2015 MotoGP........POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!

[the Ferret]

Next Sunday baby!

[CB4ME_imp]

Any predictions anyone? Things appear to be a little tighter based on preseason testing.

[redbirds_imp]

The only certainty I see is Marquez as World Champion again. As for the rest, it will be very competitive and no cake walk for Marquez either.

[the Ferret]

I think we are in for a good season. Lot of hungry riders out there this year. I of course will be pulling for Dani fearing this is his last chance to win a World Championship in the premier class and I think he deserves one. Should have done it years ago, but the little guy is snake bit, so it probably won't happen this year either. I don't think Rossi will get # 10 either, so I think it will come down to Marquez or Lorenzo. Hoping for at least occasional glimpses of Ducati and Suzuki on the podium. Don't expect much from Aprilia.

Will be tough to watch Hayden struggling again, and fighting with Abraham and some development riders. As much as I don't think it's ever going to happen, I think Hayden should go to WSBK to finish out his career, although I'm not sure he could even be competitive there.

[Inline4_imp]

I think we are in for a good season. Lot of hungry riders out there this year. I of course will be pulling for Dani fearing this is his last chance to win a World Championship in the premier class and I think he deserves one. Should have done it years ago, but the little guy is snake bit, so it probably won't happen this year either. I don't think Rossi will get # 10 either, so I think it will come down to Marquez or Lorenzo. Hoping for at least occasional glimpses of Ducati and Suzuki on the podium. Don't expect much from Aprilia.

Will be tough to watch Hayden struggling again, and fighting with Abraham and some development riders. As much as I don't think it's ever going to happen, I think Hayden should go to WSBK to finish out his career, although I'm not sure he could even be competitive there.

As much as I hate to say it, I think you are right Mickey.
I really admire the Hayden family and wish Nickey could have been a more consistent force to be reckoned with in MotoGP. I'm afraid time has passed him by. He did however, win a World Championship in the premier class................Only a handful of humans have done that.

[the Ferret]

I like Nicky Haden. great guy. very positive and upbeat and a great representative for our sport, However, Nicky got really really lucky in 06 and really backed into the championship. Not saying he didn't win it fair and square, because he ended the season with more points than anyone else, but it was such a series of events for him to win it it's almost unfathomable. Rossi and Hayden are good friends and for years I thought Rossi threw it away in the last race so Hayden could win.

7 different riders won races that season, but Rossi won 5 times. Tony Elias won in Portugal beating Rossi by .002 seconds (that's 2/1000's of 1 second) and Rossi loses 5 points. Rossi wins that race and he wins the championship. Rossi had 3 DNF's with mechanical troubles. If he finishes even one of those races in 10 th or higher and he wins the championship. Last race in Valencia, Rossi leads by 8 points going into final race and wins the pole, but falls on lap 5 and finishes 13 th and loses the Championship to Hayden who finished third, by 5 points. Hayden only won 2 races all season, but was pretty consistent with 3 seconds and 5 thirds and his only DNF was in Estoril when he and Dani collided. It really was Rossi's championship to lose, and he managed to do just that.

[redbirds_imp]

Then there is Pedrosa who seems to be shadowed by a black cloud. Consistently fast and yet with all that talent and with the backing of Honda, unable to put a championship season together. He has come close to winning the championship before. May his fortunes improve this season. Time is running out for him.

[CB4ME_imp]

It will be interesting to see how Jack Miller progresses this year. Some Top 10 finishes? Marquez's younger brother didn't make the great leap to MotoGP but seems to be mid-pack in preseason testing. I'll be following him too.

[the Ferret]

Heres a good motoGP related website during the season

https://motomatters.com/news/motogp

[the Ferret]

Marc Marquez ended Free Practice 1 on top of the timesheets as riders took to the track for the first time in the 2015 MotoGP season.
Marquez finished with a 1’55.281, only seven-hundredths faster than his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa (+0.076s). Aleix Espargaro (+0.404s) managed to end the session in third place, as he took advantage of the softer tyre option which is available to Team Suzuki Ecstar, as part of the concessions given to Factory teams without a race win since 2013.

Cal Crutchlow (+0.537s) was the top satellite rider in 5th place on the CMW LCR Honda, with Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci just a further one-tenth of a second back in 6th, with the Italian also using the softer tyre option on his Ducati GP14.1. Petrucci, who had to run back to the pits for his second bike after experiencing issues with his first, managed to finish the session ahead of the factory Ducati's of Dovizioso (+0.699s) in 8th, and Iannone (+1.034s) in 10th on the GP15 bike. The fastest Open class rider was Stefan Bradl (+1.296s) in 14th on the Athina Forward Racing machine.

Did Lorenzo and Rossi not practice? Found it Lorenzo 4 th, Rossi 9 th. Nicky Hayden 21 st.

Race is on Fox Sports 2 ch 618 Sunday 2:00-3:00 PM.