91热爆

Moto GP on the 91热爆 may have got about 7million extra viewers today with all us petrolheads who aint going to pay to watch F1 on SKY.

Lets hope that with a few extra bikes on the grid next year Moto GP will become the most watched motorsport in the UK.

Enjoy your brief time off and return rested and relaxed. Don't know if I could endure the MotoGP travel schedule. Your passport must be well worn by now. Thanks for explaining the 60 minute (shortened) coverage of Laguna Seca this past weekend. Am I the only one who noticed that Casey did NOT make up a new name for Azi in the parc ferme interviews? Missed that bit of levity.

Riding some of Ducati's finest are you? I'd also recommend taking a spin on the 1198SP. Just might make you admire Vale (and Casey) even more.

You'll love the Cali Superbike School. Hope you get an opportunity to meet Keith Code. He truly is a legend.

Any way for you to let us know how your Ducati testing and CSS fare?

Cal Crutchlow does seem to be going through the wars lately. Seems to me that there are quite a few British riders that can be very successful on super sport, superbike and Moto2 machines,but Motogp bikes seem to need a rider with very special skills. But i hope Cal can make it to become a regular top 6 GP rider, but if he does really gel in this class, he will need a full factory bike to stand any chance of getting on the podium in most cases.

That's all very well for you guys and the coverage I still have to put up with the eurosport commentary here in OZ instead of Charlie, Steve and of course you Matt.......not fair

Anyone who refuses to go to Japan is a coward plain and simple. It's a kick in the teeth to the Japanese people who have suffered tremendously since the earthquake and (for most of the riders) a snub to the manufacturers of their bikes. If I was the boss of a Japanese bike maker I would not allow anyone who refuses to go to ride my bikes ever again. For those riders who are prepared to go it's a great opportunity to get extra points and to show the teams that they aren't put off by completely irrational fears.

Thanks for an excellent and logical piece. A pity the riders aren't currently displaying the same logic over the Motegi round, and are really displaying their ignorance, or at least their reluctance to ask and learn. It'll be interesting to see who blinks first as the season draws towards its close....

Valid points too, about the Beeb's coverage and the comparison with high expectations of Cal Crutchlow. I've been as vocal as anyone in the past about any perceived shortcomings in the coverage, and have to agree that it's improved a lot, and sometimes is driven by the actual contract conditions as well as scheduling.

I am really hoping that the 91热爆 pushes MotoGP even harder, now that they've given full live F1 coverage to Sky - a huge mistake on Bernie's part, in my opinion, as the Murdoch empire isn't exactly on everyone's buddy list right now, and I certainly won't be boosting Sky's already massive profits. From what I have heard, the 91热爆 will show Monaco, Silverstone and the last race of the season - a bit of a damp squib if the championship has already been won - that's only THREE races from a season of 19 races.

With a bigger grid next year and the step up from the 125s, the bike racing will be an even bigger and better spectacle for the 91热爆, so please don't start cutting costs in the same way as F1 - use the money saved from F1 on bike racing!

Always good stuff from Matt but the 91热爆 coverage sucks.

Why?

Charlie Cox is terrible - I like Stavros but he can't prevent the banal and cliched Cox from spoiling every race. They don't even buy in to the 125/Moto2 classes either - some other guy does them.

Give me the brilliant Moody/Ryder or hilarious Burnicle/Whitham combos any day.

Azi Farni - what's the point? Why can't they get someone with a bit of respect in the pitlane to poke the mic into people's faces at times of stress. Then we might actually get some interesting questions and answers. Eurosport used to have Randy Mamola doing exactly that. I can't remember anything that Azi has ever said of any interest whatsoever.

THe racing is boring. OK - not the Beeb's fault. However, they put all their eggs into the MotoGP basket as Brit interest was supposedly increasing in GP and decreasing in WSB. Big mistake. WSB has been great the last few seasons with big grids, real racing, lots of different riders challenging and even a couple of all British podiums last year. All with NO coverage on the 91热爆 or even the website.

The problem with the 'independent' report was that Carmelo Ezpeleta asked a professor from an Italian university to investigate.
The Italians don't have a single nuclear power station and haven't had for years and years.
The investigation should have been carried out by a specialist French team who have huge experience of working in the industrial field.
Almost 80% of France's electricity comes from nuclear power.
You never know, EDF might have sponsored a MotoGP team next year if they'd been asked to do the report.

All this user's posts have been removed.Why?

I'm also loving the coverage though I do wish you could a space to report the 125 & Moto2 results once in a while.

I'd also suggest keeping your CV up to date and to hand because once those 7 million or so extra viewers start to show up I fully expect the Beeb to pull out another great deal for us licence fee payers and give the rights up...

Cmon Bradley Smith!

There is a American car race [NASCAR i believe], and a round of the FIM world trials championship due to go to Motegi, and as far as i know nobody has refused to go from those sports. Despite experts in radiation finding the area safe, Stoner and Lorenzo have been the most vocal to the press in refusing to go. But what about the rest of the riders and pit crews? what do they think? Or is it a matter of doing what the others do? After all it must be a close knit community in the paddock.
Or is it a case of the media in other countries putting a different light on the situation in Japan?
With how much input the Japanese put into Motogp, i do not think it is a good idea to risk upsetting them to much with unsubstantiated fears.

