2024 silly season!

#22 · Sep 19, 2023

PRS717 said:
I realize Zarco is hot and cold but do you think Frankie will do better than Zarco did?

He also doesn't deserve it IMO. He's been .... on a factory Yamaha the last 2.5 yrs and now lands on a factory Ducati while Fabio, Yamaha's last WC as recently as 2021, is left at the back of the grid.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Ducati shouldnt be a haven for riders who have sucked on other bikes. The championship would be a lot more exciting if Fabio, Marc or even someone like Binder or Mir was on that Pramac.

MdubSTYLIE · Sep 19, 2023

PRS717 said:
I realize Zarco is hot and cold but do you think Frankie will do better than Zarco did?

Best case scenario is no. So he doesn't take points away from Pecco

MichaelBolton · Sep 19, 2023

One advantage Franco will have is that he's already part of the VR46 crew and Pecco, Marco and Luca will no doubt give him all kinds of advice on how to ride a Duc.

I think he'll be a Marini type, perform consistently without that extra oomph needed to challenge for wins/podiums. So probably like Zarco right now. But yes, it's a waste of a spot given there are much better riders available and this is no doubt made as a favor requested by the VR46 contigent.

Noaero · Sep 19, 2023

#22 said:
He also doesn't deserve it IMO. He's been .... on a factory Yamaha the last 2.5 yrs and now lands on a factory Ducati while Fabio, Yamaha's last WC as recently as 2021, is left at the back of the grid.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Ducati shouldnt be a haven for riders who have sucked on other bikes. The championship would be a lot more exciting if Fabio, Marc or even someone like Binder or Mir was on that Pramac.

Yep, I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that Ducati is looking for two things: 1) to fill all, if not most Ducati seats with Italian riders. With Morbido now confirmed at Pramac, it's going to be only two non-Italian riders in the 8 bikes, with at least 2, if not 3 of them, being mid-field at best: DiGia, Marini and Morbido and Bastianini question marks (speaking of which, it also makes you question why they ended up choosing him instead of MArtin for the factory team). And 2) to create the "harmonic team atmosphere" at Ducati they are always talking about, in order to basically support the rider(s) of the official team for the world championship. I mean, why would they pass on MM, Quartararo, Rins to go for Morbido? This doesn't give me great hope for a MM switch, at least to the only Ducati seat left.

DavidSim · Sep 19, 2023

PRS717 said:
I realize Zarco is hot and cold but do you think Frankie will do better than Zarco did?

We shall see next year.

DavidSim · Sep 19, 2023

Noaero said:
I mean, why would they pass on MM, Quartararo, Rins to go for Morbido? This doesn't give me great hope for a MM switch, at least to the only Ducati seat left.

Perhaps they all want too much money given they haven't done much lately !!!

As for MM specifically, he seems to complain a lot in public making Honda look bad in general, maybe not worth the hassle given all the other riders in the mix.

Sports bikes are not the big sellers they used to be, perhaps the lean looking efforts the Japanese manufacturers are putting in to their MotoGP programs are a reflection of that fact. For some manufacturers racing is their passion, for others maybe not so much (anymore) !

mikesbytes · Sep 19, 2023

PRS717 said:
I realize Zarco is hot and cold but do you think Frankie will do better than Zarco did?

Morbidelli has been consistent this year, consistently at the back end of the points scoring

Jokes aside I'm with you lot on the predictions, I'll go with similar to Marini. There appears to be a small advantage in being in Pramac over VR46, probably just the year of the bike, so I'll go with Morbidelli beating Marini in the championship by a tiny margin.

PRS717 · Sep 19, 2023

Noaero said:
(speaking of which, it also makes you question why they ended up choosing him instead of MArtin for the factory team).

Well, he did have 4 wins and finished 3rd in the championship. Probably helped that he's Italian. I don't think Martin had any wins. I like Enea and would like to believe things would have turned out much different this year had Marini not taken him out.

mikesbytes · Sep 19, 2023

PRS717 said:
Well, he did have 4 wins and finished 3rd in the championship. Probably helped that he's Italian. I don't think Martin had any wins. I like Enea and would like to believe things would have turned out much different this year had Marini not taken him out.

So to keep the Spaniards at bay?

Bern1 · Sep 20, 2023

All amusing! Yeah, hard to figure how morbi would get any ride at all in MGP. Wait, do you think it might have something to do with vr and that he’s Italian? Ha ha, it’s all turning into a joke.

I won’t be watching next year to find out..

DavidSim · Sep 20, 2023

Bern1 said:
I won’t be watching next year to find out..

I will be.

