Ducati Monster Forum

Wanted to get this thread going:

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2017/03/22/qatargp-the-lowdown-from-the-press-conference/221478

Today's schedule! All times in EST. Can't wait for this season!

11:00 - 11:40 Moto3 Free Practice Nr. 1
11:55 - 12:40 Moto2 Free Practice Nr. 1
12:55 - 13:40 MotoGP Free Practice Nr. 1
13:55 - 14:35 Moto3 Free Practice Nr. 2
14:50 - 15:35 Moto2 Free Practice Nr. 2

No surprises here. FP1:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   25   Maverick VIÑALES   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   334.8   1'54.316   
2   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   337.7   1'54.912   0.596 / 0.596
3   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   337.7   1'55.210   0.894 / 0.298
4   94   Jonas FOLGER   GER   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   333.3   1'55.587   1.271 / 0.377
5   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Ducati Team   Ducati   342.9   1'55.607   1.291 / 0.020
6   76   Loris BAZ   FRA   Reale Avintia Racing   Ducati   333.6   1'55.624   1.308 / 0.017
7   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   LCR Honda   Honda   334.1   1'55.639   1.323 / 0.015
8   5   Johann ZARCO   FRA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   334.2   1'55.792   1.476 / 0.153
9   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   339.6   1'55.799   1.483 / 0.007
10   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   Aprilia Racing Team Gresini   Aprilia   332.2   1'55.872   1.556 / 0.073
11   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   342.8   1'55.873   1.557 / 0.001
12   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   OCTO Pramac Racing   Ducati   339.9   1'56.000   1.684 / 0.127
13   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Team SUZUKI ECSTAR   Suzuki   334.6   1'56.027   1.711 / 0.027
14   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   Pull&Bear Aspar Team   Ducati   343.8   1'56.128   1.812 / 0.101
15   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Pull&Bear Aspar Team   Ducati   338.4   1'56.399   2.083 / 0.271
16   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   OCTO Pramac Racing   Ducati   341.5   1'56.419   2.103 / 0.020
17   43   Jack MILLER   AUS   EG 0,0 Marc VDS   Honda   334.9   1'56.453   2.137 / 0.034
18   42   Alex RINS   SPA   Team SUZUKI ECSTAR   Suzuki   334.9   1'56.502   2.186 / 0.049
19   53   Tito RABAT   SPA   EG 0,0 Marc VDS   Honda   336.0   1'56.725   2.409 / 0.223
20   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Reale Avintia Racing   Ducati   341.5   1'56.725   2.409
21   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   KTM   334.8   1'57.630   3.314 / 0.905
22   22   Sam LOWES   GBR   Aprilia Racing Team Gresini   Aprilia   330.8   1'57.887   3.571 / 0.257
23   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   KTM   332.6   1'58.114   3.798 / 0.227

Actually, I was wrong. Folger in P4 and Jorghey in P5 are surprises.

FP1, Ho Lee Shyt.

Kopf's boy is solidly on fire.
0.6sec ahead of MM in 2nd.
MM 0.3sec ahead of Pedrosa in 3rd.
Gaps are huge.

JLo 5th, Crusty 7th (Bike 1 spewed some oil, and bike 2 may have done the same).

Poncharal is looking a genius, Folger 4th, Zarco 8th.

Rossi 9th, but FP1, so no big deal, right?
But he's 4th Yamaha.
And 1.5sec down on Vinales.
That's a long ways off.

Rossi has been struggling all preseason. Granted, in previous years he doesn't exactly light up the board, but generally he gets his head together by WUP. We'll see how it goes since he seems to be a bit flustered this year. Vinales has been on fire all preseason and it's all anyone can talk about, so it's no surprised that he's leading the pack by such a large margin.

Folger in 4th  :o

I have to watch the whole FP1 since the few times I picked it up, Dovi was always ahead of Jorghey on the timesheets. I doubt he's found something magical that will translate to success on Sunday.

I like seeing Pedrosa in the top 5 again. Hopefully he's feeling comfortable on this year's bike.

AFAIK, Dovi did not fit a soft tire to go for a time attack.

Several others too, I reckon.

Lorenzo did, and led for a minute or two.

Lorenzo went storming out the back of the box after FP2.

That guy is a head case.

Scott Redding fastest in FP2.

Herve Poncheral made a couple of great choices. Both of his rookies were faster than You'reghey.

