Pov, you're taking issue with the comparison that Dovi has done something with the Ducati that nobody has been able to do since 2007? There certainly are similarities without having to conflate that Dovi is Stoner, which is NOT what Birdy said.
"But back to Dovi his fellow Duc team mates are looking over his data and are scratching their heads trying to figure out how the hell is this guy actually contending for the title, how does he ride like that? It's up there in Stoner territory."
You highlighted this bit, so lets examine the statement. I didn't read this to mean that Dovi is equal to Stoner, but rather he is taking a machine that shouldn't be contending, one that is inferior to the two Japanese manufactures that have dominated the last 40 years plus, and is putting in an unlikely challenge to the title; something that Dovi's very talented teammate Lorenzo has not come close to doing. For perspective, look at Vinalez, hopped on the M1 and won straight away, contended for a while too. So the 'comparison' is fair, being exact when 'comparing' things is not required, and in fact is not a comparison at all. First of all, it IS a fact, Dovi on a Ducati is a title 'contender', so let's get that out of the way.
Despite this weekend's performance, which should be obvious was, as you allude above, the result of a 'tire characteristic' (which in this case was detrimental to Dovi, following your own logic that the tire was favorable in other occasions) Dovi has been sharp even spanning last year, when the tire manipulations of this year were just a Carmelo pipe dream. So no, it is not all about this year's tire coup to prop up Rossi, which had the unintended consequence of providing 'both' Dovi and Marquez a reprieve from the previous bike-package challenges; challenges that had much to do with the tires and not this supposed .... RCV that is a myth (relativity). Dovi wasn't the only one who benefited from having Rossi's front, so did Marquez, and i said this before somewhere on this forum; before Vudu chimes in, this doesn't mean the tire was designed for these two, clearly it was designed around Rossi, however Dovi and Marc were able to render some usefulness to their particular style (contrast this with Lorenzo, Vinalez, Pedrosa, etc.).
The Ducati has no business contending for the title! Therefore, this is extraordinary territory, like the last time Ducati were in the position to win a title, that is a fair comparison. This to me is the obvious message of Birdy's take. We all know the Ducati isn't championship worthy, its why it some doubted wasn't a contender, which ironically turned out to contend up until this very weekend. Again, this fact makes Dovi 'contending' all the more extraordinary. Marc came within a nat's pubic hair in giving up the points lead at Motegi and other races with two great saves, both a result of his reflex and luck, saves that other times for him have resulted in crashes (any serious racer will tell you, saving a crashes is a bit of both). That Dovi's race in Australia was a disaster has little to do with him and more do do with the characteristics of a fickle capricious motorcycle that has a very narrow sweet spot. There are many similarities to Stoner's Ducati championship and Dovi's contending run, you seem to take issue that they must be 'exact' to be compared. I think we need to step back a bit from the Stoner worship (I raise my hand as well) that any comparison is treading on sacred ground, which it should be mentioned, seems to also been afflicting a few members here regarding Marquez. (I don't think Marc would be in this position today on a Ducati, considering he was just 11 points ahead after Motegi whilst riding the sorted RCV.)
To say Honda was hampered at the start of the season or the last couple of years is as laughable as it was when Kropo wrote that Marquez was riding with one arm tied behind his back. When making these statements one must ask, relative to what? Relative to what was the RCV ....? Yamaha/Ducati? If the bike isn't perfect its hampered relative to...other machines that are not perfect? So which imperfect bike is best? This is the parity rank: Honda/Yamaha Yamaha/Honda....then Ducati, this has been true for 20 damn years! It hasn't changed once. Several times now I've read, not just hear on this forum, that poor old Honda and Yamaha are behind Ducati, nothing is more absurd! An imperfect RCV that Marquez has ridden is still better than the GP17, same goes for the M1. Otherwise Lorenzo's and Vinalez's switch would have been more similar and not the super contrast it is now! Horsepower is nothing without control, I'm surprised to read those few that understood the challenges of the GP07 now use the HP of the current Ducati as some kind of insurmountable advantage for the Japanese. The GP07 had a HP advantage too, it was still .... relative to its Japanese counterpart.
And let me add this, you reason that Ducati have a slight edge on electronics, I'm assuming you are referring to some kind of hang over from the first year that the series moved to a standard championship electronics package. That is a long hang over, a couple of years now, that's way over, so then using this logic, how many years removed does Honda get in the advantage department for developing the first seamless gearbox? Shouldn't the same logic hold that because they were the first to introduce it that the development cycle is still ahead in the curve? Now if you're going to use this logic, the logic that Ducati hold some kind of advantage in electronics because the Japanese switched when the they were required, then how many years of Honda domination will you factor into the development cycle with everything else, like fuel consumption, reliability, engineering resources, etc. ect. I think you will find that the ledger of hang over advantages is heavily in Honda's favor.
The Ducati is a nightmare to ride, its has been and still is, the only rider that has scored multiple wins since Casey Stoner is Dovi! Lorenzo is a far more talented rider that Rossi ever was, and he is struggling finishing 15th at Philip Island. Dovi has scored 5 wins, you don't think Lorenzo is scratching his head wondering how Dovi is doing it? Of course he is! That my friend is a reasonable Stoner territory comparison. You think if Lorenzo could replicate it he would not?
You say above the sweet spot only lasted three months for Dovi? Actually my friend, that's incorrect; over an 18 race events, Dovi scored the most points against the "aliens" on alien bikes, I put up a graphic from BeIN sports that illustrated this fact. Again, on a machine that you concede ( you say yourself the Duc was only good for "a three month window"), shouldn't be up there then; therefore that makes Dovi's performance all the more extraordinary. That is to say, over an 18 race season, Dovi took a machine that shouldn't be a contender and scored the most points over a span of events that arbitrarily awards titles. So, my friend, the comparison is fair without needing to be exact, that is what 'comparisons' are for! It hasn't been a small three month window either as you say, its been over an 18+ race span, actually more when you consider Dovi's Aragon and Motegi results. Dovi's teammate, who beat Marquez--the new Stoner, has won zero races and is certainly scratching his head at how Dovi has legitimately contended with 2 races to go in the season, whilst scoring spectacular wins, even twice against the new Stoner Marquez, in both the dry and the wet.
