2013 Silly Season?...maybe spoilers

[Speeddog]

remember carmelo's totally bizarre 'valentino will be on a competitive bike next year' statement ~last week.  something's already done or virtually done.

IIRC David Emmett tweeted that he thought Carmelo said that to make an Italian journo leave him alone.

[gm2]

IIRC David Emmett tweeted that he thought Carmelo said that to make an Italian journo leave him alone.

ah.. that makes more sense.

[Spidey]

I's in Honda and Repsol's interest for Rossi to stay on the Duc, as he's no threat there.

If he's not going to ride a Honda, it *might* be in Honda's interest to have him on an uncompetitive machine.  But as between him on an uncompetitive machine and him on a Repsol, it's in their interest to have him on a Repsol.  He's their only real chance at a championship until Marquez develops (I'm less sold on Marquez than I was).  Besides, it's in no one's interest -- Honda and Repsol included-- to have Rossi be uncompetitive.  He is SUCH a draw for GP that they should want him competitive, even if it's against them. 

I wanna see him back on a Yamaha.  That'll leave The Ben out in the cold though, even though he's better than Dovi.

[thought]

That'll leave The Ben out in the cold though, even though he's better than Dovi.

But... and I hate to say this... is Ben really better than Dovi?  Dovi's no champ and I just dont like him as much as I like Ben/Cal.  But Dovi is a solid 3rd/4th place finisher on both the honda/yam.  Ben... not so much results but a lot more potential/marketing.

To me, best possible scenario is this still... Rossi/Lorenzo factory, Cal/Ben tech3.  Dovi/Hayden Ducati.  If Cal says that winning a championship is what is driving him then he would be crazy to go to the duc.  A tech3 yam is lightyears ahead of anything duc can bring out unless some kind of miracle happens.

And I do wonder if it's something about the L4 layout that's doing this to the bike... they have literally changed almost every aspect of the bike except for that at this point and have only gotten the same results.  So the frameless concept might have been viable the whole time, but it was something totally different that was causing the issue?  So in the end if they ditch the L4, they could actually explore going back to the frameless bike?

[DanTheMan]

Ill go with

Cal/Ben Ducati

Rossi/Jorge Yamaha

Marquez/Pedrosa Honda (i think they should ditch pedro, he'll never win a championship(but he will podium)

Hayden, Dovi T3

Pol Sat Honda

[tufty]

Er, isn't one of the Tech 3 seats already offered to Bradley Smith?

[ducpainter]

Er, isn't one of the Tech 3 seats already offered to Bradley Smith?

By all reports...

[Speeddog]

Er, isn't one of the Tech 3 seats already offered to Bradley Smith?

There's been talk of a performance clause, that he's got to finish 5th or better in Moto2 to get the upgrade.

But I haven't seen anything 'official'.

[thought]

Totally forgot about Smith... that performance clause would make a lot of sense though.  I like him from what I've seen from moto2 but I personally am surprised he got the pick over some other riders in moto2.  And with the current amount of unsigned big name talent floating around in motogp I'm pretty sure that they would love to get out of that contract.

[Speeddog]

Currently, Tech3 riders are in 4th and 5th in the championship.
On satellite Yamahas.
Herve should be giggling like a schoolgirl 24/7/365.

If I were him I'd have both of those boys locked up with a contract before I'd consider an 8th place Moto2 kid.
Perhaps Cal and Dovi have refused his contract offers.

Given the current state of affairs, I'd take a satellite Yamaha over a factory Duc.
IMO, Cal's out of his make the beast with two backsin' mind to seriously consider any Duc in MotoGP.

[Spidey]

But... and I hate to say this... is Ben really better than Dovi? 

In my book, yes.  Remember all those times they went head to head with Ben on a 1/2 to 1-year-behind-the-times satellite machine and Dovi on a factory Honda?  Ben got the better of him.   

That said, Dovi is consistent.  Never a threat to win, often a threat to podium. 

I really want to see what Hayden can do on a real bike.  Don't get me wrong.  I don't think he'll beat Lorenzo consistently, but he hasn't even had a fighting chance since 2006.

[Speeddog]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100943

"Pedrosa has said that he'll renew with Honda HRC here or at Mugello? I knew the Repsol team would be Pedrosa and Marquez," Rossi told Gazzetta dello Sport.

"No problem, I wouldn't have gone there anyway."

[Speeddog]

Julian Ryder seems to think that The Ben^® is going to stay put as a factory Yamaha rider.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jul/120707rydernotes.htm

[duccarlos]

I think Cal is ready to since on the Duc. Dovi has been better than Spies on the satellite. Spies gets demoted to Tech 3 or back to WSBK. Rossi's choices are getting thinner. I see this scenario:

Honda Spanish team
Yamaha Lorenzo/Dovi
Duc Rossi/Cal

[ducpainter]

Please be more careful about spoilers in this thread guys...