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   284.5   1'22.170   
2   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   288.3   1'22.423   0.253 / 0.253
3   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   289.8   1'22.466   0.296 / 0.043
4   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   290.9   1'22.599   0.429 / 0.133
5   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   291.4   1'22.631   0.461 / 0.032
6   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   289.2   1'22.767   0.597 / 0.136
7   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   291.9   1'22.802   0.632 / 0.035
8   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   291.1   1'22.848   0.678 / 0.046
9   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   289.7   1'22.874   0.704 / 0.026
10   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   288.5   1'22.896   0.726 / 0.022
11   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   292.9   1'22.908   0.738 / 0.012
12   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   290.3   1'23.150   0.980 / 0.242
13   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   289.3   1'23.229   1.059 / 0.079
14   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   277.4   1'23.372   1.202 / 0.143
15   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   277.2   1'23.420   1.250 / 0.048
16   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   278.4   1'23.428   1.258 / 0.008
17   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   278.8   1'23.432   1.262 / 0.004
18   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   284.6   1'23.699   1.529 / 0.267
19   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   282.0   1'23.825   1.655 / 0.126
20   70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   278.7   1'23.925   1.755 / 0.100
21   63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   277.1   1'24.131   1.961 / 0.206
22   23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   273.8   1'24.974   2.804 / 0.843
23   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   Octo IodaRacing Team   ART   272.1   1'25.219   3.049 / 0.245

FP2:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   282.3   1'22.041   
2   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   290.2   1'22.158   0.117 / 0.117
3   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   289.0   1'22.368   0.327 / 0.210
4   6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   290.7   1'22.430   0.389 / 0.062
5   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   290.6   1'22.440   0.399 / 0.010
6   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   289.3   1'22.565   0.524 / 0.125
7   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   290.0   1'22.569   0.528 / 0.004
8   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   291.7   1'22.576   0.535 / 0.007
9   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   291.2   1'22.589   0.548 / 0.013
10   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   289.0   1'22.619   0.578 / 0.030
11   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   288.6   1'22.719   0.678 / 0.100
12   68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   287.9   1'22.724   0.683 / 0.005
13   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   288.3   1'22.757   0.716 / 0.033
14   70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   276.4   1'22.928   0.887 / 0.171
15   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   276.0   1'22.933   0.892 / 0.005
16   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   281.9   1'22.961   0.920 / 0.028
17   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   279.8   1'23.049   1.008 / 0.088
18   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   277.1   1'23.204   1.163 / 0.155
19   5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   283.2   1'23.327   1.286 / 0.123
20   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   275.5   1'23.393   1.352 / 0.066
21   63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   275.7   1'23.858   1.817 / 0.465
22   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   Octo IodaRacing Team   ART   271.4   1'23.912   1.871 / 0.054
23   23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   276.7   1'24.158   2.117 / 0.246

Apparently MM's spill in FP1 did not quite hinder him for FP2.

Word was he bumped the shifter, went 2nd to 3rd at full lean.  :P
Didn't slow him down much at all.
Pics are dramatic, dunno how his head stayed on.

Bradley's wading through the spares at a good clip.

Pedrosa lost the front into the turn after the waterfall, copped a pretty good thumping.
Couldn't even call the bike second hand, more like barely third hand.
He was looking very fast.

Quite the entertaining race for a bit.
Would have been way better if Bradl's crew had been able to complete the 'dry' conversion on the grid.

Dunno what RD is going to do about such a giant pack starting from pit lane, that was really hairball.

Pos.   Points   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time/Gap
1   25   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   158.1   41'47.664
2   20   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   158.0   +1.466
3   16   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   157.4   +10.317
4   13   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   156.9   +19.194
5   11   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Pramac Racing   Ducati   156.6   +23.509
6   10   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   156.3   +27.809
7   9   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   156.0   +33.253
8   8   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   155.9   +33.868
9   7   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   155.9   +34.231
10   6   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   Ducati Team   Ducati   155.9   +34.676
11   5   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   GO&FUN Honda Gresini   Honda   155.7   +37.744
12   4   7   Hiroshi AOYAMA   JPN   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   155.3   +45.018
13   3   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Cardion AB Motoracing   Honda   155.3   +45.177
14   2   69   Nicky HAYDEN   USA   Drive M7 Aspar   Honda   155.2   +46.676
15   1   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   Octo IodaRacing Team   ART   154.8   +52.769
16      6   Stefan BRADL   GER   LCR Honda MotoGP   Honda   154.7   +53.889
17      68   Yonny HERNANDEZ   COL   Energy T.I. Pramac Racing   Ducati   154.7   +54.476
18      8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   154.6   +56.215
19      38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   154.6   +56.293
20      5   Colin EDWARDS   USA   NGM Forward Racing   Forward Yamaha   154.1   +1'04.083
21      23   Broc PARKES   AUS   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   153.7   +1'10.928
22      63   Mike DI MEGLIO   FRA   Avintia Racing   Avintia   153.2   +1'19.975
Not Classified
70   Michael LAVERTY   GBR   Paul Bird Motorsport   PBM   153.3   13 Laps

