Ducati Monster Forum

FP1:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   286.0   1'39.357   
2   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   288.4   1'39.714   0.357 / 0.357
3   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   292.2   1'39.849   0.492 / 0.135
4   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   293.3   1'39.860   0.503 / 0.011
5   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   289.9   1'40.167   0.810 / 0.307
6   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   291.5   1'40.560   1.203 / 0.393
7   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   290.9   1'40.619   1.262 / 0.059
8   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   291.2   1'40.644   1.287 / 0.025
9   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   283.7   1'40.686   1.329 / 0.042
10   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   287.3   1'40.758   1.401 / 0.072
11   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   280.3   1'40.846   1.489 / 0.088
12   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   288.3   1'40.879   1.522 / 0.033
13   51   Michele PIRRO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   291.4   1'40.924   1.567 / 0.045
14   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   281.1   1'40.928   1.571 / 0.004
15   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   287.3   1'41.002   1.645 / 0.074
16   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   282.7   1'41.183   1.826 / 0.181
17   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   282.7   1'41.252   1.895 / 0.069
18   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   286.6   1'41.364   2.007 / 0.112
19   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   278.0   1'41.374   2.017 / 0.010
20   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   280.9   1'41.578   2.221 / 0.204
21   23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   274.8   1'42.171   2.814 / 0.593
22   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   IodaRacing Project   ART   275.1   1'42.188   2.831 / 0.017
23   63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   277.7   1'42.346   2.989 / 0.158
24   70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   276.4   1'43.015   3.658 / 0.669

FP2:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   290.3   1'39.757   
2   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   287.2   1'39.973   0.216 / 0.216
3   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   291.9   1'40.028   0.271 / 0.055
4   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   292.2   1'40.125   0.368 / 0.097
5   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   290.9   1'40.133   0.376 / 0.008
6   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   294.8   1'40.491   0.734 / 0.358
7   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   292.6   1'40.616   0.859 / 0.125
8   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   290.5   1'40.672   0.915 / 0.056
9   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   288.0   1'40.742   0.985 / 0.070
10   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   281.7   1'40.788   1.031 / 0.046
11   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   290.9   1'40.918   1.161 / 0.130
12   51   Michele PIRRO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   290.2   1'40.930   1.173 / 0.012
13   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   286.4   1'41.092   1.335 / 0.162
14   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   283.2   1'41.188   1.431 / 0.096
15   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   291.7   1'41.353   1.596 / 0.165
16   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   287.3   1'41.360   1.603 / 0.007
17   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   279.9   1'41.465   1.708 / 0.105
18   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   IodaRacing Project   ART   275.5   1'41.589   1.832 / 0.124
19   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   281.0   1'41.619   1.862 / 0.030
20   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   284.9   1'41.831   2.074 / 0.212
21   70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   278.9   1'41.914   2.157 / 0.083
22   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   280.5   1'41.934   2.177 / 0.020
23   63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   279.5   1'42.220   2.463 / 0.286
24   23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   273.8   1'42.424   2.667 / 0.204

Yamahas looked good in the morning, before it got really hot. The afternoon looked like another runaway for MM.

Is it just me or does the track look like it isn't very wide?

Maybe it just seems that way because Argentina was a nice wide track.

Q2:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   292.1   1'38.120   
2   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   287.5   1'38.541   0.421 / 0.421
3   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   292.7   1'38.630   0.510 / 0.089
4   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   289.4   1'38.857   0.737 / 0.227
5   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   284.8   1'39.007   0.887 / 0.150
6   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   291.0   1'39.222   1.102 / 0.215
7   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   291.1   1'39.243   1.123 / 0.021
8   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   289.2   1'39.293   1.173 / 0.050
9   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   290.6   1'39.390   1.270 / 0.097
10   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   291.8   1'39.751   1.631 / 0.361
11   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   286.3   1'39.814   1.694 / 0.063
12   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   280.0   1'39.826   1.706 / 0.012

MM just spank the rest of the field. Almost half a second over Jorghey in second. Granted, that was only 1 lap after being behind Lorenzzzzo most of the session. He also needed 3 runs while all others just had 2. Still, this kid is sick...

Having MM around is making the bet for who's gonna be champ for 2014 pretty boring.

