Toseland's style praised by someone, criticized by others.

Toseland's debut in MotoGp has surprised riders as well commentators for his ability to adapt to a totally new bike and riding technique. While moving from 250 to 800cc is certainly less traumatic today than in the past, for WSBK riders MotoGp is still very different to what they are used to. Regardless since the last winter tests "Giacomino" Toseland has proved to be totally comfortable with his M1, to the point that only his Yamaha top speed seemed to be the limit factor in the first two races of the season. If in the straights, he has been relegated in holding slipstreams of other faster bikes, oppositely he has been very aggressive overtaking other riders going into the turns. We, MotoGp enthusiasts, have been delighted by his breathtaking maneuvers but he has definitely upset if not frightened other riders.
If touching or hitting other competitors is, to a certain degree, something normal in Superbike, we cannot claim the same for MotoGp. Every time it happens fans are very quick in finding the past actions, or skeletons in riders closets. So, today I read that Capirossi and Vermeulen have vented their criticism toward Toseland abrupt passing in the first two rounds of the season, with Loris claiming that if it should happened again he will find himself among the spectators! Indeed Vermuelen's experience must have been quite unpleasant since his leather suit got somehow ripped during the regrettable contact. Another rider suffering Toseland's roughness was Lorenzo, who if certainly astonished by Toseland's move, didn't complain too much especially after the incredible performance at his first race in Qatar. On his end, Toseland has not been apologetic for his moves, stating that he has not choice if not to pass on the brakes. In my opinion his moves are certainly very dangerous and in the long run could take out some riders out. Yes, he is passing on the brakes, but only a few feet away from reaching the apex, while the other rider is almost on the point to accelerate again while looking at the exit of the turn. While his move is still acceptable, I do recognize that the other rider will realize that Toseland is taking his inside only when his body and/or bike get hit or brushed by the English rider.
Unfortunately to win a racer has to get to the border line of what is acceptable or not, gambling with a potential crash or victory at every turn during the most critical moments of the race. Capirossi, who I esteem as a stout rider, has some famous skeletons too in his career as shown in the following video.

Grand Prix of Qatar: Australian "canguru" wins on Italian red missile

In the first race of the season we could have had a final classification with riders stretched in longer time span if it wasn't for Rossi slowing down, somehow, the Australian rider on his new Italian missile. The Ducati was much faster than any other bike: in practice Stoner reached 324.7 km/h, much faster than Rossi’s 309.9 km/h and Pedrosa 317.9km/h. The red bike from Borgo Panicale has always been fast over the years, but the extra speed was seldom matched by appropriate stability and grip. Last year, after winning his first race with a bike sliding sideway in every turn of the circuit,Capirossi was compared to a red crab by his fans.
Last Saturday, instead, Casey Stoner looked outstanding on a bike that seemed solid, precise, reasonably quick in changing direction and … fast, very fast. On every lap he stormed Rossi on the front straight: it didn’t matter how many bikes of distance the Tavullia champion had on him at the exit of the last turn, because regardless, Stoner was able to pass his opponent in half straight and gain, maybe, another 70-90 ft by the end of the fornt stretch. Only because of Rossi’s immense talent and his desire to re-conquest the lost World Champion title, we were able to actually see some dicing in the infield. Indeed Rossi, strong of an impeccable Fiat-Yamaha was able to carry much more speed at the entrance of turn 1 so that at the exit of the same turn he was already back on the tail of the young Ducati rider. From there, during the race Rossi has launched his assalts passing the Australian youngster several times: on the brakes or on the outside of a turn leading to an opposite twist. Well, anytime Rossi has been able to pull in front the Ducati, his lead was then wiped out on the front long straight as if Stoner was still riding last year bike.

On the other end Pedrosa’s extra speed was not enough to challenge either Stoner or Rossi, but good enough to put him on the third step of the podium. In a few occasion it seemed that he had passed Rossi toward the end of the front straight but once on the brakes he could not match Valentino's higher entrance speed. As we have already noticed last year, it seems that Pedrosa is still not used to “Rossi’s confidence” when it comes to tight passing. Someone has claimed that Danny is still paying his easy years in 125cc and 250cc when he often won after passing his opponents and taking off to lead the race until the end. Conversely last Saturday he ended up suffering even Hopkin's pressure who, fighting the pain of the recent injuries and a poor performance in his last winter test, pulled out an incredible race for which he almost won a final third place.
There is not much to say about the rest of the riders, including the World Champion Nicky Hayden for his meager 8th place that looks even worse if we consider that two riders have crashed in front of him: Ceca and … Capirossi. Last year, Bayliss stole a secure victory from Capirossi and last Saturday his new teammate was doing it again. Maybe this situation was really bothering him, anyhow after a bad start due to a contact with another rider, Capirossi had unleashed the extra power of his bike to try to catch the front riders but unfortunately he low-sided when in 5th position. Was he pushing too much? Did he trail brake to much? Or was he exploring faster lines? In any case he wasted a secure podium and 16 points that could have been useful for the Championship especially now that the even the young Aussie is in the list of potential winners. As matter of the fact, Stoner has already displayed a cocky attitude: after being asked "... how does it feel to have a 7 time World Champion attached on your tail for the whole race?"... he said something very similar to “ …It was like to have anybody else behind”.


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MotoGp Poll: Grand Prix of Qatar

Like we did last season ...., I don't want to ask who is going to win Sunday because it will reduce too much the number of potential riders. For every race I am going to suggest the first 7 riders in the championship as candidates to "miss the victory", and in case we have the same rider classifying 2nd twice consecutively, in the next poll we will try to guess the 3rd place rider's name. Scroll up and down to read the whole list and click on one of the choices. The poll will be immediately updated.

Max Biaggi is still very fast

Today Max Biaggi just missed a pole position for his first WSBK race in Losail, Qatar, by 0’322 thousand of sec. The pole was won by another veteran, Troy Corser. After Biaggi, in order we have Toseland, Haga and Lanzi. Bayliss only sixth … but with him anything can happen.
At this point can I speculate/hope a podium for our Roman Emperor? After two difficult years he deserves a bit of luck and reward for not giving up in his career.

Forza Biaggi!!!