MM, what can you say? If he wins the next 2 races, he becomes the only person to ever win the first 11 races of the season. At this point I would not go as far as saying that he will win every race, but I wouldn't put it pass him to win 15.

Give Iannone a factory ride!! He at least tries to ride the bike as it should be ridden.

That was a make the beast with two backsed up start. Thankfully no one crashed out of pit lane.

Poor Stephan,  it was handed to him on a silver platter.

And yes, someone give Iannone a real bike!

Yeah I was sure holding my breath at the pit lane start. It could have been a disaster, but amazingly they all got through.

Maybe Iannone is focussing on adapting to the bike rather than the factory guys thinking about how the bike should change? I dunno.



Outback Jack is back! ;D

Motogp - how did MM recover from that bang straight on?

Crazy start. Too bad Bradl's electronic wasn't setup properly due to last minute at grid changes despite good call on tyre choice.

Too bad Rossi didn't keep Lorenzo off :(

Moto3. Jack miller indeed is back. Practice session - like the way he warms his back tyre sliding it and the one hand wheelie is great.  Too bad about Fenati

Mm's a tough little bugger.

George showed some class today.

Agree with that  [thumbsup]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say two things that might be sacrilegious but I don't care.

1. I love Crusty. Really I do. But I want to see him jump into something else so Crazy Joe can take his seat.

2. I wish Rossi would GTFO and move into another position with Yamaha. Crutchlow should have had a shot at that given his performance last year and it pains me to see him even bother with the Ducati. I can see why Rossi wants to stick around for the 2016 year. Maybe he will have a chance again at a championship with all the changes? But I don't care. Right now, he has no chance against MM and somebody younger could be taking that good bike and trying to do something with it.

Flame away  [popcorn]

I'm with you on #1. Iannone deserves his seat.

You're crazy on #2. He's now 3rd in the championship behind Pedrobot. I'm not a huge Rossi fan (although I like him), and I don't think anyone else could ride that M1 better. Definitely not Cal. No one stands a chance against MM right now.

They couldn't even keep up if they were riding 2 up on his bike. ;)

I know I'm crazy.  ;D

I'm also a younger generation and I missed Rossi's glory days. I don't see him in the same light as others.

Which means I'd like to see the old dog out and a new one in. Rossi was on the podium 6 times vs. Crusty's 4 in 2013 and he was on a satellite. Certainly Val has stepped it up as he's been on the podium 5 times this year but still.

Either way, crazy start to the race today. I turned it on half a lap into the race and got a real surprise to see the open guys up front

The truth is Rossi still has it, given he's a senior citizen [laugh]

I like Cal, but Dovi consistently beat him while in Tech3, and he's still beating him on the Duc. We all like his personality, but he's not an alien.

I think Cal would be interesting on Suzuki because it sorta fits his standing.  He's not an alien but he's around factory rider status... Suzuki isnt the top factory but they are a factory ride.  I'd like to see him try it out because I'm pretty sure that Ducati is going to try to push him to move from the factory ride.

And I have a hard time saying that Rossi is out... I cant think of someone else that I would like to see riding that bike on the grid.  I'm also from a younger generation that didnt watch him in his glory days but his results this year speak for themselves to me.  The only person I would think of moving up to that spot is AE and he has been crashing too much to be a contender.

But, in the end... all this is moot because MM is just going to spank them all anyway. haha.  That kid is just ridiculous... and, theoretically, he's just going to get better and faster with some more seasons under his belt.  That just crazy to me.

until he has one of those crashes that puts the fear of the flying spaghetti monster into him

Rossi is third in the championship behind the turd. Behind the guy that has never won a world championship.

Just saying  [shot]

 ;D

I know he is still a very good rider. But I still can't help but feel like he will never beat MM. So to me, it's two more years of him bringing in money to Yamaha without the real deal results. Kinda like beating a dead horse.

