I wont dig up the interview but I posted it way back in....whenever. Stoner spoke very darkly of the tyres he got from Michelin in 2006, it was a well known practice back then that the showcase riders got the good tyres and the others got tyres of a lesser standard. The change to the Bridgestone control tyre makes it quite difficult to compare the two seasons.
We also have to place the historical context as such, were it not for Stoner in 2007 we would still have two (or more - Dunlop dabbled) tyre manufacturers, In 2007 when Casey won it was Bridgestone First and then the next 4 or 5 bikes were Michelin shod. The field has evened up now in terms of tyre quality.
Also, there was a budget comparison back then and the LCR Honda was the most underfunded and supported Honda out there, it was really a third tier bike.
The only way we can compare them is equal bikes and tyres this season. Simo has always done well and is a great rider, time will tell but the season comparison is fundamentally flawed.
Simo has both talent AND competition.
I would however predict the more likely scenario is that as the Ducati gets up to speed Rossi and other Ducati riders will begin displacing him in the top 5, as will Spies, who in pre season testing showed he was the consistently faster Yamaha factory rider on average using the race tyres in race simulation conditions (runs of multiple laps).
Lorenzo's second place (showed great race craft) and Rossi's 7th place (on the Poocati) were (IMO) far more impressive rides than any of the factory Honda's out there apart from Stoner.
31 days to Jerez, all the Ducati has to do is turn and the Yamaha has to find some extra power and then those other factory Honda's will not be able to line up as easily in the Honda procession that was the first race.
Jumkie, Barry et al will probably slap me for saying so, but I see Rossi and Lorenzo as far greater threats to Stoner than any of the other Honda riders
