Ducati Monster Forum

FP1 for the big boys starts in about half an hour.
 [bacon]

http://m.motomatters.com/results/2014/03/20/2014_qatar_motogp_fp1_result.html (http://m.motomatters.com/results/2014/03/20/2014_qatar_motogp_fp1_result.html)

Going to be a pretty interesting race.

WTF?!?! I'm watching starting to watch it now.

What happens if one of the Open bikes wins a dry race?

Biblical Proportions (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ZOKDmorj0#)

But for me:  [popcorn]

As much as i'm enjoying the upside-down world aspect of it, I have to imagine that much of what we're seeing is that all the Open teams (except Ducati Factory, or Open, or .... um ... screw it) are coming off of many hours of testing on that circuit just a week and a half ago. They're almost as close to a final race setting as they're going to get.  The Factory teams will have to make some big strides to get up to speed over the next days, but I suspect they've got it in 'em.

Like someone said in the motomatters comments " It's only FP1 " --- Let's see how this shakes out. But still...........  [popcorn]

I see open bikes pacing well during qualifying all season because of the soft tire but hurting over race distance

Plus Jorghey looks like he's just about ready to shoot the tires every time he steps off the bike.

Too early to speculate about any results

But I can speculate that this season is looking to be interesting

How can you say that without having seen a race?

They said during fp1 that Jorge set his PI one off lap with the 2013 tire as well, so even his apparent quick lap at PI wasn't on current tires.  He's having a tough time for sure.

I know it's just one practice but, I wasn't expecting those results! Any word on Yonny's hand?

Pictures from all three classes.

http://motorlikes.blogspot.be/2014/03/class-of-2014-motogp.html (http://motorlikes.blogspot.be/2014/03/class-of-2014-motogp.html)

(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-r0KhkZLEiXE/Uyw7lqRP5gI/AAAAAAAAAxQ/pc-0iAykoZ0/s1600/10001029_10152211001378855_2049340865_o.jpg)

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6XJLSD_Viu8/Uyw7lhsYqqI/AAAAAAAAAxI/hvj0Lzy3yBM/s1600/1965472_10152401144885769_598693381_o.jpg)

(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XJXyWt9kKSs/Uyw7lvdBO0I/AAAAAAAAAxE/m_VxxJzRgCI/s1600/1978302_452825998182611_1330679702_o.jpg)

Just pure speculation on my part... because I'm guessing that the soft tire is in a lot of ways a qualifying tire.

Without any data to prove otherwise I'd say there's just as good a chance that softer tire might very well work as the equalizer that it's intended to be.

Pure speculation on my part...of course. ;)

Colin said its toast after three laps, for what its worth.

I see no point in having it if that be the case.

What good is qualifying when you are gonna get walked anyways?

That's data. ;)

Staying near the front is a whole lot easier if you aren't starting on row four, for one thing, and with Espargaro throwing down very fast laps on the harder tire, it's far from a foregone conclusion that he's going to get walked.

He's at the top again in FP2, with Dovi (on a soft compound tire) in second. The factory Hondas are making up ground, the factory Yamaha's aren't.

Free Practice 2:
1.   Aleix Espargaro
2.   Andrea Dovizioso
3.   Alvaro Bautista
4.   Dani Pedrosa
5.   Marc Marquez
6.   Bradley Smith
7.   Stefan Bradl
8.   Pol Espargaro
9.   Valentino Rossi
10.   Andrea Iannone
11.   Jorge Lorenzo
12.   Colin Edwards
13.   Cal Crutchlow
14.   Nicky Hayden
15.   Yonny Hernandez
16.   Scott Redding
17.   Karel Abraham
18.   Hiroshi Aoyama
19.   Hector Barbera
20.   Mike Di Meglio
21.   Broc Parkes
22.   Danilo Petrucci
23.   Michael Laverty

More at: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/201347/1/aleix-espargaro-stays-top-in-qatar.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/201347/1/aleix-espargaro-stays-top-in-qatar.html)

The announcers just admitted that the soft tire is just a qualifier. It lasts 3 to 4 laps. So we're looking at the medium for the race for all Open and Ducati (Factory 2). The Factory bikes look to be going with the medium tire as long as they continue to have issues with grip.