You guys reserve the right to burn me at the stake if proven wrong.

If there was no MM, Rossi would be in contention for the Championship.

But, if pigs could fly, skeet shooting would be much more popular.

Rossi is past his sell-by date.
But his marketing value overrides that.
MotoGP is not a meritocracy.

I assume it's a rules thing that keeps riders (like Bradl this past weekend) from altering the electronics settings during the race? Plenty of consumer bikes make it easy to toggle between modes that alter the fuel mapping and traction control, and I can see it'd be tremendously useful to a rider to have different maps at his fingertips, especially in a race like this one that was on the cusp between wet & dry.

I've got the smiley ready... ;)

(http://i600.photobucket.com/albums/tt84/SVT-GT500/smileys/mob-smiley.gif)

But yeah, I'm with speeddog... and all of the other aliens have had a good battle with MM this season and each one has been beaten in that 1v1.  I think it's too hard to factor in MM at this point to the rest of the grid's standings... they only make more sense once he's taken out of them.


I actually think he's had a couple of them and he's managed to break a record doing that too haha.  The highest speed crash in MotoGP to date is on his CV too.  And those pics from this weekend of him landing on his head and the angle that helmet took looked horrible.  Not to mention him breaking his leg this year too.

 [laugh]

Another thing to consider...GP teams care more about the manufacturer championship than the rider championship. As long as a rider is getting podiums consistenly, they are doing their job. They don't HAVE to win the individual championship, which is why HRC still really likes Pedrosa.

It wasnt the electronics... it seems that they didnt have time to change to a full dry setup for Bradl on the grid and they left in the wrong springs for the forks.

From this article:

http://motomatters.com/analysis/2014/07/14/2014_sachsenring_sunday_motogp_round_up_.html (http://motomatters.com/analysis/2014/07/14/2014_sachsenring_sunday_motogp_round_up_.html)

" Bradl's crew chief, 'Beefy' Bourguignon told the German publication Speedweek that they had planned to swap front fork springs, rear shock, and front brakes around for the start of the race. Normally, they would need 5:15 minutes to do all the work on the grid. But as the mechanics removed Bradl's rear shock, they dropped a spacer, losing precious time in recovering it. That left them with too little time to swap front fork springs, and with the softer of the front tires. The soft front forks meant that Bradl couldn't brake as hard as he needed to, with a dramatic effect on his lap times."

Feel pretty bad for him... he really needed some more results.

They can change electronic maps on the fly.

What they can't change during a race is suspension settings for dry vs. wet, which can involve quite a bit of work. I thought that was Bradl's problem.

Yep, the front forks were too soft. It was quite obvious when he had a huge moment going through the fast left turns. You could also tell because he should be able to open a huge gap between himself and the open bikes.

Got it; thanks for clarifying that. And for making my day with the knowledge that there's a guy in the MotoGP pits who goes by the moniker 'Beefy' Bourguignon!  [laugh]

let me make sure i understand this correctly. rossi is the fastest/most consistent guy in the championship NOT on a honda, and you think he should give up his ride because he's old?

Good thing I don't have the feeling...

'cuz it'd be crushed. ;D

Perspective. It's just an opinion.

I've nothing against the elderly. My opinion is that he doesn't have it in him to beat MM.

I'd like to see what Aleix could do on the factory ride.

Like I said earlier, maybe 2016 will be his year.

Maybe I'm wrong about everything. Wouldn't be the first time  :P

I don't think anyone on any bike has anything for MM.

It's all academic until he loses the mojo, a manufacturer builds a better bike, or the tire/rules change makes the Honda a dog.

I don't see any of those happening for quite some time.

IMO, Rossi is the only one with the mental fortitude to beat MM.
I don't think he's got quite enough speed to do it.

Pedrosa is broken.
Lorenzo is broken.
They're fast enough to fight, but they're mind f*cked.

Rossi was spectacular in his day, but it's time to move on and let the younger blokes have a go.

Na, he's performing too well to retire. He's the best No.2 rider there at present and would be an asset to any team with his experience in bike development.

as of the german round, rossi has bested lorenzo in two-thirds of the races this season.

he's also beat the second fastest guy on the best bike (pedrosa) four times, something lorenzo has only done once.

yamaha liked what they've seen enough to re-sign rossi for another two years.

lorenzo? no new contract (yet), and when he signs, i'm expecting it'll be for less money due to the above.

aleix probably "deserves" a better bike, but that's not likely to happen until his current contract is up unless a potential suitor is willing to buy him out of yet another obligation.

