Rossi vs. Ducati...and more spoilers

[thought]

Ducati should have fired Preziosi a long time ago. Audi won't be as forgiving. I see an army of German engineers invading Corse in the near future. It won't happen in the next 2 years, but I think they might have a competitive bike by 2015.

I would love to see Rossi go back 2 years if they had a competitive bike by then.  Not sure if that's possible and if he'll be competitive by then but if all the cards are in place it could be awesome.

[gm2]

I'd like to think that Motegi in 2009 would be a much better example!

motegi was a great race, but are you really talking about catalunya?

[zooom]

motegi was a great race, but are you really talking about catalunya?

NAHHH...because Motegi was when he was just fresh back from the broken leg and was challenging Jorge for 3rd on the podium and bashed into the side of him going into the tunnel in front of all the Japanese ( fans and brass alike) for to make that brazened pass....though the Catalunya last lap, last turn was a great one indeed!

[Raux]

Ducati should have fired Preziosi a long time ago.

FINALLY someone else agrees with what I've been saying for 2 years.

Preziosi IS the problem with the Ducati

[ducpainter]

FINALLY someone else agrees with what I've been saying for 2 years.

Preziosi IS the problem with the Ducati

Who says no one agrees with you?

http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=34111.msg714774#msg714774

[triangleforge]

I think Preziosi knows that.

That was the other eye-opening bit (to me) in the MotoMatters story -- Preziosi's reaction to the Hail Mary of trying to bring in Furusawa to fix the Duc:  "The Japanese engineer revealed just how far Ducati were prepared to go to get help, telling Nishimura that Preziosi had said 'I just want to make our bike better. It doesn’t matter if I lose my position.'”

[ducpainter]

That was the other eye-opening bit (to me) in the MotoMatters story -- Preziosi's reaction to the Hail Mary of trying to bring in Furusawa to fix the Duc:  "The Japanese engineer revealed just how far Ducati were prepared to go to get help, telling Nishimura that Preziosi had said 'I just want to make our bike better. It doesn’t matter if I lose my position.'”

The problem with that, in my mind anyway, is Preziosi wasn't willing to back down until it was obvious he would go if Rossi did.

See my previous link.

[triangleforge]

Audi won't be as forgiving. I see an army of German engineers invading Corse in the near future. It won't happen in the next 2 years, but I think they might have a competitive bike by 2015.

You're probably right, both about the invading army & the learning curve - it's taken time for BMW to understand (some would say bordering on several decades*) that racing on two wheels has some important differences from racing on four, and they actually build motorcycles.

*One of my favorite stories was something I read quoting Reg Pridmore about racing the BMW R90S back in the mid-1970s. Apparently, the brakes would vary during a race from simply terrifying to nonexistent and he was constantly telling the factory about it. The BMW engineers would retort that they'd looked at the specs, and the brakes were fine.

[$Lindz$]

NAHHH...because Motegi was when he was just fresh back from the broken leg and was challenging Jorge for 3rd on the podium and bashed into the side of him going into the tunnel in front of all the Japanese ( fans and brass alike) for to make that brazened pass....though the Catalunya last lap, last turn was a great one indeed!

Then you're talking about Motegi 2010, not 2009... that's what gm2 was implying.



As for Rossi/Lorenzo: I think physically Lorenzo has the upper hand but mentally Rossi does. He's got nothing left to lose. He isn't as naive and bullish/cocky as he was in 2010 (or anytime prior to Ducati). Rossi has matured a lot more than I expected over the last 2 years. Then again, he hasn't gotten the results I expected either.

[OT]

I would love to see Rossi go back 2 years if they had a competitive bike by then.  Not sure if that's possible and if he'll be competitive by then but if all the cards are in place it could be awesome.

Would be the perfect ending to a storied career.

But, they already had a competitive bike - if Stoner's success counts for anything.  I can't see Audi being of much help, if they even bother to get involved, now that Rossi's gone.  In fact, Audi involvement may push the whole process backwards.  Ducati should concentrate on WSBK, imho, and let the MotoGP chips fall where they may...

[derby]

But, they already had a competitive bike - if Stoner's success counts for anything.  

nobody can argue that stoner rode that bike better than everybody else. that said, he has michelin to thank for his first championship. they didn't bring a competitive tire to the track that entire season and stoner didn't repeat on the ducati once rossi switched to the same tire.

based on stoner's performance, the ducati gpx either got progressively harder to ride year over year or, at a minimum, never improved.

you can base this on his front-end oopsies.

[thought]

Would be the perfect ending to a storied career.

But, they already had a competitive bike - if Stoner's success counts for anything.  I can't see Audi being of much help, if they even bother to get involved, now that Rossi's gone.  In fact, Audi involvement may push the whole process backwards.  Ducati should concentrate on WSBK, imho, and let the MotoGP chips fall where they may...

Ah, I meant going back to duc in 2015... forgot to put the "in" in my comment.

And I agree with derby about the GP... I dont think you can really consider it a competitive bike when no one else in the world can ride it.

[zooom]

Then you're talking about Motegi 2010, not 2009... that's what gm2 was implying.



 

my bad...you are correct...but we both know exactly what moments we were getting at...

[Drunken Monkey]

The BMW engineers would retort that they'd looked at the specs, and the brakes were fine.

"The difference between Theory and Practice is that in Theory there's no difference between the two.

In practice there is"

Preziosi needs to be shown the door. Casey said the bike sucked. Nicky said the bike sucked. It wasn't until the GOAT repeatedly said the bike sucked did they start to change.

[Jester]

It wasn't until the GOAT repeatedly said the bike sucked did they start to change.

Its sad that after all the changes, the bike is essentially the same dog it was two years ago.  They need a fresh perspective.