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Post by BADGER on Mar 10, 2007 13:09:12 GMT
Casey Stoner has defeated former five-times world champion Valentino Rossi to take his first ever MotoGP victory, on his Ducati debut in the first ever 800cc race, at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. Qatar Grand Prix:RESULTS 1. Stoner2. Rossi 3. Pedrosa 4. Hopkins 5. Melandri 6. Edwards 7. Vermeulen 8. Hayden 9. Barros 10. Nakano 11. Hofmann 12. Jacque13. Roberts 14. Elias 15. Guintoli SO IS THIS THE NEXT WORLD CHAMP...?
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Post by BADGER on Mar 10, 2007 13:26:54 GMT
Race results - Losail. 1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 43min 2.788 secs 2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 43min 5.626 secs 3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 11.318 secs 4. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 11.859 secs 5. Marco Melandri ITA Gresini Honda (B) 43min 20.221 secs 6. Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 43min 21.435 secs 7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 25.704 secs 8. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 25.845 secs 9. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP (B) 43min 28.749 secs 10. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda (M) 43min 31.244 secs 11. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP (B) 43min 37.817 secs 12. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 43min 45.736 secs 13. Kenny Roberts USA Team Roberts (M) 43min 45.765 secs 14. Toni Elias SPA Gresini Honda (B) 43min 45.777 secs 15. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha (D) 43min 54.427 secs 16. Makoto Tamada JPN Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha (D) 44min 0.641 secs
Did not finish: Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR (M) Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) Andrew Pitt AUS Ilmor GP (M)
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Post by floog on Mar 10, 2007 13:30:26 GMT
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Post by kevrex on Mar 10, 2007 18:03:00 GMT
Should be a very interesting season :agreed: What a great race it was
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Post by bikesnoopy on Mar 11, 2007 8:24:50 GMT
I think it was the DUCATI that defeated Rossi on this occasion,not Stoner... 20kph faster down the straight...? Rossi wouldve rode rings around Stoner if he'd had THAT amount of power...but...fair play to Stoner for not cracking under the pressure. He'll need those 25 points when he's on tracks that dont have a 1K straights-which is most of them. Its early days yet. Rossi's consistancy will win in the end,you'll see...
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Post by BADGER on Mar 11, 2007 11:27:43 GMT
just to :stir: things up a little....was it Duati that beat Yamaha, or Stoner that beat Rossi..? You can have the best/sorted bike of the year, but if you hav'nt got the rider with the ability, then your going to be at the back of the grid every time. Iam sure you'll agree Snoops, that it's the whole package on the day that wins the race + a little luck. And at Qatar, Stoner beat Rossi. Stoner did a magnificent job, Knowing Rossi IS a world champ, a remarkable rider, The youngster kept his head, was not intimidated and won. I want to see Rossi pushed all season, be it by different guys on different bikes on different tracks...and if/when Rossi comes out on top. That's the mark of a true World Champion
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Post by SHE-REX on Mar 11, 2007 13:15:33 GMT
I commented last season about Stoner being 'the one to watch' and it looks like I was right..he had a cracking race against his idol Rossi.. but at the end of the day,he had more power than Rossi.. well thats my opiniun
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Post by BADGER on Mar 11, 2007 18:04:21 GMT
very true, but if you cant handle that power......
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Post by bikesnoopy on Mar 11, 2007 19:25:07 GMT
All im saying is that Stoner ONLY won because he had more power/a faster bike. Rossi was quicker round three quarters of the track,but even when he was 10 bike lengths in front coming out of that last corner,all Stoner had to do was pin the throttle & drive past Rossi/anyone. If he didnt have the power to do that EVERY time he was overtaken,he wouldnt have won the race...FACT...! Apart from a re-pass on Rossi on the twisty section-once...where else did he overtake anyone??? Nowhere. He knew he just had to wait for the straight & just drive past them again.... Therefore,Stoner only won because he had more power. ...and if you "cant handle that power"...? Whats to handle? Two blokes on two bikes,holding the throttle against the stop for 1 kilometer of straight level tarmac & one reaching the end going 20kph faster than the other...
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Post by BADGER on Mar 12, 2007 7:12:53 GMT
I agree with every thing you say Snoops. Would'nt argue with any thing.
But would we be saying the same thing if Rossi had more power....He only won because he could hold the throttle open on the straight. It take's more than just out right power to win a race or lead it or set fastest lap, it takes smooth consistent riding, lap after lap (some thing Rossi can do in his sleep) agreed.
I love to see close racing, It was getting a little boring a couple of seasons back when Rossi was always on pole and always won.......boring. Think of Shoemaker in his day in F1, Always on pole, always fastest lap, always won..... :sleep: boring......
