Anyone else talking RACING?! <--- of the motorcycle type

Shattered it. Almost a full second off MM record last year. Very cool.

 

Motogp race is 4am on Sunday morning. I might still be up. Probably not

 

WRONG! Saturday morning. Assen is ALWAYS on Saturday. That is unless they are rebroadcasting it on Sunday at that time.

 

Sorry dude. Fox channel 31 Sunday 430am.

 

LOL! You get the left overs! Ever since getting the subscription to MotoGP I haven't even looked at the TV schedule. I also can't stand the way they cut up the action and even more so the commentary! Either way, should be a good race! A lot at stake for Rossi and now that MM seems to have cured his woes (remains to be seen on race day), he'll for sure want to be on that podium! Even Pedrosa seems to be looking good, and Lorenzo sure ain't gonna let this race go without a fight!

 

Dvr.........

 

Even with a DVR, you still don't get the coverage you do off of MotoGP.com. Since they not only stream it live, it becomes archived so you can watch it anywhere you have Internet access to their website and many other races are available to view at your leisure. Moto2 and Moto3 races are also part of the deal. Plus, since it's not on your DVR, it doesn't take up any disc space, so you're free to record other things without having to worry about or consider having to delete a race to record something else.

 

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Holy crap! What a finish! Looks like MM got his mojo back and VR showed his talents are as sharp as ever! They will be talking about this finish for a while that's for sure.

The rumor is that this is the last year that Assen will be held on a Saturday, a great race to cap off an old tradition if it's true.

 

A fantastic finish to a rather boring race. The MM pass was good, the Rossi outside high spped pass was amazing and the finish........ Wow, dirt bike riding comes in handy sometimes. 10 point lead now. Rossi broke MM last years record in qualyfying, I'd say he found something for his poor qualifying this year. This was the last race on Saturday for Assen. Something like 75 years.

 

How about Moto 3!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWgdfarl20g

 

Hands down, best race of the weekend.

 

MM was saying he should be awarded the win because Rossi left the track. Sounds a little cry baby to me. He let the brakes go and dived in with a stab to try and beat Rossi to the Apex but failed and hit him. Rossi was not going to let him win on that maneuver and was ready. As he turned in and MM was by his radiator he just straightened it up and avoided something really nasty. Showed his race experience if you ask me.

 

Some interesting points of view from the racers.



Post Race Espargaro

In the aftermath of a controversial final turn showdown between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez at Assen, Pol Espargaro hopes MotoGP Race Direction will make clear there is no 'immunity' when attempting to overtake on the last lap.

Marquez tried to pass Rossi on entry to the final chicane. The pair made contact, after which Rossi ran off track before re-joining to claim the race win.

Marquez said he “did the perfect last corner” and felt aggrieved that Rossi had cut the track. Rossi insisted he was always in front of Marquez and had little choice but to run off due to the contact, a view supported by fellow Yamaha rider Espargaro.

“If Marquez didn't touch Valentino, Valentino would not go straight on,” Espargaro said. “What can Vale do? Marquez went over the kerb [after the contact] because he was so wide. Yeah you can say 'Valentino was already opening the throttle to go across the [gravel]' but this is fair game.”

Race Direction declared it a racing incident, with no punishment for either rider. Race Direction has traditionally been more lenient in the case of contact during last lap battles, especially for the race lead. However Espargaro feels the balance has tipped too far in favour of the attacking rider.

“The problem is that we are accustomed that on the last lap, last corner anything can happen. I mean you can brake so late, you can hit the other rider and nothing happens,” he said.

“As is happening during all the races, it looks like you have immunity on the last corner, or last lap of a race. You have immunity to go inside, doesn't matter if you crash, if you hit the other rider. Yeah it's a race and it's the last corner, but we can avoid this.

“[Because in that situation] if the rider who is behind - even if by one-second - releases the brakes and hits the other rider, they will usually win.

“Maybe we can speak about it with all the riders and make clear that if you have the opportunity to overtake at the last corner, but without it being necessary to touch the other rider, it is ok.

