2008 MotoGP Season Opener

I finally got to watch the MotoGP 2008 season opener tonight. I was really looking forward to watching it Sunday night after returning from Daytona only to discover that my already rough day (more about that in a future post) had a lovely cap put on it: my brand new high-def DVR failed to record any of the races it was supposed to.

Anyway, I was finally able to watch the race tonight, and what a race it was. I won't go too heavily into the details, I'll only say that it was well worth watching and I think the 2008 MotoGP season is going to be a real doozy. Ducati's current champ, Casey Stoner, rode another masterful race, and great performances were put forth by a bunch of rookies like Jorge Lorenzo, Andrea Dovizioso, and James Toseland. Also, Dani Pedrosa, the man (and as always, I apply this term loosely in his case) who seems to be currently in possession of Max Biaggi's Bottomless Book of Excuses, didn't win. That may not be cause for some folks to celebrate but it is for me.

I have to say that the folks who whined about some perceived "lack of spectacle" in last year's series (I interpret most of this as "we're upset that Rossi isn't winning") shouldn't have anything to complain about I don't think. I say shouldn't since I think there's still going to be a fair amount if Rossi doesn't start winning regardless of how equal everything seems to be. From my standpoint the opening round of this year's season seemed to have much more parity between the various manufacturers than last year did. Since it tends to just get more equal as the year goes on I'm guessing it's going to be a real dog-fight for the title this year. My money is still on Casey.