Grand Prix Rejects

CarlosFerreira wrote:

Wizzie wrote:

watka wrote:As much of a great champion and exciting rider he is, I'm glad that Stoner left MotoGP. Means that we don't have to endure his whinging any more and we get to see Marquez on a top bike.

You guys can have him back now. We don't want him either.

It will go down in history as one of motorsports greatest losses, the years in which Stoner for some reason decided to potter around in the faintly ridiculous diesels they use down under. I still hope he'll come back in 2015. Maybe Yamaha or Ducati will be prepared to write a large cheque.

No. I don't want to see Stoner back. He was a great champion and he broke up the Spanish dominance, but it was about time he left. I look forward to his driving in Australia, to see how well he does against others who probably have much more seat time than Stoner himself in an automobile.

If there is someone to break up the dominance of Spanish riders, I will finally be happy again

go_Rubens wrote:No. I don't want to see Stoner back. He was a great champion and he broke up the Spanish dominance, but it was about time he left.

If there is someone to break up the dominance of Spanish riders, I will finally be happy again

I accept the argument, but I would personally love to see him, Lorenzo and Marquéz on track at the same time. Stoner retired at 27, in what should have been the peak of his performance. To have him back against the two best Spanish riders of their respective generations would be extraordinary.

More of the 2014 jigsaw is falling into place

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/109279

1 94 Jonas FOLGER GER Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 Kalex KTM 228.1 1'50.379
2 32 Isaac VIÑALES SPA Ongetta-Centro Seta FTR Honda 223.2 1'50.825 0.446 / 0.446
3 42 Alex RINS SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 KTM 229.9 1'51.250 0.871 / 0.425
4 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Team Calvo KTM 230.2 1'51.423 1.044 / 0.173
5 89 Alan TECHER FRA CIP Moto3 TSR Honda 223.1 1'51.579 1.200 / 0.156
6 8 Jack MILLER AUS Caretta Technology - RTG FTR Honda 223.2 1'51.637 1.258 / 0.058
7 23 Niccolò ANTONELLI ITA GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 FTR Honda 221.6 1'51.714 1.335 / 0.077
8 12 Alex MARQUEZ SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 KTM 233.1 1'52.040 1.661 / 0.326
9 7 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Mahindra Racing Mahindra 226.2 1'52.223 1.844 / 0.183
10 61 Arthur SISSIS AUS Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 231.9 1'52.370 1.991 / 0.147
11 57 Eric GRANADO BRA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 Kalex KTM 229.0 1'52.442 2.063 / 0.072
12 63 Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN MAL Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 230.1 1'52.553 2.174 / 0.111
13 5 Romano FENATI ITA San Carlo Team Italia FTR Honda 226.2 1'52.571 2.192 / 0.018
14 19 Alessandro TONUCCI ITA La Fonte Tascaracing FTR Honda 223.9 1'52.577 2.198 / 0.006
15 39 Luis SALOM SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 231.1 1'52.662 2.283 / 0.085
16 31 Niklas AJO FIN Avant Tecno KTM 230.9 1'52.734 2.355 / 0.072
17 41 Brad BINDER RSA Ambrogio Racing Suter Honda 216.0 1'52.744 2.365 / 0.010
18 53 Jasper IWEMA NED RW Racing GP Kalex KTM 227.7 1'53.557 3.178 / 0.813
19 44 Miguel OLIVEIRA POR Mahindra Racing Mahindra 229.4 1'53.617 3.238 / 0.060
20 84 Jakub KORNFEIL CZE Redox RW Racing GP Kalex KTM 225.5 1'53.964 3.585 / 0.347
21 10 Alexis MASBOU FRA Ongetta-Rivacold FTR Honda 221.0 1'54.212 3.833 / 0.248
22 9 Toni FINSTERBUSCH GER Kiefer Racing Kalex KTM 227.2 1'54.240 3.861 / 0.028
23 3 Matteo FERRARI ITA Ongetta-Centro Seta FTR Honda 223.6 1'54.509 4.130 / 0.269
24 11 Livio LOI BEL Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex KTM 226.4 1'54.531 4.152 / 0.022
25 17 John MCPHEE GBR Caretta Technology - RTG FTR Honda 223.6 1'54.726 4.347 / 0.195
26 77 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI ITA GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 FTR Honda 222.9 1'54.933 4.554 / 0.207
27 4 Francesco BAGNAIA ITA San Carlo Team Italia FTR Honda 227.3 1'54.983 4.604 / 0.050
28 29 Hyuga WATANABE JPN La Fonte Tascaracing FTR Honda 222.2 1'55.026 4.647 / 0.043
29 66 Florian ALT GER Kiefer Racing Kalex KTM 225.1 1'55.536 5.157 / 0.510
30 58 Juanfran GUEVARA SPA CIP Moto3 TSR Honda 221.6 1'56.629 6.250 / 1.093
31 65 Philipp OETTL GER Tec Interwetten Moto3 Racing Kalex KTM 230.2 1'57.748 7.369 / 1.119
95 Jules DANILO FRA Ambrogio Racing Suter Honda 217.9 1'58.146 7.767 / 0.398
22 Ana CARRASCO SPA Team Calvo KTM 230.4 2'03.532 13.153 / 5.386

