Got to do this, sorry.

CRUTCHLOOOOOWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Top man,what a performance.

Allan

Scott Redding was good in Moto2 as well, he surely knows it aint over until the fat lady sings.

Peter

Anyone fancy having Cal's Silverstone 2012 leathers, signed and deliverd by the man himself and have Paddock passes for Laguna? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cal-Crutchlo...item43b0ee6b21

Well, although this thread has been quiet, MotoGP certainly aint!

The sad loss of Casey Stoner to a life of retirement from MotoGP.
He will be missed for sure. A great riding style to watch, a determined competitor, and since the kerfufful in the immediate aftermath of his announcement, a more relaxed looking lad too. He certainly has looked more at ease in front of the cameras since. It has been such a bloody shame that of all things a nice handling Honda should chuck him off and put him out of the championship, and after all those years trying to get that Ducati across the line with life and limb intact... Still, for all those down under, it would appear he is doing what a lot of ex bike racers do and is going to four wheels in the Aussie V8 Touring Cars. He'll be a pain for the seasoned campaigners there of that I'm sure.

Ben Spies. I wouldn't get him to go buy you a lottery ticket. Maybe he should start quoting Blackadder ''The path of my life is strewn with cowpats from the Devils' own satanic herd''. A ride on a Ducati sattelite bike seems to me 'out of the frying pan...

Valentino Rossi. The best I saw was a cartoon of him holding a bunch of flowers to his new (old) bike like someone begging forgiveness from an old girlfriend. He still has the talent to get the M1 on the podium, time will tell if he can challenge for another title. My personal feeling is he is about to make a huge blunder. Audi don't do losing and they will make Ducati a force to be reckoned with. Maybe not next year but then it all depends on whether you want to be seen as a keystone to Ducati's future success or just want to grab a few more wins (maybe). VR chose the wrong option in my eyes.

Jorge Lorenzo. Now Casey isn't going to be around and with Vale as his team mate again, I see things going all his way. Yamaha have a strong pairing (compared to Honda Factory), Jorge is comfortable enough to enjoy having a competitive team mate and it is all sunshine from his side. He'll also be a 2 time World Champion, which takes us neatly to...

Dani Pedrosa. The man destined to always finish second. A shame.

Marc Marquez. Learning the ropes next year. he will be an occasional threat. He had better take note of what Jonathan Rea achieved on two hasty rides in MotoGP. He may have sponsorship but that will only carry him two seasons at best. JR did a superb job filling in from CS and may be a contender for a Honda ride in GPs in 2014.

Marco Simoncelli. He would have ripped it up and caused hell this year. God bless you Marco.

And as for the rest of it...

The CRT bikes have shown some nice improvement over the year. Slowly narrowing down the gap to the back of the prototypes, it's not been such a bad thing, though a bit reminiscent of the Turbo/Non turbo days of Formula One in the '80s. Now Dorna have taken control of WSB, maybe, just maybe, some of the other big teams may just decide to cross into the prototype category....

Bradbury - excellent post!! I've been following every race as well. I'm a bit behind though cause I follow Formula 1, baseball, football, at the same time so my DVR is loaded. So apologize if my comments are out of date.

Jorge Lorenzo: Is the freaking man!!! He obviously has the riding skills but he also has the development skills which not everybody has. On the brakes he's a demon. Credit to the M1 as well.

Dani Pedrosa: He doesn't seem to have it during races. He seems to get on the podium a lot. Reminds me of Sete Gibernau, he wasn't fast unless he followed Rossi turn by turn.

Casey Stoner: It's a shame for his retirement but I feel for him. I mean, how many broken bones can a guy have? He races fast and races his heart out. He's lucky to have his life after riding on the Duc. . . thought he would be a bit safer on the Honda but he's still going balls out. If he would chill once in a while and not try to win every race, he would have clinched already. Schwantz was the same early in his career. After retirement, how is he going to make a living? Bike riding instructor?

Ben Spies: Even when the bike works, he hasn't been able to crack top 5's that much. I never expected Hayden to be ahead of him in the standings. Surprised he got a ride next year, but good someone still believes in him.

Rossi: Looks like the dream team never bore fruit, eh? Looks like he's taking a major paycut wanting out. Oh well, gotta salvage the career win %. I don't understand how he fell off a cliff so drastically. Is it his fitness, weight? Scared?? Exhausted? Don't know. Suspect the same fate on the M1 next year. Then finally to Rallying.