Marquez hadn't used the soft tire much, if at all, during practice. He had two hot laps prior to getting pole to get used to it.

All his times in practice were set on the race tire while Lornzo and Pedrosa had used the soft and they were just a couple of tenths ahead of the kid.

It's gonna be another Argentina.

I hope it's like Argentina, but only the first five laps of that race.

I'd like to see that for an entire race too, but we all know it isn't gonna happen.

It does every weekend... just in Moto 2/3 only though :(

Though... one thing I've noticed is that whenever Rossi is poking around in the front pack, things are pretty exciting... it's only when he slows down halfway through the race do things become a procession again.  So lets hope he has the pace this weekend to keep on nipping at the guys at the front.

Now you say it, that seems true.
I hope Crazy Joe can put it all together and podium the Duc.

Dominance

Pos.   Points   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time/Gap
1   25   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   157.8   45'24.134
2   20   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   157.7   +1.431
3   16   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   157.7   +1.529
4   13   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   157.3   +8.541
5   11   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   156.2   +27.494
6   10   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   156.2   +27.606
7   9   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   156.2   +27.917
8   8   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   156.2   +27.947
9   7   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   156.1   +29.419
10   6   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   155.9   +32.872
11   5   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   155.7   +35.490
12   4   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   155.5   +40.083
13   3   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   155.3   +43.830
14   2   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   154.8   +52.295
15   1   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   154.7   +54.873
16      70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   154.0   +1'06.182
17      23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   153.1   +1'23.420

Not Classified
5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   154.5   1 Lap
29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   153.7   5 Laps
63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   144.9   6 Laps
17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   149.2   17 Laps
35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   153.8   23 Laps
51   Michele PIRRO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   151.1   25 Laps

I might have read somewhere that Colin Edwards decided to retire, but not sure if that was from the race or for good.

I think Pedrosa sleeps half of the race, until he finally realizes he is riding a bike which has 4/10 of a second a lap potential, over the bikes before him.

Yep...complete dominance.

Very good ride by Rossi. Good, if not a little disappointing, ride by Pedrobot.

Not sure what happened to JLo? I'm sure he'll blame it on a tire problem.  ;)

Dunno if dominance is a strong enough word.  :P

Good to see Dovi fighting off the barbarians for 5th.  [beer]

I think Lorenzo has a broken wire somewhere.

Seems Cal has inherited Ben's bad juju.

Yep. MM and the Honda are in his head, and I think he's lost the faith in his M1.

I think next season JLo is on a Honda. Seems he is realizing that the only way he can compete with MM is on equal machinery. At least that is his excuse internally. If HRC offers (and I think they will/have), then JLo accepts.

Pedro will end up on the Yamaha...OR, if Rossi stays and Aleix gets the factory offer, then he may be out of luck. I think Yamaha would make room for him though.

Cal is surely having terrible luck. Unbelievable.

JLo chose the wrong tire (mid), in the aftermath. Rossi chose the hard one, which according to them was the right choice today.

Great to see Rossi on podium. Psychopath MM is just too good and just ruining the fun of guessing #1.  Too bad Cal had issue with the bike.  Nice fight for 5th and Dovi getting ahead.  Karl Abraham just has no luck it seems.

I wonder how Yourghey's ego will handle MM spanking him on 'equal' machinery.

Probably won't go well!  [laugh]

Great first few laps!

Good race by Rossi.   It's good to see him in the front part of the pack.

Someone get Iannone a real bike.

And another great ride by MM! 


His ego would be so annoyed by the endless whining that it would actually leave him. 

I think he has to do it, but it could end his career if he still gets beat.

I've been thinking the same thing. He just doesn't carry the fire that MM has though.

Great race for Marquez again. I still haven't gotten tired of seeing him win. The kid is just insane.

Bautista finally finished a race!  [cheeky]

...or at least cut his salary. ;)

Great seeing Rossi back up there at the end of the race.

I'm not sure if JLo would actually do that well with the Honda... I think one of the reasons that he does so well with the M1 is because it's completely his bike.  MM has almost the polar opposite riding style and I cant see Honda configuring the bike for anyone except MM.