“But if you know you will hit the other rider, because he is in the middle and you are going wide, you cannot go inside. This has to be forbidden, but how you enforce it is difficult.”

Espargaro matched his best finish of the season with fifth place at Assen for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team, despite a return of arm pump problems for which he recently underwent surgery.

Meanwhile, reflecting the range of opinions in the paddock, Espargaro's team-mate Bradley Smith felt Rossi certainly wasn't entirely innocent in Saturday's clash.

"Valentino played the circumstance perfectly to his advantage," said Smith. "He made sure Marc hit him so then he had to go across the gravel and no one can say anything. That's finally what it is.

"There's however many years of experience right there. That's what he did. He closed the door. He timed it perfectly so that when Marc went for it he hit him and knocked him off the track. Then you can't say anything because Valentino can say 'I went straight because Marc hit me and I had the lead going into the chicane so I didn't technically gain an advantage'."

 

Rossi and MM 2 different points of view.


MotoGP Race Director Mike Webb has explained exactly why the last lap Assen clash between Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez was deemed a racing incident.

The pair were battling for victory when reigning champion Marquez attempted to pass current title leader Rossi into the final chicane. Contact was made at the first apex of the right-left-right sequence, resulting in Rossi running off and cutting the rest of the corner before re-joining to win by 1.2s from Marquez.

Afterwards, the riders clearly held very different opinions about the incident.

Rossi said: "My view is that I am in front and Marc touched the middle of my bike. His touch pushed me outside the track".

Marquez said: "I studied perfectly the last chicane, how to put the bike in the correct place, but OK I didn't expect he would cut! In the end, what I feel is that we won the race."

Asked who would have won without the contact, Rossi commented “I was in front”, while Marquez responded “I was on the inside!”

In terms of Race Direction's judgement, the decisive factor seems to have been that Rossi was in front when the contact occurred.

“We've obviously reviewed the incident from all the camera angles we have. The decision is racing incident. No advantage was gained,” Webb told Crash.net. “The basis of that decision is primarily the helicopter shot that shows at every stage Valentino was ahead. So Valentino had the right to the line.

“So Valentino was ahead. He was not passed. As they reached the apex of the right-hand turn Marc touched Valentino, which made [Valentino] go wide. So that's a racing incident. It's unavoidable.

“The two balancing things are that it was a hard pass with contact and you are not allowed to push another rider off the line. But the end result was that they entered and exited that series of corners in the same position. No advantage gained. End of story.”

 

In an interview with ex-racers, Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini, both said the win was Valentino's. Giacomo said, "If I was the jury, I would have called the race at the last corner, and Valentino was in the lead so, he won the race." (paraphrasing)

I personally think that if the positions were reversed, VR would have made a similar attempt, it's all part of racing. Race direction called it a race incident and it seems the team managers have accepted it as such. I think MM is pissed that his "dream" pass was not as successful or as epic as VR's last corner pass on Lorenzo in 2009.

I think MM will be on fire in Germany. He'll probably be as "reckless" as ever, err, I mean as "on the edge" as ever! Should be another great battle.

As anticipated, the race incident is going to be the topic for a while!

 

I was impressed MM caught back up to Rossi in the last lap. The 2014 frame is doing much better. Germany will be interesting.

 

MM had been practicing that pass in free practice. I'm sure your right, he was pissed he did not pull off the pass. But thats going to be hard with someone like Rossi who was expecting it. Dangerous too.

 

It's racing, and whining is what racer's do. Been guilty of it myself in the past..... On to the next one.

 

Moto GP Germany Spoiler*****************************************
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For being a Honda track Rossi did very well. Rode the wheels off the Yamaha and came very close to a big high side. Increased his lead over JL by 3 points. At this rate MM could be back in the picture by the end of the season. Could be very interesting late season.

 

And how bout Pedrobot 2nd?
Hayden 16th...buddy its time.
Wished VR had one more go for 2nd.
What was the story on JL, tires? and second that on VR's save...that would of ended his season