Casey Stoner..................

bonnielass said:

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/s...toner-honda-and-ducati-difference-is-extreme/



Actually he doesn't really say anything, which isn't like him..................I wonder if he's regreting the move..................time will tell.

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Hmmm... I don't read anything negative in it. Seems to boil down to:



It was a risky switch going to Ducati



He became accustomed to it.



The Honda is very smooth.



Nothing controversial. Nothing much to base speculation on. It's pretty clear from early

tests that Stoner is gelling with the Honda. I'm sure he's not missing the Duc.



Anyhoo - nice to see your name up here again.

I like Stoner -- it's not news -- because he reminds me of Mike Hailwood, one of my idols when I was a child.

Hailwood was always fast -- on any bike. With any setup. Stoner is just like that..



On the best 500 of 1965 -- the perfectly tuned MV -- he was damn fast. Of course. But young Agostini was as fast as him. Next season he switched to Honda.

On the almost unridable but extremely powerful Honda of 1966, he was as fast as on the MV. Or even faster. Impressive. No other Honda rider could come close to him.



Stoner has been the fastest 800cc rider, on the 'almost unridable' Ducati.

Now he is one of the fastest riders on the much smoother Honda. Hmmm.



The surprise (for him as well as for many of us) could be that although he'll be as fast on the Honda as he was on the Ducati, he will not, probably, be much faster. So far, he's actually been marginally slower on the Honda than he was on the Duck, both at Valencia and at Sepang.



Another difference, which he may not really like, is that on the 'easier' Honda he is not going to have such a big advantage on his teammates. Actually, his teammates may occasionally be even faster than him. And they'll laways be right there with him, all three of them. Hmmm.



Still, if he manages to be consistent, he's world champ material as he has amply demonstrated in 2007.

This is a really interesting story of 2011 imo, maybe even more than Rossi at Ducati.

bonnielass said:

I guess I'm used to Casey having 'stronger' views about his ride. Perhaps he hasn't had much of a ride on it yet.

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He is much more circumspect since the move to hrc, whether due to him being older, having had media training, re-evaluating things after not actually winning any of the last 3 championships or whatever. I for one actually liked that he called things exactly as he saw them rather than the bland PR speak of many modern sportsmen. Not being so frank may well make his life easier though.



I have said on another thread I hoped he would be somewhat faster at the sepang test, and am now hoping he has learnt some restraint in testing/early practice to go with the restraint in other aspects you have pointed out, but I don't think there is much doubt he is currently happy about the move, with beaming smiles apparently being the order of the day when he gets off the honda.



I also am glad to see you posting again.

J4rn0 said:

I like Stoner -- it's not news -- because he reminds me of Mike Hailwood, one of my idols when I was a child.

Hailwood was always fast -- on any bike. With any setup. Stoner is just like that..



On the best 500 of 1965 -- the perfectly tuned MV -- he was damn fast. Of course. But young Agostini was as fast as him. Next season he switched to Honda.

On the almost unridable but extremely powerful Honda of 1966, he was as fast as on the MV. Or even faster. Impressive. No other Honda rider could come close to him.



Stoner has been the fastest 800cc rider, on the 'almost unridable' Ducati.

Now he is one of the fastest riders on the much smoother Honda. Hmmm.



The surprise (for him as well as for many of us) could be that although he'll be as fast on the Honda as he was on the Ducati, he will not, probably, be much faster. So far, he's actually been marginally slower on the Honda than he was on the Duck, both at Valencia and at Sepang.



Another difference, which he may not really like, is that on the 'easier' Honda he is not going to have such a big advantage on his teammates. Actually, his teammates may occasionally be even faster than him. And they'll laways be right there with him, all three of them. Hmmm.



Still, if he manages to be consistent, he's world champ material as he has amply demonstrated in 2007.

This is a really interesting story of 2011 imo, maybe even more than Rossi at Ducati.

Click to expand...

I personally don't believe his speed on the Honda is a surprise at all, quite the contrary, thus the only interesting part about this will be, based on his record, if he can stay on it at the fierce pace required to beat this years exceptional line up. And as you mentioned his teammates are all very strong, something which Stoner has rarely experienced and I also thought he would be quicker on the Honda than the Duck by now.



