Thats difference between Racing and setting fastest lap times, aint it?
But that race can be watched over and over, awsome

Just want to share few thoughts here because things are in flow!...

Champions are many but legends are less. Win a championship or two and you become a champion but to be a legend you have to be more than a champion, and that is what Valentino Rossi is. He's more than a champion. He's the life of MotoGP for a very long time now. He can create the level of emotional outburst from the crowd and fans that no other racer can match. His fan following in any country is unbeatable, even in countries that have racers from their own nationalities. This level of fan following is not achieved by being just a champion. This amount of love from all over the motorcycling world is also the reason for great frustration for his fans when he is unable to perform for any reason. Yes, he might be getting old for racing motorcycles at this level, and yes the competition is young and talented and dangerous. But we cannot take away the greatness from a man who is the reason why this sport is mostly watched worldwide. His racing tactics and craftsmanship is unmatched when he's feeling good and so are his victories and post race celebrations! He is never afraid of a fight and never shy away of making it clear who his enemy is! Valentino Rossi is a phenomena and he will remain one.

^ Brilliantly put in, mate!

Ben Spies had tweeted "The measure of a man is how he deals with life at times of a challenge....I'm coming from the bottom of a swamp to a tall tower. Chin up!" after the Jerez race.

Hope, he lives up to that!

Rossi back to square one.
Damn! I personally want to inject something into his body that can activate the monster inside him.

Thanks, just the points which I wanted to convey. Stoner was fastest in all practice, QP and WUP by huge margins and I can never forget the air of confidence on his face on race day as if he had everything under control and it is just a matter of time to take the chequered flag in first position but he never realized what Rossi is capable of or may be he knew but dint expect it from him that day and what followed was just too amazing and only Rossi can do that and not one can do the same thing in the current motogp line up. The champion was beaming and the moaner was moaning and that year he proved what real champions are made of

Very well said ! All that I want is for him to come back to winning ways soon and that too on a Ducati before he moves onto something else.

here's something interesting

tOp speed: doesn't look like there's much of a power difference (Ducati vs Honda) now.

1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team HONDA 329.5
8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team DUCATI 328.2
17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing DUCATI 327.1
69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team DUCATI 326.8
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 325.7
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 325.1
46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 325.1
19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 325.0
6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 323.4
99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 323.4
26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 323.3
11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 321.8
5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing SUTER 312.0
14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 305.5
51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 304.7
77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 304.7
41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 303.6
22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 302.7
68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 301.8
54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 301.6
9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project IODA 290.6

Surprised to see stoner at the top there. Most of the time it is Barbera because he is getting a tow.

But hasn't it always been the Ducs with the highest top speed, which doesn't necessarily translate into fast laps?

^^True..top speed is never the key to fast lap times. cos this is on straights..on circuits the speed around corners matters more where these ducs are struggling.

the Yammies on the other hand, without tops speed records manage to stay at the top.

Yes the Yammies have smooth power band around the corners that is the reason the Yammies are on top even when the top speed less. Whereas the Ducati has a good straight line speed but it is very rough at the corners...


MotoGP Estoril Practice Results
1. Casey Stoner (Honda) 1’38.396
2. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 1’38.717
3. Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) 1’38.742
4. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) 1’38.797
5. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) 1’38.930
6. Alvaro Bautista (Honda) 1’38.959
7. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) 1’39.029
8. Hector Barbera (Ducati) 1’39.193
9. Valentino Rossi (Ducati) 1’39.357
10. Andrea Dovisioso (Yamaha) 1’39.615
11. Karel Abraham (Ducati) 1’40.207
12. Stefan Bradl (Honda) 1’40.898
13. Rany De Puniet (ART) 1’41.088
14. Aleix Esparago (ART) 1’41.634
15. Yonny Hernandez (BQR) 1’41.638
16. Mattia Pasini (ART) 1’41.973
17. Michele Pirro (FTR) 1’42.252
18. Colin Edwards (Suter) 1’42.587
19. Ivan Silva (BQR) 1’42.804
20. Dani Petrucci (Ioda) 1’42.984
21. James Ellison (ART) 1’43.665

Mean while Factory Yamaha Boss tells door is not shut for Rossi to join Yamaha.