Odd session, only saw the last half.

Track was a lot slower, no chatter as to why, perhaps I missed that too.
<edit>
Wind and rain since last night fuxxored the track.
</edit>

JLo is not a happy bunny, perhaps due to Redding and Bautista being ahead of him on older kit.

FP2:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   OCTO Pramac Racing   Ducati   343.2   1'55.085   
2   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   347.8   1'55.185   0.100 / 0.100
3   94   Jonas FOLGER   GER   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   341.0   1'55.208   0.123 / 0.023
4   5   Johann ZARCO   FRA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   344.8   1'55.316   0.231 / 0.108
5   25   Maverick VIÑALES   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   342.7   1'55.378   0.293 / 0.062
6   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   341.7   1'55.414   0.329 / 0.036
7   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   Pull&Bear Aspar Team   Ducati   349.6   1'55.581   0.496 / 0.167
8   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Ducati Team   Ducati   347.8   1'55.604   0.519 / 0.023
9   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   341.5   1'55.698   0.613 / 0.094
10   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   Aprilia Racing Team Gresini   Aprilia   339.9   1'55.750   0.665 / 0.052
11   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   OCTO Pramac Racing   Ducati   344.3   1'55.760   0.675 / 0.010
12   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   LCR Honda   Honda   341.2   1'55.828   0.743 / 0.068
13   43   Jack MILLER   AUS   EG 0,0 Marc VDS   Honda   341.7   1'55.959   0.874 / 0.131
14   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Pull&Bear Aspar Team   Ducati   345.7   1'56.003   0.918 / 0.044
15   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Team SUZUKI ECSTAR   Suzuki   337.3   1'56.069   0.984 / 0.066
16   42   Alex RINS   SPA   Team SUZUKI ECSTAR   Suzuki   341.7   1'56.179   1.094 / 0.110
17   53   Tito RABAT   SPA   EG 0,0 Marc VDS   Honda   343.0   1'56.368   1.283 / 0.189
18   76   Loris BAZ   FRA   Reale Avintia Racing   Ducati   339.1   1'56.501   1.416 / 0.133
19   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   343.2   1'56.530   1.445 / 0.029
20   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Reale Avintia Racing   Ducati   345.8   1'56.934   1.849 / 0.404
21   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   KTM   342.7   1'57.116   2.031 / 0.182
22   22   Sam LOWES   GBR   Aprilia Racing Team Gresini   Aprilia   336.1   1'57.517   2.432 / 0.401
23   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   KTM   338.8   1'58.020   2.935 / 0.503

i just goes to show that if there's one speck of dust on the track, it will affect Jorghey and he will complain about it. Is good to see someone other than Maverick up there.

FP3:

Pos.   Num.   Rider   Nation   Team   Bike   Km/h   Time   Gap 1st/Prev.
1   25   Maverick VIÑALES   SPA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   339.5   1'54.834   
2   29   Andrea IANNONE   ITA   Team SUZUKI ECSTAR   Suzuki   337.5   1'54.848   0.014 / 0.014
3   5   Johann ZARCO   FRA   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   341.0   1'55.008   0.174 / 0.160
4   4   Andrea DOVIZIOSO   ITA   Ducati Team   Ducati   348.0   1'55.042   0.208 / 0.034
5   26   Dani PEDROSA   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   344.0   1'55.113   0.279 / 0.071
6   35   Cal CRUTCHLOW   GBR   LCR Honda   Honda   339.8   1'55.211   0.377 / 0.098
7   93   Marc MARQUEZ   SPA   Repsol Honda Team   Honda   343.0   1'55.296   0.462 / 0.085
8   9   Danilo PETRUCCI   ITA   OCTO Pramac Racing   Ducati   344.7   1'55.435   0.601 / 0.139
9   99   Jorge LORENZO   SPA   Ducati Team   Ducati   348.7   1'55.461   0.627 / 0.026
10   41   Aleix ESPARGARO   SPA   Aprilia Racing Team Gresini   Aprilia   344.8   1'55.634   0.800 / 0.173
11   19   Alvaro BAUTISTA   SPA   Pull&Bear Aspar Team   Ducati   347.0   1'55.676   0.842 / 0.042
12   94   Jonas FOLGER   GER   Monster Yamaha Tech 3   Yamaha   338.3   1'55.713   0.879 / 0.037
13   46   Valentino ROSSI   ITA   Movistar Yamaha MotoGP   Yamaha   342.6   1'55.790   0.956 / 0.077
14   17   Karel ABRAHAM   CZE   Pull&Bear Aspar Team   Ducati   345.6   1'56.095   1.261 / 0.305
15   42   Alex RINS   SPA   Team SUZUKI ECSTAR   Suzuki   341.3   1'56.249   1.415 / 0.154
16   53   Tito RABAT   SPA   EG 0,0 Marc VDS   Honda   339.9   1'56.617   1.783 / 0.368
17   45   Scott REDDING   GBR   OCTO Pramac Racing   Ducati   342.7   1'56.662   1.828 / 0.045
18   43   Jack MILLER   AUS   EG 0,0 Marc VDS   Honda   341.7   1'56.692   1.858 / 0.030
19   22   Sam LOWES   GBR   Aprilia Racing Team Gresini   Aprilia   336.3   1'56.854   2.020 / 0.162
20   76   Loris BAZ   FRA   Reale Avintia Racing   Ducati   338.3   1'56.935   2.101 / 0.081
21   8   Hector BARBERA   SPA   Reale Avintia Racing   Ducati   345.8   1'57.005   2.171 / 0.070
22   44   Pol ESPARGARO   SPA   Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   KTM   340.1   1'57.630   2.796 / 0.625
23   38   Bradley SMITH   GBR   Red Bull KTM Factory Racing   KTM   336.8   1'57.654   2.820 / 0.024