This years big surprises will be coming from Spies, Simoncelli, Rossi and Nicky.

Talpa said:

I personally don't believe his speed on the Honda is a surprise at all, quite the contrary, thus the only interesting part about this will be, based on his record, if he can stay on it at the fierce pace required to beat this years exceptional line up. And as you mentioned his teammates are all very strong, something which Stoner has rarely experienced and I also thought he would be quicker on the Honda than the Duck by now.



This years big surprises will be coming from Spies, Simoncelli, Rossi and Nicky.

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As I have said I think he should have been faster by more in comparison to an injured rossi making significant changes to a bike, and definitely faster than simoncelli , at sepang if he was showing all he had as has been his previous wont. I think comparisons with his previous times on the ducati are of doubtful relevance though, with the difference in track conditions etc; I think everyone was slower including those staying on the same bikes. Even you surely have to admit what he did in the post-valencia test was impressive though.



I think j4rno's hypothesis that he is hailwood (or hailwood-lite if you will)-like rather than rossi-like or doohan-like in his riding is not unreasonable, although at the moment the only competitive bike he has been on is the ducati, which may be unusual. Events will show us I guess, both how he goes on the honda including his progess over race week-ends and whether rossi can "fix" the ducati.



I personally doubt that simoncelli or hayden will be in strong contention this year although it would please me if nicky was, and rossi doing well would hardly be a surprise, nor would spies contending be so to me anyway.

J4rn0 said:

I like Stoner -- it's not news -- because he reminds me of Mike Hailwood, one of my idols when I was a child.

Hailwood was always fast -- on any bike. With any setup. Stoner is just like that..



On the best 500 of 1965 -- the perfectly tuned MV -- he was damn fast. Of course. But young Agostini was as fast as him. Next season he switched to Honda.

On the almost unridable but extremely powerful Honda of 1966, he was as fast as on the MV. Or even faster. Impressive. No other Honda rider could come close to him.



Stoner has been the fastest 800cc rider, on the 'almost unridable' Ducati.

Now he is one of the fastest riders on the much smoother Honda. Hmmm.



The surprise (for him as well as for many of us) could be that although he'll be as fast on the Honda as he was on the Ducati, he will not, probably, be much faster. So far, he's actually been marginally slower on the Honda than he was on the Duck, both at Valencia and at Sepang.



Another difference, which he may not really like, is that on the 'easier' Honda he is not going to have such a big advantage on his teammates. Actually, his teammates may occasionally be even faster than him. And they'll laways be right there with him, all three of them. Hmmm.



Still, if he manages to be consistent, he's world champ material as he has amply demonstrated in 2007.

This is a really interesting story of 2011 imo, maybe even more than Rossi at Ducati.

Click to expand...

All good points J4rn0 but this one is a very valid one.

Talpa said:

I personally don't believe his speed on the Honda is a surprise at all, quite the contrary, thus the only interesting part about this will be, based on his record, if he can stay on it at the fierce pace required to beat this years exceptional line up. And as you mentioned his teammates are all very strong, something which Stoner has rarely experienced and I also thought he would be quicker on the Honda than the Duck by now.



This years big surprises will be coming from Spies, Simoncelli, Rossi and Nicky.

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I bet I'm not the only one who sees the irony in this statement?

Frizzle said:

All good points J4rn0 but this one is a very valid one.

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I don't think dovi will regularly be at pedrosa pace, he hasn't been when dani has been fit in the past. Simoncelli is another question, but whether he will continue to get the same developments as the season progresses especially if they decide to back one rider for the championship when things begin to shake out is still another question; I would be surprised if he was that rider as well. Certainly at one stage in the doohan era they reputedly gave this many riders or more equal kit, but both costs overall and the pace of development were different in those days with the long-term 500 formula.

Surely 2011 is shaping up as one of the most competative years for a long time.

Should be some good racing.

I disagree that Dovoizioso and Simoncelli will be a serious challenge. Getting closer, but not close enough.

Dani has been the standout Honda rider to date, and will be Stoners only challenger on a Honda. Dani will be supermotivated with Stoners arrival. Will he crash more?



I may be deluded, but I think so far its early days for CS on the Honda, and that there is much improvement to come.

