After yesterday’s post about the MotoGP season opener, I saw this list of riders who have left the class along with all of the new blood racing the top class for the first time.
Gone are: Max Biaggi, Alex Barros, Troy Bayliss, Ruben Xaus, Roberto Rolfo, Franco Battaini, Shane Byrne
New riders are: Randy De Puniet, Dani Pedrosa, Jose Luis Cardoso, Chris Vermulen, Casey Stoner
It’s going to take a few races to get used to the new names and to stop wondering where the other guys are. Is it just me or is this a bigger turnover than usual?
via MotoGP.com
cje says
Well, i won’t be missing Biaggi and all the superbike ex-worldchampions riding at het back of the pack.
I will miss Barros. The guy was MotoGP furniture. Too bad he’s gone and hope does great the superbikes.
aaron says
looks like wcm is gone. that means bimota won’t be helping with the chassis. that means no blata v6. damn. no wonder mcwilliams showed up on a buell for the daytona 200.
as for the new guys, pedrosa looks special, like either he could be the guy to unseat rossi (if rossi stays long enough to loose the edge, or gets stuck with a bike a little less capable) or, more likely, the guy to dominate when rossi goes. 20yrs, double 250 world champion? fastest honda rider after only a week on the bike? sounds like someone else out there, some italian on a yamaha.
also good to see most bikes are capable this year. could the suzuki’s and kawasaki’s make a few podium visits? maybe, which means you’ve got five factories, 6 or 7 teams capable of a top 3 finish! I’ll root for ducati, capirossi. rookie-definately pedrosa. underdog team, suzuki. and if rossi dominates, I can’t complain. the guy’s amazing-I just expect him to win, so seeing ducati pull off a miracle is something to root for.