I say JLo's only chance for another shot will be next year when the new tires come out.  Everyone will be on the same footing and it'll just come down to who's set up fits better from the start.

And really though... they should just start playing Vader's theme song whenever MM shows up at a press conference.  It'll put everything into perspective for the other riders. haha

What new tires? Bridgestone is contracted through 2015. They're on the same footing now from a tire perspective.

I think JLo could adapt his style to the Honda. I still don't think he'll beat MM though.

Let's imagine this, to solve all the IF and ELSE about riders, skills, bikes and tires.
One event a year, whose bike and tire sponsors are drafted among the one taking part to the MotoGP championship (and willing to participate, of course).
So, one bike, for everyone, which is allowed to be customized only for ergonomics.
The bike sponsor will have to provide bikes for the racers. It's $$$, but the marketing potential is high, and collectors would likely kill themselves to eventually own the bike used in the trophy by their favorite rider.
Few sets of different tires, among which the riders can chose depending of race conditions. One sponsor, or maybe many, since the riders will be free to chose the best tire for him.
One selected track where the event take place.
Race on Sunday, but the event starts the weekend before, with large media coverage and riders participating to the opening, and interacting with fans.
Sponsors have the chance to use that as advertising event for new bikes and gear, among the fans taking part to the opening.
A few wild cards might be given to riders of other categories, as long as they will qualify in terms of time on laps.
Monday to Thursday for the riders to test the bikes, and adjust the ergonomics. No engine changes whatsoever allowed.
Media coverage of the tests, with interviews with the riders all along the way.
Friday and Saturday it's laps timing for grid selection, and Sunday The Race.
Sunday night party with strippers and booze!  [drink]  ;D

http://msn.foxsports.com/speed/motogp/motogp-lorenzo-admits-lack-of-race-fitness/ (http://msn.foxsports.com/speed/motogp/motogp-lorenzo-admits-lack-of-race-fitness/)

I elect Phillip Island as the venue! ;D
They party hard at the Island.

Unfortunately for the opposition, MM seems to have a combination of the strengths of Rossi and Stoner rolled into one, without the weaknesses.

MM has Rossi's joyful killer instinct, tactical judgement and mental toughness with Stoner's kinaesthetic touch.

Are we going to start a silly season thread? Cause the announcers were talking the possibility of Pedrosa going to Suzuki. HRC has made quite a few offers to Lorenzo in the past, but I doubt his ego would allow for MM to beat him on the same bike

Can Ducati just buy out Crutchlow's contract so he can go somewhere, anywhere, and we don't have to watch another agonizing downward inverted spiral like Spies?

I wish he had never signed that contract.

He is already pregnant doging about the lack of progress with the bike.

Then again he is having the bad luck curse that Spies had

+2
It's hard to watch a career get derailed. Even more so for a likable bloke.
I reckon Crusty would ride the wheels off a customer Honda. At least it's predictable. A good basic package, but underpowered, but he could really grab that thing and show everyone what he could do.
"Customer" Yamaha would have been even better. Right now a fringe team Yamaha must look peachy.

I think the problem with that is once you're off a factory bike it's pretty much impossible to get back onto one... and at least the Duc will be developed as the season goes.  With the satellites/production bikes... satellites might get hand me downs and production bikes will probably get a revision the next year. Remember, it's always been his and Dovi's goal to be a factory rider.

Factor that in with all the new talent coming up in Moto2/3... I think CC's best bet is to stick with the Duc and pray that Gigi can make some miracles happen... or if he could somehow go to Suzuki.

Yeah, you're right. Factory is where it's at if you have any ambition.
Hopefully Gigi can turn it around.

CC will pregnant dog either way. He's getting frustrated between the injury and some issue that came out of nowhere to completely ruin his race. The fact that the Ducs are regularly beating the satellites shows a lot of progress. Last year they were fighting for 8th and 9th places. Now they seem to be fighting for 5th and 6th. CC knew what he was getting into.

+1.      Gigi has got things turned but Cal isn't where he said he would be nor where we expected him to be. I don't think we thought he would be battling up front but geeez. I always said Dovi was a more solid rider than Cal, maybe not as brash or flashy, but results speak for themselves.

