[eternal05]

Real shocker. Valentino Rossi just won his 9th world championship, 7th in the premier class, and the season isn’t even over yet (one race to go).

A few of his rivals had bad years, so maybe next year if they’re in better form he’ll have a harder time of it.

[eternal05]

American sensation Ben Spies also clinched the 2009 World Superbike title in his rookie season. He’ll be replacing James Toseland on the Yamaha Tech 3 MotoGP team next year (with fellow Texan Colin Edwards).

I bet poor Nitro Nori Haga is ready to kill somebody. He keeps getting second overall…

[samgoody]

I think Jorge Lorenzo will come back even stronger next year. If he can just stop crashing at key moments, then I think he will be able to go the distance and win a MotoGP title.

As for Ben Spies and Colin Edwards being on the same team, Edwards joked on the grid at Estoril that they’re going to call it “Team Redneck”. On a more serious note, though, the Tech 3 team looks like the strongest satellite team out there, and might give the factory teams a run for their money. Spies will be riding in the final round at Valencia in a couple of weeks, so it’ll be interesting to see how he does on a MotoGP bike.

Poor Nori Haga, I really wanted him to win the WSBK title this year. Well done to Spies, though, on winning the title on his first try. Nori’s not going to have an easy time next year dealing with the likes of Toseland, Fabrizio, and Biaggi. However, there doesn’t seem to be anyone there of the caliber of Spies, so I’m hoping he can pull it off. To be this close to the number one spot for so many years is quite an achievement.

[eternal05]

Lorenzo would be lethal if he wasn’t so damn inconsistent. Then again, that’s precisely why Rossi wins all the time. It’s not that he’s that much faster…it’s that he’s always within a few percent of the fastest guy (or he is the fastest guy). One race it’ll be Stoner, one race it’ll be Pedrosa, one race it’ll be Lorenzo, but each of those guys is always up and down. To be honest, I’m most interested to see if Stoner’s amazing performances post-comeback will continue into next season. If so, Rossi has some trouble on his hands.

I really do feel bad for Haga though. The guy really deserves to win. At least from what I saw, this year really came down to last-minute nerves for him….and Spies just being a badass.

[megaspaz]

haga and lorenzo have no one to blame but themselves. haga could’ve made securing the title easier by not qualifying so bad and then by not crashing out. shame really. him and spies were a notch above the other riders all season. haga could try to blame it on tire choice, but really he was way behind that first race and he pushed the bike too far. Lorenzo, i knew would blow up sometime in the last 3 races. I told my friend he was going to crash out in one of them. He obliged me in phillip island. And then almost made it even easier to lose by not getting to grid on time… Good thing rossi has a sense of fair play and decided to blow T1 on the start… Lorenzo’s problem is that he’s cocky and overconfident in his abilities. There isn’t a bad risk in his book. We’ll see if next year he’s a little less cocky with better judgement. I don’t see him winning the title next year. I think next year will be either rossi or stoner, and i’m leaning towards stoner after his 3 races after his return.

[eternal05]

Though I really hope Rossi picks up at least one more. I want him to pull even with Agostini, if not beat him. (It might not be clear so far, but I’m a bit of a Rossi fan.)

He’s going to have a helluva time beating Stoner, however. That guy’s been killing ever since he got back from his mysterious illness.

[megaspaz]

Yup. If rossi does win another it’ll be because he would have overcome huge battles with stoner. I myself don’t have a favorite racer. I just like to see fast bikes and passing and passing attempts. That 250cc race in sepang was one of the best races I’ve seen all year. aoyama and simoncelli put on a hella great show. If you haven’t seen that race, watch it. you won’t be disappointed.

[eternal05]

I always watch the 125/250 races as well as the big boys. I watch the latter cause I like some of the guys (Rossi, Stoner, Capirossi, Edwards, …Spies?), but the former for more entertaining racing. The closer competition is much more interesting to watch, although every once in a while you get a good race in MotoGP (like the 2008 Stoner-Rossi face off at Laguna).

[megaspaz]

for sure, the best race for motogp this year was the catalunya race. the end of that race was soooo farking awesome.

[eternal05]

So good, in fact, that I’m going to put down this boring systems paper and go pull that up and watch it

[megaspaz]

good call.

[eternal05]

That was one helluva race! Last turn of the last lap? You’re one ballsy mo-fo Rossi… The last five laps or so I was completely riveted. I’m glad I’d forgotten the results and decided not to look them up beforehand, as it was way more exciting that way.

Damn. Now I just want to go out to the track!

[XRayHound]

I’m not a big fan of Rossi’s but it does make my tuning forks vibrate to see the YZR-M1 on the podium. Here’s hoping the new R1 can take SBK back from those bloody Gixxers.

[eternal05]

…cause if not you need to go check out the results from World SBK ’09! They’ll make you super happy!

[XRayHound]

I was referring to AMA SBK, actually, but I checked out those results anyway, and you were right

[Author]

Posts