One of Stoner's many pet peeves is other riders going slow during warm up, practice and qualifying on the racing line. Pisses him off that they wait for him to go by then get a tow off him. De Puniet got in his way and Stoner rode up along side and punched him in the shoulder.
Moto GP is a Prototype class where the manufactures can develop and test new technology. Yeah it's expensive but that's the nature of that game. The big benefit is that the technology trickles down to street bikes we can purchase. Winning consistently in any racing series is always due to all the pieces fitting together. Rider, machine and team. Everything has to come together at the same time.
I'm wondering if Yamaha's soft start may be due to not having a sponsor, resulting in a reduced budget. Might be they are not developing the bike aggressively this year and are spending their money on next year's 1000's. Honda wants a 800cc championship and it seems they have pulled out all the stops to get it, except for Fluff and Puff.
I think Ben's issue is more mental than anything else. He just doesn't seem to push very hard. He ought to be able to get the factory bike further in front of Edwards than he does.
Looked like Pedrosa was having and issue in that corner and was caught off guard when Marco stuffed his bike in there. Marco left absolutely no room for error and it turned out Pedrosa needed some. Marco needs to be reigned in some, but Pedrosa contributed some in his get off.