Yooperbikemike's 2013 MotoGP Thread

Mickey D did laps, at a casual 1.40. It'd be interesting to see where he'd end up after a couple of days practice.....

Did laps where? And what is the current MotoGP pace for reference?

Phillip Island. Stoner laps sub 1:30.

After a weekend on the bike he'd probably beat all the CRT's..

Mick's pole time was 1:33 from 98. I don't believe he could ever get to the x factor, but it would be cool to see just how close he could get. I don't recall Mick sliding the front to much.

There is a little bit of evidence here.

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I know yuz all call it the 'Turnip Truck', but the level of quality in the build, fit and finish has increased beyond belief since Casey got off it. I wouldn't give up on this baby just yet....

Gumball, after 27 laps in the hands of #27. Slushy.

Well Rothi did...that's why he is back with Lorentho

Ahhhh, isn't that 'Rosie' ??

Rosie.....

The only reason Lorentho ever allowed Rosie back is that he thinks he can now beat Rosie fair and square, and that would add to Lorentho's legend. He may be right on that one, too.

But I think it will be a spectacle, and those Yammie bosses are not gonna like every maneuver they will see on track

edit.Ok, come to think of it, where was Lorentho gonna go after Repsol seats were taken. Certainly not to Ducati! Maybe he just had to suck it up afterall.

Lorenzo was HRC's first choice once Stoner announced he was retiring. They only got serious about re-signing Pedrosa once Lorenzo was back with Yamaha. To his credit, Pedrosa did give them good reason to be happy he's back.

I stand corrected.

Got to admit Jorge had a pretty stellar season, so must´ve had plenty of takers.

Yeah even in the much derided AMA..

At NJMP the fast trackday guys are running right around 1:30 lap times, the AMA guys ...the slow ones are doing 1:26, the faster guys are in 1:22 range. Lap after lap. Hell the super stocks are in the high 1:24s with fresh tires. CCS racers are generally about 2-3 seconds behind the AMA guys.

So....all you knowledgeable MotoGP folks- especially you Krop-

(and maybe this was already discussed and I missed the boat?)

Spies' early announcement re: his leaving Yamaha- was it due to his dissatisfaction with the team or had someone at Yamaha dropped the hint of his seat going to VR? Or??

Obviously there is a ton of behind the scene and behind the behind the scene stuff going on at this level of racing/ corporate doings.

Any clues?


And was Spies really riding on the same equipment as Lorenzo?

Don't get me wrong! If anyone thinks he's a spent force...HAH! Never wright off a champion. He'll be there.....don't you worry about that....(old aussie saying.)

There were no visual clues that the two bikes were any different. Lorenzo was clearly the lead rider, and got the new stuff maybe one race earlier. But basically, Lorenzo and Spies were on the same bike.

Spies was well aware of the media speculation that Rossi could make a return, but his decision was a general dissatisfaction with the way he was being treated by Yamaha. His set up was very different from the other Yamaha riders, and Yamaha were trying to get him to use something similar to Lorenzo, Crutchlow and Dovizioso, but he didn't want to do that. The last straw came at Mugello, where he raced with severe food poisoning and then skipped the test. While he was ill, a 'senior Japanese executive' came and told him that if he wasn't going to give 100%, he needn't bother turning up at Laguna. I suspect it was meant to motivate him, but all it did is make him decide announce he would leave Yamaha via social media.

Thanks David. You probably did explain most of this somewhere on MM.

BTW, thanks for the ongoing racing coverage on your site. Now if I had more time to read it.......