1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 331.6 1'40.781
2 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 326.3 1'41.081 0.300 / 0.300
3 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 329.5 1'41.261 0.480 / 0.180
4 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 333.7 1'41.424 0.643 / 0.163
5 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 331.6 1'41.547 0.766 / 0.123
6 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 333.6 1'41.571 0.790 / 0.024
7 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 333.0 1'41.590 0.809 / 0.019
8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 331.3 1'41.793 1.012 / 0.203
9 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 330.8 1'41.830 1.049 / 0.037
10 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 330.4 1'42.405 1.624 / 0.575
11 11 Ben SPIES USA Ignite Pramac Racing Ducati 328.4 1'42.507 1.726 / 0.102
12 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 328.7 1'42.745 1.964 / 0.238
13 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 318.9 1'42.866 2.085 / 0.121
14 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Paul Bird Motorsport ART 313.7 1'43.088 2.307 / 0.222
15 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 317.6 1'43.570 2.789 / 0.482
16 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing ART 315.7 1'44.009 3.228 / 0.439
17 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 313.4 1'44.125 3.344 / 0.116
18 71 Claudio CORTI ITA NGM Mobile Forward Racing FTR Kawasaki 316.8 1'44.316 3.535 / 0.191
19 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 316.2 1'44.395 3.614 / 0.079
20 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Avintia Blusens FTR 311.4 1'44.606 3.825 / 0.211
21 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Blusens FTR 316.5 1'44.698 3.917 / 0.092
22 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Came IodaRacing Project Ioda-Suter 306.9 1'45.379 4.598 / 0.681
23 67 Bryan STARING AUS GO&FUN Honda Gresini FTR Honda 312.7 1'45.527 4.746 / 0.148
24 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 316.9 1'45.688 4.907 / 0.161
25 79 Blake YOUNG USA Attack Performance Racing APR 306.6 1'47.770 6.989 / 2.082

