It was pretty good with MM and DP and when CC gets a full factory bike, I think JL and VR will have a new play mate
The rider? The footpeg (I can't see it)? the brake rotor? The fact that the right bar seems about to touch the tank and the wheel is still pointing straight? Nah, this bike is ready to go!
Looks to me like the bellypan and everything Brent listed is missing. However, I learned in another MotoGP thread that camera lenses distort reality so all that stuff is probably really on the bike.
Texas has the highest Speed Limit in USA. We also drive on the side of the road most others countries do. Just curious, if MotoGP is held in your part of the world, would they go counter clockwise?
Faster riders are starting to appear. Pedrosa, while Spanish and all, has gotta watch his ass. Did you see his face during the post race interviews? Yeah... said it all. I'm not a Marquez fan, but sliding the bike around while at full lean with the elbow on the ground? Damn impressive. He was much faster though the transitions than Pedrosa or Lorenzo. I think he's enjoying putting pressure on Pedrosa for 2/3rds the race, then passing him. Lorenzo knows the deal, though. He's maintaining his points until they can get back to the tighter tracks.
Mika rode a great race. Even all the excuses Gav and Nick were making for Redding couldn't stop Kallio. He was the only non-Spaniard to finish on the podium in any class, including CRT. Big congrats to Mika.
So, even as MGP is adding tracks to the US calendar, the local content is diminishing. Hard to imagine either Edwards or Hayden retaining their seats were it not for their passports. What is the pathway to a happy ending here? Where are the other sponsors? Maybe its time for Trojan to stand up. :)
I think the big problem is that the US has its own way of doing things, AMA/DMG superbike, Flat track, etc. There isn't a national feeder series like in Europe with a bunch of kids on 125's or Moto3 machinery, that then go on to Moto2/600 before taking the big jump up to MGP. If you have a relatively inexpensive way of starting young people on racing machinery that is relevant to a world series then its a great starting point and absolutely necessary for proper development of the sport as a whole. Flat tracking while cool doesn't really bear any relevance in modern racing. There are plenty of good circuits in the US, enough to allow local racing to develop, like the RB rookies. If there are enough kids doing it then the profile gets raised and sponsorship follows and the sport grows or so the thinking grows. I think this is what KS34 had in mind when he brought MGP to Texas.
Wow. Didn't realize he was the ONLY one! Yeah, it was a gutsy performance from Kallio. Spain just rules this sport right now.
If modern racing didnt have traction control then we would see much different racing and see the importance of flat tracking. Im not at all saying that AMA/DMG has it right because they do not! However when it comes to Moto GP they do not have it right with traction control, the racing (at times) is boring and Moto2 is more interesting and eventful almost every race.
There were sure a lot of black stripes in the exits of turns at COTA and MM was sliding quite a bit, can't imagine what it would be like without TC?! :eek1