MOTOGP » Ducati: Stoner 'better than ever'.

Garry's point is a good one. Toni Elias lives by the brakes to compensate (last year, anyway)for a weak package. Guys who go very, very late on the brakes do so usually because they have too. If you can get out of Dodge cleanly on acceleration and good TC or motor away on the straight, then you respect the limits on braking. If you don't have the power and the electronics to match the best, then you have to take big chances. And you sometimes run into people...like Barros sometimes did (like when he took out Jacque in Germany in 2002 and deprived us of seeing a sayonara 500 two stroke win in the MotoGP era) and like De Puniet and Elias have done frequently. Deep bakes...last resort.

WSBK » Biaggi leads Sterilgarda challenge.

For at least the first couple of races the four 1098Rs are almost equal. According to Ruben there are some differences in the software written for the TC, but the Ducati doesn´t really need much TC...1200cc with a twin IS traction control. Fonsi rode a great race. He switched to minimum TC over the final fourth of ther race so he could slide out of the corners without having the power cut off. Suzuki is very, very fast! He knew he had Ruben covered, but Ruben says he did not know it was a Suzukiu behind him or he would have tried something different. Best line of the weekend. P. Flammini..."No we will not rece under the light. We don´t need speciasl effects. We have overtakings."

MOTOGP » Stoner show continues at Phillip Island.

No room to put more here but check SpeedTV.com article "Reading Between the Lines" for some number crunching. "With the FIAT Yamaha team of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo sitting this one out and Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa recovering from hand surgery back in Barcelona, Casey Stoner was easily the fastest man on the island, but the surprise, once the numbers were crunched, came from reigning World Superbike Champion James Toseland who ran nearly half of his laps in the 1´31 range." Toseland had second best pace in dry on day one. More than just a pretty face!

MOTOGP » Dani sets return date, doubts Hayden.

There are journalists working with big daily papers in Spain who go into press conferences looking for the dynamite quote that will make the headline. The question that Dani was asked, I believe by Mela of El As, was loaded...but fair. Dani didn´t duck it and answered the question as to whether he was worried that, with him injured, Nicky would develop the bike. He replied, "Yes, a little. Historically when he has been in charge it has not been beneficial." Certainly when riders of such different physical types and such different riding styles and backgrounds try and develop the same bike, what works for one won´t for the other. Anyway, I think Dani just answered a loaded question.

MOTOGP » Control electronics?

Honda has some serious doubts about putting a sticker on a sports bike that says TC inside because of product liability issues. One thing that Carmelo said was that the 800s were designed to run with TC and, regardless of what he, we, the riders etc think, the factories will not go for a ban on TC. He admitted that Vito Ippolito, the FIM president, has asked him to consider a ban, but that he wants first to hear from riders other than just Valentino. As far as an ECU that will work for everyone, go to Bosch, Microsoft, even Mama herself (Magneti Marelli) and ask for a failsafe and fair system. I would hesitate to suggest that a configuracion be mandated, as in F1 and NASCAR.

MOTOGP » Control electronics?

I have spoken with Carmelo about the statements in the Italian press and he said that some of the remarks were paraphrased and that when they were translated into Spanish and English the meaning changed a bit. But his intention was to say that he had listened to what Rossi had to say and now wanted to consult with the other members of the Safety Committee...that used to be Rossi, Capirossi and Roberts Junior, but with Roberts retired I don´t know who has replaced him. Maybe Stoner. He believes a standard ECU would be a hard sell to the MSMA, but he wants to have a frank talk with the riders about it...wants to hear what they think of TC from both a safety and from a sporting pt of view.

MOTOGP » Control electronics?

Oh, yes. I enjoyed each chapter being played out with its own separate and sometimes inter-related drama...such as Herrero making a 50cc start with Derbi to help Nieto or Sheene stepping in for Kreidler against Derbi. Now 125 and 250 classes are only regarded as stepping stones toward MotoGP. Back when, there were guys like Lavado who never thought of 500 (except when Kenny Roberts talked him into to trying one in practice for Imola iun 1983 in an attempt to take points from Spencer...and Lavado high-sided and never got on a 500 again). The ironic thing is that throttle control is more important today on 250s than on 500s. The new guys freely admitted that at first before the PR guys spoke.

MOTOGP » Control electronics?

Ezpeleta was speaking at the Ducati presentation and was being asked if his talk about standard ECUs meant that he believed Ducati and Casey owed their success to an electronics advantage. The 250 class is a problem because they can´t run production engines and they don´t want to create a new monster class of true protype 400cc (which is what Honda wants) or 600cc four strokes that would be as expensive as the 800s, but the only alternative is to run a formula with a generic spec engine. And would a class like that be desreving of a World Championship title?

MOTOGP » Control electronics?

Ezpeleta was caught in a difficult position by a pretty hard-hitting group of Italian journalists (like sharks, they travel in schools) and he said some strange things...huffing about BMW coming to MotoGP, something that is unlikely, and backing away from what he said about standard ECUs. Typical Dornaspeak. Harryx hit the nail on the head. The discussion about TC is not about whether you are a Rossi fan or not. No one is dissing Casey and Ducati.

MOTOGP » Control electronics?

Is a sport required to make use of all available and developing technology? MotoGP does not allow the use of ship-to-shore radio. Mirrors are illegal in motorcycle racing. Radio is illegal. So TC could be illegal without it being some kind of heresy. You can argue for it because improves safety, or against it because it lessens the importance of the rider. But you can´t really argue that that Grand Prix racing has some sacred obligation to be a test lab for technology. The decision will be made by the commercial rights holders on the basis of TV audience figures. What would Hailwood say? And, come to think of it, what does Surtees think? Rossi, Roberts and Mamola hate it.