We always knew Cal was going to be good for some quotes!  [laugh]

Yep, you're right too. You guys are the voice of reason.
I also forget, there was the cigarette money.

I couldn't find the quote, but if Cal said the bike's not progressing, I think the results of the other Duc riders show that's not quite correct. And by progressing, I mean in relation to the likes of Lorenzo, Rossi & Pedrosa. Nobody's progressing relative to Marquez.

But his anger is entirely appropriate at the fact that he keeps lining up with a bike that craps out on him more weekends than not. It's probably even more frustrating that most of the problems seem to be one-off, weird snafus and things that aren't necessarily even under the control of his crew. And it's got to be absolutely maddening to miss one race and underperform qualifying for another with something that sounds as minor (but isn't) as a broken pinkie.

aka The Curse of the Spies

Sadly, it seems to be striking CC before he's won any kind of world championships.  I almost forget that less than a year ago CC was nipping at the heels of the lead pack and 2 years ago Dovi was a solid year long podium finisher. Pretty sad really.

Let hope they manage to roll out some real development pieces during the Mugello test... that should be the first real development under Gigi's reign.

Well, it isn't like nobody knew the Duc's been a perennial problem, then Cal was fed the Red CoolAid and woke up surprised….or didn't he notice Rossi in his rear view mirror for the past two years?

That was Stoner's main complaint. What you started the season with is what you got.

But that can't be the case this year with Marlboro on the line demanding better results

Who knows. They gave Rossi and JB everything they needed, and it didn't help.

Interestingly, Stoner said the carbon fiber frame bike they gave him was a good idea, and he thought it could have been a great bike. They just needed to commit the needed resources, which they didn't do.

Did Stoner say that too?  I thought it was Hayden that said that he was actually doing better with the CF frame before they went back to twin spar AL for Rossi.

I'd still like to see them go back to a CF frame as it seems that the duc's probs weren't related to the frame at all.  If anything just to see more innovation coming from the paddock rather than everyone following the same mold.

I agree.
I know I'm not alone in saying this and it's been said plenty, but I hate seeing the bikes morph together in design to chase the tyres, it shits me. [bang]
It's just so interesting to watch the different strengths and weaknesses of design philosophies battle it out at different tracks. Thankfully the Honda and Yamaha have different characteristics to keep it interesting. I cant blame MM for being too good.

I hope Gigi doesn't completely "un Ducati" the design (whatever that means) ;D. I'm sure he's smart enough to keep the company's strengths, but handle the weaknesses. While they went from bad to worse mimicking the Japanese factories, at least they made podium and occasionally won on the carbon framed bike. Pity carbon dampens feedback. I wonder how thin or flexy it's gotta be to give good feel.
I say it again, bring back the trellis! [laugh]

I hope Suzuki commit to using an inline 4. They're good at that.

Interesting comments by Dovi on where the bike stands now in relation to the top 4, and where they need to take it:

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/204112/1/dovi-top-four-ride-in-a-completely-different-way.html (http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/204112/1/dovi-top-four-ride-in-a-completely-different-way.html)

I'm reading his autobiography now. He claims the bike had a lot of potential, it just needed the development commitment which they wouldn't provide. He also says he thinks it is unfair that Preziosi took the blame, saying he thought he was a genius engineer.

Gigi is a twin spar guy too. Time will tell.

Their progress is the same bike with more fuel, more engines, soft tire for qualy, and spec software that happens to be theirs  :P.  They progressed slightly without actually changing anything.

That's certainly one way of looking at it.

If I was paying zillions of dollars in sponsor money to Ducati, I would want more than that.

I think Marlboro would agree with me.

Not only that but not even being allowed to fly their brand on the bike and not being to mention their name as the sponsor...

I'm always amazed that Phillip Morris even gives the Duc team a single cent anymore.  I'm a bit stumped as to what benefit it gives back to the company beyond the fact that Marlboro has a reputation of sponsoring racing.

Amazes me a bit too...they also sponsor the Ferrari F1 team. In the end everyone knows the barcode is for Marlboro, and smoking is still popular in Europe...but I think just as important is they might just like racing.

I think the issue is that most people who like racing are actually way more into the winning part of racing haha

 Tax writeoff.

I almost said that as well.  :)