Moto GP 2013

[speedbird591]

A heads up for the new season.

I know there are a few here, like me, who take an interest in Moto GP. Since Rossi moved to Ducati it's lacked the exciting racing of the past but now he's back on his beloved Yamaha, this season is far from predictable. The first race will be at Qatar on 15/04 but there have been three official testing sessions over the winter. Two were at Sepang which suited the Hondas and were dominated by the rookie, 2012 Moto2 champion, Marc Marquez on the works Repsol Honda. The last three day testing session has just finished at Jerez which suits the Yamaha better. Although some sessions were wet they still had enough dry time to put in some serious laps and the combined times over the three days make some very interesting reading.

The first seven covered by .8 sec.

1. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Yamaha
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha
3. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA) Yamaha
4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda
5. Stefan Bradl (GER) Honda
6. Marc Marquez (SPA) Honda
7. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati

So any of the top 6 capable of winning a GP with Yamaha cornering speed balanced by Honda power and Dovizioso showing perhaps that Stoner isn't the only man who can wrestle a Ducati successfully.

I hope the season delivers on the early promise - it could be the best one for years.

Ian

[DaveB]

Nice to see Cal showing early promise for the season and to see Valentino back in the mix. I was only wondering about the season start a couple of days ago. Thanks for the HU

ATB
DaveB

[dodger]

Hello Ian,

Yes, another season to look forward to and as you say with Rossi back on the Yamaha it should hopefully be interesting this year,

Cheers,

Roger.

[ajb]

Hi Guys,
Just a slight correction, the first race (Qatar) is on the 7th April not the 15th. Hate for any of us fans to miss out with Vali going out on a Yamaha once again

Andy

[speedbird591]

Just a slight correction, the first race (Qatar) is on the 7th April not the 15th.

Whoah! Major correction!

Thanks, Andy - dunno where I got the 15th from - it's a Monday And also the Qatar race is floodlit and timed to start at 2200 local (+3 GMT).

Ian

[Jon.M]

I really hope that we get a more competitive series this year. It looks promising.

I'm a fan of Valentino but think that if he can come back from two years in the wilderness it will be a great achievement.

Jon

[speedbird591]

I'm a fan of Valentino but think that if he can come back from two years in the wilderness it will be a great achievement.

Perhaps this picture of VR from the Jerez test will reassure you, Jon. It looks like he's been learning a bit from Marc Marquez about using four contact points. Two tyres, a knee and an elbow



Ian

[Jon.M]

Great picture Ian.

I'd love to see something like the first race of 2004 in South Africa. Rossi's first race for Yamaha against the all conquering Honda.

Marquez is worth watching as well. Do you get the Moto 2 and Moto 3 races in Britain? I miss 125s they required a special technique to win best described as don't slow down as you can't accelerate afterwards.

Jon

[dodger]

Hello Jon,

Well the BBC show the main race live but i watch Eurosport on Sky TV as they show the other races live but not the main race until its finished on the BeeB then they show it recorded,

I don't know what TV you have where you live but of course you can watch the Races [if you pay] on Eurosport Player on the PC i believe,

Hope this helps.

Roger.

[Jon.M]

Hi Rodger,

There's no problem watching all the races here in Italy. I rather thought that it would be you in the UK who would be deprived. All of the races are shown live and the ones on the other side of the world are repeated at reasonable times. We also get the practice sessions all on free view channels. This applies to the World Superbike series as well. You can also pay to watch them on Sky.

There is one big downer. From this year all bike racing is on one of Silvio's Mediaset channels, Italia 1. They have started having ad. breaks during the races. The race continues in a little window in the corner of the screen while you get two minutes of ads twice per race. They call this a 'pit stop' and it's very annoying. Especially if something dramatic happens during the break.

Jon