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2018 Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón Predictions + Race Chat

Nakajima was also very good.

Rossi was the only one of the Yamaha riders that said the development direction and updates were wrong and ineffective all the way back at Valencia 2016. Zarco and MV (after a lot of kilometers, time and testing) all came to agree with him. I recall Zarco dismissively saying that the 2017 M1 had a better chassis than the 2016 M1 concept...then on the last day of winter testing, concluding that Rossi was actually right.

I agree that it's possible, but the intuitive conclusion is that his development skills would've only improved after having raced every bike and tyre configuration under the sun.

It is also possible his riding repertoire has become limited and doesn't suit the tires or whatever.

I do think the current Ducati is just a straight out faster bike though. The Honda seems fairly MM dependent. I couldn't see even him beating the current Ducatis on a current Yamaha though.
 
It is also possible his riding repertoire has become limited and doesn't suit the tires or whatever.

I do think the current Ducati is just a straight out faster bike though. The Honda seems fairly MM dependent. I couldn't see even him beating the current Ducatis on a current Yamaha though.

This is all possible...but he's still the top Yamaha on the grid against MV and Zarco.

In contrast to your admission that we're both ultimately speculating, it's common to see some of the dumber posters on here pose their (often wild and baseless) speculation as incontrovertible fact.
 
They show strong signs of being cash strapped to me, and seem to have struggled to attract sponsorship independent of Rossi for years, hence going with Rossi nearing the age of 40, Petronas in the offing perhaps attracted by Rossi, etc.

They risk it all falling apart, including Rossi himself becoming discontented , if they can't finish better than 8th, which it is extremely likely would have been 9th without Jorge's first corner mishap.

Honda had the strongest bike for a long time prior to Rossi moving over to Yamaha.... Yamaha then had the strongest bike for a long time but nothing last forever i guess.

I have no idea whats going on with them, at first i thought they where just having an 'off' year but when the 17 bike didn't really improve and the 18 bike also hasn't improved and the problems appear terminal. I feel sorry for their riders because it would be pretty frustrating and hard to stay optimistic.

Lorenzo really pulled a rabbit out of the hat leaving Yamaha when he did, I might get him to pick my Lotto numbers.
 
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Yamaha is not cash strapped as a company.

The difference is that HRC and Ducati Corse are independent entities that get their own budget and roadmaps and can do whatever they want with it while Yamaha racing is just a part of their European division and do not have anywhere close to the autonomous freedom the other two enjoy.

This is in many ways similar to what’s happening with the WSBK effort from Honda.

Yes that was my point, that the motogp effort was under-resourced/cash strapped.

I wasn’t saying they had problems with selling commuter bikes, pianos or stereo equipment, I still have one of their excellent CD players as it happens.
 
They show strong signs of being cash strapped to me, and seem to have struggled to attract sponsorship independent of Rossi for years, hence going with Rossi nearing the age of 40, Petronas in the offing perhaps attracted by Rossi, etc.

They risk it all falling apart, including Rossi himself becoming discontented , if they can't finish better than 8th, which it is extremely likely would have been 9th without Jorge's first corner mishap.

Don’t forget Crutchlow and Bautista crashed in front of Rossi as well. I have seen boppers saying Rossi’s effort was superhuman, which is hysterical the level they have learned to accept . The reality is, he passed a few back markers and some other faster riders crashed .
 
Don’t forget Crutchlow and Bautista crashed in front of Rossi as well. I have seen boppers saying Rossi’s effort was superhuman, which is hysterical the level they have learned to accept . The reality is, he passed a few back markers and some other faster riders crashed .

He's gained 6 position not counting riders who crashed. 6 places isn't a bad effort though he gained 3 of those on the first lap. But I don't know what's happening, Yamaha randomly has pace but then for no apparent reason loses all of its pace. If Maverick didn't consistently .... up the start to his races he does have decent pace usually.
 
Anybody think if Yamaha don’t fix the bike soon that Valentino will make a pitch for Ducati?
He’s certainly coy enough to use the Italian hero on the Italian bike sentiment like last time.
 
I don't think passing an Aprillia, a KTM, a few old Ducatis and a couple of customer spec Hondas on a factory Yamaha is all that impressive.
 
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Anybody think if Yamaha don’t fix the bike soon that Valentino will make a pitch for Ducati?
He’s certainly coy enough to use the Italian hero on the Italian bike sentiment like last time.

I doubt they would let him break his current contract which still has another 2 seasons after this one. I also doubt Gigi among others wants anything to do with him.
 
To the race, Jorge is waaaay out of line blaming Marc for his accident. That was nothing but him wanting to lead the race so he could implement his strategy of lowering the pace to preserve the soft front. As it turned out , he blew the start and had he taken his spot of 3rd -4th his strategy was blown. Instead he attempted to gas it in the marbles and this is what he got. The Duc is a freakin beast and no longer has bogey tracks, it’s competive everywhere and dominant at certain tracks. I bet it is right up front at PI, supposedly it’s worst track. The Honda is a good bike that does everything well but only does one thing better than the Duc, and would be an also ran if not for Marquez. Speaking of Marquez, the kid is unreal. His style and competitive spirit make GP what it is, the most exciting motor sport or just sport period . Good or bad, he is right in the middle of everything exciting and the sport is in good hands for years to come. His presence makes great riders make silly mistakes as we have seen all year and though Dovi and Lorenzo have the better bike, they both are hopelessly out of the title hunt. They know they have to be almost flawless to beat him and the harder they try the more mistakes they make. Great run by the Suzuki’s and Aleix on the Aprilia was ride of the day for non winners.
 