Please see the below link

Yamaha door not closed to Rossi - Motorcycle racing news: Moto GP - Visordown

Lorenzo wouldn't mind Rossi back - Motorcycle racing news: Moto GP - Visordown

haha.. if the top speed is something to do with the best bike then Barbera will be the world champion. Refer the same site to check the top speeds of the everybike and the finish position
Ducati is fast on the straights.. but its the corners which makes the difference. We have seen this year after year. the bike should ve the best package. Handling !!
Oh though stoner had a fast bike at leguna, Rossi had the best bike...
The topic is not on Is Rossi a legend. He is and he will always be.

Cal and Dovi fight for the factory M1 for 2013 if, Speez doesn't perform this year!

2012 Estoril MotoGP Friday Round Up: On Intra-Team Enmity, Electronics, 285 hp Engines And Rookies | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

cracker of a last lap By Rossi. But more than one sec from the Leader and less than two secs from the Best CRT. Yeah back to square one now


1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda (RC213V) 1m 37.326s
2. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda (RC213V) 1m 37.338s
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 1m 37.680s
4. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1) 1m 38.086s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Monster Yamaha Tech3 (YZR-M1) 1m 38.273s
6. Alvaro Bautista ESP San Carlo Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m 38.332s
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Team (GP12) 1m 38.443s
8. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 1m 38.558s
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team (GP12) 1m 38.602s
10. Stefan Bradl GER LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m 38.714s
11. Hector Barbera ESP Pramac Racing (GP12) 1m 38.856s
12. Randy De Puniet FRA Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) 1m 39.361s
13. Aleix Espargaro ESP Power Electronics Aspar (ART CRT) 1m 40.225s
14. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing (GP12) 1m 40.374s
15. Yonny Hernandez COL Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) 1m 40.561s
16. Mattia Pasini ITA Speed Master (ART CRT) 1m 40.875s
17. Michele Pirro ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini (FTR-Honda CRT) 1m 41.379s
18. Ivan Silva ESP Avintia Blusens (FTR-Kawasaki CRT) 1m 41.772s
19. Danilo Petrucci ITA Came IodaRacing (Ioda-Aprilia CRT) 1m 42.002s
20. James Ellison GBR Paul Bird Motorsport (ART CRT) 1m 42.103s
21. Colin Edwards USA NGM Forward Racing (Suter-BMW CRT) 1m 42.145s

Fastest Friday time:
Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1m 38.396s (FP2)

Official Estoril records:
Best lap:
Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha 1m 35.715s (2008)
Fastest race lap:
Dani Pedrosa ESP Honda 1m 36.937s (2009

An 800 faster than a 1000! I mean, there is a difference of 35-40bhp and 1000s are expected to be faster than 800s. What's going on?!

the only logical thing i think is that the 2012 bridgestones warm up pretty quickly compared to the 2011 tyres and thus in order to make them last a race distance the power from the bikes is regulated. but still this would only be true when the race times are compared.

The 1000 cc machine have more weight than a 800 cc machine because of FIM rules for Moto GP 2012.

Take for Example Honda RC212V and Honda RC213V the RC212V with 800 cc weighs over 150 kg and the RC213V with 1000 cc engine weighs over 157 kg.The increase in 7 kgs was according to new set rules laid by FIM.

Also when considering increase in power the RC213V gets a 20 hp increase.Honda could have increased the power more than 20 hp but there is another rule that states that factory bike should only have a 21 litre fuel tank previously the 800 cc machines also had the same 21 litre fuel tank keeping this in mind the power output was increased only by 20 hp in case of Honda.To avoid running out of fuel more than others during race.
Although the Maximum power limit was 240 hp for 2012.