04-08-2005, 01:58 PM
Here is my incredibly unscientific preseason assessment of the 2005 season of Moto GP. My goal is to get everyone up to speed and hopefully people will watch when they can. I'll post race highlight videos up of every race and the odd interview or two when I can.
Moto GP 2005
The championship will consist of 17 rounds at locales all over the world from Japan to South Africa. This year will be the first time in over a decade that there will be a US round, which will be held at the fabled Laguna Seca (Me and Andrew are going
). You have Yamaha to thank for ponying up the money to bring the track of to FIM's standards.
Last year was pretty much a dogfight between Rossi and the Honda riders. This year will probably be much of the same except Rossi now has Colin Edwards as a teammate. This formidable duo could possibly take the Manufacturer's championship away from Honda.
Yamaha aka "Yammy" or "Yamahaha"
Rossi became only the second rider to ever win back to back championships on different bikes (Honda to Yamaha) joining Eddie Lawson (Yamaha to Honda, 88-89). If Rossi wins the championship this year he will join the elite cadre of 5 time winners including the Australian Mick Doohan (Honda 94-98 ) and fellow Italian Giacomo Agostini (66-72).
The Yamaha YZR-M1 has benefitted from another year and development and should show further improvements in braking (one of its strong points over the Honda) and handling. During preseason testing it hasn't consistently topped the Hondas but it looks like Rossi and company were focused on developing a sustainable race pace not clicking off fast laps.
The development duties thus far have been split up between Rossi and American Colin Edwards (2-time WSBK champion). Rossi has headed up the chassis development and Edwards has done the tire tests. Since the riders have the same riding style this method may prove to be quite effective.
Honda aka "Honduh"
Honda has been the 800 lbs gorilla in GP racing for some time and this year they'll be out for blood after losing to Rossi last season. In the offseason there was a bit of a shake up in management as well as the rider lineup.
The Repsol Honda team is the factory unit that gets all of the updates first. This year Max Biaggi has joined that team alongside American Nicky Hayden. Many of the former GP champions have expressed their lack of confidence in Biaggi in the number 1 spot for Honda. In preseason tests Nicky Hayden has been faster than Biaggi in 5 out of the 6 test weekends. I predict this trend to continue.
Here is the configuration of the other Honda teams
Telefonica Movistar Honda
Sete Gibernau (2004 2nd place overall)
Marco Melandri (2004 12th from Yamaha)
Camel Honda
Troy Bayliss (2004 14th from Ducati)
Alex Barros (2004 4th place from Repsol Honda)
Konica Minolta Honda
Makoto Tamada (2004 6th from Camel Honda)
One may look at the lineup and wonder why Sete Gibernau is not the number 1 Honda rider. Well, behind the scenes supposedly he is getting all of the factory updates. The only reason he didn't move to Repsol was his contract with his Spanish sponsor Telefonica Movistar.
Of the rest of the Honda riders look for Makoto Tamada and Marco Melandri to make the most noise this year. Tamada won 2 races last season and many think the only thing holding him back was the wildly inconsistent Bridgestone tires (he was the only Honda rider to use them).
Ducati
After a brilliant debut in 2003 Ducati failed to make a dent last season. Loris Capirossi returns as the number 1 rider with Carlos Checa backing him up. Many disagree with the choice of Checa since he is known as a frequent crasher.
The Desmosedici GP5 hasn't proven to be much faster than the GP4 (relative to the competition) during the preseason tests. Ducati has introduce some new technologies on the bike such as launch control and a new engine braking system but apparently they have not amounted to much more speed. They've also switched to the much maligned Bridgestones in hopes of finding an edge over the Michelin shod front runners but to date they have not achieved a breakthrough. It looks like the Italian squad will have their work cut out for them.
Suzuki "Zuke"
The Suzuki Moto GP team has not experienced much success since American Kenny Roberts Jr. won the championship back in 2000. This year it will be him and fellow countryman John Hopkins having another go with the Suzuki GSV-R. In preseason tests there have been a few glimmers of hope with the bike that was terrible last year (and the year before). I predict that "Hopper" will get a few top 5 finishes this year. Not sure if Kenny Jr. still has it in him.
Kawasaki aka "Kwak"
Kawasaki like Suzuki was a non-factor last season. The most publicity they got was over the 190 mph+ blowout Shinya Nakano had at Mugello from a rear Bridgestone tire failure. The the 2005 ZX-RR features an all-new 'big-bang- engine. Big bang refers to a revised firing order whereby the explosions are spaced further are part in order to allow the rear tire more time to regain traction. The Honda and Yamaha already utilize this technology.
Favorites
Who are my early picks? Well I've got them in four groups. Frontrunners, possible surprises, mid-pack, and all the rest.
Frontrunners
Gibernau and Rossi are definitely going to be battling it out throughout the year. I also think we'll see Nicky Hayden and Tamada in this group.
Surprises
John Hopkins and Marco Melandri. These two young guys have a lot of fire and I think Hopper will be more consistent this year.
Mid-pack
Biaggi, the rest of the Honda riders, the Ducati team, and Kawasaki. They'll swap places furiously and I think Biaggi will sneak on the podium or even get a win or two. But his pace in the preseason has been pretty uninspiring (and I don't like him).
The rest
Who cares. Team Blata is sponsored by Ludacris but they'll be lucky to get a top 15 finish. Kenny Roberts Sr.'s team (Team KR) will also be lucky to break into the top 15. Life is hard at the back of the pack...
Moto GP 2005
The championship will consist of 17 rounds at locales all over the world from Japan to South Africa. This year will be the first time in over a decade that there will be a US round, which will be held at the fabled Laguna Seca (Me and Andrew are going
). You have Yamaha to thank for ponying up the money to bring the track of to FIM's standards.Last year was pretty much a dogfight between Rossi and the Honda riders. This year will probably be much of the same except Rossi now has Colin Edwards as a teammate. This formidable duo could possibly take the Manufacturer's championship away from Honda.
