MotoGP:Barthelona (Catalan Spoilers)

Sidevalve

Sounds good to me.

Don't feed the trolls.

Dunno man, sound good to me too!
Just what the circus needs I rekn, a masked bandit who doesn't love everybody and doesn't smile and make stoooopid waving gestures at the camera every 3 seconds.

God help me when I say this, bring back Kenny...........

Kenny who????

Will Lorenzo have the same tires he had at Mugello?

I think they binned them after the race.

Damn you, that's what I was thinking.

Fixed...

I love it when he is on. Anyone for that matter. How cool would it be if all the aliens showed up on Sunday with the same pace?

Could I have some more insight into this comment?

Yes and no. The tires Bridgestone brought to Mugello and Barcelona in 2013 had the same heat treatment which the 2014 tires have. So the tires are almost identical to those from last year. Biggest difference is in Lorenzo, though, I think.

Lorenzo was complaining in the early races that the new for 2014 heat treatment cost him grip at the very edge of the tire (where his strength is). Then Bridgestone brought a revised tire to Mugello which, as Krop noted, was almost identical to the (preferred) 2013 tire. It wasn't clear if this tire was a one-off to deal with the heat at Mugello, or if this was a "recalibration" going forward.
Pedrosa commented that Catalunya requires a lot of riding on the very edge of the tire, and with that in mind I was weighing Lorenzo's chances for 2nd vs 3rd.

It's the other way around. What Bridgestone have done is take the heat-resistant layer they were using in their 2013 tires at some circuits (Mugello, Barcelona, Assen) where high temperatures were a problem, and apply them to the tires at all tracks. The trouble is, that layer doesn't work as well on a cool track, and so Lorenzo is complaining of a lack of edge grip. The tires which the riders used at Mugello (and at Barcelona) are nearly identical to the tires used their last year, that was always the plan, and isn't a response to complaints by any particular rider. They didn't bring a revised tire to Mugello, they brought a revised tire to all of the other tracks.

I was going to come here and ask itf it was FP 1 yet, but Krop is telling great stories, so I am happy to listen.

While we are on the tyre thing, can anybody explain to me why Ducati and the other Open class entries are not permitted to use the hard rear tyre?

Yes I know they can use a softer rear than the factories are permitted, which means they like the factory entries have two dry tyre options per race. And so there is a symmetry of sorts there, but so what?

Looking on from the sidelines, it appears that the point of denying Open teams the hard tyre is that it keeps them off the podium at circuits where the hard tyre is preferred for the race.

Is that indeed the point? (As in, the softer tyre gives Open teams some publicity in Qualifying and for the first half-dozen laps, but Dorna wants to make sure the factories have the better package where it counts most.)

Or is it something to do with safety (spec electronics can't prevent hard-tyre highsides)? Or something else that doesn't amount to explicit handicapping?

I think only the most sorted factory bikes can use the hard tire effectively.

JMHO.

Matthew Birt @birtymotogp · Nicky Hayden intends to ride in FP1 2moro but if he is not fit then Leon Camier will take his Aspar Honda ride for rest of wknd

Good experience for Camier.

1 - DP
2 - MM
3 - JL

Dani will race alone on the front, while the other two will fight with VR on the first laps and then go on their own.

Little improvement between FP1 and 2 with Marquez, Lorenzo and Rossi all in the hunt. Pedrosa back a small step. Hottest temps of the year in FP followed by a wet race? Anything could happen!