2012 MotoGP

Lol does anyone actually want to finish this race ???

Stoner does it Bradbury style, when despite pitting early to change bikes he finishes on the podium in his final ever race.

Thanks for the ride Casey, it's been fun.

Well done to Nakkas the test rider but well done Casey. One of the very very best riders there has been, but all the politeness goes away if you step in a Triple 8 commodore

Did I just miss it or did Beavis & Butthead [Rust & Beattie] make no mention of Ant West missing and why ?

Very strange Moto GP race

Thanks for everything Casey but please do come back one day! What a champion!

Was pretty disappointing MotoGP race for me, would have loved to see Casey, Jorge and Dani battle it out one last time but it wasn't to be. HUGE crash from Jorge and Cal but thankfully they walked away, although not sure how Jorge can blame Ellison for that one, And Marc Marquez... Wow! what a ride! seriously freakishly good can hardly wait to see him on Caseys ride next year! Also West has re-signed for the QMMF team for next season! 2013 should be a good one!

Well that was an anti-climax to the season. After qualifying, which was blistering, the weather goes and ruins the show on race day - which is probably fitting for this year. Casey rode a comfortable race for a decent third position finish to his career but was sadly never in contention for victory. Pedrosa is a star on the rise and this year may well be the making of him, he was masterful and certainly made the right judgement call before the race, even if he did near highside out of pit lane! And Nakasuga was the highlight, could've named your odds on him getting a podium. He was so thrilled and kept an unlikely streak of Japanese podiums in GP going that has stretched back to 1985. also, I don't really think Lorenzo blamed Ellison for his crash, more the media beat it up with a big headline. It was a horrible crash and I was glad to see Jorge and Cal both walk away largely unhurt from their get offs.

Was he along with teammate Lorenzo the only ones who didn't pit ?
That explains why he was up front

I am still surprised Bradley Smith is getting the gig at Tech 3 next year. Pol Espargaro or Scott Redding would surely deserve a gig ahead of him? i dunno that's how i see it anyway. Also i don't think Gino Rea has a ride next year but could be wrong. The question wasn't even aimed at me but thought i'd give it a crack anyway

Wasn't directed at me either but I'll have a go.

None of them. Maybe Iannone at a pinch (who is getting a ride) but generally they are all still a bit inconsistent. Bradl and Marquez were really the two in the last 2 years who looked ready to step up (to my eye anyway). Marquez is still going to be very green mind you.

Smith looks like a god awful decision, Redding would benefit from a bigger bike and Pol has had a good year.

If he can pass 20 slower guys before the 4th corner of the first lap every time, it wouldn't matter!

In short, Pol Espargaro is the big one for me. I'd have loved Yamaha to pick him up alongside Lorenzo for 2013 and I've no doubt if Smith hadn't already been signed, he'd be on a Tech3 Yamaha next year. He's a star in the making and I see strong similarities between he and Stoner. Both rode for good teams but not the best teams, didn't really set the world on fire early despite their obvious speed and when they both "came of age" they missed out on titles to the Repsol sponsored spanish golden child of the time. So in short, I rate him highly!

The other one I like is Scott Redding. Only 19 still, Moto2 isn't the easiest for him when he's roughly 6 inches taller and 15-20kgs heavier than the leading light midgets of the class. It makes a huge difference in a field of essentially horsepower limited bikes. He's talented and I think would go well on a MotoGP bike.

Iannone and Thomas Luthi are the other considerations. "Maniac Joe" would make an excellent roller coaster ride, he hits the highest of highs and inexplicably the next race reaches the lowest of lows. I'd liken him to hector Barbera with a bit more speed. Luthi is a poor mans Bradl, fairly consistent with a couple of wins and top 5 championship finishes in the last three years. But he's got no x-factor that will see him step up and be a top MotoGP runner.

Smith got signed up last year by Tech3 (who he races for in Moto2) on the back of a strong campaign that yielded 3 podiums but the improvement wasn't their this year. The thing that makes Smith hard to gauge is the bike he's riding. The team build their own bikes so there's only one other on the same equipment (Xavier Simeon) and he's smashed him, 121-26 points last year and 109-22 points this year. I thinkhe's a good riding but reckon there's a number of better riders ahead of him. Still, he has next year to prove us wrong now and at only 21 (nearly 22) he should be a ways off his best.

Ah okay i wasn't aware of his bike setup. Like you said we can only see how he performs on the Tech 3 bike but as it stands now it does look a pretty ordinary decision, and like simple jack mentioned, Redding would definitely benefit from the bigger bike but yeah not too many Moto2 riders seem like they are ready to take the leap yet beside the obvious Marquez and maybe Pol. At least Ant will be there next year to cheer on anyway!

At a recent motorcycle expo, Jorge Lorenzo was asked how much longer he felt he had in the sport. "I'll take two more years, and then we'll see," Lorenzo said. "At age 15, it's all very funny, but then this bag becomes routine".

A bang-up job the organisers are doing in MotoGP.

Absolutely.

It would be the equivalent of:

Alonso: "Bit bored with the whole thing really, I'm going to quit and go to DTM."
Hamilton: "Yeah, couple of years and I'll have had enough. I'm goin to become a gangsta rapper in LA wif ma posse."

Yep seems they are doing a great job! The loss of Casey and now these words for Jorge will surely make them sit up and take a look at how they can improve the competition. Still never understood the whole CRT bike. It's like a championship within a championship i just don't get it. Ah well can only hope they listen and improve and give some form of hope for a Casey comeback

Perth lad Bryan Staring to ride for Honda Gresini CRT in 2013!! Wow did not see that, Iv'e been following Bryan in the Superstock 1000 and he came close to a championship this year and i thought he deserved a shot at the World Superbikes but to get a crack at MotoGP is crazy! did not expect it. Well done Bryan! One Aussie legend leaves but at least another comes in!

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2013/Bryan Staring on Go Fun Honda Gresini CRT bike in 2013

40 premier class wins and a few championships and we'll all be happy

Haha yeah wouldn't complain with that! I'm sure his Honda CRT machine can match it with the Factory Honda and Yamaha's! At least there is still an Aussie in the premier class! It will make me pay more attention to the CRT battles anyway. Would be a whole lot better if we could have Bryan and Casey though!

Then one more so we can get 3 Aussies on the podium!

I shudder to think how many podiums are going to be ESP-ESP-ESP next year.

If only! Need Miller and Sissis to jump up and give us some podiums! Yeah you're not wrong but i would prefer a ESP-ESP-ESP than a ESP-ESP-ITA