My good mate, Derek J Hanbidge has coined the above phrase to describe the utter domination of Casey Stoner at PI yesterday. Pretty appropriate, I think. In 4 years, Casey has won the Australian Grand Prix 4 times and, in those 4 years has led EVERY LAP except one. A 1.5 second gap at the end of L1 on cold (VERY cold) tyres on a circuit that is known to punish over-zealous riding before the sides have warmed up; a 2.2 second gap at the end of L2 and so it went on. While the battle for the minors was enthralling, Casey did a bunk and left them to fight over the scraps.
And that on the weekend of his 25th birthday. What a present to himself and to his fans.
In the 125’sm Marc Marquez “did a Casey” and simply bolted, leaving the rest of the pack scrapping. 9 wins this year so far marks it as his year whether he wins the title or not (and he should)
In other news, Mika Kallio has announced his departure from the PRAMAC Team effective immediately, citing the failure of his shoulder to heal. However, as I have already indicated, Kallio’s departure has a lot more to do with the personal and financial betrayal that he has experienced at the hands of those most close to him and I doubt we will see him back in any form of racing any time soon.
Much mumbling in the Press this morning about the unsuitability of running the MotoGP event at PI at this time of the year, riders’ representative, Valentino Rossi, amongst others, petitioning the organisers to find a date where the notorious Spring weather at PI could be avoided. Unfortunately, the calendar is pretty crowded and accommodating that wish would require a major re-jigging of the calendar, increasingly difficult, if not impossible, especially when the TV schedules are all predicated on what F1 is doing.
