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Hayden – Pedrosa – MotoGP

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The Kneeslider is not primarily a racing site but if you’ve been following the MotoGP this year you already know how the championship is getting extremely exciting as the season rolls along. Rossi had an awful start this year with setup problems on his Yamaha while Hayden had a lot of consistent podium finishes which eventually gave him the points lead. Rossi mounted a charge as the season progressed, chipping away at Nicky’s lead and it looked like the season finale was going to be a real treat for fans.

Yesterday, Hayden’s team mate, Dani Pedrosa, made what, at first glance, seemed to be an incredibly stupid move, diving inside Hayden on a turn, losing the front and taking them both out of the race. Anyone racing at this level is a rare breed of rider, able to do things with a motorcycle most of us can only look upon with awe but Pedrosa’s move didn’t so much reflect a lack of skill as a lack of thought. When your team mate is leading the championship and defending against a charging Rossi, is that sort of riding appropriate? Had anyone else done that you could say, that’s racing. In Pedrosa’s case, it made no sense.

Colin Edwards, riding in second behind Rossi made anyone trying to overtake really work for the spot, protecting Rossi, and it seems the Yamaha team had already agreed among themselves to certain rules. Honda, according to reports, had no specific rules or plan so Pedrosa could do whatever he wanted with a championship points lead change as a result.

With Rossi out front by 8 points, Hayden may still salvage the championship but Rossi is on a charge and that will be tough, really tough. The last race may still be that barn burner we’ve been hoping for.

On the other hand, if you watched the race and saw Toni Elias win you have to wonder how he could ride a bike like that. It looked like a dirt bike, sliding and drifting in a display that by itself was a wonder to watch. Simply amazing.

Yep, that last race will be interesting …, wow!

Link: MotoGP.com

Posted on Filed Under: Motorcycle Racing

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Comments

  1. Other than Pedrosa (what the hell was he thinking!) taking out Hayden, that was one of the best races I’ve seen in awhile. Elias was wild to watch. I wish I had that kind of bike control.

  2. you forget that pedrosa also still had a chance at winning the world championship himself at that point…. and how come rossi was “in the hunt” and looking like a favorite 12 points back, but hayden’s championship chances are “all but over” 8 points back? (quoting from a commentator that’s kinda a hayden apologist) all he needs is to finish first with a rider between himself and rossi. guess there’s little chance of him winning now that the top riders are healthy again? also – this is his only real bad luck this season. capirossi would have walked it without the injury when his teammate blindsided him. pedrosa managed a podium but couldn’t make the podium due to blood loss from his injury suffered in qualifying, and then spent a few races recovering. rossi hurt his hand and foot, was taken out by another rider, blew a motor, and took golfball size chunks out of his tire due to chatter and had to retire while leading the race….

  3. To quote Rick Flair…….

    “To be the man, you gotta beat the man. Woooooooo”

    Something Hayden really hasn’t done in convincing fashion (except Laguna 2005) when Rossi is un-injured and with a reliable/sorted bike.

    The Europeans see champions different. To win the champioship means winning the races at all costs. In America, the NASCAR attitude rules. Run safe, run consistant, finish the race, make points.

    All the misfortune of others that HRC has benefited from this season was balanced out in one corner yesterday.

    Valencia is put up or shut up time….

  5. Excellent points, as I said, Rossi has made one helluva charge from a big deficit in the points race while Hayden has let those points slip away. Pedrosa was still potentially a championship contender and racing motorcycles often leads to off track trips into the gravel. I guess it’s just ironic that Pedrosa’s first crash where he took out another rider was his crash taking out his team mate and points leader.

    Hayden would not have been in the points lead if he had not done some excellent riding but Rossi has been much more convincing in his display on track.

    I think the commentators who look at Hayden’s chances as being slim recognize that difference and many were hoping Hayden could hang on as opposed to having to retake the lead. If he can winthe last race and Rossi finishes third, he can be the champ. A tall order.

    Regardless of the outcome, Hayden is, without a doubt, an extremely good rider, … Rossi, however, is a great rider.

  6. As a fan, racing every race like it was the championship race makes for good racing. Teams protecting the lead for the sake of the win is a form of a “sell-out” for the corporate business end of the sport.

    I couldn’t imagine having the skill to be at this level and then have to hold back for the sake of the corporate sponsor (isn’t that seriously twisted?).

    I understand the corporate-side of the sport is what pays them the nice salary, but therein lies the debate. How much should we as fans, racing league administrators, & corporate sponsors sell out the very essence of why we all tune in to begin with?

    The more you see top riders going all out every race, the more interesting the sport becomes. Ultimately, the corporate side of the sport will still cash in.

    The movie, “Talledega Nights – the Ballad of Ricky Bobby” has a good jab at NASCAR’s sellout love of corporate America. Why would anyone REALLY tune in to watch a race for the sake of a brand?

    Let them race like they were kids for the sake of bragging rites, pride, and fun…then pay them what they deserve.

  7. Mario Illien’s machine finished the race (despite 4 lapsin the pits).Quite an accomplishment!I wonder who will be riding the Illiens next season,they had been talking to Biaggi but he signed a WSB deal.Colin Edwards might need a ride.

  8. From the official site; Pedrosa said:
    “… I didn’t want to pass him at that moment. I braked and my rear wheel came off the ground and then it touched the ground again, I got a little more speed. I couldn’t stop the bike and there was nowhere to go. … ”

    Now I know what to look for when I watch this one tonight.

  9. watch schumacher go like hell this weekend to give ferrari the manufacturer’s championship! honda can only dream that nicky will do the same. he doesn’t have the killer instinct that rossi and michael have !