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Italtrans Racing Team Kalex 282.0 1'44.518
2 54 Mattia PASINI ITA NGM Mobile Racing Speed Up 274.8 1'44.747 0.229 / 0.229
3 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag carXpert Suter 278.9 1'45.001 0.483 / 0.254
4 3 Simone CORSI ITA NGM Mobile Racing Speed Up 273.8 1'45.109 0.591 / 0.108
5 40 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Tuenti HP 40 Kalex 275.3 1'45.144 0.626 / 0.035
6 18 Nicolas TEROL SPA Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 278.9 1'45.200 0.682 / 0.056
7 60 Julian SIMON SPA Italtrans Racing Team Kalex 273.5 1'45.203 0.685 / 0.003
8 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Came Iodaracing Project Suter 270.6 1'45.239 0.721 / 0.036
9 45 Scott REDDING GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex 276.0 1'45.258 0.740 / 0.019
10 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing Suter 278.3 1'45.501 0.983 / 0.243
11 80 Esteve RABAT SPA Tuenti HP 40 Kalex 277.5 1'45.519 1.001 / 0.018
12 23 Marcel SCHROTTER GER Maptaq SAG Zelos Team Kalex 276.8 1'45.533 1.015 / 0.014
13 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex 276.6 1'45.541 1.023 / 0.008
14 81 Jordi TORRES SPA Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 269.8 1'45.663 1.145 / 0.122
15 4 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI Technomag carXpert Suter 272.6 1'45.873 1.355 / 0.210
16 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex 277.1 1'45.914 1.396 / 0.041
17 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA JiR Moto2 Motobi 268.7 1'46.062 1.544 / 0.148
18 19 Xavier SIMEON BEL Maptaq SAG Zelos Team Kalex 275.7 1'46.120 1.602 / 0.058
19 95 Anthony WEST AUS QMMF Racing Team Speed Up 274.3 1'46.141 1.623 / 0.021
20 88 Ricard CARDUS SPA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Speed Up 273.0 1'46.152 1.634 / 0.011
21 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Blusens Avintia Kalex 270.9 1'46.160 1.642 / 0.008
22 52 Danny KENT GBR Tech 3 Tech 3 272.7 1'46.539 2.021 / 0.379
23 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia Moriwaki 272.9 1'46.553 2.035 / 0.014
24 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM NGM Mobile Forward Racing Speed Up 279.4 1'46.979 2.461 / 0.426
25 49 Axel PONS SPA Tuenti HP 40 Kalex 273.9 1'47.654 3.136 / 0.675
26 96 Louis ROSSI FRA Tech 3 Tech 3 275.4 1'47.808 3.290 / 0.154
27 17 Alberto MONCAYO SPA Argiñano & Gines Racing Speed Up 273.6 1'47.860 3.342 / 0.052
28 7 Doni Tata PRADITA INA Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Suter 269.3 1'48.556 4.038 / 0.696
29 44 Steven ODENDAAL RSA Argiñano & Gines Racing Speed Up 273.6 1'48.844 4.326 / 0.288
30 9 Kyle SMITH GBR Blusens Avintia Kalex 271.2 1'49.053 4.535 / 0.209
31 43 James RISPOLI USA GP Tech Mistral 610 267.9 1'49.452 4.934 / 0.399
32 97 Rafid Topan SUCIPTO INA QMMF Racing Team Speed Up 272.7 1'49.826 5.308 / 0.374
33 10 Thitipong WAROKORN THA Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2 Suter 266.3 1'50.261 5.743 / 0.435

