[Heavy-Dee]

Soup

Doesn't say much, and no pics.

[ccwilli3]

pics

[luvtolean]

I hope he's getting paid well since he's looking to be on the path to retirement. He couldn't get results on the best bike.

[RRWANTR]

Originally Posted by luvtolean

He couldn't get results on the best bike.

Uhhh....that would be Nicky you're talking about.

[QuikMike]

Originally Posted by luvtolean

I hope he's getting paid well since he's looking to be on the path to retirement. He couldn't get results on the best bike.

ouch!

[Hamburgler]

That's only a tenth of a second slower than he did in QP on the RCV. Lets hope he gets faster after getting used to the M1.

[Crash]

3 Bikes in three years. Talk about trolling for results.

I really was pulling for him on the Cube, because I felt he got screwed by Honda. He showed some awesome potential on that unruly beast of a bike. His results weren't beaten this year by Aprilla riders. But if he fails to produce on the M1, it's gotta be all over.

[RRWANTR]

Originally Posted by Crash

3 Bikes in three years. Talk about trolling for results.

I really was pulling for him on the Cube, because I felt he got screwed by Honda. He showed some awesome potential on that unruly beast of a bike. His results weren't beaten this year by Aprilla riders. But if he fails to produce on the M1, it's gotta be all over.

PM me your paypal addy...

[nedro]

Eveyone knows he's one of the best testers around. He can go pretty fast on anything right off the bat. The question now is, can he build off of this and start riding even faster? I hope so.

[Purpdust]

Why would they say former AMA 250 Champion when he last Won the Superbike in 2002???

I would think that is more impresive than AMA 250

[abtech]

Originally Posted by Purpdust

Why would they say former AMA 250 Champion when he last Won the Superbike in 2002???

I would think that is more impresive than AMA 250

Because 250s are real racebikes . . .

[The Sook]

Hahaha Nice Abtech. Haha

Colin ran the 04 bike while Rossi tested the new version. Colin also has a bad case of the flu, which he got from some guys he was in Malaysia with.......... the prick spread it to about 10 of us, and I'm suffering the same ****. Not pretty. He also said that he wasn't gonna dump the thing, first ride out and is running 100% Rossi settings. I wouldn't worry too much about this test. Wait til the next test and see then. His impressions of the bike though are very good. His riding style is very similar to Rossi's in terms of set up etc, so I think next year will be a Yamaha 1-2 fest. 2nd tier Factory Yamaha has got to be better than 5th tier Honda satellite bike.

[Baketech]

From MotoGP News

The end is the beginning is the end
Rossi haunts HRC, again
Halloween 2004: Round 16 - Valencia

'Twas Old Hallows eve and there was evil in air, with the opportunity for the underworld to visit the living. Top of the 'to be haunted' list was the fine, upstanding HRC community, who have worked hard and fair to provide the sport with honesty, yet superiority. However in 2004 things have turned black for the loving community, as a familiar evil figure has returned, race after race, to haunt them and mock their establishment.

Night after night the sleep-deprived bigwigs and riders of HRC are visited by a strange, curly-haired apparition who taunts them with his rancid basil smell and semi-English witterings. And again today, on old Hallows eve, the ghastly apparition was on view for all to see, leaving HRC and their band of plucky riders looking not just visibly shaken, but also a bit rubbish.

Now it's at this point of the review that you might be saying, "Jeez, I wish he'd write the review properly and stop with all this Halloween crap". If so, you can just piss off. You try and be funny/witty when Rossi seems to win every race without even trying. He works his way to the front, he hangs around a bit, then he blasts off into the distance. At first it was fun seeing him duff up the evil Hondas, but now it has just become routine. How many other ways can I say it? How can I tell you about how easily he won without looking as if I've just cut and pasted the story from another review? I can't, so I'm sticking with this Halloween theme.

'Twas an easy looking win for the evil Rossi. He hung around with the front runners for a while, teasing and spooking his rivals, before performing an astonishing disappearing trick into thick mist never to be seen again..., well at least not until the race was finished. "Hi yammer viry, viry appy weether too-deez spooky racer," said the phantom Rossi. "Miya spell wazzer tooher get een theeya froint ander ween theya racer for meya ander miy teamer. Ander too pees offa Gibernau."

