Yes, MotoGP is back and with a bang at that!
Such an interesting race from so many different angles. It was the first ever MotoGP night race for a start. It was certainly a novelty and I did enjoy being able to see the sparks from the rider's toe sliders, the flames from the exhausts and the shift lights reflected in the rider's visors/helmets. I found it harder to identify the riders as their lids and numbers seemed much harder to pick out. Several times I got Edwards and Toseland mixed up. Of course it is harder to identify riders at the start of the season due to the unfamiliarity with the new liveries and lids. I think it did what was intended - it put a major race in another part of the world on the TV in Europe at a good time. On a side note - how bad was the filming? I was screaming at the screen when Rossi and Dovisioso were fighting tooth and nail on the last lap and the picture switched to Stoner crossing the line all alone. Ok show him crossing the line but please return straight away to the action.
So what else was interesting? Well I was over the moon about James Toseland's first GP performance. Second on the grid was no mean feat and then to stay up with the lead boys (see that move on Lorenzo? Wo0t!) for the race distance on a Yamaha with last year's engine speaks very highly of the quality of James Toseland. I believe we'll see consistent top ten finishes for James this year.
This year may well be the year of the rookies. Lorenzo was every bit as impressive as his reputation makes him out to be. I bet Rossi's losing sleep over the chrome headed egotist already. Dovisioso was very exciting too; highest satellite Honda by quite a margin and that final battle with Rossi was fantastic.
Disappointments? Where were the Kwaks and the 'Zukis? Where was my Hoppo!? Why is Melandri struggling on the Ducati? Can only Stoner ride the thing and if so why? I beginning to suspect he really is that good. And Rossi's tyres? What the hell is going on? Why does it seem that only his tyres went off? Has Rossi become a tyre destroyer or is he just having catastrophically bad luck?
Ok Qatar, especially a night race at Qatar is never going to be a 'normal' race (if there is such a thing) and the return to Europe may answer a few questions but Qatar has answered one huge pre-season question - Will Casey Stoner still be the one to beat this year? The answer, categorically, is YES.
Full results here.
Such an interesting race from so many different angles. It was the first ever MotoGP night race for a start. It was certainly a novelty and I did enjoy being able to see the sparks from the rider's toe sliders, the flames from the exhausts and the shift lights reflected in the rider's visors/helmets. I found it harder to identify the riders as their lids and numbers seemed much harder to pick out. Several times I got Edwards and Toseland mixed up. Of course it is harder to identify riders at the start of the season due to the unfamiliarity with the new liveries and lids. I think it did what was intended - it put a major race in another part of the world on the TV in Europe at a good time. On a side note - how bad was the filming? I was screaming at the screen when Rossi and Dovisioso were fighting tooth and nail on the last lap and the picture switched to Stoner crossing the line all alone. Ok show him crossing the line but please return straight away to the action.
So what else was interesting? Well I was over the moon about James Toseland's first GP performance. Second on the grid was no mean feat and then to stay up with the lead boys (see that move on Lorenzo? Wo0t!) for the race distance on a Yamaha with last year's engine speaks very highly of the quality of James Toseland. I believe we'll see consistent top ten finishes for James this year.
This year may well be the year of the rookies. Lorenzo was every bit as impressive as his reputation makes him out to be. I bet Rossi's losing sleep over the chrome headed egotist already. Dovisioso was very exciting too; highest satellite Honda by quite a margin and that final battle with Rossi was fantastic.
Disappointments? Where were the Kwaks and the 'Zukis? Where was my Hoppo!? Why is Melandri struggling on the Ducati? Can only Stoner ride the thing and if so why? I beginning to suspect he really is that good. And Rossi's tyres? What the hell is going on? Why does it seem that only his tyres went off? Has Rossi become a tyre destroyer or is he just having catastrophically bad luck?
Ok Qatar, especially a night race at Qatar is never going to be a 'normal' race (if there is such a thing) and the return to Europe may answer a few questions but Qatar has answered one huge pre-season question - Will Casey Stoner still be the one to beat this year? The answer, categorically, is YES.
Full results here.