We won't know the true state of affairs until week two, where no one has had any testing.  That being said, I wonder how Yamaha feels about their real factory bikes being on the NGM team.   ;D

It's insane how Aleix is still faster than everyone by .4 of a second. Lorenzo has got to be pissed right now. From what I read about yesterday's FP he was harassing the Bridgestone boss everytime he got off the bike, which I'm sure happened a lot today as well.

FP3 RESULTS...

Pos. No. Rider Bike Time Diff. / Prev.
1 41 Aleix ESPARGARO Forward Yamaha 1'54.773   
2 29 Andrea IANNONE Ducati 1'55.186 0.413 / 0.413
3 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA Honda 1'55.240 0.467 / 0.054
4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 1'55.250 0.477 / 0.010
5 93 Marc MARQUEZ Honda 1'55.446 0.673 / 0.196
6 38 Bradley SMITH Yamaha 1'55.474 0.701 / 0.028
7 99 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha 1'55.495 0.722 / 0.021
8 6 Stefan BRADL Honda 1'55.676 0.903 / 0.181
9 46 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 1'55.702 0.929 / 0.026
10 26 Dani PEDROSA Honda 1'55.754 0.981 / 0.052
11 44 Pol ESPARGARO Yamaha 1'55.793 1.020 / 0.039
12 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW Ducati 1'56.013 1.240 / 0.220
13 69 Nicky HAYDEN Honda 1'56.357 1.584 / 0.344
14 5 Colin EDWARDS Forward Yamaha 1'56.373 1.600 / 0.016
15 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ Ducati 1'56.633 1.860 / 0.260
16 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA Honda 1'56.939 2.166 / 0.306
17 45 Scott REDDING Honda 1'56.997 2.224 / 0.058
18 17 Karel ABRAHAM Honda 1'57.345 2.572 / 0.348
19 23 Broc PARKES PBM 1'57.665 2.892 / 0.320
20 63 Mike DI MEGLIO Avintia 1'58.204 3.431 / 0.539
21 8 Hector BARBERA Avintia 1'58.219 3.446 / 0.015
22 70 Michael LAVERTY PBM 1'58.378 3.605 / 0.159
23 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ART 1'58.651 3.878 / 0.273

He hasn't been happy with the tire at all this year. Even in Sepang they could never find a way around the issues. In Phillip Island he set good times on the 2013 tire that broke apart after a few laps, so it wasn't much of a test. They're not as concern about the race because most likely they will all be using the medium option, but they're kinda screwed if all the Open bikes use the soft tires during FP3 to get into Qualifying 2 and push all the factory bikes onto Qualifying 1 fighting to get up there. The Yamahas might end up feeling like the Ducati Factory riders last year trying to pull themselves out of the bottom half of the field.

At least the favorites did enough to get out of the shitter.

"Staying near the front is a whole lot easier if you aren't starting on row four, for one thing, and with Espargaro throwing down very fast laps on the harder tire, it's far from a foregone conclusion that he's going to get walked"

I don't disagree with you. But I don't know the full potential of those "open" bikes yet or the potential of the medium tire. I just don't see this being the equalizer unless that softy can go the distance.

I've been wrong before  ;D

Tech 3 rider Bradley Smith destroyed a bike in a massive high side crash which he was lucky to survive.
Cal Crutchlow also crashed in the session but was able to return on his second bike.

Italian Andrea Iannone cut an unbelievably fast lap in the session as he drafted the Honda of Dani Pedrosa. "Crazy Joe" on the soft "Open" tire and Pedrosa, not, of course.

as quoted from SBKPlanet.com...   " With qualifying still to come tomorrow, one has to be thinking the solid "race" money might be on Alvaro Bautista. He's been fast on the "factory" Bridgestone rubber and has endured little drama. Soft tire heroes are all around him in the sessions, but it's conventional wisdom that the soft tire will never work long enough to finish on the podium. However that rings like what they told VR 1000 rider Pascal Picotte one year at Sears Point. The Canadian used the "unusable" to almost win the race. "

It's undeniable that the soft tire is helping the Ducati riders back into the fast (one-off) laps, but I'm curious how that's happening - I don't see how a stickier rear would help with the Desmo's chronic understeer, but I've read that one of the big problems they've had is making effective use of the engine's power delivery. A stickier rear tire could definitely help with corner exits.

Has Aleix done a race simulation on either the soft or medium tire yet?  And the pic I want to see is the face of Aleix's agent every time he posts one of those laps... Happiest man in the paddock at this point.

