Gentlemen, Start your DVRs

[CB4ME_imp]

This weekend on DirecTV:

World Superbike Race 1 & 2 - Aragon

World Sportsbike - Aragon

MotoGP - Argentina, plus Moto2 and Moto3 races shown in full!

Plus Formula 1 in Bahrain - Practice, Qualifying, Race

Now that's what I'm talking about! :clap:

 

[the Ferret]

Don't have a dvr but I have both Superbike races and the MotoGP programmed to play. Not sure if I will get into the Superbikes much, really a GP aficionado, but would like to see how Nicky's doing.

 

[redbirds_imp]

Don't have a dvr but I have both Superbike races and the MotoGP programmed to play. Not sure if I will get into the Superbikes much, really a GP aficionado, but would like to see how Nicky's doing.

You really should try the SBK races Ferret. Far more competitive and exciting than Motogp IMO. I love Motogp too but the World Super Bike is such a competitive series.

Nicky is adapting fast to the different riding style in SBK and has just missed a podium finish by a slim margin thus far. I'm curious how he and his team mate Michael Van Der Mark will do when Honda's all new homologated super bike makes the scene. Van Der Mark is already astonishingly fast on the outdated Fire Blade.

 

[the Ferret]

I wont spoil it, but just watched The race and to me SBK has nothing on MotoGP. People keep saying how much more exciting it is, but winner was 5 seconds ahead of 2nd and 3 rd then there was a big gap back to 4 th 5 th and 6 th then a big gap back to the rest. Very little passing, just a parade with gaps..... and apparently by the point standings it's the same 4 or 5 people at the front.

Will watch race 2 tomorrow and hope that the action that has been advertised presents itself.

 

[CB4ME_imp]

I wont spoil it, but just watched The race and to me SBK has nothing on MotoGP. People keep saying how much more exciting it is, but winner was 5 seconds ahead of 2nd and 3 rd then there was a big gap back to 4 th 5 th and 6 th then a big gap back to the rest. Very little passing, just a parade with gaps..... and apparently by the point standings it's the same 4 or 5 people at the front.

Will watch race 2 tomorrow and hope that the action that has been advertised presents itself.

Thailand was a lot better. Apparently everyone throught Davies on the Ducati was going to win and that was the case.

Lineup for tomorrow's MotoGP is:

1 MARQUEZ Honda 315.3 1'39.411
2 ROSSI ITA Yamaha 317.4 1'39.786
3 LORENZO Yamaha 317.5 1'39.944
4 PEDROSA Honda 317.0 1'40.011
5 DOVIZIOSO Ducati 323.4 1'40.198
6 IANNONE Ducati 325.1 1'40.272
7 VIÑALES Suzuki 317.6 1'40.375
8 BARBERA Ducati 317.2 1'40.524
9 CRUTCHLOW Honda 313.6 1'40.528
10 ESPARGARO Yamaha 316.1 1'40.654

 

[the Ferret]

Well, that's more like I expected

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

I wont spoil it, but just watched The race and to me SBK has nothing on MotoGP. People keep saying how much more exciting it is, but winner was 5 seconds ahead of 2nd and 3 rd then there was a big gap back to 4 th 5 th and 6 th then a big gap back to the rest. Very little passing, just a parade with gaps..... and apparently by the point standings it's the same 4 or 5 people at the front.

Will watch race 2 tomorrow and hope that the action that has been advertised presents itself.

I'd agree Race 1 was not a nail bitter. But, on reflection, not a lot different to the Qatar GP. Davies did a Lorenzo and gave a lesson in leading from the front. I thought the battles for 2/3 and 3/4 were interesting. Teammates Rea and Sykes, OK "mates" used loosely here, trying to compete for points without taking each other out. A very good race for Rea who finished this race further ahead on points. Giugliano getting done by Forés was interesting. Well done on a bike not fully factory supported. I'm looking forward to race 2.

MotoGP starting grid looks good for an exciting turn 1. Lorenzo is a better starter than MM or Rossi and MM may trail Rossi. Pedrosa and the two Dukes could run through from the second row. Possibilities endless. Can't wait.

Cheers, and no spoilers please, please.

Well, that's more like I expected

Well, what's your crystal ball say for the race? With a good start (see above ruminations) I think, and hope, MM will get a win.

Cheers

 

[the Ferret]

Watched WSBK race #2 this morning before going out to work on downed trees. Same song different day. Seriously this is supposed to be better than MotoGP? I'm not convinced.

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Watched WSBK race #2 this morning before going out to work on downed trees. Same song different day. Seriously this is supposed to be better than MotoGP? I'm not convinced.

Mate, it is not "supposed to be better", but it has its moments. The PI races were as good as it gets. Aragon disappointing. On the other hand in Argentina, I had that " I want my money back" feeling that I had at PI two years ago. A race marred by being reduced in length and a compulsory bike change. Those race "conditions" are the sort of thing that reminds us that OH and S has arrived at MotoGP. In the good old, bad old, days it would have been, "Get out there and race". Up to the moment that MM and Rossi pitted it was a great race. After that not so. I don't resile from my admiration for MM, I think, and hope, that he can become World Champion again. And again. Crashed on the podium but had a good laugh at himself. As for Rossi, well, Iannone, or "Crazy Joe" as he is sometimes called, helped him to a podium big time. Can't imagine a lot of good cheer in the Ducati shed. I was sorry to see Viñales go down. Cost him a podium, maybe. He is a goodie and will have a big future. His error. I thought Jack Miller might do well but he put himself down as well. Ah well, next time maybe. I know if I lived within striking distance of Austin I'd have my ticket already.

