Joined Mar 2015
2K Posts | 337+
Chertsey, Surrey, UK
Joined Jun 2007
10K Posts | 1K+
Norah Head
How the hell does Zarco go from being the next big thing for Yamaha to being buried on a KTM.
God I wish Yamaha would sever ties with rossi and his machinations.
Zarco could have been competitive with Marquez.
God I wish Yamaha would sever ties with rossi and his machinations.
Zarco could have been competitive with Marquez.
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Actually, JL wasn't like that back then. The double collarbone injury in 2013 was what made him a bit more methodical in approaching the limits.
He smashed out of the blocks in 2008 with the Michelins, and was immediately fast with the Bridgestones.
Joined Jul 2011
1K Posts | 872+
Dont Know
Looks like Marquez blocked him from joining Honda with the must sign Pedro demand. Shame would of liked to see Zarco on the Honda reckon he would provide MM with some decent competition.
Look at it this way. Doors close at Yamaha and Honda. Reminiscent of a kid I know back in 07 who was reportedly locked out of Yamaha but went on to win on a Ducati. Could history repeat with KTM?
Joined Jun 2007
10K Posts | 1K+
Norah Head
Zarco is good, but I dont see the technical skill of Stoner. I cant see Zarco being another Stoner. I think KTM arent anywhere near as ready as Ducati was back then either.
Point is .... he is so promising on the Yam. It would be so good to see him on the top tier Yamaha bike before the risk of trying the unknown.
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
Zarco reminds me of Melandri. With the right bike we'd still be talking about Marco in motogp. The wrong move here and we will be talking about Zarco in WSBK in three years.
Joined Jan 2016
801 Posts | 401+
Uk
Actually he smashed himself to pieces on Michelin’s and admitted he had fear of the bike during the end of the season. 2009 was a re-learning and building of confidence year for him, as he stated in his book.
2010 was the first time he started the season with no fears or worries after his 2008 crash fest.
Then he was fast....
Joined Jul 2011
1K Posts | 872+
Dont Know
Don’t agree. He is so promising on the Yam, why? He said, he doesn’t bother with what Rossi is doing at all. He looks at the data from Lorenzo. He adopted that style, then modified it to his own. He runs soft tires when no other rider can.
It ain’t Yamaha that made Zarco, it’s Zarco. Just like Bridgestone and Ducati was the perfect combination to allow Stoner to shine, so can Michelin and KTM.
See Synn, this is just discussion. I don’t have a problem with BM, it ain’t personal. Just don’t automatically aggree Stoner was better than Zarco. I don’t think Stoner could ride Michelin’s on a satelight Yam any better than Zarco can.
Joined Jun 2007
10K Posts | 1K+
Norah Head
Well we are likely going to test whether Zarco can perform on a "non-prime" brand of bike in 2018. You are comparing a KTM to a Yam. Nup.
My comparison of Stoner and Zarco is based on riding technique ..... This none have come near Stoner on, and Zarco is nowhere near on skill. He is a simillar rider to Lorenzo .... a fast rossi .... never a rider who can ride a dud by taking it past traction and balancing that.
Joined Jul 2011
1K Posts | 872+
Dont Know
Watching Zarco doesn’t remind me of Lorenzo at all. Zarco is loose. Take a look. He simply doesn’t stress the tires. I agree he’s not like Stoner, who could make the Duc turn. The KTM already turns, Austrians aren’t Italians they are analytical and methodical and Zarco will do just fine, much better than Smith or Pol imo.
Joined Feb 2018
681 Posts | 535+
Italy
Joined Jul 2011
1K Posts | 872+
Dont Know
watch out
Haha ok you know what I mean. Ferrari vs Mercedes. Style vs function. KTM vs Ducati but aren’t the later owner by the Germans?
Joined Feb 2018
681 Posts | 535+
Italy
I know what you mean and I'm proud to be from where style seems to hail from
funnily enough I live really close to the Austrian border hahahaBut in seriousness. This doesn't apply to motorcycles imho, where the different philosophies are mainly between European and Japanese manufacturers. The reason why KTM will most likely end up being a more Japanese-oriented bike in MotoGP is that the huge amount of financial resources they have (which come from Red Bull) are mainly being invested in acquiring professionals that have worked and developed bikes for Japanese manufacturers, mainly from HRC.
But as far as me - I'd pick Ducati any day
To anwer your question yes, Ducati is owned by Audi, which is owned by Wolkswagen, which is a German company. But this is merely financial: all the headquarters, managers, philosophies and company policies in Ducati are exactly the same as before Audi bought the company.
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Looking at DailyStars articles I personally wouldn't put any trust in something they've written. Most of the article about Marquez demanding Pedrosa was actually about Rossi.
You haven't refuted my point at all. We weren't questioning whether he crashed a lot. We were asking how quickly he'd pick up raw speed.
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
He won his third race out in 2008. The raw speed was there from the get go.
Joined Oct 2008
6K Posts | 5K+
In Cider
A huge contradiction surely? You don't pick up "Raw speed". You either have it or you don't.
Yup. That was my point. He was immediately, freaklishly quick on anything he touched until the double-collarbone break.
By raw speed, I'm referring to outright pace - i.e. the peak speed of that rider with that combination.
Some riders, like Stoner, hit something close to their PBs pretty quickly on a new bike or package. For example, within a couple of tests, Stoner was already near the top of the timesheets on the new Ducati/Bridgestone combo, after having jumped off the Honda/Michelin package. He always was the same on new bike/chassis/engine/tyre combos - quick to within a few tenths of his very best.
Lorenzo used to be like that. He jumped on the Yamaha, and by the first race was insanely fast. He took the first three poles, won his second race, etc. He was even like that on the various two strokes he rode.
Joined Jan 2016
801 Posts | 401+
Uk
Actually we were continuing a conversation about Rossi beating his opponents including Lorenzo in 2009. I gave the explanation from his book that AFTER the big crashes in 2008, Lorenzo feared the MotoGP bike and admitted he’d thought it easy at first until he overstepped the mark and got bitten hard several times.
In 2009 he was still wary of the bike and didn’t push as hard as he might have. He used it as a confidence building year to reaffirm to himself he could do it.
2010 was the first year he was confident and worry free on the bike and was devastatingly fast out of the blocks. Many journalists said Rossi was so shaken by Lorenzo’s lightning starts that he was desperate to improve his grid position and obsessive about riders following him in practice and qualifying (ironically a thing which became a problem for Lorenzo later on), that he slowed and cruised to stop Barberra following him and his tyre cooled. When he got back on the gas he was highsided and broke his leg.
That’s why I said of Lorenzo in 2010, “then he was fast”...
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