Rossi and Raikonnen - can they be champions this year?
Discussion
Thought I'd start off a bit of 'can they do it' thread for the F1 and MotoGP.
Raikonnen and Rossi both lost valuable points this weekend.
Rossi is 44 point behind what can be only descrided as a 'Dominant' Casey Stoner - did his no score in Germany and 'tyre issues' in the US put an end to his title fight?
Raikonnen had a non finish after a fairly dominant run over the last few week, but he's now 18 points behind LH with a resurgent Alonso back in the hunt - and we can't dismiss Massa, as on his day he's pretty unbeatable. Will Kimi's first half slump/lacklustre performances be his downfall?
So my question is are these gaps too big for either of them to come back from??
Chris
Raikonnen and Rossi both lost valuable points this weekend.
Rossi is 44 point behind what can be only descrided as a 'Dominant' Casey Stoner - did his no score in Germany and 'tyre issues' in the US put an end to his title fight?
Raikonnen had a non finish after a fairly dominant run over the last few week, but he's now 18 points behind LH with a resurgent Alonso back in the hunt - and we can't dismiss Massa, as on his day he's pretty unbeatable. Will Kimi's first half slump/lacklustre performances be his downfall?
So my question is are these gaps too big for either of them to come back from??
Chris
Rossi will be very lucky if he finshes champion, or rather stoner will be very unlucky. the ducati is too fast for the yamaha and the michelin rubber is just not good enough for him to mount a sustained challenge. on the circuits where the ducati can not amke the most of the power advantage, rossi will be fighting with pedrosa for the lead as well as stoner and capirossi.
look at the last race, stoner wins by nine seconds and wasnt being pushed for last third, vermulen should not have been anywhere near second place on the suzuki but with bridgestone rubber he is laughing. melandri had all but a broken foot and could make third on the customer honda. taking nothing away from those two riders but the places are not representative of the whole moto gp field.
rossi needs a lot of luck and balls the size of melons to come back from here, as i said, he isnt just fighting casey though, there is dani and loris up there too!
Pedrosa and Rossi had to ride the ablls off their respective factory machines to finish where they did, lo and behold, on the michelins....
as for raikkonnen, i am not sure i am that bothered, i feel annoyed that f1 was starting to look like a good season only for them to ruin the reputation of the sport again and declare it was too wet too race (apparently) in germany. sorry guys, but you all put intermediates on, it was too wet for them, you fell off and thats the end of it, the guy on wets (winklehock) was doing ok so it was driveable if you drove with your head and not a heavy right foot. i hope alonso wins the championship, he is a real racer and will be a deserving world champion.
look at the last race, stoner wins by nine seconds and wasnt being pushed for last third, vermulen should not have been anywhere near second place on the suzuki but with bridgestone rubber he is laughing. melandri had all but a broken foot and could make third on the customer honda. taking nothing away from those two riders but the places are not representative of the whole moto gp field.
rossi needs a lot of luck and balls the size of melons to come back from here, as i said, he isnt just fighting casey though, there is dani and loris up there too!
Pedrosa and Rossi had to ride the ablls off their respective factory machines to finish where they did, lo and behold, on the michelins....
as for raikkonnen, i am not sure i am that bothered, i feel annoyed that f1 was starting to look like a good season only for them to ruin the reputation of the sport again and declare it was too wet too race (apparently) in germany. sorry guys, but you all put intermediates on, it was too wet for them, you fell off and thats the end of it, the guy on wets (winklehock) was doing ok so it was driveable if you drove with your head and not a heavy right foot. i hope alonso wins the championship, he is a real racer and will be a deserving world champion.
The odds against both are high.
In Raikkonen's case, he's trailing three guys, with seven races left. He's past the Ferrari sweet spot, that is, most of the tracks where the F. is markedly better than the McL.. From here to the end, it ought to be pretty even.
To win he's got to get past three guys, all of whom are very good. Even if the F. is better than the McL., one of the guys ahead of him is in the same car.
If he were level on points with the other three, his chances would be maybe 1 in 2.5. As it is, he's 7 behind Massa, 16 behind Alonso and 18 behind Hamilton. I'd rate his chances as 1 in 10.
If anything, Rossi's in worse shape. At least Raikkonen is in a very competitive package. The Yamaha engine seems still to be behind the Ducati, although less so than it was, and that is before we get to the disparity in tyres, which appears to be substantial. The only thing in Rossi's favour is the different points system in MotoGP, which means that he's a bit closer to Stoner than KR is to LH, with the same number of races to go.
If Vale were on equal equipment, you'd say that at 44 points behind, his chances might be close to Stoner's. With the disparity in packages that we saw yesterday, and the way that Stoner is riding, however, it's going to take a miracle for Rossi to win this year.
In Raikkonen's case, he's trailing three guys, with seven races left. He's past the Ferrari sweet spot, that is, most of the tracks where the F. is markedly better than the McL.. From here to the end, it ought to be pretty even.
To win he's got to get past three guys, all of whom are very good. Even if the F. is better than the McL., one of the guys ahead of him is in the same car.
If he were level on points with the other three, his chances would be maybe 1 in 2.5. As it is, he's 7 behind Massa, 16 behind Alonso and 18 behind Hamilton. I'd rate his chances as 1 in 10.
If anything, Rossi's in worse shape. At least Raikkonen is in a very competitive package. The Yamaha engine seems still to be behind the Ducati, although less so than it was, and that is before we get to the disparity in tyres, which appears to be substantial. The only thing in Rossi's favour is the different points system in MotoGP, which means that he's a bit closer to Stoner than KR is to LH, with the same number of races to go.
If Vale were on equal equipment, you'd say that at 44 points behind, his chances might be close to Stoner's. With the disparity in packages that we saw yesterday, and the way that Stoner is riding, however, it's going to take a miracle for Rossi to win this year.
I dont think Mich have let anyone down per se, but I think the new tyre rules have hurt them because they are having to work with a different strategy.
Previously, they could take hundreds of tyres and use them all till they found something near enough, and then they could make an overnight special which was always the best of the best.
B stone never had the depth of field of riders that Mich had in there earlier days, and I beleive this has helped them in their ability to understand the range and focus on a narrower choice
Currently, Mich seem unable to pick the right tyres for the weekend, and are having to second guess a bit.
Rossi is down on power AND grip and that is a real handicap.Whether he has the beating of Stoner, I dont know.
Previously, they could take hundreds of tyres and use them all till they found something near enough, and then they could make an overnight special which was always the best of the best.
B stone never had the depth of field of riders that Mich had in there earlier days, and I beleive this has helped them in their ability to understand the range and focus on a narrower choice
Currently, Mich seem unable to pick the right tyres for the weekend, and are having to second guess a bit.
Rossi is down on power AND grip and that is a real handicap.Whether he has the beating of Stoner, I dont know.
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