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I said that the 2008 tire regulations (if new tire regulations were drafted during the 2007 emergency meetings) were definitely not to Stoner's liking. After 2008, the tires moved progressively in Stoner's favor as each successive tire was made harder than the last. Unfortunately, the harder tires did nothing to fix the Ducati's grip balance. Nonetheless, Stoner preferred the hard tires, and he used them effectively in 2011 at Honda.
Well, ok, we at least agree on the starting point, that is 08 tires were decidedly moved away from Stoner/Ducati package, hence why Casey requested to use the 07 spec (which was denied him). But I would disagree with you that the tires "progressively" became more to his liking, because the cold
hard facts(pardon the pun) of performance results indicate became decidedly worse (less wins year to year). Btw, Collin Edwards said that VR loves "hard tires" which circumstantially to me would indicate the spec was moving toward VR. That Casey tried to make them work is another story, not to mention the development changes Ducati made to attempt to mitigate his feedback, which I would make the case was not really something they listened to wholeheartedly until VR told them their bike was .....
My tire 'conspiracy' was not an actual conspiracy because it was not about corruption. The tires were changed for safety. My only gripe with Dorna and the tire manufacturers is that they intentionally ignored Stoner's plight. After the control tire, the sport is less competitive, which might be related to the specifics of the counter-intuitive Bridgestone control tire. Both the riders and the manufacturers appear to struggle with its design, and that's probably why it was altered for 2012, not as a pro-Rossi agenda.
Ah I see, its only conspiracy if it was decidedly corrupt, ok, I'll go along. The problem is we may never read a press release that admits they did something corrupt. I doubt we will ever read an admission that they attempt to influence the authenticity of the competition. But I see what you are saying, though. I would invite you to consider that if Bstone was successfully coerced into providing VR tires (which they had stated they did not want to do) then it would follow any changes to that spec of the tire is suspect. Perhaps the changes were happenstance consequence of redesigning their tire to make it more "safe" as you say. Honestly, many of the reg tweaks have come along with the ........ premise that it was for cost cutting, safety, and the less egalitarian reason of making the show more interesting (which I guess from my admittedly bias perspective seemed to mean "VR wining is more interesting.")
Control tires and SNS Michelins cannot both be advantages for Rossi. As boppers pointed out in 2008, Rossi was only getting the same Bridgestones as everyone else. The problem was that Rossi appeared to use extortion to acquire Bridgestones. Ross's behavior should not be confused with the actual tires and the rules that spawned them.
Absolutely disagree buddy! I don't think we have to argue the SNS were a decided advantage, right (I think we are both on the same page). So lets just focus on the "control tire" also know as a "spec tire". When all these changes happened I argue I was in favor of a single tire supply providing "spec tire" for precisely the notion that all would get "equal" tires. But I was naive and the league was more cunning than I had surmised. Sure, everybody got the SAME "spec tires" but WHO'S SPEC? This is the question that is relevant. Allow me to use the Saturday Night Special analogy. The reason why they were an advantage was that after practicing at an even for two day, VR could give specific feedback of the conditions where Michelin could then produce a tire' over night on Saturday' (hence the name) and ship it to Rossi (they didn't have to make a million of them). That is a decided advantage for the rider using those tires, right? Would this have been an advantage to Colin Edwards to use Rossi's SPEC Specials? NO. But this is what I contend happened in 08+; that is, everybody was now using tires closer to a 'ROSSI SPEC' tires known as a Bridgestone Control Tires. Follow?
I'm not rewriting history. The opportunity and the motivation to alter the competitive landscape were similar in 2004. The key people are the same as in 2004. Existence is not determined by the date of human discovery. I understand that the public are just now becoming aware of Dorna's behind-the-scenes meddling, but Dorna didn't begin seeking higher profits and enhanced competition in 2012.
Well, the Inca conquest was similar to the Aztec conquest in that both were ruthless raping and pillaging by Spaniards, but the particulars were vastly different. So no, I can't entertain the notion that Dorna pushed VR out of HRC in 04, nothing supports this notion, the reality is he left on his own. Similarly, I can't entertain the notion that Dorna pushed VR out of Yamaha in 2010, he left on his own. If I was going to make a case for similarity, it would be that both times he left because of ego. He could swallowed a bit of pride and went on a continues run of championships with no pesky interruption.
I will entertain this notion that he was helped back to a competitive factory seat at Yamaha though.