#22 · Sep 21, 2023

Noaero said:
Yep, I'm going to go out on a limb here and speculate that Ducati is looking for two things: 1) to fill all, if not most Ducati seats with Italian riders. With Morbido now confirmed at Pramac, it's going to be only two non-Italian riders in the 8 bikes, with at least 2, if not 3 of them, being mid-field at best: DiGia, Marini and Morbido and Bastianini question marks (speaking of which, it also makes you question why they ended up choosing him instead of MArtin for the factory team). And 2) to create the "harmonic team atmosphere" at Ducati they are always talking about, in order to basically support the rider(s) of the official team for the world championship. I mean, why would they pass on MM, Quartararo, Rins to go for Morbido? This doesn't give me great hope for a MM switch, at least to the only Ducati seat left.

The problem is, that it is rapidly becoming Ducati cup. Dorna are sending out surveys for fans yet the answer is right in front of them. People turn off when there is a monopoly.
Ducati are like Ferrari, they are given far too much and now it is coming to bite Dorna.

DavidSim said:
Perhaps they all want too much money given they haven't done much lately !!!

Seriously? Marquez and Quartararo are MotoGP world champions who are currently on the 2 crappest bikes on the grid, by far. They are both comprehensively outperforming their team mates yet in the case of the latter, said team mate is now getting a factory spec Ducati.

If Fabio or Marc were getting that Pramac bike for 2024, they'd be fighting for the championship, without question.

DavidSim · Sep 21, 2023

#22 said:
If Fabio or Marc were getting that Pramac bike for 2024, they'd be fighting for the championship, without question.

Perhaps Fabio could, not sure about Marc though, we shall see what happens.

MdubSTYLIE · Sep 21, 2023

DavidSim said:
Perhaps Fabio could, not sure about Marc though, we shall see what happens.

Not sure about Marc? Marc is outriding the other Honda riders by miles. He is finishing ahead of Fabio often on a bike that isn't worth its weight in dog ..... Marc still has it for sure.

MichaelBolton · Sep 21, 2023

Fabio has been outperformed by Morbidelli this year a few times. I attribute it to lack of moral from Fabio's part more than lack of skill, but either way I don't get why one would consider Marc washed up. He won 3 races with one arm in 2021. It's clear that the current Japanese bikes are making a disservice to rider quality, not only to Marc and Fabio, but also guys like Mir, and who knows if Franco will find his groove on the Duc.

#22 · Sep 21, 2023

DavidSim said:
Perhaps Fabio could, not sure about Marc though, we shall see what happens.

I'm sure. Hopefully he goes to Gresini next yr and proves it.

People are quick to forget. Marc hasn't suddenly lost his speed overnight. Physically, he may not be at the peak he was in 2017-2019 but he is still an animal. This is a guy who beat peak Lorenzo, Peak Rossi and more. He singlehandedly won Honda the Riders, Teams and Constructors Championship in 2019 against 2 factory Ducati's on a bike that effectively ended Jorge Lorenzos career. As Michael Bolton said, he also won 3 races with 1 arm in 2021. He has never had a bike advantage to the extent factory Ducati riders currently have (Lenovo & Pramac). His brother has gone from Honda where he had a best finish of 7th in 2022 to having a pole and 2 podiums, including a win, on a year old Ducati. Alex is a very very good rider, but if he can do that, then there is no way on earth Marc isn't consistently fighting at the front on the same bike.

Yes, I'm a Marc fan. But looking objectively at it, the sport is worse off at the moment having riders like him, Fabio, Mir and even Alex Rins languishing on awful machinery.

#22 · Sep 22, 2023

More clickbait but sharing here. Some journalist has postulated that because there has been no announcement from Marc Marquez in India that he has no legal options to exit his contract. I call BS as Honda have openly said they won't keep someone against their will.

Claim floated that Marc Marquez ‘legally has no option’ to quit Honda

MdubSTYLIE · Sep 22, 2023

#22 said:
More clickbait but sharing here. Some journalist has postulated that because there has been no announcement from Marc Marquez in India that he has no legal options to exit his contract. I call BS as Honda have openly said they won't keep someone against their will.

Claim floated that Marc Marquez ‘legally has no option’ to quit Honda

"Legally." Legally Pecco shouldn't have been driving a car. Legally Miguel shouldn't have married his sister. Legally Gobert should have kept his nose clean. Legally Pedrosa should have taken his own sailing test. Legally Rossi should have paid his taxes. I don't think it is illegal to break a contract but whatever.

#22 · Sep 22, 2023

In the case of Miguel. Technically when he married her, she wasnt his sister. I belive their respective parents started playing hide the sausage after the wedding.

MdubSTYLIE · Sep 22, 2023

#22 said:
In the case of Miguel. Technically when he married her, she wasnt his sister. I belive their respective parents started playing hide the sausage after the wedding.

Miguel Oliveira and Andreia Pimenta have been together for nearly eleven years. The pair met when they were thirteen years old, when Miguel’s father married Andreia’s mother, and have been in a mostly secret relationship until recently.

Lets do the math. They met when they were 13 and have been together for 11 years. They were 24 when the article was written. I guess they didn't need bunk beds.

2024 silly season!

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