2011 Silly Season

[zooom]

...as in when Rossi moves on...

 

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice photochop!!!

[mitt]

Pedrosa stays with Honda - pretty much forever. Puig is tied to Repsol pretty heavily and Spanish money demands a spanish rider

Rossi goes wherever he wants, but he has 2-3 more years.

Jorge stays at Yamaha - They need a lead rider for when Rossi retires, and Lorenzo is 2nd or 3rd in the paddock on talent and desire.

Hayden continues to do well, and moves up and up, REALLY stepping up when they go back to real engines.

Spies stays on the B team. He tragically has no personality and no endearing factors, and that sadly is what drives sponsor dollars. As an American he is locked out without a huge influx of talent on his behalf, i will be very difficult for him to ever find a front row seat in MotoGP. He is a great rider to roll around and get points and do some development, notice he is on the development team with CE2. Learnign how to develop a bike for a fast euro.

Stoner will NEVER, EVER ride for a team where Livio Supo is. Ever. Private story, but look at what happened in 2009, and you should be able to figure it out. He stay with Ducati, then moves to Suzuki for a season or two, then fades away.

Dovi on a Honda for the near future.

Simon' Becomes a rockstar in his own right over the next few years, having his huge personality drive him to big wins, big crashes and big paychecks.

lots of good stuff in this post me thinks.


mitt

[gm2]

Spies stays on the B team. He tragically has no personality and no endearing factors, and that sadly is what drives sponsor dollars. As an American he is locked out without a huge influx of talent on his behalf, i will be very difficult for him to ever find a front row seat in MotoGP. He is a great rider to roll around and get points and do some development, notice he is on the development team with CE2. Learnign how to develop a bike for a fast euro.

yeah yeah i know, i'm supposed to get all huffy about this, etc..

...but that ^^ is hilarious!

[koko64]

What happened between Stoner and Suppo?
I haven't read anything about it down here.

[RetroSBK]

GM, Dont get me wrong, I am a HUGE fan of Ben, but in europe, its all about the money. Being European means you bring with you support from your homeland i.e. Dani and Repsol, etc.. We all know there isnt an American comapny that will sponsor a mostly euro sport. Ever been to MotoGP in europe? Pretty much ruins it for going to Laguna or Indy!

When the season cost 20+M to run, you need a LOT of money, from a lot of places, and it doesnt work that way for American riders, tragically.

 

[gm2]

What happened between Stoner and Suppo?
I haven't read anything about it down here.

Livio kinda threw him under the bus during the whole health problem

[gm2]

@RetroSBK... still, hilarious.  i don't feel like going point by point. 

 -- except "notice he is on the development team with CE2"... maybe you've heard of the rookie rule? 

anyway, we'll see.  he's for sure on a yamaha next year.  maybe it'll be monster livery, maybe it'll be fiat.

[Jester]

Tell me how Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden have been on ( current or past ) factory bikes if American money is the only determining factor.  I don't think sponsors are the issue.  You can throw John Hopkins in there as well, since he spent time on both factory Suzuki and Kawasaki rides.

The biggest reason we don't see a lot of Americans on factory seats or just in premier racing is due to fact there are simply more talented Euros that go through the typical progression of ranks and fall into those seats.  Many of them have been with the Euro sponsors/teams since they were teens and simply progress from smaller classes to the premier classes.

[DoubleEagle]

I think it would be great if Vale would switch to Ducati.

I'm sure the Italians would like that and it would prove if it's the bike that can't be ridden fast or the rider that can't ride the Duc fast.

Vale has proven that he can take a slower bike and win races.

On the faster Duc he should be able to win them all once he gets the feel for the " Big Red " machine.

It's always seemed odd to me that Vale rode a Yamaha since he is 1st of all an Italian , and 2nd he grew up near the Ducati factory.

Ducati deserves to have a Championship in MotoGP worthy of their Championship in World Superbike w, Troy.

Dolph     

[derby]

I'm sure the Italians would like that and it would prove if it's the bike that can't be ridden fast or the rider that can't ride the Duc fast.

Vale has proven that he can take a slower bike and win races.

On the faster Duc he should be able to win them all once he gets the feel for the " Big Red " machine.

i think ducati has always felt that "anybody" should be able to ride their fast bikes to wins... much like the honda mentality. just look at the way they treated melandri (and hayden until bayliss failed to impress at his test last year).

