Where have you gone Mr. Nicky Hayden?

[mikeb]

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? 

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. 

You know the entire Ducati/Stoner thing has always had me wondering.  Clearly he's the only one that can go fast on it.  So it suits his style.  But when the new bike came out it was his first year with Ducati.  He wasn't Casey Stoner - World Champion yet.  So it's not like they set out to build the bike specifically for him.  They had no idea he was going to dominate on it....given his track record. 

So the question is do you really think the Ducati is really built around Stoner?  Or is it a quirky bike that only he understands? 

What's driving the development?  Clearly at this point it may be Stoner since he's getting on well with the Duc.  But it's a chicken/egg situation.  What came first?

[Triple J]

Seems to me they made a bike that Stoner happens to ride really fast (accidentally as he was new to the team)...unfortunately no one else can. So now they're stuck, they have to continue to develop the bike since Stoner can ride it and he won the championship on it and is always very competitive. If they change course too much in their development they might make a bike that Stoner can't ride. Unfortunately all that development seems useless for any other rider.

[gm2]

stoner was third choice for the first 800 ride.  it was not built around him.  however they had to have some clue that his riding style and history would hopefully suit the bike.  the same way they did with hayden, their second choice in 2007.

[gm2]

btw, there's been mention of 'get rid of hayden, put bayliss back on that thing'... bayliss has never been on that thing.  there's no way to know that he wouldn't be in the same boat as everyone else.

[Triple J]

btw, there's been mention of 'get rid of hayden, put bayliss back on that thing'... bayliss has never been on that thing.  there's no way to know that he wouldn't be in the same boat as everyone else.

Right...he's Bayliss!! He can ride anything.   

[Jester]

Right...he's Bayliss!! He can ride anything.   

If that was the case, then Troy would have had a long and successful MotoGP career.  Instead he floundered, mostly, with Ducati for two seasons and then wrapped up his short stint with Honda, before breaking his arm and heading back to WSBK.

[Triple J]

If that was the case, then Troy would have had a long and successful MotoGP career.  Instead he floundered, mostly, with Ducati for two seasons and then wrapped up his short stint with Honda, before breaking his arm and heading back to WSBK.

Um...lose your sense of humor somewhere today? 

[Spidey]

Don't you dare forget coming back for one last MotoGP race to absolutely stomp the make the beast with two backs out of the whole field.  I wanna bear that man's spawn.



Stoner was third choice?  It was Rossi, then who?, then Stoner.

[Triple J]

Stoner was third choice?  It was Rossi, then who?, then Stoner.

Wasn't it Rossi, Hayden, then Stoner?

[Spidey]

Wasn't it Rossi, Hayden, then Stoner?

Oh, I guess that's right there in his post.  I dohnt reed sew gud.

[Grampa]

Don't you dare forget coming back for one last MotoGP race to absolutely stomp the make the beast with two backs out of the whole field.  I wanna bear that man's spawn.



Stoner was third choice?  It was Rossi, then who?, then Stoner.

me.... I was sloppy seconds

I said no because I've never been on a track. They sent me a cool kickstand puck as a thank you gift.

[derby]

Wasn't it Rossi, Hayden, then Stoner?

gibernau, hayden, stoner...

[Triple J]

gibernau, hayden, stoner...

For the 1st year of the 800cc? They alread had him from the previous year didn't they, and he retired?

[derby]

For the 1st year of the 800cc? They alread had him from the previous year didn't they, and he retired?

iirc, he asked for a significant sum of money that ducati wasn't willing to pony up (for him).

ducati then went to talk to nicky, ended up matching what honda was offering him, but hayden decided to stay with honda.

then they went to stoner and got him for a song.

[superjohn]

I too thought Nicky would be doing better this year. I always thought that Casey was more comfortable on a bike that moved around than his team mates, and that Nicky coming from dirt track would also be able to make the most of a bike that feels a little loose.

To his credit though, it is a new bike and he has taken some really hard hits this year, so I'm not going to be too hard on him. I hope he's able to pull it together in time to chalenge for some podiums and hopefully some factory Ducati 1-2 finishes