Okay, we all knew this would bring me out of the woodwork....
First of all, I had no immediate commentary on the Misano race. Good race, yes.... but once again, there was the "Casey-surfing-asphalt" factor that accompanied the win by Rossi. I love me some Vale, but I was yearning (yes, yearning) to see the righteous win that I know he is capable of. As far as the podium line-up for Misano.... Rossi, Lorenzo, Elias, respectively.... that was not at all what I would have expected. We'll call it a pleasant surprise and look forward to Indianapolis. I have to mention that I was watching the race with a fellow sportbike enthusiast who is relatively new to the MotoGP experience. As the track was heating up, and the bikes were getting a little squirrely, he said "someone's going down".... I laughed, and replied... "no, if anyone is going down, it would be Ra....." and there went DeP skittering off the track. Randy, dammit..... I'm still a huge fan :)
Ohhhh, Indianapolis. A race that I would have given my left ________ (insert name of pertinent appendage, digit, or "other" part, here) to go and see in person. No worries, it's a race in the states, much like Laguna, only better, as it was the premier race for this particular track. The coverage should be no less than phenomenal. As I cruised through the SpeedTV line-up first thing Sunday morning to get the exact time of the airing of the festivities (you know, to be sure the beer was at the perfect temperature for MotoGP viewing) I was stunned, no, taken aback, NO, furious to see that the only race to be shown was the 250 class.... shades of Brno and the finger of shame. The disappointment was palpable.
I went on about my business, stopping every once in a while to open the fridge and give a short, but poignant, pep-talk to my faithful beers that were perfectly chilled and ready to give their all for the good of the regime. A few hours later, I happened to be scrolling through the menu on the up-until-this-moment-worthless TV and caught a glimpse of "MotoGP rac....". What????? It was on the local NBC channel. JOY!!
The beers fulfilled their destiny, and I mine, all within the hour between 2 and 3 PM on that glorious Sunday afternoon.
It was a good race. I was a little disappointed that it was run in wet conditions, but I was fully prepared to take what I could get... and so I did. Rossi pulled off a magnificent win, 7 laps short, but nonetheless magnificent. Nicky.... congratulations to you for your first podium spot of 2008. The wet and windy conditions added some excitement. And I have to mention that Randy.... yes Randy... Randy DePuniet... yea, that guy... stayed up on two during the entire event!! Sure Randy, perfect track conditions and you duff.... send a hurricane through and you make it through just fine. Maybe the man feeds on pressure and adversity?
So, on to the reason I am actually posting right now (i.e. crawling out of the woodwork).... I just caught wind that Nicky has signed with Ducati for 2009. I did NOT see that one coming. There was nothing but polite praise and best wishes from all. Honda asserted that Nicky could not get a handle on the new 800cc machine and would surely benefit from the larger, more liter-like Ducati. So it will be Nick and Casey next year, jockeying the big, red bullets around the fastest tracks in the world. Marco Milandri will be stepping out of the Ducati camp to make room for Nick... I wonder who, if anyone, he will sign with??
I am not going to post the results of Indianapolis here this time around, but I will update the schedule and post them where they should rightfully be, in the near future. I will tell you it went Rossi, Hayden, Lorenzo on the podium, and I will also throw in my opinion on the announcers. Schwantz.. I love ya! You are definitely qualified to be out there calling the shots, but seriously, can we import the Brits for the next US race?? They are a lot more knowledgeable of the MotoGP circuit and 10 times more entertaining to listen to....
That will be all :)
Until next time......
Rubb'er Down :)
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