When the starting candles mysteriously blew out with a suspicious cold chill and the riders headed for the first corner, it was the Japanese manga-hero, Makoto Tamada, who blasted away from his pole position into the lead. The 'Flying Tomato' wasted no time in creating distance from the chasing pack, knowing that it had been foretold that his second-rate Bridgestone tyres would fall to pieces like a Netto home-brand condom by lap nine. And, needless to say, they did. By that time the mighty Rossi, after a poor start, had fought his way up to second position behind Tamada .

The Japanese star was soon passed by Rossi but was, for a time, able to stay with the Yamaha apparition. At one stage Tamada activated his Honda powers in order to repass Rossi and claim the lead again. Unfortunately this only lasted until Rossi, who had spotted Biaggi closing, decided to use all his gears for once and ease away from the tyre-struggling Tamada, to one more comfortable win.

Rossi's ride was yet another awesome display, and the haunted Honda riders could not summon sufficient magical forces to use against him. The Lord of Camels, Max Biaggi, came closest, eventually finishing within half a second of Rossi's odour, but he never looked quite fast enough to become entangled in number 46's curly wig.

"My cauldron was just not as good as Rossi's," admitted Biaggi, as he stole some candy from a 'trick or treating' child. "My spell to hinder Rossi was therefore not as powerful as his spell on me. However I am happy with my result and hopefully HRC will develop some higher spec 'wings of bat' and 'eyes of newt' for next season." Biaggi, who looks less out of place on Halloween, should be happy with his result, particularly after a desperate Gibernau nearly knocked him into the sandpit in the opening laps. The Roman Empress recovered well from the setback, catching the leading pack just as Rossi eased away to victory.

But if Biaggi's race was good, Bayliss' Halloween was truly amazing. The sacked Ducati star, who enjoys wildlife but has somehow never been convicted, decided to show his (now) ex-employers how good he really is, by firing his semi-nail Ducati to a splendid third position. "Strewth!" said Bayliss calmly. "If that don't take the flamin' dingery then I'm a critter to now what does!"

Indeed Ducati may now be wondering just how smart it was to sack Bayliss in favour of Carlos 'MotoGP furniture' Checa. The spaghetti-based team claimed that Bayliss was too much of a "crash head", yet instead decided to employ the man who has crashed more times than the 'Windows Millennium' operating system. This final race, which finished with Bayliss third and Checa picking gravel out of his teeth, should leave them scratching their noodles even more.

As for the rest of the pack, it was obvious that the old Hallow's eve demons were haunting many a rider. Nicky Hayden, for one, will be having nightmares about his result, as it left him finishing the season as the lowest-scoring Honda rider. The podium-shy Yank appeared to be running well for a while in third, close behind Biaggi, until a hard charging Troy Bayliss came blasting up his aft down the home straight. Hayden, who is not used to any other rider having a faster bike than him, seemed to panic and left his braking too late. Then he ran wide, almost collecting Biaggi for a trip to the coast, and subsequently fell into fifth behind Tamada. A couple of laps later the fazed Hayden lowsided his top spec RCV and retired from the race, much to the anger of Michael Jordan - a man who knows more than most about retiring.

The 2004 runner up Sete Gibernau was also spooked into being rubbish as he thrilled his home fans by being woefully off the pace. The sour faced donkey-chaser was obviously still rattled from his drumming down under and never featured in the main event.

Gibernau's team-mate Colin 'The Texan Tortoise' Edwards proved again that he's learnt nothing from this season. The American mid-runner confidently predicted that he would be "going for it" in Valencia and he'd "be the man to watch". He became the man to watch only if you had a particular interest in the mid-field; Colin finished eighth, half a minute down on the leaders... It's a good job he decided not to take it easy then.

But the cruellest blow of all was to the Zombie Barros on his special day. The undead hero, who has entertained us for many years with his highly sponsored off-podium finishes, found out that he hasn't done enough to retain his works Repsol seat. "Today is meant to be special," bemoaned Alex. "Halloween is my day. When I don't go to them, they come to me. And how am I repaid? By being told I'm no longer needed. Well I hope the man who replaces me has a good sponsor - they'll need it."

[oldgoat]

Originally Posted by QuikMike

ouch!

Colin had the bottom of the barrel. The rest of the boys supposedly got the good stuff.

[CBRVFR]

Originally Posted by Baketech

From MotoGP News

Hilarious! Those guys are funny.