MOTOGP » Lorenzo thanks Yamaha - and Ducati.

I'm starting to not like this guy. He's doing good but, let's get real, it could be down to the fact that he's riding one of the most competitive M1's ever and he's complaining about not having everything Rossi has, who's been there forever and has 40 plus victories for Yamaha. What he forgets is, most of the time he's faster than Rossi in the free sessions and race pace. Stoner used to be to be too but, like Lorenzo, you have to be more than just fast to beat Rossi. You have to smart too. Rossi is just the better rider of the 2 and that is proven everytime he beats Lorenzo in a race. What's next,is he gonna negociate a deal with God to get him the same mental talent as Rossi? Geeez!

MOTOGP » Lorenzo, Stoner, Yamaha and Ducati.

Bladeo I agree with you and notice that I've NEVER said Stoner was a crap rider. I'm just saying that he's not better than Rossi and he took it to Rossi in 2007 on a better overall package but, Rossi kept it close on a crap package till the end of that season. Stoner will still be #1 at Ducati if Lorenzo joins because Stoner and that bike has been a great combo for 3 years now. It is to be seen if Lorenzo will bond with it that well.

MOTOGP » Lorenzo, Stoner, Yamaha and Ducati.

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!! Someone ADMITS there was an Ducati/Bridgestone/Stoner advantage in 2007!

MOTOGP » Lorenzo, Stoner, Yamaha and Ducati.

O.k. RawDawg, let's say Casey won the 07 title fair and square with no tire or bike advantage. Can you explain why Rossi beat him for the title last year and has been consistently at the top more than him this year b4 the illness? Let's say that 2007 wasn't a fluke and all the bikes were closer to equal and that brut power the Ducati had didn't help it exit corners faster or help it to blow past people unassisted on straights, why hasn't he been the same force since 07? He was 1/2 way through 08, I'll give him that. I mean he's a darn good rider, in fact the best Ducati have but, Rossi seems to have had his number most of the time since that season. Why?

MOTOGP » Lorenzo, Stoner, Yamaha and Ducati.

I also think it's harder to repeat getting a title from than it would be to get it that 1st time. I mean, Hayden stole the title from Rossi for crying out loud and look at what's happend to him since. With all things closer to even, Rossi is gonna win just about every time and if you don't believe that, look at what's happened to Lorenzo. Stoner's problem is, he wanted people to close their eyes and believe he straight-out beat Rossi in 2007 with no advantage. I'm sure it really hurt him when 2008 came and Rossi was beating him on equal tires with a bike still down on horspower in front of the SAME people he wanted to believe it was him all by himself that beat Rossi in 2007. ---continued---

MOTOGP » Lorenzo, Stoner, Yamaha and Ducati.

I don't think Lorenzo is tough enough either. He may think he is but, I don't think he is. If he goes to Ducati with that little bit of GP setup experience he has, it's gonna be bad. Rossi along with everyone else "could" have him for lunch every week. He's only been at Yamaha for 2 years and has less than a handful of wins vs Rossi's 6 years there and 40 plus wins and he thinks he deserves to get around the same amount of money Rossi gets? He should go on then and let someone else keep that factory seat warm next year so that Rossi can beat Spies on equal machinery in proper style while taking his 11th world title and Ago's record in 2011!

MOTOGP » Lorenzo, Stoner, Yamaha and Ducati.

A TRUE champion is able to accept defeat and fight on but, maybe Stoner thought he had cracked Rossi and when Rossi came back blazing from 2008 on till now, the blowback of that combined with Lorenzo's new found glory, stressed Stoner out? Stress takes it's toll on the body, and having to race Rossi and lose to him over and over when you used to beat him often can be a VERY stressful thing when you include the media and everyone else handing their judgement down on you when you lose and the fact that you have the added pressure of being Ducati's main hope too. Stoner is a great rider no doubt but, I just don't think he's mentally tough enough to deal with all of this. ---continued---

MOTOGP » Lorenzo, Stoner, Yamaha and Ducati.

2007 on has also showed us that Stoner is a real talent because he's still the only person to consistently get the best out of that Ducati. (Was hoping Elias would've kept his streak up last year but didn't.) My point is, 2007 was fluke year and somebody was bound to be better than everyone else in the 1st year of the 800cc era and it happened to be Ducati AND Stoner THAT year. Rossi is competitive 99.9% of the time when his bike and tires stay together. His bike doesn't have to be the best but, it has to stay together and in 2007, he had few issues that troubled his whole season whereas Stoner didn't have as many problems. ---continued---

MOTOGP » Lorenzo, Stoner, Yamaha and Ducati.

RawDawg, I've read ALOT of your comments over the past and I must say that I've enjoyed reading them! You're a very informed individual and you seem to know MotoGP pretty well but, I'm gonna have to disagree with you on the last few comments. None of us here are Engineers so, we can't put any definate number on Stoner's horsespower advantage over Rossi in 2007 but, what we can see is that the advantage was BIG. Look at the race in China that year. Stoner didn't have to draft Rossi AT ALL on that longest straight to catch and blow by Rossi only for Rossi to reel him back in and beat him around the rest of the track. ---continued---

MOTOGP » Brno MotoGP - Race results.

I'm an insanely huge Rossi fan but, I have to point out a couple of things to the people who bash Spies. The guy had 3 rides last year on that pig of a Suzuki and he did better in those 3 races than alot of the veterans did. He was near the top in the IndyGP in the FLOODING conditions with a messed up helment visor! Yeah, Fabrizio struggled today with the bike but, I honestly don't think Spies will have that problem. He's toooo hungry to win and when he does get to MotoGP, after he gets his 1st good result, he'll be aiming for the sky after that and possibly running with the leaders on his Tech 3 provided M1. He still won't beat Rossi though. I'm just waiting to see if Rossi can crack him.