Jorghey missed Q2!

Demented Joseph pulled a lap out of his ass going from 17th to 2nd right before the checkered flag came out.

Zarco not only straight to Q2, but in 3rd place!

If this season is anything like the FPs in Qatar, it will not be for the faint of heart. At the end of the day, race distance pace is still Maverick and MM.

VR 13th too. Wow.

VR 10th in combined times. he made Q2.

Thats better. Sounds like the bike aint quite yet right for him. He'll find something race day as he usually does.

Torrential rains have thrown a spanner in he works.

Saturday festivities will likely be cancelled, pending final track inspection in a couple minutes (18:45 Qatar time).

Parts of the track are dry, others damp, and there are rivers going across the track.
And some ponds in runoff areas.

MotoGP FP4 to run at 20:30 Qatar time (10:30 PST)...... pending track conditions  [roll]

They just announced GP FP4 in 55 mins...subject to track conditions...

...and now the day has been cancelled.

Grid positions determined by combined free practice times.

Zarco will start in 4th...Redding in 6th.

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2017/03/25/qp-cancelled-vinales-on-pole-with-grid-formed-from-practice/221961

I predict Crusty in the rain, cuz everybody else is a pussy who picked the wrong tire.

So, when is this race going to actually run --- or did it?

Getting ready to lineup. Moisture delay, gonna run a 20 lap race.

My Boy!!!  [clap] What a race. Zarco was walking away early on, too bad. Lorenzo screwed the pooch early. Dovi looked 'strong'. Hey Cal, que the make the beast with two backs? Rossi was smooth as butter.

What a shit show to start! Great job by Zarco the first few laps, but it was Maverick's to lose.

Dovi did great keeping the soft tire grip to the end.

Rossi did what Rossi does, started 10th and just ate through the field to 3rd.

Aleix on the Aprilia 6th!! Jorghey, who cares?

And the sky just opened up just in time

Great race.  Zarco did a great job for debut.  Too bad for Ianone as he was doing great job.

Damn Vinyales!

I am a V46 fan and am happy for podium position.

It was a great race to watch for sure!

Damn fine race, I luckily managed to catch it while it was airing... my recording of it would have been cut short because of the delay.

Looking forward to this season.

You have to feel a bit for Zarco. It was a valiant effort but the lack of experience trying to push those soft tires beyond their useful traction life will have to be chalked--up to "I'll know better next time". Something he can learn from Dovizioso as his smooth throttle and braking skills demonstrated how to conserve tire life.

About Aprilia:
There's a happy team. Aleix Espargaro staged a stunning comeback from a poor starting position, fighting up through the field to take 6th.

About Rossi: Amazing! Never discount the old man.

I don't think Zarco had toasted his tire when he crashed. It was reported he got off line just a little and it's well known that being offline, even just a little, in Qatar is a bad thing. His inexperience showed, because as Dovi pointed out in the press conference, he wouldn't have had enough tire at the end going that pace at the beginning.

