Quote from: fastwin on July 29, 2009, 07:37:42 AM
Screw the electronics and trick carbon stuff. Just give Stoner and Hayden a couple of extra cans of Red Bull before the start! Voila... problem solved and for cheap!

Stoner without electronics? I want to watch that... I bet Nicky can ride the thing better with out all those stupid electornics he comes from an Era where GP bikes had minimal traction control in 2003 and he slide that thing everywhere back then.. but the 800 need GP250 style riding you cant cut corners like before you have to be smouth and on the gas like a 250 bike...

Quote from: RED on July 29, 2009, 07:32:14 AM
So why not de-tune and cut back on developing new technology and concentrate on the riders? It takes riders to win podiums.

Honestly, one of the biggest issues is that the other bikes have caught up as far as tuning is concerned.  The Ducati can't power past everyone on the straights anymore and is actually losing out on top speed now.  Go back to 07' and Stoner would lose ground in the turns on a lot of tracks only to pick up a football field on the straights.  Now you have a bike that can't power past anyone and never was a complete package as far as being agile.  The Duc is good, but its main strength is gone for the moment.  De-tuning would destroy the only bright spot of that bike which is the engine.  Then you'd have a slow bike that can't turn instead of a fast bike that can't turn.

Hayden isn't going to win another championship and he isn't magically going to get better.  The kid is old as far as riders go, and his skill set isn't going to change.  Stoner is very good, but not going to be remembered as one of the greats.  Lorenzo is the next great talent of this generation... at least as the current field is made up.

We'll see how the new engine rule affects things.  The manufacturers have only five engines to play out the rest of the year and even with more exotic materials and parts, who knows which factory will get it right and which might end up dropping some points with blow ups and or lose ground by sacrificing power for longevity.

Quote from: Jester on July 29, 2009, 03:05:59 PM
Honestly, one of the biggest issues is that the other bikes have caught up as far as tuning is concerned.  The Ducati can't power past everyone on the straights anymore and is actually losing out on top speed now.  Go back to 07' and Stoner would lose ground in the turns on a lot of tracks only to pick up a football field on the straights.  Now you have a bike that can't power past anyone and never was a complete package as far as being agile.  The Duc is good, but its main strength is gone for the moment.  De-tuning would destroy the only bright spot of that bike which is the engine.  Then you'd have a slow bike that can't turn instead of a fast bike that can't turn.

Hayden isn't going to win another championship and he isn't magically going to get better.  The kid is old as far as riders go, and his skill set isn't going to change.  Stoner is very good, but not going to be remembered as one of the greats.  Lorenzo is the next great talent of this generation... at least as the current field is made up.

We'll see how the new engine rule affects things.  The manufacturers have only five engines to play out the rest of the year and even with more exotic materials and parts, who knows which factory will get it right and which might end up dropping some points with blow ups and or lose ground by sacrificing power for longevity.

+1

Good post Jester, I agree.

I'm just worried that with the new restricted number of engines they will have to de-tune them to make them last longer... read: slower. Even the one bike per rider rule next year is going to be goofy. If they have only one bike AND they reduce the testing and race weekend practice time the teams will have damn little time to get a bike dialed in correctly for a given race. With two bikes they can set one up differently in the garage while the rider is out on the track testing the other bike's settings. Whip in, give a quick post ride report and zoom out on bike #2... back and forth until they have something to work with. Next year it will just be frantic wrench spinning and some damn good guess work and pray you get it right by race time.

My concern is that by next year the mega buck MotoGP bikes won't be any faster than World Superbikes. Who is going to care about F1 car racing if they aren't head and heals over other classes of road racing cars? Will you care about Ducati's MotoGP team if they are a second slower than Haga or Fabrizio in WSBK at the same track? I guess we will just wait and see... sure don't see all the goofy rule changes in SBK.

Quote from: fastwin on July 29, 2009, 04:04:43 PM
Good post Jester, I agree.

I'm just worried that with the new restricted number of engines they will have to de-tune them to make them last longer... read: slower. Even the one bike per rider rule next year is going to be goofy. If they have only one bike AND they reduce the testing and race weekend practice time the teams will have damn little time to get a bike dialed in correctly for a given race. With two bikes they can set one up differently in the garage while the rider is out on the track testing the other bike's settings. Whip in, give a quick post ride report and zoom out on bike #2... back and forth until they have something to work with. Next year it will just be frantic wrench spinning and some damn good guess work and pray you get it right by race time.

My concern is that by next year the mega buck MotoGP bikes won't be any faster than World Superbikes. Who is going to care about F1 car racing if they aren't head and heals over other classes of road racing cars? Will you care about Ducati's MotoGP team if they are a second slower than Haga or Fabrizio in WSBK at the same track? I guess we will just wait and see... sure don't see all the goofy rule changes in SBK.

that will never happen a motoGP bike will never be leser to a SBK just because a WSBK is is a Street bike made to a race bike while GP bikes are build for Racing in mind... Most of the people who rode SBKs and then GPs will say that they are different animals so stable so much faster... the limit in laptimes will be the tyre and suspension technology and rider skills...

