MotoGP questions

Being a MotoGP fan, i got myself thinking...

Is Casey Stoner man enough to beat Valentino Rossi and take the MotoGP Championship home?

What the hell is wrong with Nicky Hayden? The only thing that says to me he is the current champion is the number on front of his Honda but the rest... he's performance are terrible... and the bike is not the problem... Dani Pedrosa is in third position...

And what about Loris Capirossi? AT the start of the season, I believed he was going to be World Champion at last but he has only 1 podium this year, which in order hand, his teammate is the Championship Leader...

What do you think?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/2007 12:49PM by TheMaster170.

The bike is the problem with Hayden

Pedrosa is the only Honda rider having any success.

Sure, Melandri had a nice podium in the wet, but where's Checa? Nakano? Elias? Hayden? The KR bikes who are running Honda engines are incapable off of getting out of the back row...

There is something very, very wrong with the Honda. It's been built for Pedrosa...

Yes, the power and size reductions came to "destroy" the Honda, only to favour Dani Pedrosa (who is also very small)... So, we can say that Dani is the only Honda biker that the new 800cc bikes came to help

Even so, Hayden is doing terrible... I think that the bike's problem is not the only problem here... I feel there's something wrong with the Kentucky Kid

The necessary style for riding the bike has just changed too much for Hayden to adapt. He's lost confidence, and he's not showing any real signs of getting it back. I don't think it was originally customised around Pedrosa (perhaps it is now that he's emerged as their only contender), more that his lack of weight is much less of a penalty on that bike than it is for a rider of a more normal weight and size. It's the same way that 125 riders are always better when they're kids. Lower power needs much lower weight. Pedrosa is benefiting from that.

The season as a whole has been stunning. I think that Stoner, even though he's in his 2nd season, has been more impressive than Hamilton has in F1, comparatively. I felt when watching Barcelona a pivotal moment was about to happen in front of me. Kind of like the new master coming along. Stoner will never be anything like Rossi, but it's the sort of feeling I got watching the race unfolding. He was never fazed, and didn't look like cracking and throwing it all away - it was mighty impressive. I know Rossi doesn't have the best bike, but 2 years ago there's no way on earth he would have lost that race. Equally I'm certain Stoner can't carry the fight to Rossi over the season. He's in a great groove at the moment, but he doesn't have the experience to make it last a year. Rossi will be the winner once more come the end. I'm just loving that for 2 years now, someone's making him work for it. :D

Hayden was fastest in testing this week using Pedrosas chassis so itl be intersting to see how he races at donington.

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Hmmm testing times can be deceptive. I'd like to see whether he was consistently fastest, or whether that time was done running on fumes and a reserve set of super-softs...

Hayden isn't very good, that's the "problem" with him. He wasn't last year either - the only track he was at was Valencia, cos he loves that one. He is very average, and was just very consistent last year.

H E L L O

Laguna Seca too he's good... but then again , his hometrack :P

As a question, doesn't lack of weight compromise cornering performance?

As for Stoner, considering his pace (obvious in 250's) and the way he has seemingly matured, Rossi might have a real fight on his hands for years to come.

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tripleM Wrote:
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> As a question, doesn't lack of weight compromise
> cornering performance?

I'll put it this way - on my little bike a full tank and an empty tank makes one hell of a difference to the handling.

I mean rider weight, i risk looking mighty stupid but as far i understand it's the weight of the rider that helps the bike corner

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To a degree, it is. But remember weight kills everything, cornering included. With 800s there's more than enough weight in the bike itself that additional rider weight is just a penalty.

Talking from just a physics point of view, the weight of the driver as small as it is can have a massive effect on many things. A 10kg difference between two riders, in the same bike for example, can mean a whole lot more time needed for braking. F=ma and all its derivatives/redundant equations, p=Fx....

Don't forget that lighter weight generally means less strength

when was the last time Dani Pedrosa was even slightly aggresive in a last lap battle? He runs out of steam come the last few laps, where as the bigger, stronger guys (see Rossi etc..) tend not to have so much of an issue in the last few laps..


So yes, less weight improved bike perfomance, but less strength comprimises riding ability towards the end of the race...

at least, that's how I read it

Guimengo Wrote:
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> Talking from just a physics point of view, the
> weight of the driver as small as it is can have a
> massive effect on many things. A 10kg difference
> between two riders, in the same bike for example,
> can mean a whole lot more time needed for braking.
> F=ma and all its derivatives/redundant equations,
> p=Fx....

Works in cars in a much simpler way than bikes though. As tripleM said, bikers use their weight to dictate the way the bike turns and behaves under braking, so while lighter is generally better, it does have it's disadvantages too, whereas in cars weight is always a negative.

I understand that, like karting. Now I don't have to brake as much as I did when I was 11, for example

No no Gui, you need weight to turn the bike - it's not an aid, it's a necessity.

Guimengo Wrote:
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> I understand that, like karting. Now I don't have
> to brake as much as I did when I was 11, for
> example


you sure??

that intregues me, being a physics student...

F=ma implies deceleration is greater for a lighter person
Friction = coefficent x R implies that top speed is lower for a heavier person, but surely not enough of a difference to result in less braking needed..

sure you not just slower, gui?

There's a noticeable difference from when you are 11 to when you are 21 , going from 5'3 to 6'3 as well. When you take into account it's not a very powerful kart, only reaching the 30s in km/h, you can see my argument does work :P.