2013 Silly Season?...maybe spoilers

[zooom]

+11ty billion

It was his birthday...

senility is setting in.

hahahahahahahaa...nice one...

and yeah, maybe there is stuff going on with Crazy Joe in the back of the pack I just haven't seen...

[OT]

<snip>..but I kinda see Marquez as more of a Sic kind of rider than Crazy Joe...

Oh great - TWO riders with a proclivity for taking out others at a moment's notice...

[ZLTFUL]

Uh...Iannone has really changed things up this year. He has had his moments this year but not like his past.
And one does not put one's self into 4th place in points only 16 points back on 2nd by being a complete kamikaze pilot.

Does he make some aggressive passes? Of course he does but Marqueef has been far and away the bigger douchebag in Moto2 this season.

[thought]

All the musical chair spots have been filled now barring gresini right?

[duccarlos]

They have a few names mentioned during FP1 in Misano for Gresini. Obviously Bautista is still on the list, but I heard Redding, Rea and even RdP.

[ducpainter]

They have a few names mentioned during FP1 in Misano for Gresini. Obviously Bautista is still on the list, but I heard Redding, Rea and even RdP.

I think Rae's performance this weekend will determine if he stays 'on the list'.

[OT]

Preziosi on 2013...

http://motomatters.com/interview/2012/09/18/filippo_preziosi_interview_on_ducati_s_f.html

[Raux]

No matter what, I still think Preziosi should go.

[duccarlos]

No matter what, I still think Preziosi should go.

+1

Maybe what Ducati needs is an invasion of German engineers to handle the chassis and engine aspects. Ducati Corse seems to have a solid grasp of the ECU.

[ducpainter]

+1

Maybe what Ducati needs is an invasion of German engineers to handle the chassis and engine aspects. Ducati Corse seems to have a solid grasp of the ECU.

Sure why not...

I mean it only took BMW 3 years to get it right in SBK and they're walking away after this season, and Suter/BMW in GP doesn't even have a remote clue.

I don't think nationality has much to do with it.

I do think Preziosi's ego got in the way. I also think that might be shattered right about now after his inaction drove Rossi out.

[triangleforge]

Sure why not...

I do think Preziosi's ego got in the way. I also think that might be shattered right about now after his inaction drove Rossi out.

Remember as well that with Ducati wanting to keep Rossi happy, we've really only been hearing the Rossi/Burgess side of the story in the media (and lately, most of the vitriol is coming from Burgess more than Rossi). That's starting to change just a bit, with stories like this: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Sep/120915c.htm

With Stoner, Melandri & others, Ducati Corse did stonewall, told them repeatedly that the bike was fine and they just had to ride it. But while changes over two years didn't come fast enough for anyone's taste, it's just as inaccurate to say "Nothing Changed" the way Burgess is, as it is to say the bike is fine.

Speaking of changes, wasn't there supposed to be a dramatic revision to the motor layout that would debut at Laguna Seca? There was hype on it all the way up to a week or two before Monterey, then nothing, at least not that I caught.

[ducpainter]

It's always a two story house.

Sure Ducati made changes, but they obviously didn't either do enough, or what they did was unsuccessful. Two swingarms  isn't a lot.

My point is I don't think Preziosi should necessarily go. It would be non productive IMO.

If you listen to Burgess...it simply didn't happen.

[duccarlos]

It took BMW 3 years to get the electronics working, not necessarily the rest of the package.

As the person responsible for getting wins every week, I can see why Burgess would say that nothing changed. From the outside looking in, we do see that Ducati has completely changed the bike, except maybe for the motor even though they did changed the position. The buck stops at Preziosi for good or bad. In this case it has been mostly bad for a long time.

[zooom]

  In this case it has been mostly bad for a long time.

far too long of a time IMHO...

[Speeddog]

It took BMW 3 years to get the electronics working, not necessarily the rest of the package.

~~~SNIP~~~

BMW has been making motorcycles for nearly 90 years.
Yearly revenue ~1B Euro.
BMW cars yearly revenue ~60B Euro.

Ducati is ~500M Euro.

Comparison of the two at ability to roll out new hardware is not very convincing just due to that.

Ducati's major problem has been the ability to generate new parts at a reasonable rate.
Laying all the blame for that at Preziosi's feet isn't very realistic.
If someone supplies you with $5 to get a week's groceries for a family of 4, you'll come up short.

And furthermore, replace Preziosi with whom?
The world-dominating MotoGP engineering department of Audi?