Ducati Monster Forum

Press conference in the books. This is one of those race tracks that a lot of riders have the opportunity to be successful.

On a side note, Redding looks like a giant standing next to the other guys.

They should put Rossi, Redding, and Aleix at one end.

On another note...

from here forward I will refer to Iannone as Crashy Joe. [thumbsup]

The Goat's 350th start. [clap]

Presser was fairly droll 'til the social media questions, that really livened it up.
Skydiving with Jacko vs. passenger in a high speed car chase with Cal at the wheel.  [laugh]


But, he said the crash at Qatar was going to be the last one.  ???

Maybe "Crazshy Joe"?

I liked Cal's social media question to Dovi...and Dovi's comment. ;D

FP1 wasn't super informative.

Track was dirty, some folks put soft tires on to set a lap, others didn't.

Vinales was fastest, while on a hard rear tire, that's got to have some brows furrowed.

Rossi looks a bit healthier.

Every Ducati is faster than Lorenzo.

Every satellite Ducati is faster than the factory team.

There might be a race between Marquez and Vinales.

Zarco, Pedrosa, Dovi, Rossi, Lorenzo all outside the top ten after FP2.

Over 25% chance of rain all during tomorrow.

Seems there's been some tactical errors.

Ah, the VR Signature Edition™ front tires got shanghai'd by Customs.

Rossi's really having troubles.
All the other M1 riders seem to be doing pretty well.

Factory Ducati riders probably wish they had last years bikes.

It does seem that a well sorted '16 bike is better than the somewhat un-sorted '17 bike.
Interesting to see how far into the season that lasts.

At least for Ducati and Yamaha.
Dunno what configuration the Honda boys have, seems Cal and the Repsol boys are on '17 kit.... Jack and Tito on what?

Asked someone who should know;

"Crutchlow, Miller, and Rabat are all on the same bike as Pedrosa. Marquez uses a different chassis which his horribly stiff at the front and no one else can use without crashing. It's the 2014 chassis, I believe, or rather, a chassis very similar to it."

FP3 done and dusted.
 [bang]
Dunno WTF Zarco, Pedrosa, Dovi, and Rossi were thinking, they burned half an hour dicking around on used tires.
Or so it appeared.
Lorenzo is lost at sea.

WTF !!!

Marquez, Cal and Abraham?

where are the other alliens?

It's been a strange weekend.

Warm up had Vinales and MM on top.

I have no predictions for thus race and I like it that way.

Excellent Moto3 race.  [clap]

On BeIN TV, Pegram gives JLo 'two-more weeks, at most' before Ducati starts mercilessly flogging him..."they're paying him a lot of money and they want results..."

Jorge crashes out on lap 1.

MM walking away from the field. Down and out of the race

Pedrosa out. These guys are killing their tires

Espargaro just took Dovi out

This track shows no mercy and takes its toll.

Bautista on the GP16 showed good pace revealing how Ducati has taken a wrong turn with the GP17.

Would it be fair to say Ducati and Honda made the biggest changes to the factory bikes while Yamaha made a more evolutionary step?

Tyre smokin' mid pack battles were great.

My boy'!  [clap]

Ducati: Jorghey decided to ride his bike over Iannone. Poor Dovi. I was about to say how great it looked for Aprilia to bring in Aleix. Spoke too soon. Bautista looking great on the GP15.

Yamaha: what can you say? Viñales was on rails. Starting to see a trend with Rossi, suck throughout the weekend and manage to find something to get on the podium. Zarco and Folger just wow. I know they're riding a great bike, probably the second best behind this year's M1, but these guys are rookies!

Honda: WTF? The Marquez brothers both crashed out of their races pushing way too much. Feel bad for Pedrosa. He had an open track and should have been able to manage 4th. That Honda is truly a POS. Cal made it through by fighting his bike all the way.

make the beast with two backsing Jorghey should start giving Ducati back their money. He's regularly being beat by every other Ducati. Dovi was at least in the top 10 when he was taken out. Jorghey didn't even make it out of the first corner and even then was likely to linger in the tail end of the grid. make the beast with two backs, I would be ok with him being anywhere in the top 10.

All 3 races were good today.

The Marquez brothers did not fare too well.

More evidence of the sorted '16 bikes being (at the moment) better than the '17's, other than the Yamahas.

Rossi's giving the 2015 Campaign Plan another go, qualify ~3rd row and bust ass to get on the podium.
Not a solid plan at all.
He's got to apply some of his Sunday Mojo on Saturday to mount a serious title challenge.
I can't see Rossi's ego accepting a 'regular podium finisher' reality.
That's a necessary but not sufficient condition to getting the WC.

Zarco hazing the tire in the battle for 4th, really cool!

JLo is just make the beast with two backsed in the head right now.
It's painful to watch.

4 of the last 7 years, the WC leader after 2 rounds has gone on to win the WC.

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2017/04/09/dovizioso-in-argentina-i-don-t-have-any-luck/224718

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2017/04/10/lorenzo-i-had-made-a-great-start/224607

And this is how a world champion response:

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/243525/1/marquez-no-excuses-im-disappointed-with-myself.html

As opposed to this joker thinking he was going to finish 6th?!

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/243528/1/lorenzo-out-at-turn-1-sure-of-top-six-potential.html

Wondering how much input Stoner had in the development of the HRC 2017 bike.... [evil]

I'm thinking that Stoner's fees for being a development rider are going to be going up. Every bike he's been a part of has seen significant upticks in performance with a corresponding downtick when the factory ignores his opinion.

All 3 classes had the same winner in each respective class for the 1st 2 races. Interesting.

The fix is in?