And I'm guessing that the soft tire is helping the corner exits for the duc.  Vmplaints were always of under steer and controlling the power out of the corners. Softer tire, more grip, easier to get the power to the ground.

It's still funny that even after all the factory2 shenanigans... The duc's are still a speed bump compared to everything else on the grid.  Let's hope Gigi can figure something out soon.

But yeah... This season is looking to be pretty fun.  When was the last time a non factory bike came close to winning a championship?

Was the open class available last year and if so what changes were made to the open class rules from last year to this year? I'm trying to figure out why the open class is more competitive in these initial practice sessions. Is the softer tire the only difference?

http://www.motogp.com/en/MotoGP+Basics/bikes (http://www.motogp.com/en/MotoGP+Basics/bikes)

"From 2014, teams not directly entered by one of the major manufacturers as a factory team or satellite outfit, will be categorised in the so-called “Open class”. Whilst all factory teams (MSMA entries) will have to use the spec Magneti Marelli hardware with their own software, the “Open class”, regardless of its mechanical make-up, will run the spec hardware as well as software. From a mechanical standpoint, the “Open class” in 2014 will consists of full-blown prototypes (with Magneti Marelli software), prototype chassis with factory-spec engines, as well as heavily tuned production engines in prototype chassis."

Open replaced CRT.. the factories basically conceded to making what were supposed to be lower cost satellite bikes.  Honda actually did make what was in the spirit of the Open rules, a non pneumatic valved factory bike.  Yamaha was at first only supposed to lease a engine out but in the end leased out a frame/engine... it's basically the '13 M1.  Ducati tried to make a Open bike but no one was interested in getting one :P

Open bikes get more fuel, softer tires, 12 engines per season, unlimited engine development, and have to use the spec ECU.  For the M1 it seems that the extra fuel is making it easier to tune to the bike as the M1 has traditionally had fuel limit issues.  But more than anything else it seems that it's Aleix that's the true factor in what's making the bike stand out so much.  He tore up the CRT class and now he's on more comparable hardware.  The next non Ducati Open class rider is Nicky and Colin in 13/14th place per FP3 to give more perspective.

Thanks. Qualifying has been more interesting so far and I bet racing will be too. Unfortunately, the rules may have made a dangerous sport even more dangerous if too many slower bikes start at the front of the grid only because they qualified on softer tires.

Technically Rossi won on the Nastro Azzurro team in his second year.

Rossi lightens up Qatar
LED lights in the back of his helmet...only Rossi.

http://motorlikes.blogspot.be/2014/03/rossi-lightens-up-qatar.html (http://motorlikes.blogspot.be/2014/03/rossi-lightens-up-qatar.html)

(https://fbexternal-a.akamaihd.net/safe_image.php?d=AQBtqdWkZhM-Bls8&w=377&h=197&url=https%3A%2F%2Fscontent-b-ams.xx.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-prn2%2Ft31.0-8%2Fq71%2Fs720x720%2F1052183_285879624909358_1460597323_o.jpg&cfs=1)

I wonder how long untill we see this on the streets; maybe in the form of an extra brake light/indicators?

Yup wassup

http://motorlikes.blogspot.be/2014/03/bradley-smith-gigantic-high-side.html (http://motorlikes.blogspot.be/2014/03/bradley-smith-gigantic-high-side.html)

(http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/303095/output_toaHTc.gif)

FP4:

Pos.    No.    Rider    Bike    Time    Diff. / Prev.
1    38    Bradley SMITH    Yamaha    1'55.427    
2    93    Marc MARQUEZ    Honda    1'55.432    0.005 / 0.005
3    41    Aleix ESPARGARO    Forward Yamaha    1'55.459    0.032 / 0.027
4    26    Dani PEDROSA    Honda    1'55.540    0.113 / 0.081
5    29    Andrea IANNONE    Ducati    1'55.586    0.159 / 0.046
6    19    Alvaro BAUTISTA    Honda    1'55.828    0.401 / 0.242
7    99    Jorge LORENZO    Yamaha    1'55.919    0.492 / 0.091
8    4    Andrea DOVIZIOSO    Ducati    1'56.045    0.618 / 0.126
9    6    Stefan BRADL    Honda    1'56.164    0.737 / 0.119
10    46    Valentino ROSSI    Yamaha    1'56.206    0.779 / 0.042
11    35    Cal CRUTCHLOW    Ducati    1'56.374    0.947 / 0.168
12    44    Pol ESPARGARO    Yamaha    1'56.589    1.162 / 0.215
13    45    Scott REDDING    Honda    1'56.614    1.187 / 0.025
14    5    Colin EDWARDS    Forward Yamaha    1'56.676    1.249 / 0.062
15    7    Hiroshi AOYAMA    Honda    1'56.713    1.286 / 0.037
16    69    Nicky HAYDEN    Honda    1'56.836    1.409 / 0.123
17    68    Yonny HERNANDEZ    Ducati    1'57.058    1.631 / 0.222
18    17    Karel ABRAHAM    Honda    1'57.194    1.767 / 0.136
19    8    Hector BARBERA    Avintia    1'57.748    2.321 / 0.554
20    9    Danilo PETRUCCI    ART    1'58.023    2.596 / 0.275
21    63    Mike DI MEGLIO    Avintia    1'58.297    2.870 / 0.274
22    70    Michael LAVERTY    PBM    1'59.076    3.649 / 0.779
23    23    Broc PARKES    PBM    1'59.115    3.688 / 0.039

