Where have you gone Mr. Nicky Hayden?

[RodeoClown]

As a Hayden fan this is so painful to watch. 

Will he make it to the podium once this year? I think the 8-ball is saying the outlook is grim.

[zooom]

well...1st 2 races were chock full of bad luck for him....

[DucMouse the Mighty]

As a Hayden fan this is so painful to watch. 

Will he make it to the podium once this year? I think the 8-ball is saying the outlook is grim.

oh i feel ya 

this last race was even more horrible


thats ok cause im still going be cheering for him 

[desmoquattro]

Sad to see. And the vultures are circling...lots of people hoping this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[Spidey]

It'll pick up.  It's been an awful start to the season, but he'll get it together.  I fully expect to see him vying for 8th place by the end of the year.

If anyone needed proof that when it comes to the Duc "it's the bike", look at what Melandri is doing this year on that dogshit Kawasaki now that he's escaped the Desmosedici. 

[Jester]

I'll tell yah where Hayden went.  The same place Melandri went last year.  I commented about the Duc in another post... but in my opinion, its a great bike, but only in the hands of Stoner.  In anyone else's hands its more dogshit than the Kwak.

Fighting for mid pack finishes isn't much of a victory, moral or otherwise.  Give Hayden a third bike on the factory WSBK team and be done with it.

[Speeddog]

Here's a little info:
http://www.crash.net/MotoGP/News/146290/1/head-scratching_for_hayden_and_ducati.html

I'm very puzzled how there can be trouble getting heat into the tires on a MotoGP bike, with the abundant HP available, and he's about 25 lbs heavier than Stoner. 

[Jester]

Here's a little info:
http://www.crash.net/MotoGP/News/146290/1/head-scratching_for_hayden_and_ducati.html

I'm very puzzled how there can be trouble getting heat into the tires on a MotoGP bike, with the abundant HP available, and he's about 25 lbs heavier than Stoner. 

Coupled with the fact he was running the softer tires.

[duccarlos]

Never liked the dude. He's best shot is at Laguna, but doubtful considering he seems to be going backwards.

[gm2]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75025

[CairnsDuc]

But I have read on a few occasions, the Desmosidici is a tough bike to master (we All know that) but one Writer in AMCN (Australian MotorCycle News) last year had interviewed Casey and had found getting heat into the tyres was always an issue for him as well (something Melandri had often complained about), to get the heat in you have to push the bike, but you need heat in the tyres to get the bike up to speed and push it, he had stated that you had to ride right up to the limit and then go a little bit harder and then the bike would get the tyres hot and then start to work the way it was supposed to.

The GP9 is easier to ride near that limit, the GP8 would bite back hard if not bossed around and told what to do, Look at the few times Melandri got aggressive with the bike, he started getting results, but he would crash or have a scare, and back down the back of the grid he would be for the next round. But the GP9 (while not as bad as the GP8) also loves to be pushed around and an aggressive rider will always get the best from the bike.

Could it be a simple case of Nicky has been bitten twice (granted, not his Fault) but for the time being he's just a bit spooked to try and go that extra 1 or 2 percent that's needed?

[derby]

Could it be a simple case of Nicky has been bitten twice (granted, not his Fault) but for the time being he's just a bit spooked to try and go that extra 1 or 2 percent that's needed?

in his post crash interviews, he didn't seem scared. surprising, especially after the one in qatar. if anything, he's frustrated.

the elimination of testing, the shortening of practice times, and the smaller tire allocation this year aren't really helping nicky's typical "go do a bazillion laps" method of getting settled.

[gm2]

But I have read on a few occasions, the Desmosidici is a tough bike to master (we All know that) but one Writer in AMCN (Australian MotorCycle News) last year had interviewed Casey and had found getting heat into the tyres was always an issue for him as well (something Melandri had often complained about), to get the heat in you have to push the bike, but you need heat in the tyres to get the bike up to speed and push it, he had stated that you had to ride right up to the limit and then go a little bit harder and then the bike would get the tyres hot and then start to work the way it was supposed to.

The GP9 is theoretically easier to ride near that limit, the GP8 would bite back hard if not bossed around and told what to do, Look at the few times Melandri got aggressive with the bike, he started getting results, but he would crash or have a scare, and back down the back of the grid he would be for the next round. But the GP9 (while not as bad as the GP8) also loves to be pushed around and an aggressive rider will always get the best from the bike.

Could it be a simple case of Nicky has been bitten twice (granted, not his Fault) but for the time being he's just a bit spooked to try and go that extra 1 or 2 percent that's needed?

^^fixed one thing for you.

all ~true and relevant.  but i'm sure we all still underestimate the difficulty of spending 10-12 years on one bike and tire and then trying to switch.  unless you're someone in the natural talent level of a rossi (or, i dare say, spies) the transition is not going to happen gracefully overnight.  add into that a wicked 130mph highside, and you're gonna be a little gunshy.

i really don't know if he has better-than-top-6 in him on that machine.  but it's still too early to send him packing.  besides, while ducati is still riding high with stoner, you cannot run a race program based on a bike that only 1 dude in the world can ride.  seeing melandri's performance on the barely developed kawayate has got to have someone in corse saying, ok, seriously.  the problem is us.

[Spidey]

One's gotta question Ducati's development strategy here.  I mean, the GP9 is great n' all with Casey on it, but what happens if he's not there?  They'll have half a decade of development into a bike that is the least user-friendly thing in existence.  If Capi, Hayden and Melandri can't get that thing to move at anywhere near world-class pave mebbe it's not because those three at talentless hacks and mebbe it's cuz the bike ain't easy to ride.  Compare that with Honda and Yamaha, who put together an all-round package that anyone can go fast on ('cept Toseland -- he sucks donkey balls) regardless of riding style.   

If and when Ducati doesn't have Casey any longer, they're going to have to completely re-learn how to engineer a racebike.  That's not a good idea. 

Edit:  damn, gm2 just said all that.  Bastid.

[gm2]

imagine the bricks they were shitting when there was briefly talk of stoner's wrist killing his whole season.