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To the race, Jorge is waaaay out of line blaming Marc for his accident. That was nothing but him wanting to lead the race so he could implement his strategy of lowering the pace to preserve the soft front. As it turned out , he blew the start and had he taken his spot of 3rd -4th his strategy was blown. Instead he attempted to gas it in the marbles and this is what he got. The Duc is a freakin beast and no longer has bogey tracks, it’s competive everywhere and dominant at certain tracks. I bet it is right up front at PI, supposedly it’s worst track. The Honda is a good bike that does everything well but only does one thing better than the Duc, and would be an also ran if not for Marquez. Speaking of Marquez, the kid is unreal. His style and competitive spirit make GP what it is, the most exciting motor sport or just sport period . Good or bad, he is right in the middle of everything exciting and the sport is in good hands for years to come. His presence makes great riders make silly mistakes as we have seen all year and though Dovi and Lorenzo have the better bike, they both are hopelessly out of the title hunt. They know they have to be almost flawless to beat him and the harder they try the more mistakes they make. Great run by the Suzuki’s and Aleix on the Aprilia was ride of the day for non winners.

I am a Jorge fan, but sure he has no divine right to have the lead after the first corner of every race which seemed to be his attitude in regard to the Aragon race.
 
Anybody think if Yamaha don’t fix the bike soon that Valentino will make a pitch for Ducati?
He’s certainly coy enough to use the Italian hero on the Italian bike sentiment like last time.

Not a chance,the bum has failed miserably on the Ducati once already and they bent over backwards for him and his demands last time.
 
Yamaha is not cash strapped as a company.

The difference is that HRC and Ducati Corse are independent entities that get their own budget and roadmaps and can do whatever they want with it while Yamaha racing is just a part of their European division and do not have anywhere close to the autonomous freedom the other two enjoy.

This is in many ways similar to what’s happening with the WSBK effort from Honda.

Stop talking out your ... as usual bottom feeder. There are having money issue, it's been publish. Their business model is wrong and that's a contributing factor to their woes. Look how long Repsol has been with Honda. Get a hint you damm ......
 
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Yes that was my point, that the motogp effort was under-resourced/cash strapped.

I wasn’t saying they had problems with selling commuter bikes, pianos or stereo equipment, I still have one of their excellent CD players as it happens.

You forgot Organs as well and we all know who the organ grinders monkey is.
 
Anybody think if Yamaha don’t fix the bike soon that Valentino will make a pitch for Ducati?
He’s certainly coy enough to use the Italian hero on the Italian bike sentiment like last time.

I really don't think Ducati would take him back, he's over the hill even Petrucci, leaves him for dead.
 
Anybody think if Yamaha don’t fix the bike soon that Valentino will make a pitch for Ducati?
He’s certainly coy enough to use the Italian hero on the Italian bike sentiment like last time.

Not a hope in hell. rossi already had a go at wrecking Ducati. Luckily they rehired Stoner after that to undo the crap that rossi had caused.
 
Stop talking out your ... as usual bottom feeder. There are having money issue, it's been publish. Their business model is wrong and that's a contributing factor to their woes. Look how long Repsol has been with Honda. Get a hint you damm ......

The "damm" ..... is correct. Yamaha, the company, has a $10 billion market cap. Their share price is 50% higher than it was in 2015 and almost triple what it was in 2012.

Money issues at the factory racing team are different to money issues at the head corporate level, which is something you clearly don't appreciate.
 
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To the race, Jorge is waaaay out of line blaming Marc for his accident. That was nothing but him wanting to lead the race so he could implement his strategy of lowering the pace to preserve the soft front. As it turned out , he blew the start and had he taken his spot of 3rd -4th his strategy was blown. Instead he attempted to gas it in the marbles and this is what he got. The Duc is a freakin beast and no longer has bogey tracks, it’s competive everywhere and dominant at certain tracks. I bet it is right up front at PI, supposedly it’s worst track. The Honda is a good bike that does everything well but only does one thing better than the Duc, and would be an also ran if not for Marquez. Speaking of Marquez, the kid is unreal. His style and competitive spirit make GP what it is, the most exciting motor sport or just sport period . Good or bad, he is right in the middle of everything exciting and the sport is in good hands for years to come. His presence makes great riders make silly mistakes as we have seen all year and though Dovi and Lorenzo have the better bike, they both are hopelessly out of the title hunt. They know they have to be almost flawless to beat him and the harder they try the more mistakes they make. Great run by the Suzuki’s and Aleix on the Aprilia was ride of the day for non winners.

Agreed.

The Ducati isn't bad at PI. Iannone showed us that. It's more that Dovi has never been good there.
 

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