http://motomatters.com/results/2014/03/22/2014_qatar_motogp_fp4_result_smith_sets_.html (http://motomatters.com/results/2014/03/22/2014_qatar_motogp_fp4_result_smith_sets_.html)

Smith doesnt seem to have let that highside slow him down at all and Factory Hondas seem to have found their set up.

 >:( [bang] That shit is make the beast with two backsing annoying.

Broken leg? What broken leg?

Q2:
1.    Marc Marquez    ESP   Repsol Honda Team (RC213V)    1m   54.507s   
2.    Alvaro Bautista    ESP   Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V)    1m   54.564s   |   +0.057s
3.    Bradley Smith    GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)    1m   54.601s   |   +0.094s
4.    Andrea Dovizioso    ITA   Ducati Team (Desmosedici)    1m   54.644s   |   +0.137s
5.    Jorge Lorenzo    ESP   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1)    1m   54.661s   |   +0.154s
6.    Dani Pedrosa    ESP   Repsol Honda Team (RC213V)    1m   54.703s   |   +0.196s
7.    Stefan Bradl    GER   LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V)    1m   54.871s   |   +0.364s
8.    Cal Crutchlow    GBR   Ducati Team (Desmosedici)    1m   54.888s   |   +0.381s
9.    Aleix Espargaro    ESP   NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha)    1m   54.986s   |   +0.479s
10.    Valentino Rossi    ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP (YZR-M1)    1m   55.096s   |   +0.589s
11.    Andrea Iannone    ITA   Pramac Racing (Desmosedici)    1m   55.127s   |   +0.620s
12.    Pol Espargaro    ESP   Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1)    1m   55.152s   |   +0.645s

Q1:
13.    Nicky Hayden    USA   Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R)    1m   55.894s
14.    Colin Edwards    USA   NGM Forward Racing (Forward Yamaha)    1m   56.042s   
15.    Hiroshi Aoyama    JPN   Drive M7 Aspar (RCV1000R)    1m   56.479s   
16.    Scott Redding    GBR   Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R)    1m   56.555s   
17.    Yonny Hernandez    COL   Pramac Racing (Desmosedici)    1m   56.648s   
18.    Karel Abraham    CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing (RCV1000R)    1m   56.715s   
19.    Hector Barbera    ESP   Avintia Racing (Avintia)    1m   57.006s   
20.    Danilo Petrucci    ITA   IodaRacing Project (ART)    1m   57.513s   
21.    Broc Parkes    AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART)    1m   57.574s   
22.    Mike Di Meglio    FRA   Avintia Racing (Avintia)    1m   57.667s   
23.    Michael Laverty    GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART)    1m   58.254s   

That's









Interesting

Well... I like MM and all but it's just so much more fun to speculate when he's injured/out.  Once he's back in top form... its back to guessing who's going to be in second and third.

that was still a full factory bike and team, just not running the repsol livery.

I thought this exchange was funny - Lorenzo reacting to Cal Crutchlow's comments to Crash.net that the Duc isn't suited to "Lorenzo style" riding:

(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LuzxbLLKWOE/Uy78wd4Ai9I/AAAAAAAADzQ/_jrCEQizNgY/w848-h545-no/Lorenzo+%2526+Crutchlow.png)

Here we go  [evil]

 :o

(That is all)

Well, this too:  [thumbsup]

That was fun!  [popcorn]
Go VR! Good 2nd.

