MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

I've really become a fan of Dani. I don't believe there was any dirty racing involved, but there was definitely some cruel luck...

Pedrosa is tough. You watch him strap it up and race at Catalunya.

Sucks that Pedrosa broke his collarbone, but Simoncelli isn't to blame for this one. It looked like Pedrosa went in too hot, stood the bike up, and ran into Simoncelli.

Why did Rossi not get a ride through when he took stoner out?

I'm no fan of any particular rider since the great #34 graced our racetracks, i just enjoy watching those willing to put it on the line to win. Here's my perspective. I wish Dani all the best, and hope he is able to race in Barcelona, this championship needs him.

So DP's laptime appears to be slipping (possibly due to injury affecting his stamina-only he knows), allowing MS to get past. DP uses his straight line speed to come up the inside for the next corner, but due to his slowing pace/strength brakes earlier than MS. This allows for the ensuing 50/50 situation where the quicker guy is on the outside.........Put yourself in Simoncellis position (I admit my experience on track is 1 trackday at Cadwell so no experience of his position) You're on the outside of the chicane with a slower rider inside of you, you give him just enough room on the inside (yes he should have given more but he certainly wasnt going for the apex) and plan to sweep by. Had he run wide by another 2-3 feet, i dont think there would have been a problem.

Simoncellis biggest problem is Lorenzos tirade at Estoril, and other sheep backing him up. He now has the image of a wild rider, when a month ago, no one was saying anything in public.

However, Dani knows MS can be hot headed (impatient italian in a rush for his first podium). Dani also knows that Simoncelli isn't going for the title. The perception is that Dani gets hurt because he's fragile/small. But he's also on the edge all the time, increasing the possibility of injury. Championships are made by deciding the right time to go slow as much as the right time to fast, and Dani was in the position to decide to settle for P3 rather than risk being beaten for in to P3 (yes there is a difference).

Puig and Dani should be asking themselves is it always bad luck or could it be bad decision making in the heat of battle?

As for the ride through Marco should have had the opportunity to argue his side, and then get what ever punishment is due.......cynical i know, but how much do Dorna need Rossi near the top again? As soon as VR in 4th, the ride thru was awarded. I've read that Marco had already been spoken to prior to Le Mans about his aggression, so maybe there are other factors in the decision making process.....

I think Simoncelli's pass was careless. I don't think he had any idea of how he was going to exit that turn without a collision. Taking the outside line entering the tight left-right kink is a hard move. Pedrosa's standing up was the natural progression of the turn, flicking it right, combined with slowing rapidly to not torpedo Simoncelli. Marco should be saying thank you.

With Mugello and her high speed left-right turns coming up, race direction needs to make a clear ruling.

What I think will cure Simoncelli is to put Hector Barbera on the same bike so they 'meet' more often. Maybe Pogiali will get a chance on a CRT bike!

i initially thought Marco was completely at fault for this incident but motogp.com has a short video of 2 trackside views of the incident, unfortunately it is pay-only.

http://www.motomatters.com/news/2011/05/15/dani_pedrosa_breaks_collarbo…

The first view shows that tires did not make contact until Pedrosa's bike was completely vertical and on it's way to lean right. It also shows that if Pedrosa didn't stand it up there was plenty of track for him to continue to turn on. Not ideal and definitely a change of course was required but much better than a crash. The second view shows what looks like Pedrosa standing it up early and crashing into the back of Marco's bike. After watching these a few times I think Pedrosa is at fault. Its almost as if he is startled and stands it up into Marco. Not a reaction I would expect from a motogp rider.

Chris
http://moto2-usa.blogspot.com/

When watching the race live I thought Simoncelli was at fault, but when the replay was shown a minute later I remember thinking that Pedrosa was standing his bike up in a strange location of the track. He appears to stand it up early as if he's trying to save it. The second (head-on) view shows Pedrosa clearly lifting his bike up early as if he was in too hot and was going to run it off track rather than lay it down. You can also see a puff of smoke from his rear tire as this happens. Something funny happened here. I don't think this was all Simoncelli's doing, and Lorenzo's comments after the race were inappropriate given the nature of his pass on Dovizioso.

Had Simoncelli left a little more room though I think this could have been avoided. He would have had the inside line for the next right, too. Oh well. Roll on the next race...the "Marco Simoncelli 2011 Torpedo of Truth Tour" lives on!

I'm more concened with Spies lackluster performance so far. The post race interview revealed he slowed down to let Hayden by so that he could study him and determine if he was stronger on the track or not. Seems too defensive. Hayden himself said he couldn't understand why Spies suddenly slowed down. I thought Spies would be tying Lorenzo into knots, but Lorenzo is clearly top dog at Yamaha by a large margin judging from these early race performances.

This is nothing new from Simoncelli. He disregards all other riders on the track and always has. Didn't you guys watch him in the 250's? I give him one more year then it's off to WSBK. Good riddance. Pedrosa " standing the bike up" is otherwise known as braking because Simoncelli cut him off.

Look at the stills from when simoncelli and pedrosa were both turning into the corner and roughly side by side on the track, simoncelli's bike has noticeably more lean than pedrosa, he's doing his favourite trick of going round the outside then cutting across onto the inside line.
Pedrosa didnt get in too hot, if he had've gone in way too hot he wouldve been infront of simoncelli in the corner!
the incident happened in the esses, and riders generally take a compromised line through the first part to get a good drive out of the second part, this is why it looks like simoncelli gave pedrosa room.
IMO pedrosa should've held his normal line and lowsided into simoncelli. but thats hindsight for you, but im sure pedrosa wanted to avoid a crash so he took the only option availble and almost got away with it.

oh and yes pedrosa has made mistakes, people are saying that he has taken people out, which is true.
but simoncelli's move was no mistake, it was a pre meditated tactic that at best is in the 'grey' area of the rules. he's used it several times and gotten away with it (the latest that comes to mind is the move he made on stoner at the start of the previous race)

Perhaps Simoncelli should ask himself about the advantage of being a heavier rider when a collision ocurrs. Oh! He does. It means the other riders get taken out and he does use this to his advantage.

Perhaps he would have been less cavalier if it had been a Spies or Rossi who could have looked for contact comming from the inside. Perhaps he would have been the guy on the ground and not the guy cruising to the finish line.

I cannot believe what i'm reading.

Now it's Pedrosa running in the back of Simoncelli ?????????????

There are more "ignorante" than Puig can think of, apparently ;-)

If the glove don't fit, you must acquit!