It's always seemed odd to me that Vale rode a Yamaha since he is 1st of all an Italian , and 2nd he grew up near the Ducati factory.

1) the yamaha team principle is italian

2) he wanted to win and the ducati sucked when he switched to yamaha

3) urbino is 2 hours away from bologna... that's like somebody in bakersfield saying they grew up near los angeles.

[Jester]

The Yamaha wasn't exactly a fire starter either Derby.  I'm sure Vale knew they were capable enough chassis builders, but Yamaha hadn't really done anything for quite some time.  I think the challenge to develop a winner would have been a somewhat similar adventure either way he went.

In the vein of Vale taking on new challenges, you might think he's giving Ducati a serious thought.  Whether or not he actually goes will remain to be seen.  Winning a championship on 3 bikes has to be a serious draw though.  Another part has to hinge on whether Burgess and his team are ready to make the move one last time.

[derby]

The Yamaha wasn't exactly a fire starter either Derby.  I'm sure Vale knew they were capable enough chassis builders, but Yamaha hadn't really done anything for quite some time.  I think the challenge to develop a winner would have been a somewhat similar adventure either way he went.

the previous decade of gp had been dominated by honda, yamaha, and a lone suzuki. when the switch to 4-strokes was made in 2002, it pretty much became a honda/yamaha battle.

when rossi made his switch to yamaha, ducati had only been in the series for a single year AND they were on bridgestones (when they sucked).

[gm2]

On the faster Duc he should be able to win them all once he gets the feel for the " Big Red " machine.

it's not really faster anymore.  

funny thing about that though:

MotoMatters.com: First of all, you changed the firing order on the Ducati GP10, it's no longer a screamer, it's now a big bang. The riders always say the engine feels much more responsive. Why? Do you know why?

Filippo Preziosi: No. [Laughs]. So it's a very short question, very short answer! We have some ideas and have some measurements of that. We have some data and we did some analysis. But to be honest, there are some points in which there are numbers which show that the engine should be better, but there are also other numbers that show that the engine should be worse. So like usual, it's not easy to say the reason why.

re the switch to yamaha, valentino had two things: a lot of pinkie-swear oaths from yamaha and, as or more importantly, JB.

[DoubleEagle]

I haven't seen any of the races this year but it seemed like last year in a lot of the races Stoner was out in front which would lead me to believe he was on a fast bike but then often he lost the front end for what seemed was his fault ...no contact .

Stoner often set the fastest time for pole so the Duc he was riding must have been fast.

Then the illness rumors w, Casey and then he was out for 3 races .

Rossi is just the best rider and his record speaks to it.

Yamaha should have their suspension sorted . Afterall, they have had many years to perfect it like Honda from GP to MotoGP.

I think Ducati has a pretty good engine but is still trying to get their setup right on the Desmo. I feel the 1000cc engine is better suited to the way they have been trying to build the subframe and the swingarm.

Their setup is to stiiff for the smaller engine .The bike won't move around thus it's hard for Casey to know when he's at the limit and when he can give the bike a full twist of power as he moves through a corner.

They got the 1098-R right for Troy and you saw what he did to the Japanese bikes.

I feel the big Desmo will do better when MotoGP goes back to the big engine.

Dolph   

 

[Triple J]

Stoner often set the fastest time for pole so the Duc he was riding must have been fast.

It's fast, but not the fastest since the first year. Stoner is just fast...especially from the start.

I think Ducati has a pretty good engine but is still trying to get their setup right on the Desmo. I feel the 1000cc engine is better suited to the way they have been trying to build the subframe and the swingarm.

Their setup is to stiiff for the smaller engine .The bike won't move around thus it's hard for Casey to know when he's at the limit and when he can give the bike a full twist of power as he moves through a corner.

I'm pretty sure Casey knows how to ride the D16, and when he can crack the throttle open. No one has won more 800cc races than Stoner on the Duc (Derby will correct me if it's Rossi...but its close even if it is). The problem used to be other riders knowing how...but that seems to have changed this year with Hayden being fast as well.

Stoner's crashes from the front seem to be because he pushes it too hard when he's at the front trying to gap everyone...especially Rossi.