Brno GP (SPOILER)

I thought this one was a bit boring.

Top spot was evident from the start. Surprised a bit by Hopkins, in that he
did not fade and put in some quick laps. Hayden rode alone most of the
race.

Rossi blamed a bit on the tires, which I think is a stretch considering that
Hayden and Pedrosa both did better on Michelins. I think he might just be a
bit distracted by some of the Italian press comments.

I thought this was one of the least exciting races of the year. However,
Stoner is doing the job not unlike a young Valentino did with Honda early
on.

Opinions on when Stoner will wrap up the championship?

C.Deggs wrote:
> I thought this one was a bit boring.
>
> Top spot was evident from the start. Surprised a bit by Hopkins, in that he
> did not fade and put in some quick laps. Hayden rode alone most of the
> race.
>
> Rossi blamed a bit on the tires, which I think is a stretch considering that
> Hayden and Pedrosa both did better on Michelins. I think he might just be a
> bit distracted by some of the Italian press comments.

In retrospect, one of the most predictable races of the year. The
situation seems to be that Bridgestone has Michelin covered at most
tracks, with the new tire rule perhaps occasionally giving Michelin an
edge, given the call in preselection of tires. Beyond that, the
rider/bike combinations are the determining factor, and right now Stoner
has the fastest bike that also matches up perfectly with his riding
style, so his job is relatively easy. Hopkins' bike isn't quite as good,
so he has to push harder, and sometimes get beat by Michelins runners.
So far this year on dry races Stoner has been top Bridgestone 7 out of
10 times, having been beaten by one spot by Elias at Jerez and Barros at
Mugello, and by 3 spots by Capirossi in Germany. Hopkins has followed
Stoner home among Bridgestone runners 5 times and had good prospects the
two times he crashed out, leading his side at Jerez. The only times he's
been beaten by a Bridgestone guy who didn't also beat Stoner was by
Melandri by one spot in Turkey and Germany.

Melandri has had to deal with the Honda problems, late delivery of
solutions, and now his injuries. Capirossi doesn't make for a good match
with the new Ducati and we don't know what might be slowing him
otherwise, but today was quite typical. Vermeulen is good sometimes (in
the wet, at tracks he raced on in WSB), not so good sometimes, and
unlucky sometimes. The rest of the Bridgestone guys just aren't real
contenders.

On the Michelin side, it seems Honda has made progress in fixing their
bike, and they have seemed to find a few answers for Hayden's unique
problems (i.e., riding Pedrosa's bike). So Hayden now has just enough to
finish on the box consistently (shades of last year), can compete
consistently with the top Michelin guys, Rossi and Pedrosa, and is
starting to cast real doubt on the notion that Pedrosa is Honda's best
rider. Rossi has nothing that gives him an edge anymore, particularly in
the tire area, so looks surprisingly ordinary much of the time. His
bike's main lacking is peak power, and he hasn't had many complaints
beyond that, so it really comes down to tires and his
abilities/motivation, it seems. Today he seemed to be lacking something,
getting beaten by Hayden by nearly 10 seconds.

> I thought this was one of the least exciting races of the year. However,
> Stoner is doing the job not unlike a young Valentino did with Honda early
> on.

Yep, Stoner appears to have the same kind of advantages going for him
that made Rossi unbeatable in his early days in MotoGP.