MOTO3 Practice 2



1 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Team Calvo KTM 228.8 1'48.502
2 5 Romano FENATI ITA San Carlo Team Italia FTR Honda 231.0 1'48.541 0.039 / 0.039
3 12 Alex MARQUEZ SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 KTM 233.8 1'48.609 0.107 / 0.068
4 8 Jack MILLER AUS Caretta Technology - RTG FTR Honda 223.2 1'48.626 0.124 / 0.017
5 42 Alex RINS SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 KTM 226.7 1'48.809 0.307 / 0.183
6 94 Jonas FOLGER GER Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 Kalex KTM 228.3 1'48.892 0.390 / 0.083
7 39 Luis SALOM SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 232.0 1'48.975 0.473 / 0.083
8 32 Isaac VIÑALES SPA Ongetta-Centro Seta FTR Honda 224.1 1'49.330 0.828 / 0.355
9 61 Arthur SISSIS AUS Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 233.0 1'49.334 0.832 / 0.004
10 89 Alan TECHER FRA CIP Moto3 TSR Honda 227.2 1'49.353 0.851 / 0.019
11 63 Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN MAL Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 231.3 1'49.533 1.031 / 0.180
12 41 Brad BINDER RSA Ambrogio Racing Suter Honda 225.7 1'49.757 1.255 / 0.224
13 7 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Mahindra Racing Mahindra 225.7 1'49.784 1.282 / 0.027
14 31 Niklas AJO FIN Avant Tecno KTM 229.4 1'49.893 1.391 / 0.109
15 10 Alexis MASBOU FRA Ongetta-Rivacold FTR Honda 228.7 1'49.909 1.407 / 0.016
16 44 Miguel OLIVEIRA POR Mahindra Racing Mahindra 230.3 1'49.950 1.448 / 0.041
17 84 Jakub KORNFEIL CZE Redox RW Racing GP Kalex KTM 228.7 1'50.141 1.639 / 0.191
18 23 Niccolò ANTONELLI ITA GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 FTR Honda 223.7 1'50.368 1.866 / 0.227
19 11 Livio LOI BEL Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex KTM 233.3 1'50.480 1.978 / 0.112
20 57 Eric GRANADO BRA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 Kalex KTM 230.0 1'50.536 2.034 / 0.056
21 77 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI ITA GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 FTR Honda 225.1 1'50.761 2.259 / 0.225
22 53 Jasper IWEMA NED RW Racing GP Kalex KTM 227.6 1'50.906 2.404 / 0.145
23 19 Alessandro TONUCCI ITA La Fonte Tascaracing FTR Honda 225.3 1'50.972 2.470 / 0.066
24 17 John MCPHEE GBR Caretta Technology - RTG FTR Honda 231.9 1'51.096 2.594 / 0.124
25 58 Juanfran GUEVARA SPA CIP Moto3 TSR Honda 225.7 1'51.105 2.603 / 0.009
26 3 Matteo FERRARI ITA Ongetta-Centro Seta FTR Honda 227.6 1'51.504 3.002 / 0.399
27 66 Florian ALT GER Kiefer Racing Kalex KTM 224.4 1'51.801 3.299 / 0.297
28 29 Hyuga WATANABE JPN La Fonte Tascaracing FTR Honda 224.1 1'51.867 3.365 / 0.066
29 65 Philipp OETTL GER Tec Interwetten Moto3 Racing Kalex KTM 227.5 1'52.026 3.524 / 0.159
30 9 Toni FINSTERBUSCH GER Kiefer Racing Kalex KTM 229.7 1'52.197 3.695 / 0.171
31 22 Ana CARRASCO SPA Team Calvo KTM 231.0 1'52.294 3.792 / 0.097
32 4 Francesco BAGNAIA ITA San Carlo Team Italia FTR Honda 232.3 1'52.513 4.011 / 0.219
33 95 Jules DANILO FRA Ambrogio Racing Suter Honda 223.4 1'53.694 5.192 / 1.181

I lol'd.

Marquez on his way to doing what Lewis Hamilton failed to do.

Jocke1 wrote:Hi, this is Ben Spies. I've just injured myself again, for the fiftyseventh time, and I won't be available for the time being.
But leave a message and I'll call you back once I've healed.

Bloody hell, the guy can't get a break.

CarlosFerreira wrote: Bloody hell, the guy can't get a break.

On the contrary, he is a Boss at breaking. Breaking himself, that is.

Jocke1 wrote:

CarlosFerreira wrote: Bloody hell, the guy can't get a break.

On the contrary, he is a Boss at breaking. Breaking himself, that is.

Ah yes, indeed.

Greatest last lap in a long time!

Nicky Hayden, taking a page out of the Kyle Busch handbook.

F1000X wrote:Nicky Hayden, taking a page out of the Kyle Busch handbook.

Of course, the irony is that his desperation to prevent his team mate from taking his position let Smith through to take it himself, so he still lost out after all...

I also see that Lorenzo is beginning to get publicly nervous about his chances of taking the title this year and is trying to put pressure on Yamaha to bring in more development pieces. I wonder if he is hoping that Yamaha can develop a seamless shift gearbox - Honda have reportedly developed one for their motorbike, and that technological advantage seems to be giving them a slight edge right now.