  10. I doubt anyone disputes that Rossi is the greatest motorcycle racer currently competing, possibly even the best who’s ever lived. I suspect even Nicky Hayden would admit it. Rossi was unlucky earlier in the season, no doubt about it, and Hayden was very consistent. A lot of people seem to like to downplay Hayden’s ability, but I don’t think that’s fair. I think he’s proven this season that he could win the championship without too much difficulty if Rossi weren’t in his way. There’s certainly no one else mounting a significant challenge to Rossi’s dominance.

    Hayden’s points lead began to slip away in part because he was having significant clutch problems the last few races. Would have been interesting to see how things might have gone had he not had equipment problems.

    As for Pedrosa, I almost feel bad for the kid. He must feel like such a tool. And I can’t imagine Repsol Honda is too happy with him right now. But we all make mistakes, and I expect he’ll learn from this one.

    If Rossi has problems in the final race, Hayden could still pull off the championship, but I’ll be surprised if that happens. Still, he’ll almost certain come in second in championship points — and being second to Rossi isn’t too shabby.

  11. perhaps everyone here doubting Nicky’s “killer instinct” or “fire” if you will – missed his reaction after the crash. he’ll be going to Valenciana seeing red. my guess is it will still be the race we’ve been waiting for all season. it’s just that now – the points are even tighter. i say nice job Pedrosa – this last race is going to be more exciting than any of us ever expected. and Rossi had better be racing just as furiously as i’m sure Hayden will be. can’t wait!

  12. I love the competition in MotoGP this year. Yes…Rossi is the best out there right now…but not by as much as the last couple of years. He will most probably win the championship but there is a chance. I don’t know what the policy/stratagy is in the Repsol Honda camp…but I hope they haven’t been holding Nicky or Danny back. What happened was racing. I get the feeling sometimes that Nicky is just playing it safe/smart but when you see him at Laguna you don’t get that impression. I would be willing to bet a lot of money that Rossi would have taken him at Laguna if he could have so that says something about Nicky and his ability. I agree that it would be nice to see “the best rider/bike” win the championship but let’s face it….shit happens! The best won’t always win the race and the best won’t always win the championship. I personally would not be the least interested in MotoGP if Rossi/Yamaha always won. It would be kinda like golf…ok so Tiger is going to win…let’s see who will take second 🙂

  13. The kind of race the world has been waiting for out of Hayden this year? How about the kind of race the world has been waiting for out of Hayden for his whole career! Valencia will be a career defining moment for him.

  14. Yep, Nicky has to step up and maybe he was ready to do that at Estoril, we’ll never know. It was a really stupid move on Pedrosa’s part but yeah, shit happens and that’s racing. Everyone suffers from others mistakes at one point or another. The timing in Nicky’s case was as bad as it could have been. But he has another chance and if he really does have what it takes, Valencia will be the test. I hope he has his best race ever and that goes for Rossi as well. The whole season comes down to this one race for all the marbles. I’ll be glued to the tube.

  15. S’funny watching Nicki overtaking Dani (what girlie names huh?), and thinking that (if it were) in F1 there would be team orders, but… How do you keep someone back in MotoGP? Fer Chrisake, the thing’s only two feet wide (or four, if you are Tony Elias)
    And Niki(ta) overtook Dani(elle), so of course he’s gonna get his own back…
    Actually, I thought this as soon as I saw it (live), I think Pedrosa is a RACER, and if you overtake (ME) I’m going to try to get that back(biatch)…
    Vale would never had wanted that (the crash) to happen, (in the race) he would have kicked his ass fair and square… Or, he would have given up the championship the same way; with grace and dignity… Now Nik has played his cards… He wants Pedrosa to block Rossi, and if that happens? Rossi will win his championship not on points, but on merit…
    And that, kids,
    Is
    the stuff of legends…

  16. “….if he really does have what it takes…”

    Nicky does have what it takes.

    He may need to race more of the other tracks like he races Laguna; but, I don’t doubt he has what it takes.

    Yep, this race will be great, but next season could be even better if Rossi/Hayden don’t have the level of mechanical challenges. There were a few races where Rossi had to come from way in the back, so the top riders of those races didn’t necessarily feel the “Rossi pressure”.

    Plus, we have Pedrosa, Stoner, Melandri, etc. that will improve many facets of their racing.

    C’mon Hopkins…

  17. Even if he wins the next one and Rossi finishes second…he looses the Championship, but I believe that would make a lot of people change their mind about Nicky.

  18. I’ll agree with “Ricky” quoting Dani from the MotoGP website, If you watch the replay, one of the views was from a camera mounted on Nicky’s swingarm or footpeg facing the rear. If you watch, you can see Pedrosa’s rear tire run up on the rumble strip on the inside. Unless I’m mistaken, there had been some rain there earlier in the day wich meant that any painted surfaces are going to be slicker than snot on a door knob. In short, still a bad judgement call on Pedrosa’a part. I know what some of you are thinking. “yeah, you try and make these decisions at 90 mph” yeah, ok,. . .fine. THATS WHY THEY ARE PRO’S & I’M NOT.
    I also feel that if Pedrosa was having a hard time getting slowed down, from the view points that I saw, he should’ve bitten the bullet and gone wide in the turn (outside Nicky), he still had enough space. I’m not trying to come off as a Pedrosa hater, I mean, hell, the kids got talent, big time! Isn’t this his first year in the premier class? and he’s already in major points territory?
    I’ll chalk this one up to “To be old and wise you must first be young and stupid” I’m sure Dani caught a major verbal lashing from Team Repsol and from Nicky also. I am most certian that Nicky has the talent and the drive (no pun intended) to ride the piss out of that RC211 in Valencia. If Rossi isn’t quaking in his boots, he ought to be.