Great start to the season. [thumbsup]

I wonder if the M-1's notorious thirstiness came into play that last lap.

What happened to Cal's Duc ? out of fuel ??.....see him wiggle at the finish line like he was trying to slosh fuel

Poor Jorgey tried to pull his first lap gap.I wonder if the Bridgestones weren't up to it or if the track was dirty at turn turn 6. Both him and Bradl lost it there I believe.

Great race by Marquez and Rossi  [bow_down]

What happened to Bautista? Fox Sports went to a commercial and then he was gone.

I wish they would have covered more of the back pack. I might have to put down the cash for the MotoGP subscription.

Nothing special.  He went into the corner too hot and lost it.

That's why I tossed in "technically."  If one of the current factory Hondas outside Repsol won, it would be essentially the same thing.

That was a good race!

Turn 6 was a pregnant dog.

I hope Bradl can keep riding up front.

Iannone was over a lap behind after his off but he finished 10th.  If he can keep it on the track he should have some good results in the future.

This explains what happen to Crutchlow and why the live timing had him going from 6th to last every lap..

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/201432/1/crutchlows-ducati-in-a-different-place.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/201432/1/crutchlows-ducati-in-a-different-place.html)

Awesome race  [thumbsup]

Great race and a nice turn out at Ducati Newport Beach!  Always fun to watch the race with an audience. 

my memory may be IZ_, but i think rossi was actually run by hrc (hrc/repsol?) with the nastro azzurro livery. he wasn't just running a factory/factory-supported bike.

lorenzo says:

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2014/Lorenzo+admits+I+made+a+mistake (http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2014/Lorenzo+admits+I+made+a+mistake)

Very good race. Nice to see the satellites up there. Good rides by Smith, Bradl, & Bautista...even if they did toss it late.

MM is still awesome.  [bow_down] Nice 2nd by Rossi...let's see if he can build on it this year, unlike last. Hopefully he can, as it's nice to see him at the front.

Ducati is still in the shit. Without a couple up front crashes they would have finished 7th/8th...as usual.

It was great watching 2 guys go balls to the wall! We were missing Vale up there to keep MM on his toes, unlike Lorenzo and Pedrosa.

While that is true, the gap to the winner was only 12 seconds. That's half of what it was last year at Quatar.

It's progress.

I think Bautista is going to be a force to be reckoned with this year, especially if he stops frosting his tips.

Great race.  It was great to see smith with the lead pack until he crashed out.  So great to see Rossi battle for front but MM is just ridiculous.  My favs this year are as always Rossi then Scott redding .
The real race was moto3 last lap last few corners.

That is good...I didn't notice that.

I am an optimist. Iannone crashed and still finished 10th.  Crutchlow had electronic mapping issues for most of the race and still finished 6th. Attrition was high, but all 4 Ducati finished the race.  It is not all doom and gloom for Ducati.

And (reportedly) after crashing out of the lead group, Ianonne picked his bike up out of the gravel and was lapping at times that would have kept him up there for the rest of the race. No it's not a podium, but definitely progress.

OTOH, Crutchlow's bike wandering lost around the track thanks to a transponder malfunction had to be pretty mortifying to his crew.

Quotes from Crutchlow about the issue:

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/201432/1/crutchlows-ducati-in-a-different-place.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/201432/1/crutchlows-ducati-in-a-different-place.html)

“At the last corner of the race the bike decided to completely stop. It ended up restarting and I managed to limp it home but it was like riding down the straight on the pit lane limiter so it was a good job I had a gap behind me."

“Riding around with a bike that thinks you're in sixth gear when you're actually in second isn't easy!"

Sounds pretty terrifying to me and I'm pretty impressed that he even finished the race let alone in the points.

But watching those last couple of laps makes me realize that I'll always be a Rossi fan in the end... just hoping for him to pull some magic move out the of blue at every corner.  First time I had that much fun watching a MotoGP race in a long time.

I remember that I hated watching Rossi pull those moves when he was doing against Stoner on the Duc. Then came those years where he wasn't there and it just turned into a parade. You just appreciate him that much more. Both Lorenzo and Pedrosa are more methodical when it comes to passing and general will be quite content just sitting back waiting for the guy in front to make a mistake. Vale forces you to make a mistake by attacking from lines where no one should be fast. He might not actually try to pass, but I'm sure it surprises guys when they see a wheel where someone should not be.