CRT bikes: have totally screwed people during qualifying. They are the Minardi's of Motogp. So off the pace it's dangerous to the factory guys. Sad state of the economy nowadays. But I'd rather have a full grid than 10 people (like 1990 Laguna Seca!)

Part 2

Andrea Dovisiozo. A step up in pay, works support and the chance to further the work left unfinished by Vale and Jerry Burgess. Audi influence and support. He may just have lucked into a great ride, but not yet... A year or so maybe before I see him up the pointy end battling regularly for podiums and wins. He'll have a few shiny moments next year for sure. Long term, quite a few cogs have got to turn in unison to turn around Ducati's luck and performance. Either way, I'm sure he will be pleased.

Nicky Hayden. Still battling away trying to get the fickle red rocket to perform. He can ride fast, but how long can that keep him on that bike. Lots of Moto2 riders are maturing and will be eyeing up a ride for 2014. He must do better next year or he'll find himself out of a ride.

Cal Crutchlow. Probably dodged a bullet not getting the Ducati contract. Tech 3 are not short of pace and are THE satellite team of the past few years. Yamaha are showing great support not only from the team but also the other works riders (remember Jorge showing Cal the 'stay calm' hand gesture at the 'start' of the Misano GP?) Much improved but with the odd slight error. MUST sort out his first 3 laps of a race as this is where he is losing out the most. VR could be a good influence on him, we shall see.

Karel Abraham. If it wasn't for his old boy owning the team, would have been out of contract next year. A dismal season in 2012. Must improve dramatically next year.

Stefan Bradl. If he keeps going like he has, will be a contender for Dani's works ride fairly soon. Very impressive first season.

Alvaro Bautista. A dismal year and he will be counting his blessings if he is still on a GP bike next year. Ditto Hector Barbera.

Expect the CRT teams to shuffle riders around like the casino dealer shuffles cards. David Salom has had 2 outings, now sacked. Money talks and if a better rider comes along with more in his pocket... Hopefully we will see CRT improve to a strong midfield battle consistently next year. Like it or not, this class is the future, until such time as MotoGP can attract the kind of money Bernie has worked so hard over the years to bring to Formula One.

Great write up chaps, glad you revitalised this thread as I didn't know it existed

I've enjoyed the drama of this season, if not always the racing.

Originally Posted by Jonathan Bradbury

Attachment 5209108

Ww nice pic JB that is some serious lean angle it sucks he is retiring i hope he does better at the touring cars than gardner did.

On another note are the suzuki's & kawasaki's ever going to return to moto gp.

Take another look. Note how much difference in angle the front and rear tyres are. Chassis flex counts in MotoGP.

It still makes me wonder what John Britten would have learned and produced had he had the resources and timescale...

Hey guys... Thanks for diggin this back up JB...
In that pic I recon the main cause of the wheels being out of line with each other is Casey sideways style... The thing is probably cranked with a bit of opposite lock goin on, I agree there is flex happening there too, but I dunno if the naked eye would be able to pick it up, I recon it would be pretty minute... Hmmm... Dunno...

But do know most of us are gunna miss it next year...

Now for my two cents on this season... Next season... And my pipe dreams of how (in deluded world) it should be...

2012...
-Casey Stoner... A couple of very minor mistakes that cost him dearly, but pushing hard every single lap like he does on those bikes... Something's gotta give sooner or later...
But still the fastest dude out there... A real shame for us he's goin, but can't argue with his reason...

-Jorge Lorenzo... The absolute master class of motogp... This guy makes results go his way, by way of always being at the front, and making a very limited number of errors... He is the epitome of consistancy... And the reason Stoner had to push so hard that he made those mistakes...

-Dani Pedrosa... he is having his best season in motogp to date, but maybe by default... He is riding well, and seems to have stepped up another notch with Casey gone... But let's put Casey back in the mix, add in Rossi, and also Dovi ( on last years form, and bike)... And suddenly Dani wouldn't be lookin quite so good... But this is racing, and he's making a good fist of it...

-Ben Spies... Lost !!!, he has had so much bad luck, and made a few mistakes of his own too... The guy seems so dejected by the whole gp circus, his results and performances have shown nothing of his potential... Watching the live timing though, you see most races this year he does match Lorenzo's lap times... But only the middle part of the race, where Jorge does it from the first to last lap... Ben has the speed alright...

