[954Stealth]

Here we are already at stop 3 of the 2014 season. In just a little over four days, MotoGP's Gran Premio Red Bull de la República Argentina hosted by the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo will begin, with the main Moto event occurring on April 27th. This is the last stop before the circuit heads back to Europe.




Circuit info

Length: 4.806 m / 2.986 miles
Width: 16m
Left corners: 5
Right corners: 9
Direction: Clockwise
Longest straight: 1.076 m / 0.669 miles
Constructed: 2008
Modified: 2012
Laps: 25
Total Distance: 120.2 km - 74.7 miles

Points so far:
1. M. Marquez 50
2. D. Pedrosa 36
3. V. Rossi 28
4. A. Dovizioso 27
5. A. Espargaró 20
6. A. Iannone 15
7. S. Bradl 13
8. N. Hayden 13
9. B. Smith 11
10. P. Espargaró 10


Introduction: The Termas de Río Hondo Circuit is located 6km from the city which gives the venue its name, in the Province of Santiago del Estero. It was built in a 150 hectare area and officially inaugurated on May 11, 2008, during the visit of Argentina´s Touring Car Racing championship. In 2012, the reconditioning, enlargement and modernization of the circuit began, with the purpose of turning it into Latin America’s most modern, safe and vibrant circuit.




MoviStar is the Doctor's sponsor but now this too (Spain is the next stop after Argentina):
Dorna Sports is pleased to announce that Movistar will be the Title Sponsor for the Gran Premio de Aragón, as the Spanish telecommunications giant further increase their association with the MotoGP™ World Championship.
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2014/m...r+of+Aragon+GP




Here is Marc's brother. We should be seeing him come up to MotoGP pretty soon. Then we'll have two sets of brothers





and I thought this was cool trivia:


What does this say? Does it matter lol


...and I finally made it to 1,000 posts lol ...



But I'd also like to say: Let's not forget #74, Daijiro Kato who died on this day in 2003 while racing the Suzuka track. He was a great talent lost too soon

[954Stealth]

Marquez raises the bar ahead of first Argentina outing

The question on everyone’s lips ahead of the inaugural Grand Prix Red Bull de la Republica Argentina at the recently updated Termas de Rio Hondo circuit will be whether can anyone can get past Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, who has been in spectacular form in the first two races of the season.


Full article here:
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2014/m...ina+GP+preview

[954Stealth]

A high and a low:

This week's race will be the first in Argentina since 1999 and Hayden is confident of adding to his already fantastic record at circuit debuts


Cal Crutchlow is in doubt for the next race in Argentina having dislocated his finger in Sunday's Grand Prix of the Americas.

[954Stealth]

It looks like Michele Pirro is going to sub for Crutchlow while his fractured finger heals



"The question on everyone’s lips ahead of the inaugural Grand Prix Red Bull de la Republica Argentina at the recently updated Termas de Rio Hondo circuit will be whether can anyone can get past Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez, who has been in spectacular form in the first two races of the season"
http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/new...bar-argentina/

[Youpaiyou]

A fractured finger is keeping Cal out of the race? Hmmmmm, is it just me or is that pretty weak....... Maybe he can't grip the clip ons?


BTW: I'm a Ducati and Cal fan.

[954Stealth]

Originally Posted by Youpaiyou

A fractured finger is keeping Cal out of the race? Hmmmmm, is it just me or is that pretty weak....... Maybe he can't grip the clip ons?


BTW: I'm a Ducati and Cal fan.

LOL it sounds pretty lame but he did have to have surgery and the post-op pain is in his knuckles. It's making it nearly impossible for him to brake

[DieGrüneHölle]

Originally Posted by 954Stealth

LOL it sounds pretty lame but he did have to have surgery and the post-op pain is in his knuckles. It's making it nearly impossible for him to brake

Sounds real lame when you also consider it is his little pinky finger.

[Youpaiyou]

AND Cal portrays himself as a real tough guy......they all do but Cal in particular.

[954Stealth]

Marquez broke his finger last year and kept racing; the main difference though was Cal had surgery and pins inserted.

Apparently he also had to have surgery on his forearm due to fluid retention. I'm pretty sure the Chief Medical Office at the hospital forced Ducati to not let him race.
I think if it had been up to him, he would've raced.

[Youpaiyou]

You are probably right. I just don't see Cal letting a pinky injury keep him out of the race.

[Youpaiyou]

Anyone know whether this track suits Honda or Yamaha better?

[954Stealth]

So this is a pretty new track, I don't think we know yet if Honda or Yamaha will fair better. That said, Rabat rides a Honda in Moto2 - same with Bautista, Bradl and Terol so most of the 6 that went last year. The others were Yamaha and Kawasaki (1 Yamaha). The track has not hosted motoGP since '99 and was redone last year.