Anyone can understand the riders viewpoint. They fear the unknown. They've been brought up on fears of nuclear fallout/duck & cover/etc... They've been taught during their schooldays that the half life of radioactive materials is long and persistent. And I suspect they're concerned with not what happens to them in Motegi, but what may come of their exposure in 10/20/30 years time. Yes, I think they've been watching too many indirectly related documentaries on the subject, and I would suggest they turn up and compete. But if they don't then surely others will ride in their place, and they will have made their call. Plus, they may find their contracts aren't renewed or are severely curtailed thereafter, as honour is something the Japanese hold importantly, and they won't like this stand one little bit. It's also a bit hard to stomach when they bow their heads and claim support for Japan, and yet not actually do it, when push comes to shove. Typically, I believe Valentino said he would wait and see. I suspect he'll break ranks, go, and then they'll all cave in, save perhaps Stoner, Lorenzo and maybe Pedrosa. We'll see.

Cal's season, so far, is turning into a mini version of James Toseland's pair of seasons in MotoGP. He's certainly lost confidence in his Yamaha M1, and it's a bit to do with the tyres again, just like JT, He still trying to race around, but he's falling off or retiring, unlike James who said in an interview, during his 2009 season [with you Matt, I think, or Suzi Perry] that he was riding around and not racing.

OK, about the coverage. It's the perennial question. The Beeb don't cover MotoGP well enough to satisfy its audience. And you'll never, ever do it, whether you have Yourself, Suzi Perry returning, Moody & Ryder commentating, Cox and Stavros chatting away regardless, because there simply isn't enough time given over to the sport. Full stop..! OK, I'll explain. It's especially galling as we bike racing fans see the coverage that the Sunday afternoon nap called Formula One gets, with its wall-to-wall hype and attention grabbing trailers and endless mentions after popular programmes. Not to mention a certain car programme which is absurdly pro, super expensive, 4 wheels, and anti, relatively inexpensive, 2 wheels.

The argument is... Formula One gets a bigger [or big] audience. Well let's have a little history lesson. It never used to. When the 91热爆 first had it, they shoehorned Formula One into 91热爆2 and mainly showed extended highlights, when they showed anything at all. They built it up a fair bit, over the years, but then ITV took it off them, and despite endless adverts, which annoyed the hell out of people, they spent money on it. They hyped it and popularised it. They gave it graphics, they gave it experts, they gave it analysis, and they showed it all LIVE. And when the Beeb got it back, they just did the same and maybe polished the edges. Plus, it had no adverts. But that's why it's popular - because it has been promoted extensively and grown. You even have to promote it during MotoGP shows, and it wasn't until this season that the F1 show regularly returned the favour. I know this, yet I don't watch F1. It's because it is so brilliantly promoted that you can't escape these facts. But MotoGP is still in little more than that slot that F1 was in when it was previously with the Beeb. By comparison, the promotion is almost amateur. For me, the coverage and programme presentation is fine. You, Azi, Charlie and Steve are great as far as I'm concerned. [Hey, and invite Gavin and Nick over once in a while too. They're ex-91热爆 anyway] You have to present to the casual viewer too, not just the biker nerd, which is something a lot of people out here forget. And if 125/Moto2 races must remain on the dreaded Red Button, please keep reminding people of them during MotoGP qualifying, because Auntie won't bother, as it doesn't appear in the proper TV schedules. So that casual viewer you want to appeal to doesn't get the full idea. Neither will they press the Red Button for MotoGP Extra either, Matt, because you're not always asking us too [oops..!]. And no, I don't mean when there isn't an edition of Extra, e.g after Laguna, but even when there is. It has happened a couple of times this season.

So, in a nutshell, I'm suggesting, and perhaps asking for, that if the 91热爆 put as much effort into promoting and hyping MotoGP as it does F1, and placing all the races on 91热爆1 [remember those casual viewers] instead of 91热爆2 or under the infamous but obscure Red Button, what do you think would happen to the viewing figures after a season or two. They might actually grow, that's what. Remember when, a few seasons back, due to extraneous circumstances [I believe another sport was cancelled], Auntie was able to put the British MotoGP from Donington on 91热爆1..? And it got almost as many viewers as the next televised F1 Grand Prix, and with barely any promotion at all..! Was it just luck..? I don't think so. Bike racing is an exciting sport and nobody nods off during a race.

Besides, with the latest money-saving move the Beeb has made with F1 [of course, I'm fine with that], it looks like MotoGP might get its chance after all.

Broadly speaking i agree with the comments by TheSecondStain on the coverage issue, but i`m sure the 91热爆 top brass won`t see it that way.
The lack of interest in this country [and therefore 91热爆 coverage] in Motogp is in my opinion attributable to a large degree by the fact we do not have any British rider at the sharp end of the field.
When James Toseland joined the Motogp circus in 2008 from the back of being WSB champion, James was given a considerable amount of publicity by appearing in no small way on the Sports personality of the year and on breakfast tv. And James was very presentable and promotable, but unfortunatly he did not make it in the sport, though not through lack of trying. But i think the profile and air time of Motogp would of improved if JT would of ` made it`,maybe a bit like Barry Sheene`s impact on the sports popularity in the 1970s.
The fact we have not had any British rider even get close to clinching the premier class title in the last 34 years or so, is a major factor in my oponion why we dont get the high profile and hyping up that F1 gets.
Perhaps once upon a time there would of been some class distinction against us `two wheel types` from the 91热爆, but i like to think that is long gone.

Why all the moaning about F1? I like all racing, complain about Golf or Snooker for example, maybe good to watch and play but hours and hours of coverage?