Author Topic: MotoGP Fans: Dutch TT @ Assen (Van Drenthe Circuit) (Read 578 times)

kmh364 · « **on:** June 28, 2006, 06:13:36 AM »

Anybody see the race this past weekend? An awesome latest installment to what has been an incredible season so far! My boy Colin Edwards II crashes from a race-long lead in site of the flag on the last corner of the last lap!!! American Nicky Hayden won, but he got a gift!

The circus rolls into 'ole Blighty this weekend for the British GP @ Donnington Park in sight of the Castle Donnington (Monsters Of Rock anyone?).

Be there or be square!

adriaan · « **Reply #1 on:** June 28, 2006, 06:18:33 AM »

Just hoping the debris has been cleared in Drenthe. We're spending a week vacation there next month.

kmh364 · « **Reply #2 on:** June 28, 2006, 09:46:15 AM »

LOL! It's quite the party...a week long for the TT, if I'm not mistaken. I imagine there'll be quite a lot of rubbish, what with all the locals mixing it up with the hoardes of Brits from just across the channel as well as other curious Europeans. A drunken-good time to be had by all! LOL!

I expected a response or two from some of our BeNe(Lux) club members, but I didn't expect one like that, LOL! Sorry if it ruins your family vacation, Adriaan.

Personally, I love the bike GP's, so I'd gladly put up with the mess on my side of the pond to get racing like that here (the new USGP not withstanding) for weeks on end.

(Message edited by kmh364 on June 28, 2006)

adriaan · « **Reply #3 on:** June 28, 2006, 09:59:03 AM »

Hey Kevin, no harm done!

My 40+ sister's 40+ boyfriend probably went to the Assen TT, he does custom work on bikes - he seems to eat and breathe metal, chrome, leather. He rides a chopper based on a Harley. We don't meet too often, and my 6 year old is just plain scared of the sight of him. He seems harmless enough, though - at least as far as I can see.

kmh364 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 28, 2006, 09:59:52 AM »

spliffy · « **Reply #5 on:** June 28, 2006, 10:22:41 AM »

There is something un-natural about riding a 2 wheel vehicle at those speeds, and have these guys walk away from the crash too!!!

spliffy · « **Reply #6 on:** June 28, 2006, 10:25:46 AM »

oh yeah, great sequence shots!!!!

kmh364 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 28, 2006, 12:07:10 PM »

FYI, The crasher is American Colin Edwards II AKA the Texas Tornado. He's a 2X World Superbike Champion, but has yet to notch a win in MotoGP since entering the class in '03. He dominated the entire TT weekend and nearly every lap of the race until he crashed whilst leading IN SIGHT OF the checkered flag. He remounted his mangled bike and finished 13th. Needless to say, he was extremely dissapointed to have his first premier class win dissappear in a clud of dust. To add insult to injury, the winner, American Nicky Hayden AKA The Kentucky Kid was given a gift and extended his World Championship Points lead over Colin's injured 7X and reining World Champion team mate Italian Valentino Rossi AKA The Doctor.

bigredbass · « **Reply #8 on:** June 28, 2006, 07:00:23 PM »

As a fellow Texan, I ALWAYS pull for Colin Edwards, but realistically, he's just gonna be second fiddle to the unearthly Valentino Rossi.

As I'm old enough to remember KR Sr., Rainey, Doohan, Lawson, Schwantz, Gardiner, etc., I really hope that Edwards and Nicky Hayden can put the American flag high in MotoGP. I hope Suzuki can finally put some real wheels under John Hopkins, and I really am excited about KRJr riding for his dad with RC power.

KMH, I didn't get to see this: Did it headshake him off, a tankslapper, why was he that leaned off the bike going STRAIGHT?

Incidentally, my favorite mag for this kind of thing: John Ulrich's www.roadracingworld.com, a great website for the magazine of the same name. Highly recommended for road- motorcycle racing, here and abroad.

J o e y

adriaan · « **Reply #9 on:** June 28, 2006, 11:36:49 PM »

You don't often see a bike riding on its own, hitting the curb, and still straight up. Must have been the speed.

