rossi at his best, to kill a gap of 7.3 sec to crutchlow is sensational riding with clean passes and desire to push ahead. iniital lap mistake costed him race win, but thats what rossi added to the race, fun and dynamic pure raching.

The whole of last year lorenzo and pedrosa followed same pattern, dash off from start with no serious challenge. Pedrosa won a nail biter with lorenzo in one of the races, but thats it from last season.

Also whats critical to get is that the others specially pedrosa and cructchlow were going round and round with no moves, no passes. both were defensive. crutchlow just wanted to stay with the pack. its like a rythm and moment rossi outbraked him, he lost the sync and ran wide. later to say that should have finsihed second seems absurd when you never tried leading the pack.

Now that is quite a claim. Considering the pace the Lorenzo was running all weekend.

yes it is when you see he was lapping faster than even lorenzo

rossi also admitted that he needs to yet get that assurance like cal and lorenzo to push 110% in QP to start better than were he started this race

When was he lapping faster than Lorenzo? During the middle of the race, when Lorenzo was far ahead of 2nd Place Pedrosa to even worry about being caught. Lorenzo was managing the gap, he wasn't interested in pushing the bike at the time. From where did I draw such conclusions? From what the riders themselves have said!

^^^ I agree. I feel Lorenzo is out of Rossi's reach. Maybe by the end of season it will get closer but for now Lor has a bit fater race pace.

Rossi faster than Lorenzo? Well, the fastest laps were:

1 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'55.445 3
2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 1'55.569 2
3 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Yamaha Factory Racing YAMAHA 1'55.756 16
4 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 1'55.804 2
5 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 1'55.953 3

So, Marquez gave a really fast 2nd lap.
Rossi is 3rd here, barely .18 seconds behind Lorenzo's fastest lap but this was Lap No. 16. That means, he never lost his energy till the end. So, he's clearly not beating Lorenzo in the fastest lap chart.

But he was looking hungry and desperate... Overtaking, running wide, overtaking again, running wide again. It was like, his life depended on it. If I was Lorenzo, I would be scared on the inside. Simply no doubt about it. Rossi won't be running wide all season, that's for sure.


Meanwhile, Lorenzo is an amazing talent, and let's hope his effort, sweat and caliber doesn't die unrecognized in the large waves of Rossi's charismatic fan-hood.
Maybe 10 years from now, Lorenzo would be an unbeatable force with his own fan army, but today... nothing can be said.

Not at all. Infact as the races progress, Rossi will be getting closer to Lorenzo and start winning as well. Every race, every track is different. You never know what might happen. That is the joy of racing

Marquez can a pull a fast lap at will is a well known fact. But can he sustain that consistency over a race? Only time will tell. Lorenzo belts out lap after lap after lap with such consistency that it just seems inhuman. Rossi never chases qualifying setup during FP, instead goes after race setup, especially on worn tires. So he gets faster as the race progresses. Pedrosa was troubled this weekend from the very beginning. That might not happen again. Cal is still new at the pointy end of things. Hope he finds his feet soon.

Trackside Tuesday: The Story Begins

Nicky Hayden takes to the streets with Indonesian fans -



Ducati and the satellite Yamaha's and Honda's will be going to Argentina to test -

MotoGP To Test In Argentina After Assen - UPDATED | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

New Rules of MotoGP analyzed -

New MotoGP Rules: Private MotoGP Testing Banned, Moto3 Engine Costs Curtailed | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

I am looking for a certain, Mr. Stoner from Down Under. He was last seen talking to some journalists, "...... Rossi refused to adapt to Duc Desmo". He's gone missing since Qatar GP race day. Has anybody seen the bloke?

lol ... you have a sense of humour ....

What if? Now answered -

Crunching The Numbers: Lorenzo vs Rossi, Marquez Pedrosa And Crutchlow, Race Pace At Qatar | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

^^ too much number crunching....

After the flag with Bradley Smith at Qatar -

Changes in the Ducati motorcycle and how Audi plans to go about getting Hayden and Dovi back on the podium -

From Jerez To Qatar: The First Steps On Ducati's Long Road To Redemption | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

LCR Honda's operating strategy -

This is LCR Honda