Yeah... I can't see how any factory would want to cut Rossi at this point.  It's just because he's older and that he's Rossi that people are bagging on him I feel.  I mean, if AE or Iannone or any of the younger guys were posting up his same results we would all be cheering him on as next possible contender to MM.

Imo, results are results.  If you're the top 2nd or 3rd in that season... no one can really argue with you deserving that spot.

Either way, this is one hell of a swan song for him.  If it werent for the game changer of MM showing up that is.

Yes, this is Rossi's 2nd swan song, the first after winning a championship after 2 yrs went by.  Pedrosa has matured a lot, as has Lorenzo. Does Pedrosa really still deserve to be called a turd? Give the man a break. If only he knew how to pass others! He appears to be the only one w/ a chance to beat MM.

I'm quite disappointed w/ Cal, was hoping he'd give it a stronger go this year on the Duck. Much as I like Dovi, it would be great to see Cal beat him. It'll be interesting to see where Cal lands- likely the Zook? He's becoming like Spies, burning bridges in a very small circle. Better watch that! I agree, Cal should ride out his last yr at Ducati but that's not looking likely. 
Will/ should Nicky hang in for another year? His bike is no faster than it started.
Rossi is truly earning his spot and I have no issues w/ him sticking around. Quite suprising to see him in front of JLo regularly. 
Colin Edwards is out right, who took his ride this yr again?

Forward will probably need to replace both CE and AE.

what bridges did spies burn?

will definitely need to replace colin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbC_89dhDFE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbC_89dhDFE)

I know that they need to replace CE, but now, depending if you believe the gossip, they might also need to replace AE.

No he doesn't really deserve to be called a Turd but it's more fun that way.

I forget where I read it but they said he is the 8th most successful rider on GP history.

He is fast. No doubt. The stars just never aligned for him and now..... #93

Yeah, it was like being in the top 5 for the world heavyweight championship when Ali was around. Bugger. ;D

so.....nobody should be riding around the track except mm because its all for nothing...it's settled then.


iroc for bikes is the only answer.

derby, you're right. I could have selected better wording. My point is though, like Cal with his horrendous luck this season, Spies had such bad episodes and luck with Yamaha, then Ducati, that he didn't seem employable anymore. Before he retired. Mechanical defects seem to hurt the perception of a riders' ability to do well. Spies did seem to bring a lot of it on himself, burning up clutches etc. Wish he was still on the horse tho.
The GPS unit on both Cals and Spies's Duck got confused where the bike was on the track. Happened to Nicky at least once also.  The Ducati is not just a career staller- it snags the riders' own confidence.
MGP seems a lot like baseball- your confidence can really affect the outcome. A lot of mind tricks are needed to win. Look at Lorenzo this season. Is it all in his head? (he used to be consistently ahead of Rossi). Now Rossi's head is back in the game & JLo is struggling.

You can't completely blame the bike for cal's issues. He's definitely had more issues with the equipment compared to Dovi, language barrier maybe, but most of his bad results have to be on his inability to ride the bike. Again, anyone naive enough to think that they'll be able to jump on a bike with the history the Duc has and think he'll win is clearly delusional.

I think if Ducati could take this year's bike and ran it against the Yamaha and Honda fro the first year of the 1Kcc bikes, they might be more competitive. The biggest issue is that Yamaha and Honda simply improve their bikes year over year and Ducati simply has not had a chance to catch up. Radical change.

I'd really like to see MM ride the Duc...just a test ride. He seems to adapt himself to the bike more than anyone else. I also think that is why Stoner was successful on it.

Agreed  I think that he would be amazing on it 

I think Cal was looking at the dollar signs vs the wins when he signed onto the team... and no matter what happens to his careers, he knows that he has that much in the bank to retire on.  I doubt he thought that he would jump on and win... but I think he didnt think it would be this bad.  Much like every other rider that's jumped onto the Duc.

that was one of the biggest issues w/ harley's vr1000 program, too.

IIRC, they took Suzuki's approach.
Spend enough to be there, but nowhere near enough to get the job done.

That's not the case with the Duc. They dumped a shitload of money and continued even though it wasn't working.

Why exactly should Rossi move aside for them? He's faster than they are.

Should MM step aside for them too? What does age have to do with this? Faster is faster.

JLo should definitely lose his seat before Rossi does to "make room".