Needle matches, grudges, enmity, vendettas, revenge: MotoGP looks classic this year

 

It is wonderful to hear that the Simoncelli-Bautista-Barbera words-and-
contact war is moving up into MotoGP.  Aoyama is a comparative
pussycat, but he is fast.  Cocky Lorenzo will not make room for these
hot young upstarts, and Pedrosa will have more occasion to grouch.
Rossi will remain a genius rider, but this pack of animals may just
elbow the master into the gravel. Marvellous.  Nice guy Nicky, time to
retire.  Good guy Stoner, put on your Doc Martins.

Somebody once said, speaking of baseball, that "No game is much fun
unless the players really hate each other."
Bring it on, MotoGP for 2010!   Yeehoooooo!

 

Not Leonard Cohen wrote:

Someone's been spending too much time reading the Spanish and Eye-talian
press and inhaling two-stroke exhaust...

 


Bring it on WSB. Actually bring it all on (except AMA). It is of course
going to be the best year ever.

Who's left standing at the end of the musical chairs? There's a few
people who've been hung out to dry in minor championships, but who's got
no ride at all and really should be out there somewhere? James Ellison.
Any others?

--
Julian Bond  E&MSN: julian_bond at voidstar.com  M: +44 (0)77 5907 2173
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Julian Bond wrote:

Jamie Hacking, Jake Zemke, Ben Bostrom, Eric Bostrom, Mat Mladin...

From my view 2010 looks like the worst year ever, I have never been so
pessimistic about big-time racing. Obviously there's the DMG
situation, which at this point has left America without a professional
championship to speak of. But that's only the "highlight".

Beyond that, MotoGP will still feature boring-as-hell, electronically-
controlled 800s, and the 17 riders in the field hardly excite -
midgetry still runs rampant, of the 17 confirmed riders 10 are
Spaniards or Italians (and 6 of the 8 factory riders) and the field is
otherwise the most ingrown it has ever been - 14 of 17 come from
125/250 and have never raced regularly outside of GP as adults (I
think; not certain about Aoyama and Kallio). Last year was dominated
by the four aliens, which seems likely to only partially be about
talent, and there is almost nothing that suggests this year won't be
more of the same - Snow White and the Three Dwarves.

WSB has lost the best racer they've had in 8, 10 years and maybe ever,
and now it's a combination of aging 2nd-raters and a bunch of young
Brits who couldn't beat the likes of Lavilla, Kiyonari and Byrne at
home. Given the machines, the rules and last year's results it seems
likely Ducati Corse will dominate the championship.

It's very likely that this will be the first year in a couple decades
that I will not attend a single AMA-only event (I'm not even planning
on taking the short ride to Sears), and likely that the WSB round at
Miller will be the first world championship round in America I don't
attend since the WSB races at Brainerd in 1991. Kinda looks like
Laguna and Indy will be it for me, and even they aren't at all
certain. Really the only rooting interest I'll have this year is
Spies, of course, although he's been relegated to a satellite bike,
and Hayden in his continuing battle with that Ducati. I guess I'll
probably be pulling for Rea and Toseland in WSB, but without real gut-
level fire, and ultimately it may be reduced to an "anybody but
Ducati" deal...

But I can see where commercial manipulation in the "world"
championships will make fans in Spain, Italy and the UK very happy
this year. But perhaps with a mysterious, lingering empty feeling...

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