pass too..... The coverage is not quite as good as MotoGP but still no commercials and much smarter dialog.

Fantastic season opener for MotoGP 

I realized as the race was ending that there were no fallers in MotoGP race 1.... It is still anybody's year going into COTA!!

Cheers!

tim

[PaulG]

I thought this was the 2nd yr of Rossi's contract, and therefore his final season.   But Google just told me I'm wrong. So even better! 

[neo297]

We get ZERO coverage of any racing here other than BASHCAR.        I have to download everything off the internet.  So I spent my Monday afternoon doing a marathon of the British Telecom coverage of all three classes.   

I think Rossi beat the Ducatis as opposed to Yamaha.  Hopefully it won't be a dog and pony show again this year for the championship.  Though I think Marques is brilliant (as good as Rossi 15 yrs ago), and the individual racing is beyond belief, it kinda takes the edge off when the championship is a foregone conclusion 1/2 way through the season.

I hope the old dog goes out on a high note this year.  Can't wait to see his Moto3 team move up to MotoGP and see how he does as an owner/manager.

The umbrella chicks are even more f'n awesome this year too.... 



I went to COTA in '13 for the inaugural race.  Enjoyed it despite the somewhat disorganization of the facility (they only had the F1 race and and a Daytona Sportscar event previous).  Only gripe is with the new track designs.  You are sooooo far away from the track you become somewhat disconnected from the action.  I guess I'm spoiled with old-school tracks like Mosport (only 1 hr away).  You can get to within a few feet of the track and taste the high-octane exhaust.   


Mosport Turn 3 at the last ALMS race.

Hey Paul I was at COTA for the inaugural race as well. My sons and I sat in our folding chairs just to the right of the front straight bleachers against the fence right at the start line. It was LOUD with the sound reverberating off the pits and close to the bikes at speed it was awesome. I'll be there again next week I have a ticket to do the RideSmart 3 day package. I get to park the fj in the yamaha corral sit in the turn 12 bleachers at the end of the back straight and get to do a parade lap on the track. My wife and 2 sons will have general admission tickets. I guess I'll see them at some point lol. The trip is what my wife wanted for her 50th birthday but I couldn't resist getting the bike package. Anyone else going to be there?

[PaulG]

We were there for the three days. Spent the first two wandering around deciding what would be best for race day. Having general admission, we decided to stay around the esses then down by the hairpin to watch the MotoGP bikes rocket off the corner and disappear down the straight.  The tv cannot relate to how quick they accelerate.

The track layout is great, but due to all the regs regarding F1 track specs mixed with FIM specs, it made the sightlines somewhat compromised.  I think that was mostly due to they didn't erect any of the bleachers.  I found that disappointing considering the crowd.  Otherwise I had a memorable time.  Would love to go back again but being a 3,000 mi. round trip, it'll have to wait.  My next big trip is hopefully to Laguna Seca for the WSBKs.  But that will require at least 3 wks, and abandoning the wife and dogs. (The dogs I'll miss.  )

Sounds like a great 3 day package you got. So how fast is a parade anyhow? Have fun, wish I was there.

[Sabre093]

Was a very exciting race....wife actuly sat down and watched it with me...her question was how in the hell do they lean that far without dumping it...then to me was how low have i gone...my answer was if i was that low i'd be sliding down the road ...Well she knows who the Doctor is now after me talking about him all the time!If that race is a sign of the level they are going to run at,all i can say is can't wait for round 2!

[neo297]

I love it when wives and girlfriends take an interest. My wife of 27 years , been with her for 29, has from the beginning ridden with me. We have gone to races street and track but she never wants to watch the races on tv. We were just at the the last CMRA races at Texas World Speedway a historic high banked track in college Station Texas and she was commenting on how much she loved the sounds of the bikes and said she wanted to go to COTA for the MotoGP weekend for her 50th b-day. I wasn't sure I wanted to pay to watch Marquez run away but after watching Rossi and the ducatti's I couldn't refuse. A friend sent me the link to the ridesmart web site where I saw the corral package and had to do it. I have done many parade laps at Texas World if you held back you could go well over 100 on the front straight. COTA may be more restrictive.