Hoping for a return to "epic battles" again.  Was it the 2006 or 2007 Barcelona race that was just nuts?

2007 was Laguna.

Rossi-Stoner was 2008, if that's what you're referring to…if not, then 2007 is fine  [cheeky]

Now I'm all sorts of messed up

He was a force to be reckoned with last year...for Rossi.  ;D

(http://s3.visordown.com/uploads/images/medium/58117.jpg)

(http://www.motorcyclenews.com/upload/298162/images/bautista.jpg)

This could be a splendid season for MotoGP...

(http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/2014/motogp/qatar/5/duel3.jpg)

(I guess I mostly knew how hard the life of a front tire is in MotoGP, but the photos in this series blew my mind just a little - see more at http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/2014/motogp/qatar/5/duel1.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/2014/motogp/qatar/5/duel1.htm))

Nice  [thumbsup]

Just a thought ----so, looking at VR and MM side-by-side, I was struck by the obvious difference in their physical size (not that we didn't know this beforehand) and, therefore, weight, which was discussed here several years ago.

Rossi will always be at a 'slight' disadvantage to the other three aliens because his bike has to drag along an additional 25-30 pounds while accelerating, and then fight those same pounds while braking.  And, at 35, he's more apt to simply get tired/have less energy towards the end of a race.

So, if he has success this year it will be despite these subtle handicaps and, perhaps, a corollary testament to his skills.

Me too.  I'll have to go back through the you tube videos.  I'm pretty sure it was in Barcelona. I'll have to remember to write this stuff down when we're watching. Hard to do when you're jumping up and down in the chair.

The Yamaha always loses out to the Honda when it comes to late braking and shooting out of the corner. The Yamaha can carry more corner speed. Some of the late braking advantage might also be due to the fact that both Pedrosa and MM are tiny. This discussion leads into Yamaha vs Honda tracks.

Maybe...it can also be argued that the smaller riders have to work harder to control the bike than larger riders. MM has an extremely physical riding style compared to Rossi.

IMO, Rossi's only disadvantage right now is age. Even that is slight. There is a lot to be said for experience and race craft in moto racing.

age only in that crashes create mental scars, that and the fact that you don't bounce back wash after was like the young'ns do.

It looks like there's a chance of a larger pool of winners, or at least podium finishers. For all the stuffing around the rules may have just landed right.

I know he reckons things have improved (and discounting the $$), but I wonder if Cal wishes he was on the Yamaha?

With Gigi in house shaking things up and MotoGP moving to the spec ECU in the future, it seems to me that Ducati is getting a head start on developing the bike around that. Hopefully he is happy enough with that.

I'd take the money, learn to ride different than ol' Jorgey and race. Ducati has to do something this year with the Marlboro deal on the line. If they don't, I can't wait to hear what Cal has to say about it.

I don't understand why Crutchlow is trying to change his riding style at the same time Ducati is trying to change the bike. Seems to me, one of the two has to be held constant so the other can be improved effectively. ... but what do I know?

Even if they're saying that the bike is going through a complete overhaul, they still have the same engineers so it's not like the Duc will become the Honda in a few months. For him to be competitive, he will need to adapt.

Are you thinking of Catalunya, 2009, where Rossi and J-lo were trading spots on the last lap?

 [evil] [evil]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTAQ1Sh02lc (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTAQ1Sh02lc)

That was a long time ago in a land far far away, Lorenzo is far wiser these days

Nope.  This one I think.

MotoGP™ Classics - Barcelona-Catalunya 2007 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4X4yvTHaRM#)

can;t find anything shorter than an hour?  [bang]

Hey............... it was a good race through & through..........  ;D

I just jumped to the last 5 laps. That was a good race. I miss those days. Imagine Casey having to ride against MM. I think that Casey coming back would motivate Vale to fight even harder, since he really like MM, but doesn't share the same feeling for Stoner.

The link I posed covers the topic final 6m ... if you can handle crazy Italian commentators :D

I think tossing Casey into the mix would just push Rossi out of the Casey/MM fight.  I'm still a VR fan but to be realistic... MM at full strength + Jorge not crashing out would have made a very different Quatar finale.  I'm still hoping he can find something to bring him back to regular podiums but I see dicing with Pedrosa to be the best of his season.

That being said, if Dorna wants to make the show better, it's time to contractually obligate that MM and Rossi duke it out at every race. haha