Cheers, and now to bed.

 

[the Ferret]

Ptero... For years people have told me (not on this forum so much) that MotoGP is a snooze fest with the same 4 people and 2 mfgs winning all the time and that WSBK was better...more exciting and more competitive,and all I had to do was watch it to see. So I went back thru results from the last few years, studied and documented for those people that the points chase is and has been actually closer in MotoGP than in WSBK for years. Not convinced they pound on me that all I had to do was to watch it and see the competitiveness. So I have been watching .... 3 of the 4 races so far this season. What I see is the same thing I see when I study the results lists, the same 3 or 4 people stand on the podium each race, and at the end of the year it's pretty clear who is going to win the Championship and who is going to finish second and third. Let me predict that this year the first three finishers in WSBK at the end of the year will be Sykes, Davies and Rhea, from 2 mfgs. Now it just may be that the chances of Lorenzo, Rossi and Marquez finishing 1 st 2 nd and 3 rd this season, are pretty good, they are afterall multi time World Champions, but today only 1 of those would have been on the podium. Passes were often and exciting and until the last corner no one knew who was going to be on the podium. While watching todays MotoGP race, I was excited, jumping up and down, yelling at the TV even if it was limited to 20 laps and a bike change. The last 1/2 with Vinales reeling in and passing the Andeas was great, and 4 mfgs were competitive and fighting for a podium spot. On this day, I would say MotoGP was definitly better.

 

[DAC]

With The Ferret on this one. My daughter stopped by and watched both with me today - her first experience with either. MotoGP had her on the edge of her seat. SBK, not so much.

Really nice to see Pedrosa get a podium. Quickly becoming a favorite of mine. Patient, talented, professional, and an underdog to boot.

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

I have agreed with Ferret. Aragon an easy win. Bit like MM running away by, ah, 6 or more seconds. So what did you think of the SBK at PI? My beef with last seasons MotoGP was the way that spoiled brat Rossi shot his mouth of and then couldn't back it up. He was lucky to get a podium in Argentina and I was dissapointed in "Crazy Joe" gifting him that. And Rossi knew it. His body language, and his whining at the post race interview, leads me to that view. Both the race types provide interest. But is one better than another is a bit subjective. I follow both closely, not to back up my opinions, but to derive enjoyment, and excitement, from blokes playing a great game. I also ride to PI twice a year for both races. Snooze fest? Who said that? If you think I did don't be so sensitive.

Cheers

 

[Jeff the CB CBX guy_imp]

The 2006 motogp season was good... But that was 10 years ago...

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Yeh, take me back to Gardner, Doohan, Corser and Baylis and all they fought it out with. But it ain't gonna happen. I just hope that if I can struggle on for a while longer I can look back and say, "The 2016 season was good".

Cheers

 

[the Ferret]

No Ptero wasn't you that said it (and I don't consider myself particularly sensitive..hard to be a sensitive moderator lol) was the guys over on MCD, always complaining GP is a snooze fest and Superbike and Moto3 are just so awesome.

I enjoy every season of MotoGP. Admittedly there are some races that they get strung out on, but generally it is good racing, at least IMO, and recognizing the fact that these guys are so similar in their lap times (usually top 10 turning within one second of each other and the top 5 within hundredths of a second of each other over a 2 1/2 mile track with 16 turns) that it's nearly impossible for one to make up a gap on another (which is why the start is so important), yet sometimes they do and it gets really exciting.

2016 season started out great IMO

 

[redbirds_imp]

Have to admit, this SBK round was a real bore. The Motogp race had potential but silly mandated tire change put an end to that. If the rest of the season is like this in both series I may just stop wasting my time with it. Ditch all the electronics and the spec tires. It's starting to look as boring as Formula 1, once the greatest racing series before pit stops and electronic controls.

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

'Birds, there is that danger. But it is a cleft stick for Dorna. One option is for the organisers to set basic rules like engine capacity, factored (somehow) for engine configuration, fuel load, tyres (?) and then, after that, may the best bike, and maybe the best rider, win. But that heavily favours those with the deepest pockets, that is the factory teams. So "dumbing" this down makes for a more even playing field and the best riders have a chance for podiums. Is that what we want? For me, at least, it is a question that is difficult to answer. Another solution may be to go back to days of The Unrideables?. I loved that era.

Cheers

 

[the Ferret]

You know it wasnt long ago they complained this was a 2 factory game.. But Sunday 5 bike makers would have been represented in the top 8 if Vinales hadn't crashed. aS it was 5 bike makers in top 11. Thats pretty good wouldnt you say?

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Yes, excellent. Gives the young guns who haven't got a factory ride a chance as well. Viñales, Miller et al. But does it stifle outright performance where only the best riders can succeed? It has been said, by those who know, that only the top few, "aliens" as they are now known, could really ride the 500cc class. That was apparent to anybody who watched those races. The danger is that the bike race world will turn into a PC kindergarten where there are no winners or losers and every manufacturer, and rider, gets an elephant stamp before they go home.

Cheers

 

[the Ferret]

:rofl: eloquently put big bird.