Mooooo says the cow…. Choke says Duhamel…

While I wanted to see Zemke on the ride from the beginning, he's no spring chicken.

 

Duhamel is the LAST person I would have thought would just drop out.

 

Josh is 27 years old, so I wouldn't be exactly calling him "the future".

 

Honda's future is probably on a different bike right now.

 

if he wasnt prepared to stick it out then he shouldnt have accepted in the first place.

booo miggy

 

honda might as well gave the money to a charity and gave duhamel another watch to flaunt just cuz.

im sure greg white had the strangest look on his face as he said that pile of poo. I didnt want to risk the bike and equipment..... what ? you mean break another one and make sure all the money they spent was for nothing ?

Weirdest thing ive ever heard him say ....other than that whole fuel pump at daytona thing .lol

def lost a lot of respect for him as a racer. HOw many other guys would have shit themselves to be on that bike just to come in last ,,they would have still wheelied across the line after they packed up and left .lol

its not like he has a snowballs chance in hell of winning superbike.

PS again ... WHOOHOOOOO ROGER HAYDEN !

 

I gotta side with Miggy on this. He went out and tried his best. He knew that he would come in last place and that was not the best for Honda or him. Think of it this way:

Stay out and:
1. Bin it trying to come in 15th or 14th out of 17 taking out 500K worth of machinery, time and effort in the process.
2. Hurt himself and ruin his chances of making a decent finish in the race he came for.
3. Have to explain to Honda who gave you the oppurtunity that your sorry you f@cked them this weekend.

or...

Pull in and save some face. Get yourself prepared for the SBK race and have a chance at finishing top 10 and earn some money and make your sponsors proud.

Duhamel isn't stupid. He knows moto gp isn't in his future. He's riding against kids 1/2 his age on better machinery and less inhibitions. If it were 10 years ago, he'd have been riding like Roger Lee.

Despite my feelings, cause I really don't care for him, he made the best choice. The guy has been riding pro for 20 years now. Give hime a little credit. To see Honda throwing a bone out and saying thanks is a statement in itself.

 

So if Josh is American Honda's Superbike future, why in the world would American Honda push to let him audition in front of the MotoGP regulars?

 

They didn't.

 

I was very disappointed to hear Miguel say that. If he couldn't get himself fired up to ride the race then he shouldn't have accepted the offer. There's plenty of others who would've killed for the chance.

 

Maybe when he accepted he thought he could. He knows at his age that a GP ride is not in the cards, but after all those years with Honda, I'm sure he welcomed the chance. I would wager he probably thought he would make a better showing than he did based on his superbike performances. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he crash in practice earlier today?

Since I wasn't in the pits to discuss strategy, maybe he did discuss it with the team and they all determined before the race if he didn't think he was going to make a decent showing he should risk a second crash. I don't have all the facts and am not willing to crucify Miguel like the BBS did earlier with Nicky.

 

I guess it just hurt a little to hear him admitt he is more human that I thought. Nothing but respect for what he has accomplished but wish he would have finished the race.

 

+1

 

Did anyone every think that maybe it was planned this way. Gresini Honda has a job to do and that is expose the sponsor. Who better to put on the bike than Miguel. World wide known and a very large following. He went out got the tv time for their sponsors and parked a machine that they do not want on track any extra time if not needed. The crew looked very calm for a rider just quitting. Moto Gp is about exposure just like formula 1 racing. I would say that they were a huge success considering the situation they were in. He was one of the most talked about riders all race week. That in turn gives the team huge exposure. He did what he was probably asked to do for them.

 

Someone posted earlier that he is riding for a retirement check, is not in good shape, is too old. Bullshit. First, i`m thinking he probably can`t run a four minute mile, but he is probably in better shape than some of the younger riders, plenty fit for roadracing. He definetly rides harder (and has more talent) than some of the younger riders. Given a competitive ride, still a front runner in superbike. He always gives 100%. I don`t care if he`s eighty if he can still get it done and fights hard. I`m not a big fan, but give him the respect he earns. Anyone remember how most of his races ended with Zemke? Armchair quarterbacks. Did he deserve a moto gp fill-in? Who cares, no one is going to get big notice from a one-off ride.

 

What happened to Zemke in the Superbike race? Just looking at the results, I don't see him in front of DuHamel.

 

His bike didn't feel like finishing the race.

 

I would have thought he'd have stuck it out. It's very unlike him to just give up like that. I have to wonder if he's not about ready to just pack it in soon. His whole attitude just seemed like "well, who cares". That certainly isn't the miguel of the 1990's.