-Stephan Bradl... I recon he's awsome... First year on the bike, and finishing in front of alot guys with alot of experience... Quietly spoken, and polite, I hope he gets on the podium before the year is out... (Bradl will become my new Favorite rider after Casey leaves)...

-Dovi and Crutchlow... They're both doin everything they can on the satellite bike... Scoring poles and podiums, what else could you ask for..? Again like Dani, maybe it's due to the fact a few of the regulars aren't there... But you have to be there at the flag I guess, so good on em...

-Team Ducati... Hayden has been the standout here... Usually the fastest qualifier, and often running further up the field than his illustrious team mate... But bad luck, mistakes from pushing so hard, have not given him the results eigther... Rossi is just a damn good racer, and works hard to make results happen... But the gloss has certainly gone from this team for the moment... A works team that is use to running at the front, and winning a championship, is now a mid pack racer...

-Alvaro Bautista... Had a very slow year, a couple of good results, but not enough to keep his job for mine... Bad luck and other circumstances come into play for all the riders, at some piont it's gotta turn around... But haven't seen it yet...

-Karel Abraham... As above...

-Hector Barbera... As above...

-CRT... Espargaro and DePuniet have really been a class act here, there is a few ART bikes gettin around, but none close to the pace these guys are at... The rest, well I find it all a bit boring when they're so far apart, and so far off the pace... I know each rider is doing a great job with what they have, but it doesn't make for good viewing...

2013...
-Loenzo... He will do what he has done for the last few years... Be really fast...
I just hope he doesn't let Rossi rattle him... ( I heard a statment from Colin Edwards saying" he (Lorenzo) is areal Bad A$$, but I don't think HE realizes how much of a Bad A$$ HE really is... And man... That dude is a real Bad A$$"... I hope I'm not reading into that too much, and thinking there could be a slight chink in the armour... And who better to try and expose it than...Rossi...

-Valentino... He ain't lost nothin... Put him back on a compliant, well behaved bike, and he'll run at the front again...

-Dani... No change here... Fast and consistant... But not quite to the clock work style of Lorenzo...

-Marc Marqez... Don't recon he'll take long to find his feet, and start putting pressure on his fellow Spanish team mate...

-Dovi and Hayden... Who is the senior rider here..? Dovi has good results, Hayden is a former champ, and been there for a while now... I really hope the Ducati gets the little bit extra to push it to front... These guys will run around just behind the factory Honda's and Yamaha's... Time will tell...

-tech3... Crutchlow will totally dominate his new team mate in Bradley Smith... And unfortunately for Cal, I see fourth or fifth position being a regular finish for him... And Smith has alot to prove to justify his position in the team... Let's hope he can, coz he seems like a good bloke... But had very mixed results through 125's and moto2...

-Bradl... I'm thinkin he will be doin battle with Crutchlow alot of the time... Sloggin it out for top satellite bike...

-Gresini Honda... Dunno if Bautista has re-signed yet..? But if he has, he should be in mix with Bradl and Cal...

-Pramac Ducati... Spies and Ianone... I'm thinkin these guys will have a similar pace to each other right from the get go... Spies is very talented, and Ianone is...well...crazy joe... Can't wait to see how they tackle it... And maybe just a bit behind the battle for fifth through eighth...

And the rest will squabble it out for the last couple of points on offer...

And if you haven't fallen asleep yet... Here's my dream season...

-Smooth as Silk... Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Wayne Rainey and Mick Doohan will make up this power house of a team... Do what it takes...

-Team- Take No Prisoners... This team is spear headed by the one and only Kevin Schwantz, with a bunch of others to help him out, including Valentino Rossi, Barry Sheene, Marco Simoncelli, Gary McCoy and Norick Abe... You can spot these team members by the bright colours, and also their bikes are generally tryin to tie themselves in a knot as they struggle to keep up with the rider...

-The Quite Acheivers... Team captain is Sir Eddie Lawson... With fellow American Kenny Roberts snr, Loris Capirossi, Simon Crafar and Alex Barros

-Almost, Nearly, But Not Quite... Perennial brides maid Randy Mamola leads an angry bunch of guys that quite got the ice cream, Dani Pedrosa, Sete Gibenau, Andrea Dovisioso (although he did grab a 125cc title) Aarron Slight and Mika Kallio...

And there's plenty more I'd love to see out there, but the grid is probably starting to get a bit crowded...
See what happens when there's no bikes on for a week... My head starts doin all crazy things... Just count yourselves lucky I'm doin this on my phone... Other wise there'd be pages and pages of mindless dribble...