Jocke1 wrote:

CarlosFerreira wrote: Bloody hell, the guy can't get a break.

On the contrary, he is a Boss at breaking. Breaking himself, that is.

And not for the first time this year, Michele Pirro is once again being called up to replace Spies - it appears that Spies is undergoing more extensive medical tests and will not be fit in time for the next event in Brno, so Pirro is having to step into his place once more. It kind of sums up Spies's fortunes this season when the test rider has taken part in more races than Spies has this year...

The Ducatis are flying. Literary

Jocke1 wrote:http://youtu.be/Axp3uEE1cCM
Yonny Hernandez Drift Indianapolis.

Most entertaining rider in MotoGP. Shame we don't get to see much of him unlike his Moto2 days. If I had my way, I'd fill the whole grid with super-motard and speedway riders just to see them all drift round (probably would see some massive high sides though).

You think the Tech 3 guys feel like a pack of idiots yet? Because they should. Pole for Crutchlow!

Yeah, his lap was sensational, and it is an up yours moment to Tech 3.

Green flag in a few minutes. Gonna be exciting

Dang, Marquez is just unbeatable right now!

Aerospeed wrote:Dang, Marquez is just unbeatable right now!

See why i'm not his biggest fan? At least Moto3 is seeing other riders on the podium now

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:

Aerospeed wrote:Dang, Marquez is just unbeatable right now!

See why i'm not his biggest fan? At least Moto3 is seeing other riders on the podium now

Yes, he does win a lot, but usually he doesn't it in an entertaining fashion with the most aggressive riding style of anyone since Rossi.

I thought Marquez performed incredibly well. His last 4-5 laps were amazing, he was all over the place sliding and drifting.
And keeping it together!




Puig's facial expression was priceless in Parc Ferme after the finish. He looked like he'd lost all his life savings

Why didn't Crutchlow receive a penalty for riding the wrong way on the circuit?

MarquezWinsLol

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:

Aerospeed wrote:Dang, Marquez is just unbeatable right now!

See why i'm not his biggest fan? At least Moto3 is seeing other riders on the podium now

Not really. You moaned at people who had a whinge about Vettel winning all the time in other threads over the weekends, but when it comes to Marquez (and on the FF thread, Dan Cammish), you then proceed to have a moan yourself about them winning the lion's share of races.

There's a word for this, would you like to take a guess what it is?

Ataxia wrote:Not really. You moaned at people who had a whinge about Vettel winning all the time in other threads over the weekends, but when it comes to Marquez (and on the FF thread, Dan Cammish), you then proceed to have a moan yourself about them winning the lion's share of races.

There's a word for this, would you like to take a guess what it is?

He's a hypocrite (or hippo which is what I use to call hypocrites)!
Ataxia's right, Freeze-O-Kimi. In fact I was going suggest what you said Ataxia but thought better of it.

Apologies if I offended you, Freeze-O-Kimi. I still like you and respect you and your opinions.

good_Ralf wrote:

Ataxia wrote:Not really. You moaned at people who had a whinge about Vettel winning all the time in other threads over the weekends, but when it comes to Marquez (and on the FF thread, Dan Cammish), you then proceed to have a moan yourself about them winning the lion's share of races.

There's a word for this, would you like to take a guess what it is?

He's a hypocrite (or hippo which is what I use to call hypocrites)!
Ataxia's right, Freeze-O-Kimi. In fact I was going suggest what you said Ataxia but thought better of it.

Apologies if I offended you, Freeze-O-Kimi. I still like you and respect you and your opinions.

I am someone who gets offended pretty easily so your going to have to tell me what is a hypocrite?

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:I am someone who gets offended pretty easily so your going to have to tell me what is a hypocrite?

A hypocrite is someone who tells others not to do something but then does it themselves.

Aerospeed wrote:Dang, Marquez is just unbeatable right now!

The Honda works team as a whole are beginning to steadily pull away from the rest of the field right now, and it looks like Lorenzo is beginning to get worried that Yamaha cannot respond to Honda's development work in recent months (he has been putting some public pressure on Yamaha to up their research and development efforts).

watka wrote:

Freeze-O-Kimi wrote:

Aerospeed wrote:Dang, Marquez is just unbeatable right now!