Even 30 tenths of a sec is a big different in lap times as you can see in a motoGP Grid now the SBK bikes are 2 or more Secs behind on same tracks that's a huge difference in racing.

One bike less motors is a bit stupid but right now it favors Ducati, Yamaha and Honda while Suzuki and Kawasaki dont have the resurces for such developement... maybe with this new rule more brands will jump in...

Will see, This Year Racing was good and is going to be even better in both MGP and SBK...

Good for Mat! I hope more people follow his lead. Racing on a potentailly deadly track is just stupid! Maybe 50 years ago when people would race anywhere they could but not in 2009. The Isle of Man should be the last crazy place on earth people should race bikes... and the point is they don't HAVE to, they choose to. To me there is a difference.

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2009/07/31/mladin-tells-why

Get well soon, Casey 

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2009/Stoner+to+miss+Czech+GP

No offense, but as a member of the mobile vulgus Ducati, I like the Finn's chances.
http://www.mikakallio.com/mvhome/index.html?did=297&lang=en
Ducati mob rulz....

This is great news for Melandri. It was expected but still great news that it actually is happening. The Gresini team could be one of the best satellite teams around! With Melandri and Simoncelli on board this could even give the Repsol boys some trouble. I would love to see that!! [moto]

http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2009/08/15/melandri-back-to-gresini

More good news for the 2010 MotoGP line up. I love Bautista in the 250GP wars and I think he could do well on the Rizla Suzook team. I'm sure he will be taking Capirossi's place as the article suggests (due to rumored retirement) and I bet Vermeulen takes Toseland's spot on Tech 3 Yamaha team. We'll see who teams with Bautista on the Rizla squad. That should be interesting.

Toseland has made no friends in MotoGP and his crew chief swapping stunt this last year pissed off everyone from Edwards on down and it still didn't help his performances. Just like Kenan Sofuoglu's great decision to go back to World Supersport after doing nothing in WSBK, maybe Toseland should go back to WSBK after doing nothing in MotoGP. No shame in that! Toseland's a great SBK rider, maybe that is where his destiny leads him. Hey, there was some rider named Bayliss that didn't do so well in MotoGP and he seemed to fare pretty well going back to WSBK. Of course he did stick it to them in the last MotoGP race of 2007 coming in as a "guest" rider!!! Guess he showed them!!

Anyway, good for Bautista! I'm looking forward 2010 goofy rules and all! [moto]


http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2009/08/16/bautista-to-suzuki

So Team Aspar is looking again.    Elias or Barbera....

http://teamaspar.blogspot.com/2009/08/alvaro-bautista-with-suzuki-in-2010.html

After his "zero to hero" performance at Sachsenring and 3rd at Brno, I think Elias has proved he can still hunt; but then, I have a soft spot for underdogs. Give him credit: of all the Ducati also-rans in 2008, he stunk the least (12th).

In these strapped-for-cash times, it might come down to which rider brings the most lucrative sponsorships to the table. Hopefully Aspar doesn't need the money...

I like Elias too. He's not a Championship winner but he can produce really good results when the opportunity strikes and his bike is set up right. On the right bike with a good team he still has the ability to be a consistent performer. I hope he lands a good ride somewhere. He is ending the season in the right way. Try to go out on top. Like Hayden and Honda, he knows he's toast with Grisini but he still is giving it his all for the team and his future. Gotta respect that.

So during the televised race broadcast of Brno, did anyone else hear the very brief commentary/crash analysis regarding "the airbag going off inside the suit"?  It was a Dainese suit I think (not going to go into any more detail - don't want to spoil the race for anyone who hasn't watched yet  )

DON'T READ THIS POST IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE BRNO MOTOGP RACE... YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!!




I guess I missed that one. The "best" crash coverage besides Lorenzo's low side was Kallio's "interface" with Melandri. Was that it? I was too interested in replaying the bump and crash to pay a lot of attention to what the commentators were saying.

Quote from: Boobies on August 17, 2009, 06:06:33 PM


So during the televised race broadcast of Brno, did anyone else hear the very brief commentary/crash analysis regarding "the airbag going off inside the suit"?  It was a Dainese suit I think (not going to go into any more detail - don't want to spoil the race for anyone who hasn't watched yet  )

Did anyone else notice that it would have been impossible for Lorenzo to breathe without unzipping his suit, much less ride after the airbag deployed and instantly turned him into a replica of the Michelin man? Once that thing goes off, your race is done, regardless of whether the bike might still get you to the finish line.
It is definitely better than broken ribs and/or a cardiac contusion. Let's see if he wears it at Indy, though.