Pedrosa 'too fast'.

That must have been Kamikaze, the Divine Wind, helping out the slower bikes this year...
The riders with the biggest torso benefitted the most from the pushing wind, not the smalll ones.

Dani rode wisely: saving your engine and the lead in the championship (especially with Lorenzo struggling) is better than risking it all in a last corner dash against the best late braker in the field.

Bring on Le Mans!

Unfortunately Morgue unless the wind was traveling in excess of the speed that the bikes were traveling it would not actually act as a sail for the larger torso riders it just means that the bike has less to push against going forward.

Smart riding from Dani, I think hes on the best form of his motogp career at the moment. Maybe the presence of his best mate Lorenzo has inspired him! Either way he looks like he wants to be there this year, far more aggressive with the bike and his overtaking.

It is however a yamaha year i think...

I think Dani is on the underdog bike. And Casey could be
much much more competitive on the GP7. Both Ducati and Honda need some
boost to compete with the Yamaha.

Great ride from Pedrosa to stick with Rossi as the Doctor kept upping the pace. He was very determined and aggressive - you could see it in his body language especially as he picked the bike up out of the corners.

It appears that his size negates much of the horsepower deficit between the Honda and the Yamaha. It'll be interesting when Honda finally delivers the air valve engine.

Disappointing ride from Hayden, I was hoping he'd be able to stick with Stoner and battle for third. Maybe Casey would have been happier with his position then.

I hope Nicky can pick it up, maybe the new motor will be the thing that'll give him what he needs to get on the podium.

This is the 2nd time that Pedrosa has this over revving problem, the first time in Estoril, you'd think that Honda would learn from its mistakes. I agree that Pedrosa was very good and above all smart, he took home big points (yes, points count)

I think Hayden finished where he really belongs as a rider: a midfield frontman. The reasons why he managed the 2006 championship have to do more with luck than anything else. Remember: it was Rossi's bad luck with engine/tyre failures and Pedrosa's-Casey's first year in MotoGP. He had a very good bike suiting his dirt track style, so.. there you have it, winning a championship with only two wins (and a bats little bone in his pocket for sure)

I agree with Jack for Nicky's point.

Well it seems that the Honda goes well in Dani's hand, although they really have to bring the new engine or make some miracles to this one. Danni did a great race, to pity that he couldn't fight for the first place... but anyway he proved to be very mental. That is good for the champ, not good for the show. I'm a big fan of Dani and I think he had very little chances to win this race. That Yamaha worked damn well.

It is clear that Yamaha is the one of the best balanced bike out there, good speed and good handling.

But we'll see what comes, there aren't any "longer" straights in the champ...

I am not totaly agree on you Jack, the reason why Nicky managed in 2006 was because he had more power available wat suits his riding style in a better way..
Therefore I think that Nicky could have some benefit with a more powerful bike such as a ducati..

As I'm not clear about racing rules, I'm of the opinion Dani should at least give it a go at Rossi. So what if the engine gets damaged? Unless Moto GP follows F1's style, where engine has to be used on 2 races, otherwise, why is Dani holding back? Why the fear of a little engine damage? Unless Dani's engine may blow from serious over-revving?

Any help in clarifying this would be appreciated!

Well a damaged engine means "end of the race". Period. So, would you prefere second place or a very high risk to DNF? He tried to keep up the pace and have up at the end.

Overreving an engine damages it for sure, heats up too much, burns the oil, to much pressure in cilinders etc... and at 19000rpm I can't imagine at what pressure those engine parts are put. I'm not engine technician, I just know some basics... so maybe somebody else can give more details.

DON'T try this at home (overreving car or bike)... you'll pay big money.

About how many times they are using an engine, I really don't know. I don't think that too much although.

When the engine is over-reviving the risk is valve bounce where the valve springs dont close the valves fast enough and cause the piston to strike the valves result is a broken piston or valve this problem is worse on the spring valve engine than the pneumatic engine the comment might have been directed at Honda to get them to hurry up with the new engine

Dani is still the man to beat overall Forget about Stoner Lorenzo and the rest I think he will be the man at the end of the year

Screamers like Yamaha's work well beyond 19k revs, right?
If HRC eventually delivers one, high rpm shouldn't a problem no more?

Anyway the chance of beating Rossi surely must have fired Pedrosa up. Either he knew he couldn't do it or his is an extremely cold-blooded operator. It would have fired Lorenzo up for sure. I think that Pedrosa is just adding self-comforting considerations to his not beating Rossi. There is nothing wrong in it, at least it helps journalists do their work.

The yamaha isn't a screamer

Keep going Dani you have a lot of talent and could very well win that championship this year and unlike the previous 2 years on a much more level playing field

Screamers have pneumatic valves?

Screamers are motors with even firing intervals... like the Ducati. Big bang or close firing order engines have the cylinder firing intervals grouped together with a longer "null" period. This has nothing to do with engine configuration ( Honda, Suzuki & Ducati all have V4 engines but only the Ducati is a screamer) or valve actuation ( Pnumatic, desmo or springs makes no difference) but is a function of crank offsets, cam & ignition timing.

Jack - Sure Hayden was lucky in 2006, but he made his own luck. Rossi may have fiddled away the beginning of the season with his F1 adventure and Stoner and Pedrosa may have not yet arrived as full-on threats, but really what's the point in playing "what if?" He won the championship and nobody handed it to him.

Granted it's not the best of times for Hayden fans, and Nicky really needs to be battling for the front if he expects to stay on the factory bike, but I still believe he's got what it takes to do that.

Kees - I agree with you about more power suiting his "loose" riding style. These bikes have all the power one needs, it probably has more to do with the way it's delivered.

Interference type engine would damage valve with over revving.
When engine is overreving, timing is out of control.
If there is enough clearance between valves (IN and EX) and top dead center of piston,
piston won't damage valves.

DANI CONGRATZzz.......
you make agood result in this race.....
and now you are the leader of championship..........
i hope you will always get a good result in all race...
this year is yours.........
CAYO.....
I BELIEVE YOU CAN BE THE MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2008.......AMIEN......