VTRsurfer

If there was any doubt as to whether Ben Spies had made a good decision by leaving MotoGP at the end of this season, that doubt was removed yesterday at Indy.

2 races in a row something has broken on his bike. At Laguna Seca it was his swingarm. At Indy, his engine either sucked a valve or burned a piston, as indicated by the smoke pouring out of his exhaust (I believe it was about the 3rd lap). He stated later that he felt his bike losing power just before Pedrosa passed him for the lead. He did a good job of getting off the track quickly, as soon as it started smoking.

jbaxx

Just when you thought things couldn't get worse...

HRCA#1

I read an interview on Superbike Planet that basically said someone in Yamaha management (probably Lin Jarvis) told him prior to Laguna Seca that if he wasn't willing to give 100% not to bother showing up.

I think that shows the genuine dislike of him by Jarvis, who in an interview last year said Spies wasn't living up to Yamahas expectations. What a crock of crap.

I thought Spies season last year was good, maybe not great but certainly better than anyone except the aliens. I wish Ben all the best at BMW or where everhe goes.

nath981

well i believe that casey stoner's leaving and some of his comments thereof, this thing with spies, the super-slow crt bikes(did you see lorenzo flip off the backmarker?), and the ridiculously shallow grid tells me that moto gp is somewhat diseased, dysfunctional, and headed for disaster. Too much glitter, too many movie stars for my liking.

nath981

spies was riding his *** off and pedrosa was biding his time and being cautious. It was only a matter of time IMO.

Rapp knew where he was running and common courtesy would be to get out of the way of those going fast enough to lap you.

Like i said, just another symptom of the disfunctional Moto GP leadership and their half-assed efforts to increase grid numbers.

autoteach

rapp was making it tough for him to pass, and even backed it in to one turn holding him off. I thought it was hilarious. And, if you were Rapp, don't you think that was an awful good opportunity to show case your skill in holding off a big name on a CRT ride. Just a thought.

killer5280

Rapp had his shot a loooonnnng time ago. He's going nowhere.

As for MotoGP: it is going the way of Formula 1. Sucky, bureaucrat ruled racing. Ultimately, control freaks will ruin all racing.

autoteach

If his shot has passed, I missed it. Then again, he is riding motogp on a CRT ride, so he must be doing something right. At least motogp doesn't have a points race which eliminates everything that everyone worked for prior to the start of "the race".

nath981

last week, some dick in front of me in a pick-up was driving slow, no really slow, on a backroad. That's fine with me but he put the brakes on to show me that I needed to back off and follow his parade. Of course he pulled over in my lane when i was passing. He probably thought that was hilarious too, but he knew i didn't concur when i angrily shot him the bird.

In terms of rapp's intentional interference, if he wanted to prove something to himself or someone else, he should have respectfully and immediately let lorenzo pass and then kept up with him from behind. What a dick!

+1 my thoughts exactly.

smokinjoe73

Dont you think its suspect that spies and stoner both are bailing and they BOTH had their traction control spit them off? These days thats the main reason for hisides. I cant imagine their teams are jazzed about wrenching or programing TC to perfection.

Gotta be part of why spies cant finish a race. So sad to see the best days of motogp gone (for now). Ok, back to watching WSBK

nath981

well i just read an article by kevin cameron in sept cycle world that sheds a little light on what's goin on behind the scenes in moto gp. And Stoner had enough, is leaving and is now speaking out a bit more than other riders/team members who are more concerned with protecting their incomes/careers.

I don't know that the traction control is causing more hi-sides on most tracks, except in certain adverse conditions like those in Indy(sharp turns, no camber, irreg/unpredictable surface, etc.), but I have no experience with electronics, so it's only conjecture on my part.

Stoner was unhappy with Indy's track condition and configuration(MotoGP Indianapolis Preview 2012 - Motorcycle USA) despite Scott Russel's comments to the contrary before the race indicating that casey loved Indy.

Stoner knew this track was nasty and judging by the evidence i witnessed, he was on the money. I'll watch regardless cause I'm a sucker for motorcycle racing and anything related to leaning, even the tower of Pisa.

HRCA#1

Some interesting observations. I just got done re-watched Indy. Stoner's practise getoff is probably the most violent highside I've ever seen. It's said the bike was totaled, I believe it.

As for Spies, Ymamha sent him out for the race with the engine he crashed with! I don't know where he is on his engine allocation but surely they could have swapped for one with a few less hours or crashes on it! I think their level of support or lack of say's volumes.

jbaxx

As I sat down to watch the race this weekend, I wondered what would go wrong with Ben's bike this time. Turns out his race was over before he got to turn 1 due to an overheated clutch. According to the data, Ben did nothing out of the ordinary during the launch.

Just wow.

davidka