Yamaha aka "Yammy" or "Yamahaha"
Rossi became only the second rider to ever win back to back championships on different bikes (Honda to Yamaha) joining Eddie Lawson (Yamaha to Honda, 88-89). If Rossi wins the championship this year he will join the elite cadre of 5 time winners including the Australian Mick Doohan (Honda 94-98 ) and fellow Italian Giacomo Agostini (66-72).
The Yamaha YZR-M1 has benefitted from another year and development and should show further improvements in braking (one of its strong points over the Honda) and handling. During preseason testing it hasn't consistently topped the Hondas but it looks like Rossi and company were focused on developing a sustainable race pace not clicking off fast laps.
The development duties thus far have been split up between Rossi and American Colin Edwards (2-time WSBK champion). Rossi has headed up the chassis development and Edwards has done the tire tests. Since the riders have the same riding style this method may prove to be quite effective.
Honda aka "Honduh"
Honda has been the 800 lbs gorilla in GP racing for some time and this year they'll be out for blood after losing to Rossi last season. In the offseason there was a bit of a shake up in management as well as the rider lineup.
The Repsol Honda team is the factory unit that gets all of the updates first. This year Max Biaggi has joined that team alongside American Nicky Hayden. Many of the former GP champions have expressed their lack of confidence in Biaggi in the number 1 spot for Honda. In preseason tests Nicky Hayden has been faster than Biaggi in 5 out of the 6 test weekends. I predict this trend to continue.
Here is the configuration of the other Honda teams
Telefonica Movistar Honda
Sete Gibernau (2004 2nd place overall)
Marco Melandri (2004 12th from Yamaha)
Camel Honda
Troy Bayliss (2004 14th from Ducati)
Alex Barros (2004 4th place from Repsol Honda)
Konica Minolta Honda
Makoto Tamada (2004 6th from Camel Honda)
One may look at the lineup and wonder why Sete Gibernau is not the number 1 Honda rider. Well, behind the scenes supposedly he is getting all of the factory updates. The only reason he didn't move to Repsol was his contract with his Spanish sponsor Telefonica Movistar.
Of the rest of the Honda riders look for Makoto Tamada and Marco Melandri to make the most noise this year. Tamada won 2 races last season and many think the only thing holding him back was the wildly inconsistent Bridgestone tires (he was the only Honda rider to use them).
Ducati
After a brilliant debut in 2003 Ducati failed to make a dent last season. Loris Capirossi returns as the number 1 rider with Carlos Checa backing him up. Many disagree with the choice of Checa since he is known as a frequent crasher.
The Desmosedici GP5 hasn't proven to be much faster than the GP4 (relative to the competition) during the preseason tests. Ducati has introduce some new technologies on the bike such as launch control and a new engine braking system but apparently they have not amounted to much more speed. They've also switched to the much maligned Bridgestones in hopes of finding an edge over the Michelin shod front runners but to date they have not achieved a breakthrough. It looks like the Italian squad will have their work cut out for them.
Suzuki "Zuke"
The Suzuki Moto GP team has not experienced much success since American Kenny Roberts Jr. won the championship back in 2000. This year it will be him and fellow countryman John Hopkins having another go with the Suzuki GSV-R. In preseason tests there have been a few glimmers of hope with the bike that was terrible last year (and the year before). I predict that "Hopper" will get a few top 5 finishes this year. Not sure if Kenny Jr. still has it in him.
Kawasaki aka "Kwak"
Kawasaki like Suzuki was a non-factor last season. The most publicity they got was over the 190 mph+ blowout Shinya Nakano had at Mugello from a rear Bridgestone tire failure. The the 2005 ZX-RR features an all-new 'big-bang- engine. Big bang refers to a revised firing order whereby the explosions are spaced further are part in order to allow the rear tire more time to regain traction. The Honda and Yamaha already utilize this technology.
Favorites
Who are my early picks? Well I've got them in four groups. Frontrunners, possible surprises, mid-pack, and all the rest.
Frontrunners
Gibernau and Rossi are definitely going to be battling it out throughout the year. I also think we'll see Nicky Hayden and Tamada in this group.
Surprises
John Hopkins and Marco Melandri. These two young guys have a lot of fire and I think Hopper will be more consistent this year.
Mid-pack
Biaggi, the rest of the Honda riders, the Ducati team, and Kawasaki. They'll swap places furiously and I think Biaggi will sneak on the podium or even get a win or two. But his pace in the preseason has been pretty uninspiring (and I don't like him).
The rest
Who cares. Team Blata is sponsored by Ludacris but they'll be lucky to get a top 15 finish. Kenny Roberts Sr.'s team (Team KR) will also be lucky to break into the top 15. Life is hard at the back of the pack...
2018 Ducati Panigale V4
Past: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, 2015 Yamaha R1, 2009 BMW M3, 2013 Aprilia RSV4R, 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Porsche Cayman S, 2012 Ducati 1199, 2009 Subaru WRX, 2008 CBR1000RR, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2000 Toyota Tundra, 2005 Honda CBR600RR, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1997 Honda Civic EX
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Past: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, 2015 Yamaha R1, 2009 BMW M3, 2013 Aprilia RSV4R, 2006 Honda Ridgeline, 2006 Porsche Cayman S, 2012 Ducati 1199, 2009 Subaru WRX, 2008 CBR1000RR, 2009 Kawasaki ZX-6R, 2000 Toyota Tundra, 2005 Honda CBR600RR, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1996 Acura Integra GS-R, 1997 Honda Civic EX
http://www.aclr8.com