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*Liam's Wild Ride*

John-O said:
Lack of motivation? Too bad AH had to pull out like that.
In China AB went down thanks to torpedo fish Elias, he picked up the bike and became the only person to bump start a Desmosedici. His race pace was on par with the leaders even if he came in near to last he kept racing because you never know whats bound to fall in your favor.
I wonder what the team's reaction is to Guintoli sigining on?
Click to expand...

Now that is what I am talking about. He is throwing a fit like a child. Stoner himself had clutch problems. His bike was setup otherwise but this is someone who KNOWS he could win without the clutch problem. He just kept pushing until he found a rhythm.

MotoGP
championship leader Casey Stoner admitted that he probably got the result he deserved in the Portuguese Grand Prix, even though he reckoned he was closing in on the top two at the end.

The Australian rode to a hard-fought third place at Estoril, having had to overcome mechanical gremlins from the early laps, recording a fourth consecutive podium and his eleventh top three from 14 races this season. He led the first five laps for Ducati, but then ran into trouble with the GP7's clutch, slipping to third place but keeping his cool and learning to ride around the problem before closing the gap to leaders
Valentino Rossi
and Dani Pedrosa in the final stages, finishing just 1.477secs down on the Italian.

"I'm happy with the result, but we did have higher expectations going into this race," he admitted, "We wanted at least to be there on the last lap, battling for the win.

"We thought we had a pretty good set-up but, unfortunately, I started having a problem with the clutch about five laps into the race. There was no engine braking, so I couldn't try and brake as late as the other guys without running wide into the turns. It was very difficult to manage the situation and it took me quite a few laps to learn to ride around the problem but, towards the end, I started to have quite a good rhythm again.

"I was getting faster and started to close them down. I felt like I had enough stamina to chase them, but I just didn't have the feeling with the bike and I didn't have enough laps. I needed a few more tenths to get on to the back of them but I wasn't to be, we lost too much time at the beginning."

The result gives Stoner a 76-point lead in the championship with four races to go and, along with team-mate Loris Capirossi's ninth position, keeps
Ducati
well ahead in the constructors' points chase, while maintaining the Ducati Marlboro Team's advantage in the teams' championship.
 
Tell me about it - it's 2AM, and I can't sleep in Mito. Up in four hours for a mega day. Mega.
 
Liam: write when you have time, we can all wait (patiently) for your news from the front lines. Keep it up, I know that I'm enjoying the act of living the GP life vicariously through your posts and website. Rock on brother.

:cool :thumbup
 
mas tumult, life is never boring is it my friend?
 
Hey Liam, thanks for the link to the Lucky Strike body work. This will look cool on my (new to me) 05 GSXR750.
And to answer your question, I can't remember the last time a GP rider was fired mid season, like this.

Take care buddy,
Lonster
 
Don't know....BUT...when was the last time one quit mid-race?
Not hating, really. Just asking!
 
Unfortunately, it happens more than you think - but they never come out and say it. There's always a problem with this or that, or maybe they low-side it. I'm not defending Hofmann, or alledging that what he did was right, but I do think things could have been handled differently.
 
He could have tossed it away, claimed mechanical failure, whatever. His honesty bit him in the ass, though. I mean, Nicky dropped out of the US round after 22 laps, claiming brake damage from the collision with Hopkins. Not too different from what Hoffman did, really.
 
USARMworker said:
He could have tossed it away, claimed mechanical failure, whatever. His honesty bit him in the ass, though. I mean, Nicky dropped out of the US round after 22 laps, claiming brake damage from the collision with Hopkins. Not too different from what Hoffman did, really.
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Hmmm..., REALLY!??
Bike parts damage VS. ego damage.

Yup. Exactly the same thing.


Lonster
 
I didn't say exactly, and (the story goes) Hoff was on his #2 bike without the proper set-up. He pulled in and got off because he felt he couldn't be competitive. Maybe his quitting the fight was a symptom of a larger problem with his attitude. I don't know, but I hope Liam can shed some more light on this when he's got time to.
 
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See? That's the thing - you usually can't verify the problem from the outside of the situation. As an example, there are many instances where someone might say something has happened, or that something is working "wrong", when in actuality, the data shows nothing out of the norm. Factor in that a person is prone to having their good and bad days, and you'll find that people can "change" how the bike is acting without consciously realizing it. You know the old Biaggi tale, about him constantly trying every single piece and every single setting combination available, only to end up requesting a major change after the morning warm-up? Then the mechanics crawled all over the bike, adjusted suspension, changed springs, fiddled with everything, and sent him out to race with exactly the same set-up he had ridden in warm-up. He won the race. But anyway, I kind of happy Hofmann sacked up and told it the way he felt it, rather than lying to the world about how things were going for him in that race. He just didn't want to be there, and he said it. Cost him his ride, maybe his career, but it was his choice to make and he did it.
 
MotoLiam said:
See? That's the thing - you usually can't verify the problem from the outside of the situation. As an example, there are many instances where someone might say something has happened, or that something is working "wrong", when in actuality, the data shows nothing out of the norm. Factor in that a person is prone to having their good and bad days, and you'll find that people can "change" how the bike is acting without consciously realizing it. You know the old Biaggi tale, about him constantly trying every single piece and every single setting combination available, only to end up requesting a major change after the morning warm-up? Then the mechanics crawled all over the bike, adjusted suspension, changed springs, fiddled with everything, and sent him out to race with exactly the same set-up he had ridden in warm-up. He won the race. But anyway, I kind of happy Hofmann sacked up and told it the way he felt it, rather than lying to the world about how things were going for him in that race. He just didn't want to be there, and he said it. Cost him his ride, maybe his career, but it was his choice to make and he did it.
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Its a shame things turned out the way they did, and im some ways i can understand how Hoffman was going through. His season was pretty much killed at Laguna, because Guintolli (sp?) did an extremely rookie move. Yet the part that probably put the nail on the coffin was the fact that Ducati hired Guintolli as a rider for D'antin, before renewing contract with either Barros or Hoffman. Hoffamn probably felt betrayed, and found no worth in riding for a lost cause... even though he still could have renewed contract
 
danc79 said:
Its a shame things turned out the way they did, and im some ways i can understand how Hoffman was going through. His season was pretty much killed at Laguna, because Guintolli (sp?) did an extremely rookie move. Yet the part that probably put the nail on the coffin was the fact that Ducati hired Guintolli as a rider for D'antin, before renewing contract with either Barros or Hoffman. Hoffamn probably felt betrayed, and found no worth in riding for a lost cause... even though he still could have renewed contract
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Yes, this would be a GOOD reason a rider might be having a "bad" day!:confused

Liam, keep us informed, if there is more to this.
 
i can't imagine a point in my life where i would find that riding around a world class race track on a million dollar gp bike (are they more now?), racing with the best of the best and not think that it was a thrill of a lifetime.

no matter how many times i'd had done it before, i would think that each and every time i had the privilege to ride it would be an unforgettable experience. I cannot imagine wanting to quit.

However, Liam is right he sacked up and told his true feelings. he could just as easily lied.

I still think he let his guys down, they really worked hard for him to have the opportunity to race.
 
Lester Green said:
no matter how many times i'd had done it before, i would think that each and every time i had the privilege to ride it would be an unforgettable experience. I cannot imagine wanting to quit.
Click to expand...

So then please explain Richard Gere for me?

3409923-cindyrichard.jpg
 
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