See why i'm not his biggest fan? At least Moto3 is seeing other riders on the podium now

Yes, he does win a lot, but usually he doesn't it in an entertaining fashion with the most aggressive riding style of anyone since Rossi.

Since Stoner, you mean.

About the reason why I am unsure that Crutchlow is all that we might think he is: after pestering Yamaha very publicly (I'd have fired him, on the spot, if my business card said H Poncharal or L Jarvis), he has been given a number of upgrade parts, including the chassis spec that Lorenzo uses (which he didn't like and didn't adopt) and the now infamous factory-spec seat and fuel tank arrangement, which is know to make the bike faster over a race distance, by making it better with a fuel tank. A couple of races in, he wants the old parts back. Yes, the ones he's been moaning about since the end of last season. Great job Ducati didn't hire him. Oh, wait...

I am beginning to feel that Crutchlow might have benefited from an extraordinary situation at the beginning of this season, in which he was given a great bike that was well sorted and the team understood perfectly. He's struggling now with small-ish updates, which has got him all worked up and making mistakes. With Silverstone coming up next weekend, I am really afraid he is setting himself up to repeat the last two seasons' performances, and have a very large one during the practice sessions. Let's hope he's learned from his mistakes.

Increasingly depressing to see Rossi's slump in performance.

CarlosFerreira wrote:Since Stoner, you mean.

About the reason why I am unsure that Crutchlow is all that we might think he is: after pestering Yamaha very publicly (I'd have fired him, on the spot, if my business card said H Poncharal or L Jarvis), he has been given a number of upgrade parts, including the chassis spec that Lorenzo uses (which he didn't like and didn't adopt) and the now infamous factory-spec seat and fuel tank arrangement, which is know to make the bike faster over a race distance, by making it better with a fuel tank. A couple of races in, he wants the old parts back. Yes, the ones he's been moaning about since the end of last season. Great job Ducati didn't hire him. Oh, wait...

I am beginning to feel that Crutchlow might have benefited from an extraordinary situation at the beginning of this season, in which he was given a great bike that was well sorted and the team understood perfectly. He's struggling now with small-ish updates, which has got him all worked up and making mistakes. With Silverstone coming up next weekend, I am really afraid he is setting himself up to repeat the last two seasons' performances, and have a very large one during the practice sessions. Let's hope he's learned from his mistakes.

It looks like your prediction of Crutchlow getting worked up and making mistakes during the practise sessions has certainly come true with the two shunts in FP3, the first of which appears to have completely written off the bike. To make matters worse, he has crashed again in Vale during the morning warm up session - the bigger news, though, was that Marquez then promptly crashed into Crutchlow's stricken bike (though thankfully the marshals and Crutchlow were unharmed) and dislocated his left shoulder when he fell. It has been put back into place so he should be able to take part in the race, albeit in considerable discomfort and unlikely to be able to ride at full speed. http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2013/marq ... ilverstone

Scott Reading was awesome in that Moto 2 race

The best race finish of the year. Lorenzo and Marques swapping places right to the flag with Pedrosa a close third.
Lorenzos overtake at the end was supreme!

roblomas52 wrote:Scott Reading was awesome in that Moto 2 race

yeah, that was some fight with Nakagami

I was there on Sunday, up at 5:30am as we collected my other half's dad as it was a birthday present for him, only his mate couldn't go, my girlfriend didn't fancy going on her own with him, so I got a free ticket to go too!

This was the first MotoGP race I'd been to since the 2008 race at Donington, and prior to that I used to go with my dad on the back of his bike to countless BSB, WSB and MotoGP races in Britain. The first MotoGP race I attended was the 2001 event where Rossi won on the Nastro Azzurro Honda and I was busy cheering on Chris Walker and Leon Haslam on the Shell Advance Hondas. Incidentally that was Walker's last race for the team after which he went back to Superbikes, the poor bastards had a terrible time on those Hondas, they were way out of their depth. I have a load of photos that I took from that race, of all the fans running on the track afterwards, Rossi riding round with an Italian flag, and Noriyuki Haga having to take to the grass as there were so many fans on the actual track!