I remember the first tests he had on the Ducati he was the same speed or slower than Capirossi, and then remember how he went in race 1 at Qatar. As Michael said, Casey has been constantly seen with a big smile on his face..............he knows he can win another championship on the Honda.



BL: Thre challenge was going from Honda to Ducati, not the other way round.

[quote name='michaelm' timestamp='1297991578' post='266408'



I personally doubt that simoncelli or hayden will be in strong contention this year although it would please me if nicky was, and rossi doing well would hardly be a surprise, nor would spies contending be so to me anyway.

[/quote]



however rossi performs will be a surprise depending on your POV and his current circumstances. However I do feel that Nicky and Marco will both consistently surprise with competative speed and Spies is relatively overshadowed at present with other far more high profile achievers thus I think he'll also

surprise.

Good God look at the Sepang timesheets - that Honda has an unfair advantage.



That switch to Honda



He is now on a brand that hasn't won a world championship since 2006?



Cautious but his track times are looking devastating.

how can anyone say that casey is not much faster in 2011 on the hrc then the ducati in 2010? lets see and I will show you the comparison times, on the ducati last year his best time at sepang was 2.1.32 and in 2011 on the hrc his best time was 1.59.665 that is a phenomenal 1.645 second difference, casey is very comfortable on the hrc and I know him because i've followed his racing ever since he was in Australia and when he went to England and 125, 250 and into motogp, when he was on the lcr he was phenomenally quick for a rookie and that is how his racing is. with hrc he will be and he will achieve bigger and better things not only this year but in the years to come!



Sepang Test 2011

1. Casey Stoner-1:59.665

2. Dani Pedrosa-1:59.803

3. Marco Simoncelli-2:00.163

4. Andrea Dovizioso-2:00.541

5. Ben Spies-2:00.678

6. Colin Edwards-2:00.966

7. Jorge Lorenzo-2:01.003

8. Alvaro Bautista-2:01.194

9. Hiroshi Aoyama-2:01.328

10. Hector Barbera-2:01.346

11. Valentino Rossi-2:01.469

12. Nicky Hayden- 2:01.469

13. Loris Capirossi-2:01.493

14. Cal Crutchlow-2:02.034

15. Randy De Puniet-2:02.155

16. Toni Elias-2:02.410

17. T1-2:02.457

18. Karel Abraham-2:02.506

19. T2-2:03.016



Sepang Test 2010

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team - 2min 0.925 sec (32 laps)

2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team - 2min 1.320 sec (36 laps) 121.31

3. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team - 2min 1.680 sec (60 laps)

4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team - 2min 1.822 sec (50 laps)

5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 2min 2.266 sec (31 laps)

6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team - 2min 2.272 sec (56 laps)

7. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 - 2min 2.479 sec (42 laps)

8. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 2min - 2.493 sec (55 laps)

9. Aleix Espargaro SPA Pramac Racing - 2min 2.647 sec (33 laps)

10. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2min - 2.763 sec (48 laps)

11. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini - 2min 2.810 sec (55 laps)

12. Hector Barbera SPA Aspar Ducati - 2min 3.032 sec (51 laps)

13. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP - 2min 3.043 sec (48 laps)

14. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP - 2min 3.195 sec (56 laps)

15. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini - 2min 3.245 sec (49 laps)

16. Alvaro Bautista SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 2min 3.274 sec (37 laps)

17. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing - 2min 3.359 sec (53 laps)

bonnielass said:

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/s...toner-honda-and-ducati-difference-is-extreme/



Actually he doesn't really say anything, which isn't like him..................I wonder if he's regreting the move..................time will tell.

Click to expand...

If Stoner was regretting the move to hrc I,d like to bet that he aint now after the second test.

The guys got this season under wraps if he continues smashing laptimes like he has in Sepang!

lil red rocket pilot said:

If Stoner was regretting the move to hrc I,d like to bet that he aint now after the second test.

The guys got this season under wraps if he continues smashing laptimes like he has in Sepang!

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Stoner regretting his move to HRC has never occurred



He has been happy as a pig in sh@# since he knew he was going Honda.



The whole premise of this thread is just a bit more bopper wishful thinking, as they are currently blaming Stoner again for Rossi's woes