MOTOGP » Stoner 'up for the fight'.

I follow on from you Paul in that - yes Casey is on fire and the first three runners DP,VR & Cs are sufficiently close that if someone gets away at the start it takes a Herculean effort to chase them down UNLESS they get a good start. Pedro and Nicki have the goods on launch control this year, their starting has been phenomenal. VR has only just come over to Bridgestone and doesn't have the experience starting on the tyres just yet and he has fallen off on the starts. One should consider that soon JL will find his feet again and soon join the fray. If the three riders get good starts then we should be up for a good fight because it's been a little flat with the runaways.

MOTOGP » Stoner 'up for the fight'.

Another quality thread - Good to see Magnetti on - Magenetti (company) is owned by Yamaha but paradoxically gives its best unit to a competitor - hard to understand but it is time to examine this & have it explained why CS having TC is fundamentally unfair whilst ALL BIKES in the four stroke era used/use TC. Looks like a wet race – this is the 1 chance for Suzuki or Kawasaki to win/podium this year. JH is out & AW cannot come to grips with the bike, both the Suzuki riders are wet winners. Casey is a wet winner & has a chance to scrape back points. VR is untested on B’Stones in the wet & Dani is quietly soldiering on - without slandering others - who are we backing and why?

MOTOGP » German Grand Prix - Preview.

Damn you Doodaa, I was about to go to bed (with the maid and the wife) You're good with the "submissible" (admissible) about the overtaking. But for corners it would be true, but for the other three duc's (alluded to) it would be true. It is straight in a fast line but there's a lot of corners in motogp I'll tell you a quick story, I've got a mate who is a Barrister, and his loo packs it in (too much lobster mornay), he calls the plumber who fixes it and when he’s finished he gives him the bill. My mate looks at and says, “mate, I’m a Barrister and I don’t charge that much an hour”. The plumber looks at him and says, “yeah mate, when I was a Barrister I didn’t charge that much either"

MOTOGP » German Grand Prix - Preview.

Doodaa - I'm a Guvmint one, my plumber earns more. I work in an analysis and policy area that is sooo mind numbingly boring it causes narcolepsy. It is so bad I do some community legal work (free) just to remind me I have a soul. No Jodhpurs or maid but I’m taking that one into work tomorrow. That said I think the mousketeer who has eaten his cheese and cleaned his whiskers may be back for Honda like last year AND he is riding better in the wet. If I did wear jodhpurs I’d bet you a case of Bollinger Casey and Vale are fighting for 2nd place, not first…

MOTOGP » German Grand Prix - Preview.

CS is a good rider & it's called a championship. They're all out there giving it a red hot go. Just because I come across like a pompous ass doesn't mean I don't understand racing, I've done plenty & raced some big names (in motox & enduro) along the way. I lost a lot. What I object to is the vilification of CS’s riding. Every night we get. “It's the bike, It's the TC" and so on – all p&^s weak arguments. It is boring & repetitive. I put a post on here about the Honda launch control & no one answers because we’re in the attack CS hour. You guys don’t want racing, you want something scripted like wrestling and that is the antithesis of what racing is. You really understand racing?

MOTOGP » German Grand Prix - Preview.

Why thank you sir...most people hate lawyers

MOTOGP » German Grand Prix - Preview.

Old news - A hayabusa is "faster" than a motogp bike but wallows like a drunken ballerina in the corners. Going around a racetrack is fairly complex and straight line speed was of little use to Loris who only won at rain interrupted Motegi in 2007 - the same “speed” is a decisive advantage this year to Marco et al. Racing is fairly complex but if it's drag racing your talking about then Ducati wins (but not with Honda's 2008 launch control). I know that parsimonious explanations are often the right ones but you can overdo it a little to suit your arguments. It doesn't endure close scrutiny (like explaining how the other ducs went) but I give you points for trying

MOTOGP » German Grand Prix - Preview.

I’ve volunteered for the job but he hasn’t called back

MOTOGP » German Grand Prix - Preview.

Ah the vastly faster bike theory - that is why Ducati came 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in the championship last year. No, not quite right? I think the exculpatory evidence far outweighs the inculpatory evidence in that one: it has really been bashed out before and has had resurgence after Donington and Assen. It is not a theory supported by evidence. If science worked this way we would still be in the centre of the universe eating lunch on our flat planet fearful of falling off the edge...

MOTOGP » German Grand Prix - Preview.

Codger - Casey has the riding thing down pat but he is not media savvy. I work with guys like that and sit between them and management/politicians. I see the hardest & best workers get stick because they don't speak the greasy dissimulation of diplomacy. What is the constructive difference between, “I didn’t try to catch up” and “I settled for third” which I’ve heard many riders (inc VR) use (NONE) Born in Kurri-Kurri, the family home is now Tamworth – home of country music and lots of farms – the kid isn’t cultured and I think that if a few of the critics dropped the effete bourgeoisie sentimentality and had a look at the kid from this perspective you wouldn't be so tough on him