Anyway!

As we'd left at stupid-o'clock with me hungover from a few beers the night before with some lads from work, we were there ridiculously early and in time for all the action, including the warm-up sessions for the three main classes. I can't remember whether I've ever been early enough to any of the previous MotoGP races to have seen the warm-up sessions, or whether they're a new thing, but it was nice to get an extra opportunity to see the bikes and get some more photographs. They should definitely re-introduce a session like that for F1 having been at the GP earlier this year.

Despite Silverstone attracting a record 150,000+ fans over the three days it was fairly easy to get some good vantage points, even though we only had bog-standard General Admission tickets that didn't allow us into any grandstands. Incidentally that 'record' must be for MotoGP at Silverstone - this isn't an outright record, at least for a modern bike race in Britain as I vividly recall Brands Hatch pulling in 100,000+ on the Sunday alone for WSB races around the time of Bayliss/Edwards/Hodgson circa 2001/02. That was nuts for a place like Brands - people everywhere!

The difference to the F1 however was that the terraced sections around Luffield and Copse which are normally restricted to specific ticket holders on the Sunday for the F1 were completely open for the MotoGP which was a nice sight, as the section at Luffield is a fantastic place for photographs as there isn't a catch fence in the way - as you can discover below! As I said, the place wasn't anything like as rammed as it was for the F1, despite the heightened interest from home favourites Crutchlow and Redding and I'd expected it to be busier than what it was, so it was relatively easy to get about, even between the feature races, which is virtually impossible for the F1 if you want any chance of seeing anything. For that you have to get a spot as early as possible and stay there all day.

So we were on the terrace at Luffield for the three warm-up sessions and afterwards moved around the circuit. We went round to the entrance of Maggots on the outside where the track is only a few metres away from the wall on the outside, so with the bikes at full chat you can get really close which was great for some close-up photos which were very, very hard to get with the bikes going so fast! We stood there for the Moto2 race, and you could count the number of people within spitting distance of us on one hand - loads of room! It was great for Redding to win, and with a really good performance as well - no-one crashed out or handed him the win, he led from the front apart from that brief moment towards the end, and it meant that I'd been lucky enough to witness both of his victories on home soil after his record-breaking win in 125cc in 2008 aged just 15!

Another bonus of the MotoGP was being allowed into the infield - for the F1 it was all closed off for everyone below Silver ticket holders which I felt was very unfair, but this time it was open to all, so for the MotoGP race we went up to the bank in between Maggots/Becketts and the new Arena section. Beyond that through the narrowest bit was off limits, but where we were was still a good spot. Having two great vantages points at different times in the lap was something new! Crutchlow had a disappointing race but seeing the front three right with each other till the last lap was brilliant, real close, hard racing, and watching those last few corners was unreal.

It wasn't even 2pm when the MotoGP was finished, so we stuck around for the Moto3 and watched it from the outside of Wellington Straight on the grass bank looking back towards the Arena section. There were two more support classes after that but with a long journey ahead we called it a day and joined the mass exodus. Traffic was a bit slow, but nothing like the nightmares of Donington, for which I was very grateful.

All in all a cracking day out, and here are some photos below! The full set is on my Flickr page as usual, here is the link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/crackers250/sets/72157635348750163/


Nicky Hayden and Andrea Iannone, both Ducati Desmosedici GP13 by Crackers250, on Flickr


Scott Redding, Kalex by Crackers250, on Flickr


Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha YZR-M1 and Marc Márquez, Honda RC213V by Crackers250, on Flickr


Cal Crutchlow, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha YZR-M1 by Crackers250, on Flickr


Isaac Viñales, FTR-Honda M313 and John McPhee, FTR-Honda M313 by Crackers250, on Flickr