FC Bass · « **Reply #10 on:** June 29, 2006, 01:50:06 AM »

Maybe the bike has been upgraded by Alembic...

kmh364 · « **Reply #11 on:** June 29, 2006, 05:42:50 AM »

Yeah, me too. I've either watched them race in person or and/or I've met them all (exc. Gardner). I subscribed to Ulrich's RRW for years, but I haven't had a sub in a while (Cycle News as well).

Not that I dislike Nicky, but I wasn't pleased that Colin got shafted out of the works HRC ride in favor of Nicky. Nicky was a relatively unproven entity (he had just won the AMA Superbike title) and Colin had just delivered his second World Superbike title to Honda, despite their total lack of support and dissolution of his team.

Nicky has just started to come into his own now that he's into his fourth season on the works Repsol bike, and Colin has had to struggle with three different teams/bikes in the same amt. of time. Nicky has a few years ahead of him, but Colin is on the cusp of retirement. I'd like to see Colin get a MotoGP title before he retries, but I'd settle for a win or two at this point.

It's good to see JR on a competitive bike...hopefully he can notch some more wins before he retires...I was there at Laguna Seca for his maiden 250GP ride (and met him as well)and have followed his career since.

Hopper needs a competitive bike. I've always maintained that he could smoke Nicky (and half the field) if he was on that works HRC bike. Maybe one day that'll happen.

As far as the CEII crash: Colin had led the race from the flag and then with three to go, Nicky passed and took off. Nicky blocked Colin and Colin left the track and had to go straight thru the escape road, but continued on in 2nd place (he wasn't penalized because he didn't gain from cutting the track). Colin got mad and gathered it up and passed on the latter part of the last lap. They were dicing big-time and Colin went defensive going right into the chicane trying to block the line and went deliberately wide (to the left). Nicky got sent into the gravel trap as there was nowhere to go. I guess Colin was going nuts to get his first victory so when he threw the bike left he mistakenly did it on the grass and the rear end broke loose. It sent him over the high side. He tried to hang on, but crashed while the bike went straight into the wall. He remounted and limped home to 13th. Nicky kept it up in the marbles and rode back onto the track and took the win...those two were far ahead of eventual 2nd place Shinya Nakano so Nicky made out. Colin has sworn revenge and since the next two tracks are Colin's faves (Donnington and Laguna), watch out for the Tornado!

FWIW, a bike is (conditionally) stable at 10-12MPH. If it's going straight, it'll continue until a) the speed drops below the stable speed (think gyroscope), or b) it's path is interrupted by say, a wall (think Newtonian Mechanics, LOL!). I tell my beginning rider students that the bike is happy to keep going straight once stable with/or without you (speed stabilizes the motorcycle)...only the rider can screw that up! LOL!

kmh364 · « **Reply #12 on:** June 29, 2006, 05:49:54 AM »

kmh364 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 29, 2006, 05:51:48 AM »

bigredbass · « **Reply #14 on:** June 29, 2006, 05:53:26 PM »

KMH

If I remember correctly . . . when CE was on the HRC SVT (RC51 on this side of the pond) and winning those championships, he was required to do the Suzuka 8-Hour, a BIG deal to the Japanese, but a BIG pain for occidental drivers, as it's outside of the WSB points chase/events. He complained a little too much for HRC, and there you go: No one knew the hammer that was coming when the two stroke NSR500s were replaced by the RCVs, except of course, HRC themselves. Nicky had been the fair-haired boy in AMA Superbike on that-spec RC51s, so they figured the two must be about equal, but Nicky was a LOT less mouth and hard-headed.

And of course, HRC is very imperious: It's their way or else. Ultimately why The Doctor left, and of course Colin was quick to jump on the best ride, teamed with Valentino. No doubt he thought, as well, what better way to slap HRC around with Valentino chopping away at them as well.

I am surprised that Nicky lasted this long and is only now starting to win; BUT he is a favorite of Freddie Spencer, who hipped him to the new boss of HRC, Mick Doohan, not a stranger to Honda either ! !

J o e y