Some new developments to review and report, regarding this weekends USGP: First off, Finnish Rookie Mika Kallio, who has impressed in his first year in the highest rank, will not be in attendance of the USGP, after suffering a severe abrasion to his left ring finger. Said injury occured during the last few laps of the Assen TT, while running in the 6th position. Joked the Finn, "maybe better to cut it off!". No replacement was made regarding Kallio's steed...but who would want to? The works Ducati itself is a total bitch, and I'm no expert, but I'd be willing to bet that the satellite Duck is even worse. Though, surely, if given the chance, and being that he is here in America anyway, Chaz"Nasty"Davies would give her twirl...
On the Honda side of the equation, it was annonced this week that JiR/Scot/Honda rider Yuki Takahashi would be "taking a break" and/or returning to the 250cc class, after the Italian satellite made the suprise addition of Gabor Talmacsi at the Catalan round. Though not offically confirmed, it is highly rumored to be because of Honda's inability to provide JiR/Scot with the extra two bikes needed to campaign two riders, and that Honda would be more than happy to see Takahashi carry the flag of The Land of the Rising Sun in the 250cc sector. Sounds to me like the real reason is that Gabor ponied up more coin than Takahashi did for the ride, therefore...politics reared it's ugly head once again in the motorsport arena, much like the F1 side of the business...but that is a whole 'nother story, on a whole 'nother blog...one I'm not interested in butchering...Hell, who knows, maybe Eccelstone would see it and sue me for using the names "F1" and "Formula One" without asking permission...Now THAT would be a story, folks...

That's enough of my banter, and, until next time, Keep It Fresh, Dogs!

Ciao!!

Bad-assen!

Well, how was the Saturday classic for all y'alls? It was the typical GP race, with one rider in particular running away from the field, and the rest falling back. It looked to be a repeat of Barcelona, with there being an actual dog-fight at the front, but, alas, twas not to be. Both Pedrosa and his teammate Andrea Dovizioso fell in the first turn of the TT Cucuit Assen. Rossi continued his dominance at the front, as Stoner and Lorenzo seemed to just not be able to match Rossi's god-like pace. After the falls of the Repsol-Honda duo, and the seeming lack of pace from the Red Dwarf and Por Fuera, Vale took his milestone 100th career GP win, in true convincing style. Post race reactions, said Rossi: “It’s a fantastic achievement. 100 victories is a great number. Thanks to all the guys who have helped me to reach this number –my teams over the past ten years, Jeremy Burgess and especially all my close friends and family for giving me motivation. We hope to win some other races though!” A great addition, no doubt, to Rossi's 2009 championship title bid. Second-placed jockey, Jorge Lorenzo, had this to say after his solid run on Saturday: “I am happy, because despite an awful start and there being some sections of the track where I lost a lot of ground, I pushed at my limit. Especially at the start of the race,” said the Loren-show.
“When I saw that my front tyre was starting to slide, I said ‘enough’ and settled for second place,” he added, showing the maturity needed in chasing points rather than the head-strong push for glory that has won many a rider the World Championship. “We had a great race with a fierce pace that dropped half a second, so I really couldn’t have done any more.” Casey Stoner, placed third in Saturday's spectacle, had these words for his fans after the race, explaining that he once again, was in no human shape to be on track. Fortunately, Stoner, like all racers, really isn't human, anyway. “I’ve been feeling fine all week but started to feel run down again on Friday and I’ve just got worse as the weekend has gone on. I’ve taken every kind of supplement and vitamin tablet you can think of but nothing seems to have worked, so it is obviously something we need to have looked at closer because I can’t keep going like this and it is costing us points.”
“Thankfully I had a fantastic bike underneath me again today and I owe the team for that. A big thank also to Dr Macchiagodena and our physiotherapist Freddie (Dente), who took good care of me both in Catalunya and here. Unfortunately we don’t have much time to get fit for Laguna but we’ll see what we can do.” Ducati Corse project director, Livio Suppo, had these words on Stoner's "Weekend Paddock Flu", that has been plaguing the firey Aussie the past two rounds: “There is something wrong with Casey’s condition and we are trying to understand what is wrong and trying to help. What we have done so far is not enough and we have to investigate more. Dr Claudio Macchiagodena from Clinica Mobile has done a lot to help after the race and he has some ideas for Laguna so let’s just hope.”

Thats it from me this week, folks, and expect a full-write up, AMA and MotoGP after next weekends first of two US rounds for the GP stars, at Mazda Raceway-Laguna Seca, in Monterrey, California.

Ciao!!!

Well, its been a while, but I'm puttin' down my horsesh*t opinions on the worlds best(and worst)racing series. The expected has occured since the last write up, with Rossi and Lorenzo being the majority of the winners. But, come Mugello, the tables were turned. Rossi didn't have the race he wanted, Pedrosa crashed(suprise, suprise!!), and that allowed the rest to pull away and have a decent battle in the dry-wet race. Both Dovizioso and Capirossi battled hard, in an attempt to win their home race, but neither of them could keep Stoner from what he does best, and that is, well, "Stone"in' the field! He proved once again that he is a sort of freak of nature, being the only man to regularily tame the Ducati into the race-winner it has the potential to be. On the subject of Ducati, the next highest finishing Duc in the ItalianGP was Niccolo Canepa's Pramac satellite machine, bringing him his best GP finish to date. Finishing the Ducati round-up, was Mika Kallio and Nicky Hayden. Mika is learning, but, damn, what is wrong with Nick? He went so well in pre-season but has floundered so far this season on the Duc. If he wants to stay a Duc factory rider, and keep possibly his last ever chance at a factory ride, the Kentucky Kid better step up his game. And, finally, the rider that consistently impresses me is Andrea Dovizioso. This kid has real, true potential, especially if Repsol Honda and HRC can shift their attention from Pedrosa to Dovi. Pedrosa is in a rut, and his spot is already being rumored to being up for grabs to another Spainiard, Alvaro Bautista, from the 250's. Till next round,

MO