An Aussie 1-3 at Le Mans last night

Well, massive grats to Aussie Chris Vermuelen who took his first MotoGP win in very trying conditions. It started out relatively dry but soon turned into a steady drenching, which had riders ducking into the pits to change bikes in their droves (when they weren't spearing off into the gravel).

Chris was all class last night, showing great skill and restraint at what ended up being a soaked Le Mans Bugatti circuit. He took the win over Marco Melandri (Honda) and fellow Aussie Casey Stoner who took third on his Ducati after a great scrap with Valentino Rossi, who finished 6th on his Yamaha.

There were about 7 retirements in all, with pole-sitter Colin Edwards having another bloody awful day, finishing 3 laps down. Nothing like a wet MotoGP race to liven things up a bit

It was yet another great scrap with an unpreditcable ending and that's why I love MotoGP (sure doesn't hurt when Australians kick arse either ). For the first third of the race (until it got properly wet) the top ten riders were separated by around 2 or 3 seconds and were constantly jockeying for position. Nothing like what we're (unfortunately) used to with modern F1.

MotoGP ftw, go Oz :up:

Damn, I decided not to stay up for this... big mistake!

Yeah, you missed a cracker. It was worth it to feel like shit at work this morning

I think I'll have to download instead

I'm definitely not going to miss Monaco this weekend. I love that track. There is something special about street circuits, even if it is impossible to overtake.

I'm picking Webber for a podium. The RBR has picked up a lot of pace over the last round of testing and Webber is a Monaco specialist.

Webber for the podium and Stoner for the championship, woo hoo!

Go Case :up: He's really proving to be a class act on that Duke! There seems to be something about Aussies and Dukes - our two Troys have enjoyed great success on Dukes in the SBK series...

As for F1, I don't care that much anymore but I will always watch Monaco and Monza - the two tracks on the calendar that haven't been reamed too hard by drag & drop chicanes (RIP Silverstone), though in Monaco's case I guess it's kinda hard to throw Mickey Mouse chicanes into a twisty street circuit

I'd like to see Webbs do well at Monaco even if he hasn't a hope in hell of getting serious points at the end of the year. He should've had a podium at Monaco last year (infernal bloody Williams). Hopefully the RB will hold together for him this time :up:

I missed this but from what I have read Michelin need to sort themselfs out. Thats twice they have let Rossi down in one season, first with a defective tyre and now with wet tyres that might aswell have been slicks.

This season has kind of started badly imo, the Ducatis straight line speed ruins the race most of the time, we see riders work really hard to pass them...but they get destroyed on the straights. Hopefully if Michelin sort themselfs out Rossi can fight back.

One thing I would like to point out...wheres Hayden been this season? Don't rate him, too slow at adapting to problems or changes to the bike and won the championship by finishing 3rd on most races.

I don't think Hayden makes it into the "top tier" of MotoGP. At the moment, it's Rossi, Pedrosa and Stoner. Melandri is perhaps nipping at their heels.

I used to put Capirossi in that top tier group as well but he seems to have gone off the boil the last couple of seasons. Perhaps it was after his big accident last year?

Hayden was very lucky to win the championship last year (especially after the incident with Pedrosa!) given his level of pace.

I've never really rated Hayden all that much tbh. He's good and all, no doubt, and has a title last year to prove it but I think you're right, he's not the greatest at adapting to new circumstances. He's good, but not Rossi good. Not Melandri good. More like Capirossi good, if that means anything. I just expected last year's champ to be doing better than 11th on the chart.

As for Rossi's tyre issues, he was doing fine fighting with Casey for a while but went wide at one stage, letting Casey through, and after that couldn't close the gap. He actually lost places from then on and came 6th. Definitely looked like a tyre problem as he seemed to have half the grip that the top three had.

The Ducatis have certainly had a top speed advantage this season (they've always been good on straights) but this race was a perfect example of how it's not just a case of having more power. Stoner stayed stuck to the road like glue and proved himself more than capable on twisty wet track. Plus if it's simply about speed you'd perhaps expect Capirossi to have more than 38 points and be higher than 7th.

Speed sure isn't everything. When Rossi first started with Yamaha they were quite underpowered and the Hondas had more than enough mambo to take him down the straights, but he had all the ninja skills to show everyone on the grid how to make do with what you've got (I still recall that epic, edge-of-the-seat battle with Biaggi in South Africa with awe). Hopefully, when the other teams can match the Duke's muscle, Casey can do the same thing :up:

I think Casey is a great rider don't get me wrong, its just so obvious that without the top end he would of been destroyed on those tracks. He would pull out almost a second on the other riders on the straight, then they would make that up instantly on the infield. The combination of Stoners light weight and the way the Ducati accelerates is deadly at the moment, but Rossi is only 21 points behind him.

Stoner's been superb, his bike has been just as good and I certainly don't think it's been detrimental to the spectacle. Duc' definitely deserve to be leading the championship, they've made an amazing machine.

I was disappointed to see the rain come down, because Rossi started like he was really, really up for it, and he just had no chance on those tyres in the wet. I'm all for a single manufacturer. It's like Kenny Roberts keeps saying:
"I’ve been in racing for a long time and I have met fans of riders and fans of brands of bikes, but I never met a tire fan. I’m tired of saying it…we need to get everybody on the same tires and get rid of traction control".

I bet Capo wins a race or two towards the end of the season once he's got himself back into it properly, and I'd also bet that Hayden won't win a race all year, and probably won't beat Pedrosa at any point in the future either. I wonder how Hayden would have done on the Duc'. Melandri for another sideways one handed tyre smoking win at Phillip Island again this year!