Ducati Monster Forum

I'd like this to be somewhat serious guys...so fire away!

Rossi...because he's back on a Yamaha.

Rossi.  But Marquez will give him fits.

Rossi...

but only if he's there from the beginning of the season

Rossi only because Marquez is bound to pull some stupid maneuvers. Hopefully he doesn't take anyone out.

Marquez will have it barring some sort of horrific race missing crash injuries

Rossi.  Because Marquez is going to have a normal rookie year, replete with some amazing highsides.  He won't make up for those missed races with outright wins when he's healed the way Lorenzo, Pedrosa or Rossi can/do.  So he'll take a bigger point hit b/c of injuries than would, say Rossi.  Also, with Rossi around as  legit race-wining threat, each race Marquez isn't there, he risks going 25 points down whoever is battling for 3rd in the pts.  In contrast, when Stoner got hurt this year, he wasn't at risk of losing 25 points a round to Dovi or Cal or Bradl or Rossi, because none of those guys were going to get better than 3rd.  

That said, I really have no idea.  It only takes one crash to completely alter the final championship standings. 

Rossi, because he's the GOAT; the 2013 M1 is a better bike than the 2010 M1; and, although Yamaha's playing it cool, they're actually ecstatic that he and his crew are back.

Despite all the Marquez hype, I see him more in a Simoncelli-type of role than as a legitimate title contender for several years.  His "does that bike have a hidden nitrous tank" Moto2 rides are going to be a thing of the past in MotoGP, where guys like Rossi will really teach him about racing.

i don't think he'll come out of the gate winning but i think we'll be surprised about the above.  he'll contend a lot sooner than that.

Rossi because of the race xp... marquez is fast but he's not seasoned yet.

Probably VR46, but I'm surprised Dovi didn't make the list.
After all, if you ignore Stoner he's the 3rd man in 2012 standings and that's on a satellite bike.
Also, the Ducati is hands down the most powerful bike on the grid.
If Ducati/Audi/Suter can make any handling improvements at all, it could dominate the big tracks like Qatar, Austin, Jello, Sepang...

But yeah, probably VR46.  Marquez is a bag of dicks.

I'm surprised Hayden even made it on the list. Not that I don't love Nicky and I really do wish he could rightfully be on the list but.. the Ducati is still the suck. I've not enough confidence to think that anybody on the Duc is going to give Yami/Honda a run for the money.

That said, I hope that Dovi puts on a good show this year and I'm curious how Spies/Iannone will do

I think it will be a good season with all the riders getting flipped around and new riders coming into the GP.

Can't wait for April  [coffee]

Being a Rossi fan first, then Dovi then Cal - I vote for Rossi.

hope Dovi does well with the move to Duc (it may be a bad move for him, but ...)

Marc will shake things up for sure.  New fearless blood while endangering the racers ofcourse :(

Crutchlow showed some good racing last season, if he manages to stay on the bike...javascript:void(0);
Klaus

No kidding. I took this picture of him in Indy this year. 
My brother yelled at him "Are you OK?". He gave us a thumbs up.
He must have crashed in that corner 2 maybe 3 times over the weekend.

(http://yfrog.com/scaled/landing/532/gd7dn.jpg)

interesting comparison....

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Dec/121210a.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Dec/121210a.htm)

Good article

+1 a really good read

I thought that was going to me more Marquez hype. I'm glad it wasnt, good read.

Really, really good read. It'll add another dimension to the man when I watch him commentate on the AMA races.