Silly Season...already?

[DarkMonster620]

THIS IS THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT

This is what I got in my email this morning:

"Sat 08/02/2014 13:28
2 August 2014 MotoGP 2014 - Cal Crutchlow announcement - REVISED VERSION

Ducati Corse and Cal Crutchlow terminate contract ahead of 2015

Ducati Corse announced today that it has reached an agreement with its factory rider Cal Crutchlow to terminate, ahead of time, the contract that ties the British rider to the Italian team in MotoGP for the next season.

The two factory Ducati Team riders for 2015 will now be Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone.



Ducati Corse Press"

[Blackout]

Just as well. Better for Ducati to have Ianonne I believe and better for Cal to go to Honda. It's a win-win.

[DarkMonster620]

This just came up,

http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/08/03/crutchlow-leaves-ducati-lcr-honda/

[koko64]

Better off for everyone as has been said, except maybe for Bradl. Bradl had a good run though, so fair enough.

[DarkMonster620]

IMHO Bradl should get more factory backing . . .

[Speeddog]

IMHO Bradl should get more factory backing . . .

More than the 2nd best bike on the grid?

[DarkMonster620]

More than the 2nd best bike on the grid?

more "official" than the "official" one he has

[thought]

Bradl already had about the same level of backing that Cal did when he was on the Tech3.  Asking for anymore would just basically put him on a factory bike and I think we can all agree that he's not at that level... cept maybe on a Duc

But yeah, at least we finally got some silliness for the silly season.

[GK]

Will Iannone fare better?

Ducati have been in a hole ever since Stoner departed.

[koko64]

He rides pretty hard. He's doing alright considering.

[DarkMonster620]

Bradl already had about the same level of backing that Cal did when he was on the Tech3.  Asking for anymore would just basically put him on a factory bike and I think we can all agree that he's not at that level... cept maybe on a Duc

But yeah, at least we finally got some silliness for the silly season.

Simmoncelli had an official bike with different colours . . .

[duccarlos]

Iannone has out ridden Cal all season long. In a few cases, he out rode Dovi and some of the satellites. I understand Cal's decision. There is an obvious communication gap at Ducati. Both Dovi and Crazy Joe can express themselves better to the engineers. I would definitely be looking at Cal to replace the turd after 2016 if he stays healthy and is competitive.

[Triple J]

I would definitely be looking at Cal to replace the turd after 2016 if he stays healthy and is competitive.

Cal would have to ride extraordinarily well for that to happen. Like beating Pedro on a semi regular basis. I think there are other young guys in the pipeline, as Cal will be getting old by then.

[duccarlos]

Old? You mean he won't be 21.

[ducpainter]

Cal would have to ride extraordinarily well for that to happen. Like beating Pedro on a semi regular basis. I think there are other young guys in the pipeline, as Cal will be getting old by then.

Valentino is 'old'...

and he beats Dani regularly.

Why all the hatin' on 'old' guys?