Estoril day 1

 Personally I think Rossi fans need not worry despite Hayden been 2nd and
Rossi 8th in the 2nd practice session.  Rossi is a cool customer and will be
getting race setup and the bike sorted, not so concerned about absolute lap
times. Does anyone really think Stoner is going to win, maybe but unlikely
yet he has been the quickest in FP2, so it is with Hayden being ahead of
Rossi, a quick lap will not win a race, but a good race setup and a bit of
mind play might, that is Rossi's strength, still great to see Nicky showing
pace, makes it all the more exciting.

Paul

 
Rossi, Edwards, Hayden
Pedrosa, Stoner, Hopkins

So will Edwards be competitive for a change and stay between Rossi and
Hayden? Does look like Capirossi and Melandri are out of it this time
around.

BTW.
HRC: No team orders and the clutch can't be fixed. It says so here:-

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2006/Oct/061012s.htm
http://www.eurosport.com/motorcycling/portuguese-gp/2006/sport_sto983169 .
shtml
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28910-2399603,00.html

--
Julian Bond  E&MSN: julian_bond at voidstar.com  M: +44 (0)77 5907 2173
Webmaster:           http://www.ecademy.com/      T: +44 (0)192 0412 433
Personal WebLog:     http://www.voidstar.com/     skype:julian.bond?chat
                     *** Just Say No To DRM ***

 I think Rossi will run the race from the front and not get challenged,
as for the other places very hard to predict. Stoner is certainly on
the pace and has the speed to compete but often his tyres seem to go
off and he crashes pushing too hard, I don't think he will support
Hayden but won't hinder him either (at least on purpose), Pedrosa is a
hard one to call, will he try to support Hayden, I think so, unless it
eventuates Hayden falls off the pace in which case Pedrosa may just go
for it. Edwards, well his track record this year would say he won't be
competitive but perhaps Yam have given him some special bits so he can
follow Rossi and ideally (for team Yam) finish ahead of Hayden, unless
his country patriotism takes priority. Hayden certainly has the pace
but not good track history, this race will be a good test of character
for him, no more just going for points.

However as a call my predictions are....

1  Rossi
2  Hayden
3  Edwards
4  Pedrosa
5  Gibs

Crashes, Stoner (hope I'm wrong there though)

Paul


Julian Bond wrote:

 
Anything that gets the points difference down to 5 or below will do me.
Then both riders have to win the last race. I really don't want it
decided tomorrow. Let's keep this thing going for one more race.

So how about finishing like they start? Rossi, Edwards, Hayden.

--
Julian Bond  E&MSN: julian_bond at voidstar.com  M: +44 (0)77 5907 2173
Webmaster:           http://www.ecademy.com/      T: +44 (0)192 0412 433
Personal WebLog:     http://www.voidstar.com/     skype:julian.bond?chat
                     *** Just Say No To DRM ***

 Yep I'd love it to be less than 5 too. But I really can only see Rossi and
Hayden fast enough and have the consistent race pace to be there at the end,
you never know, Edwards or Stoner may excel and split them but I doubt it.

Paul