Zarco made all the podium sitters take notice. He'll be at the sharp end this season, and for many to come.

Agreed. Zarco put a lot of people on notice with his performance throughout the weekend. Even if the tires would not have lasted the whole race, the fact that he was fighting it out with the big boys and actually building a gap shows some impressive race craft, a point that Iannone is lacking.

Of all the stories this weekend, Rossi's comeback is by far the most impressive. Everyone understood that Maverick is batshit fast on the M1. Cal had it right. Other than pure speed, I didn't see the cutthroat race craft you see from MM and Rossi. I'm back on the Rossi bandwagon at least for a few weeks. I want him to find the magic and race up there with Maverick. I want to see how Vinales responds when he's swapping paint with Rossi and MM.

Expect more out of Ianonne this year. Dovi's the "bridesmaid" again. ;D

Dovi's decision to use the soft tire to get up there and then manage the grip turned out to be a good strategy. He would have likely won the race if not for Vinales being so damn fast on the M1. Ducati has done well in both Argentina and Austin, so we'll see if Dovi can steal one before heading back to Spain where you'll likely see the vets start pushing the young guys.

Good thing you can watch it on TV or recorded and view it later, because the Missus might have something for you to do.  :-*

MotoGP.com is a good thing

Cracker of a race ...going to be a great year

Yup got screwed on the recording missed last half of race ...Picked up the rest on Kodi

Cracked me up reading this,

Dear George,

I really should send you the Email I just got from Matthias in Germany.

But you don't know any German swear-words, so it would be pointless. And I cannot risk being hit by all the broken shisha pipes and busted chairs I see being hurled out of the smashed window of your motorhome.

Eleventh, George? Seriously? Eleventh? It wasn't raining.

I know you said it was. Franco and Loris even drove out and looked in case it was actually raining on the corners where you said it was, but they couldn't see any rain.

And no, I do not think finishing in 11th after starting in 12th is a "great improvement" and that you need a trophy for "Bravest, Best and Fairest". And no, we're not making up a sash for you to wear that says "Here is the Butter, putas!"

Jonas make the beast with two backsing Folger beat you. Alex Rins beat you. Sure, it was their first ever race on a MotoGP bike, so it's maybe like you say "Beginner's Luck".

But Scott Redding and Jack Miller also beat you. And you don't even know who they are, even though you've been racing them for a while.

Jesus make the beast with two backsen Christ, George. Even Asparagus A managed to haul his shitty Aprilia into sixth, which you would not have seen because you were in 11th.

I'm thinking you'll be racing with those boys a lot this year. Which is why Matthias is so upset. He could have bought all of them, and Zarco, and given them all Ducatis and harems full of prostitutes for what he's paying you to come 11th.

Now keep the noise down. We have to go and have a few wines with Dovi. He came second. He is so happy and really quite pretty in his bridesmaid's dress. He even led the race for a while.

But that "Spanish traitor-puta" as you call him, won.

No, you don't want to know who came third. Trust me.

We're going to Argentina next, George. Yes, it does suck to be you at the moment.

Always hopeful,

Gigi.

http://www.bikeme.tv/

 [laugh] [laugh] [thumbsup]

I expect Crazy Joe to crash a lot more this year. ;D

(http://i201.photobucket.com/albums/aa91/chiflado/99025209-2CE6-4FB4-8A13-0831E90586D1.jpg) (http://s201.photobucket.com/user/chiflado/media/99025209-2CE6-4FB4-8A13-0831E90586D1.jpg.html)

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2017/03/28/iannone-i-have-to-not-to-be-so-impulsive/222614

"I made a mistake and I really hope it is my first and last time. "

 [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]

Just like all the other first and last times. [thumbsup]

https://youtu.be/yY2vF8WIIus

Not surprised at how J-Lo finished; the bike is new to him, it was humid and the sun was in his eyes.  And yes, who cares.  Good for Dovi!


That's funny!  I hope Iannone calms down just a little this season.  It was good seeing him and MM fighting.  It'll be good to see the two of them go at it this season. 

What is the name of the super allien that Ducati signed? Did he race?

He is getting blasted by Italian media

I wouldn't exactly call it racing. He rode around with the satellite Ducati's. Actually some of them beat him.

xactly . . .