Czech Moto GP qualifying Sat.

[Arizona Wayne]

...8 am on east coast on BEin & DirecTV.  Brno race track.  Check times for other classes.

[LowRyter]

cable box just went out..... no dvr

[Yukonica]

It's not been a good year for motorcycle racing legends.

Wonder what the weather will bring? Flag to Flag?
Any bets on a podium for Dovi?

[PJPR01]

Genius...just pure genius! That's all there is to say!  DaVinci on the Motorcycle!

[Darren Williams]

Question to me is, with as fast as a certain Yamaha goes around the track, why does that team always wait too late to change bikes?  Dillon reported they had a dry bike ready to go quite a few laps before they came in to change.  By then a couple of Hondas had disappeared over the horizon.

[PJPR01]

Everyone has the chance to have a second bike ready, sometimes think a bit more strategically about the scenarios and are ready.  The playing field is absolutely level when it comes to the rules and the fact that each team can change bikes.

The big difference is strategy and planning, and Honda has a lead there over Yamaha/Suzuki.

Hardly an unfair "artificial" advantage! 

[Arizona Wayne]

Brno races available out West 4:30 to 7:30 pm tonight.  GP race is supposed to be last according to Bein channel.  What I've read about this race so far sounds like it's going to be boring.

[Aaron D.]

No not boring.

Kirby, the lower classes stop the race for tires as MotoGP used to-but it was decided to do it this way, and frankly I enjoy it.

[Aaron D.]

Actually several teams had the second bike set with an alternate wet setup-Lorenzo's crew wasn't switched to dry when he came in!

The riders now have a dash messaging system-Rossi and his crew made the wrong call, as he freely admits. Ain't always about who's fastest.

[Arizona Wayne]

Far as I'm concerned, Kirby, Honda did what they planned all along.  Last year with different regs. of what your options are in wet conditions, some riders stayed on slicks longer than I thought was even possible w/o crashing.    I don't know the regs. this year, but suspect if the race is called "wet", the riders have to start with rain tires.  So Honda put the softest rain tires available on their factory race bikes knowing in a couple laps they will switch off that race bike to the backup w/slicks.  Be honest, the track was hardly wet when they started the race.  What Honda did was planned all the way.  They weren't the only team that switched bikes w/slicks after 2 laps either.  But the other teams that did it aren't as competitive, so Honda didn't care.

The shocking thing to me is that neither Ducati, Yamaha, or Suzuki was prepared for the scenario that occurred.  They all had no backup bikes ready for the switch if it happened.

You can't just switch tires like that on a bike and be competitive.  The whole bike needs to be set up differently.

What I had read about this race before seeing it sounded like it was going to be boring since MM won with such a long lead.  I watched all 3 races and none of them were boring with the wet/dry conditions they ran in. 

[Socalrob]

I believe a wet race just means you can go in and switch bikes.  This year or last year there was a rider who started a wet race on slicks.

Rossi basically lost the race when MM pitted and it did not rain again.  I think Rossi stayed out the extra lap or two in case it would start to rain, really his only hope for victory.  MM skunked all the top riders by pitting after he fell back to 7th or so.  When he came out he was 10 seconds a lap up on the others.  So if Rossi pitted on his next go around he would already be 10 seconds down.  So the race was lost even then.

A gamble by MM, and a gamble by Rossi to stay out and see if rain came.  Rossi actually timed it pretty damn good, he was still able to claw back to 4th. 

It was sad to see Lorenzo pit and his bike was not ready.  I still think Lorenzo will likely win one race this year.  I like his quirky autistic personality.

[Yukonica]

I'm with Arizona in thinking Honda planned to get off rain tires as soon as possible. Riders can feel the quality of the grip with a great deal of sensitivity which is why they are the best at the game. Marcus possibly chose the soft to give himself a lead at the beginning (didn't work as planned) but maybe he wanted to feel the tire go off to know when the track was dry enough to get on slicks (that part of the plan worked.... very well)

On the Moto2 race; I think Morbidelli got stuffed by the length of the sprint but the fun part was listening to Roberts and Gardener duke it out. Blast from the past. Anyone know if Roberts is from the dynasty?

[PJPR01]

Strategy, planning? I think not. With all due respect.

All the others had to wait and see what 93's lap times were going to be before making the "go in" decision.

This is where we disagree...all teams COULD have made the same decision...but they all waited too long and by then it was too late, and some teams didn't even have a bike ready for their riders as mentioned above.  So that's what I mean by lack of strategy and planning...they all could have had a bike set up, they all could have dropped in to change bikes when Marquez did...but no one else was decisive enough to do it...

Victory to the first strike here for Marquez...certainly not a hollow or artificial victory, he made a conscious decision, the others dilly dallied too long and paid the price.  Such is racing!

Vamos Marquez!!

[PJPR01]

 

[Darren Williams]

If Rossi would have come in and changed a few laps earlier, he would have been on the podium at a minimum, maybe even challenging Pedrosa for second. His lap times late were very good, better than Mavericks. If only he had pitted when Maverick did.

And MM in the post race interview said something about the medium rain not working for him during the warm up being the reason he switched to softs before the final sighting lap. And they had the second bike ready to go on slicks at the start of the race. So what happened wasn't just luck, but having a good contingency plan at the ready, IMHO.

[LowRyter]

Rossi lost the title in '15 for doing the same thing.  Leading the race but changing bikes too late.

[Darren Williams]

Rossi was making the bikes go fast, both rain and slicks. Between the pit boards and dash communications, I blame Jarvis for letting it happen once again. The team has to be able to see what is happening and react better (that is unless I see that they were trying to get him to come in earlier). Gambling on the weather is what the lesser teams can do for a long shot.

[Arizona Wayne]

I'm with Arizona in thinking Honda planned to get off rain tires as soon as possible. Riders can feel the quality of the grip with a great deal of sensitivity which is why they are the best at the game. Marcus possibly chose the soft to give himself a lead at the beginning (didn't work as planned) but maybe he wanted to feel the tire go off to know when the track was dry enough to get on slicks (that part of the plan worked.... very well)

On the Moto2 race; I think Morbidelli got stuffed by the length of the sprint but the fun part was listening to Roberts and Gardener duke it out. Blast from the past. Anyone know if Roberts is from the dynasty?

Joe Roberts is not related to the Kenny Dynasty, but the last 2 years he has been impressive in 600 races in Moto America.  And this race was his 1st race in Moto 2, where he started 29th on the grid and finished 4th?  I believe he has raced in Europe prior so maybe he isn't totally new to the tracks over there, but still...........

[drbone641]

Brno races available out West 4:30 to 7:30 pm tonight.  GP race is supposed to be last according to Bein channel.  What I've read about this race so far sounds like it's going to be boring.

Bein isn't carrying the whole season?     

[Nick]

Bein isn't carrying the whole season?     

I think AW means the last of the 3 races for that day.

[drbone641]

I think AW means the last of the 3 races for that day.

heavy sigh of relief. thks!

[Yukonica]

Joe Roberts is not related to the Kenny Dynasty, but the last 2 years he has been impressive in 600 races in Moto America.  And this race was his 1st race in Moto 2, where he started 29th on the grid and finished 4th?  I believe he has raced in Europe prior so maybe he isn't totally new to the tracks over there, but still...........

Roberts finished 10th. But considering some these guys have years of experience in the class, he has a bright future ahead.
 :1:
~ an aside: to hear some painful commentating listen to the Australian super bike series. One passing corner is called "bikersworld dot com dot au" Whoever allowed the sponsor to dictate using the full name of the corner should be forced to listen to every lap.