But this was stated on 04/24/14 during the press conference:
"One of a select group of riders to have tested last year at the renovated Termas de Rio Hondo circuit – a new venue on the MotoGP™ calendar for 2014 – is LCR Honda man Bradl.

He stated, “I don’t know if it will be any real advantage as the conditions were not perfect here for the test. The others will catch up very fast. I like the track and the layout is good, it will be demanding on the tyres and I think the gaps between the riders will be very close so I expect some good racing.”



******


Read this for a description of the track:

"Esteve Rabat was one of only six riders - four MotoGP and two Moto2 - present for last year's fact-finding test at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, which will host Argentina's first MotoGP round since 1999 this weekend.

This is what the Moto2 championship leader has to say about the 2.806km circuit, which features 14 corners (5 left, 9 right) and a longest straight of just over 1 km.

“The first day [of testing] the track was very dirty, as they'd literally just finished building it, and on the second day it rained,” began Marc VDS rider Rabat. “It meant we never really got to test the track properly at race pace, but at least we got an idea of the layout.

“It's a nice track, with a good mix of fast and slow corners and two fast straights. The back straight in particular will be interesting, as it's over a kilometre in length with a slow corner at the end, so the brakes are going to get a good workout!

“Overall the track isn't too technical, but there are parts that you need to get right. The exits onto the back straight and the start finish straight for example will be critical to a fast lap time.

“The first two turns are quite tricky; you're hard on the brakes at the end of the start finish straight and then you have to negotiate two 180-degree corners without losing speed. These two corners aren't particularly quick, but they are quite technical.

“Turns three and four are critical, as you need to carry as much speed as possible out of here and onto the long back straight. Get these two corners wrong and you're going to have riders pulling out of your slipstream and blasting past you on the straight.

“At the end of the back straight you're hard on the brakes again for turn five, a fairly slow right hander, but then you're into my favourite corner on the whole track.

“Turn six is a long, long left-hander that is unbelievable. You need to be completely focussed on the Moto2 bike here, because you've got the throttle on the stop and the rear tyre is spinning and sliding all the way through the turn.

“Then it's hard on the brakes again for turn seven, a tight right-hander, which opens out into turn eight. You're accelerating all the way through turn eight before getting back on the brakes for the left-hander at turn nine. Out of turn nine you flick the bike right for turn ten, which is more of a kink than a corner, and then you've got a fairly long left-hander at turn 11, where the bike is on the side of the tyre for quite a long time.

“The combination of turns 12, 13 and 14 are also critical to a good lap time. The three corners are quite technical, but you need to get a good exit from turn 14 to ensure you have the speed on the start finish straight. Get it wrong during the race and, again, riders will slipstream past you on the run down to turn one.

“The finish line is quite close to the exit of turn 14, so we could see some last lap heroics in these last three turns during the race!”

Nico Terol was the only other Moto2 rider at the test.

"I really enjoyed the test in Argentina last July," said Terol. "It is a wide track and you can really let the bike run through the corners. I remember having a good feeling at the track and our pace on the last day was pretty decent."

The Grand Prix of Argentina, the first MotoGP event to be held in South America since Rio 2004, gets underway with free practice on Friday. "

[954Stealth]

[954Stealth]

Repsol is getting set up:

[954Stealth]

[954Stealth]

You're not a real racer unless you have some good excuses. Well, here is Mr. Lorenzo talking about his Austin COTA jumpstart and "being distracted by mosquitoes on his visor as he came to the grid."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/113442

[954Stealth]

Cool Preview Video (Youtube):
http://www.youtube.com/embed/FrqJfKaeHpE




I would like to see Rossi comment on this quote, given what happened with his front tire during the last race:
Hiroshi Yamada - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department
“I am happy to see MotoGP return to South America after almost a decade as it such a passionate region for motorcycle racing. This is an important market for Bridgestone and it pleases me that we will be able to showcase our advanced technology to a whole new audience. The large number of fans present at last year’s test at Termas de Río Hondo was a good indication of the reception we can expect this weekend, and I hope to see a huge crowd welcome the sport back to Argentina. From a racing perspective, none of the factory teams tested at this circuit last year so it will be interesting to see which riders are able to adapt themselves to the demands of this very fast circuit. This weekend will be a busy one for our engineers as they will be tasked with helping the teams get the best out of the tires at this new circuit.”




Mounting a BATTLAX:

[954Stealth]

And a belated happy Easter:

[954Stealth]

FP's today:
Moto3FP1 08:00 - 08:40
MotoGPFP1 08:55 - 09:40
Moto2FP1 09:55 - 10:40
Moto3FP2 12:10 - 12:50
MotoGPFP2 1:05 - 1:50
Moto2FP2 2:05 - 2:50

[954Stealth]

FP1 is done and - surprise- MM93 was fastest.
Here's the view most people see:

[954Stealth]

[954Stealth]