Give me some close racing any day,
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Post by floog on Mar 12, 2007 9:20:54 GMT
I think BIKESNOOPY is absolutely right in what he said Different bike set ups suit different tracks. There's no arguing with that That's why Rossi on the Yamaha could always defeat the superior Honda's on 'technical' circuits but would lose out on the long fast straight orientated ones. That's why on occasions someone other than VALE would win a GP, be pumped up for the next round and finish nowhere Consistency is the key.....exactly why Lawson snatched a title or two without winning every round, and why SCHWANTZ was not champion more frequently It's great to see STONER get his first morale boosting win and 25 points, which he'll now need to bank against the clever and consistent Rossi. And I aggree it's great to see closer racing, who wouldn't However, I don't think we should be heralding STONER as the new champ after one race My opinion is that Rossi could win this years championship riding a Kawasaki ZRX if necessary Barring Yamaha tech problems, I believe he'll be champ again, through hunger, determination, tactics and sheer brilliance STONER has to remain consistent, and break last season's falling off pattern He's young, and will be under continuous pressure all season....... My honest prediction at this early stage......Rossi will be champion, with PEDROSA second through consistency, and STONER will be up there, but I don't think he's destined to be champion this year. :bricks: :brick:
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Post by bikesnoopy on Mar 12, 2007 18:25:28 GMT
Good post Floog BTW:I wasnt trying to "diss" Stoner in any way. He rode a great race & deserved the win under immense pressure. My point was,that he wouldnt have won had he not been able to overtake everyone on the straight,lap after lap. He'd have been 2nd-maybe even 3rd or 4th...
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Post by BADGER on Mar 13, 2007 7:40:02 GMT
WHAT THE RACES SAY.........
Doohan: Stoner is like Schwantz. Former five-times 500cc world champion Mick Doohan has compared Australia's latest star, Casey Stoner, to his own 'wild' rival Kevin Schwantz - and believes that, like Schwantz, Casey can also lift the world crown.
Stoner has taken an early MotoGP championship lead after a superb victory over series superstar and pre-season favourite, Valentino Rossi, during Saturday's Qatar Grand Prix - a race that also marked Stoner's debut with the Marlboro Ducati Team and the start of only his second season in the premier-class.
"Casey showed a lot of maturity. He didn't put a foot wrong. Rossi put all sorts of pressure on him and he stayed strong," Doohan told Australia's Herald Sun newspaper. "I think he did a great job. He's been threatening to do it for a while now. It was only ever a matter of time.
'Stoned' Rossi looks to Yamaha. Valentino Rossi and Yamaha must have wondered where it all went wrong after a near-perfect run-up to Saturday's season-opening Qatar Grand Prix ended in a fair-and-square defeat to Ducati's Casey Stoner.
Indeed, the Italian's slightly puzzled expression in the post-race press conference seem to confirm as much - Rossi just hadn't expected Stoner and Ducati to be so strong from lights-to-flag... especially along the main straight.
Pole man Rossi had surrendered his lead to second-on-the-grid Stoner as they crossed the line at the end of the first lap. From then on the seven-time world champion stalked the Australian youngster, with Rossi's Yamaha generally faster in the corners whilst the Ducati displayed a night-and-day advantage on the straights.
Not at all what Rossi had expected since, despite a tyre scare in morning warm-up, he could ride his M1 'as he wanted and on the limit' - characteristics that usually result in victory.
"After the practice this morning we were a little bit scared because we had some problems with the tyre, but we understood what to do and I definitely made the right tyre choice with Michelin, so I am happy for that," said Rossi, who was just tenth quickest in the warm-up. "I got a great start and my M1 worked very well, I could ride it how I wanted on the limit and keep pushing. I wanted to push Casey and try to take the fight to him more, but in fact he was perfect today. He didn't make a single mistake as far as I could see and he rode very well; he deserved to win so congratulations to him.
"I could see that he was faster on the straight and so I knew that if I got in front I was going to need to make a gap from him, but in fact he was too strong! In the last few laps we were getting faster and faster and I thought I still had a chance, but then he kept on going and my tyre started to slide a little bit so I wasn't able to stay with him to the finish. Anyway, we only waved the white flag right at the end so I am happy about this! Of course it's not perfect but my team have worked very hard and it's much better to have 20 points like this than two like last year!" stressed Rossi, who fell at turn one in Jerez a year ago.
Stoner: We'll get stronger and stronger.
Casey Stoner and Ducati sent a wave of fear through the MotoGP paddock after the Australian's storming debut victory in the first ever 800 race at Qatar on Saturday.
Stoner may have been pushed all the way by pre-race favourite Valentino Rossi, but it was the style of Stoner's victory that has rattled the opposition. Stoner showed no signs of the 'lack of concentration' that repeatedly sent him bouncing down the asphalt last season, instead matching Rossi's every attack and even setting the fastest lap of the race on his last lap. Meanwhile, the new Desmosedici GP7 made Rossi's Yamaha look like a mere 250 along the main straight.
"We couldn't ask for much more, it was my first time racing with Ducati and Bridgestone, a perfect start," said Stoner, who took one pole and one podium during his debut 2006 MotoGP season with Honda. "I couldn't be happier with the weekend, the team worked perfectly and the bike and tyres were perfect in the race. We had a bit of a speed advantage and though we had some dramas in other parts of the track I played to the strengths of the bike and was able to do some pretty fast lap times.
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Post by bikesnoopy on Mar 13, 2007 21:18:44 GMT
. . . . . but whadda they know. . . . .
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Post by BADGER on Mar 14, 2007 7:31:32 GMT
. . . . . but whadda they know. . . . . they are just talking to jurnos, trying to give them some thing to print...
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