Ducati promotes Guareschi to MotoGP team manager

seems things are going on at Ducati this yr.from Casey.to Marlboro now Guareschi
is there a power struggle going on in and around Ducati.

Ducati promotes Guareschi to MotoGP team manager

Ducati Marlboro is set to promote former WSBK podium finisher Vittorio Guareschi from test rider to team manager ahead of MotoGP 2010
The Ducati Marlboro MotoGP team is due to promote long-time test rider Vittorio Guareschi to the position of team manager, according to reports, with the Italian hoping that his first-hand experience of what the riders will be feeling will help to propel either Casey Stoner or Nicky Hayden back to title-winning glory in 2010.

Guareschi was himself a podium finisher in the World Superbike Championship (WSBK) before jumping ship to become Ducati's test rider in 2001, and whilst he admits that he fully intends to continue in that role too, he will dovetail it with a more hands-on approach in the team garage.

“I'm going to fill a void, in the sense that a team manager role hasn't existed in Team Ducati before,” Guareschi explained to Motosprint. “I will be the link between the riders and [technical director] Filippo Preziosi. I will be close to the riders, I'll go on the track to see what happens and I will be an advisor to them. Finally, I will also manage the work in the garage.

“I have been the tester of this bike (the 800cc Desmosedici) since the beginning, so I know it perfectly. In this regard, I can really give the riders a hand. This is why Casey wants me to continue testing too. I don't think I will do it for much longer, though; I'm 38, so I will have to quit in a couple of years time.”

crash net

I doubt Suppo is happy with these news

I like this move. It certainly appears that Nicky's troubles have prompted the team to address his concerns with the bike's stability with some enthusiasm. Ducati seems to have decided that sending riders for psychological evaluations is not going to make their bike the envy of the paddock. After what we've seen in previous seasons, this appears to be a step in the right direction. A team that is "rider-centric" is a bit of a departure from what has previously been the "Ducati way."

If for no other reason than this, Nicky's influence will improve things in the red garage. Stoner's a freak, that's become obvious but what about the future.?? Ducati has got to improve the machine going forward and perhaps they're trying.

^^ but isn't Guareschi Stoners test rider?

I think frankly Stoner/Suppo relationship has fallen apart and Guareschi gets the job cos he and Stoner get along.

Sadly I think Nicky doesn't have mich input into things at Duc. ....... All they have to do is remember how things were when Stoner was "fishing" and they have pretty much decided to go with "where their bread is buttered".

Whether its good for the future or not, wins sells bikes ...... supposedly "Gunna develop one " means diddly squat.

Ducati know this hence why when they realised they had no Stoner ATM, they went fishing too!

Nicky will have some influence if he ever hits the podium. Otherwise, Stoner is the god of Ducati. On Nicky's best day he is half the racer that Stoner is.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gsfan @ Nov 1 2009, 03:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Nicky will have some influence if he ever hits the podium. Otherwise, Stoner is the god of Ducati. On Nicky's best day he is half the racer that Stoner is.

He's probably less than half (of Stoner) but that's not the point. The point is that Stoner will not be on the Ducati for life. The bike has serious problems and for the first time in a long time no one is denying it. Fixing the bike is becoming a priority it seems and that was not the case when the last two guys complained.

Nicky has been on the podium BTW, which is more than can be said for the vast majority of those collecting pay checks in the premier series.

You seem to think the bike is in trouble. It has it's own quirks but it seems pretty good to me. Amazing really. I think you'll see over the next 2 years that the bikes will converge in capability to be almost equal. Stoner will be where ever he wants to be for however long he wants to be.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BarryMachine @ Nov 1 2009, 04:23 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>^^ but isn't Guareschi Stoners test rider?

I think frankly Stoner/Suppo relationship has fallen apart and Guareschi gets the job cos he and Stoner get along.
Who knows what is going on? At the very least stoner's absence and the abortive bids for lorenzo and pedrosa were public relations disasters and played out very much in full view for which suppo presumably has to take some blame.

I am sure ducati would love to have rossi and would be happy to change things to meet his requirements, quite possibly regardless of stoner, but I remain unconvinced that there is much chance of him going there.

If as seems likely suppo has taken the it was all in stoner's head stance and is now seen to be wrong, as you say ducati might be changing things to placate stoner, particularly given that the other major contenders have basically resoundingly rebuffed expressions of interest. Whilst senior ducati people such as presiozi looked delighted to see casey's return, and his performance on his return, suppo did look rather sheepish. I don't think easily forgiving or forgetting past offence is prominent among casey's positive qualities. Also as others have said with suppo's approach of finding psychological problems in his riders for the last 2 years not proving to be very constructive, lorenzo and pedrosa in particular apparently not having bought this as an explanation for problems with the performance of the bike, appointing someone like guareschi may indicate a fresh approach ie improving the bike.

Ducati are pissing in the wind.... Really, they have one person on the planet that can ride the bike close to the front, and after 3 years they haven't seem to figure out why, only fools say that cs is a much greater rider than Hayden or melandri , this is bs, they have been falling apart at the seems over the last two years and for the first time in a while they haven't captured a world title in either class......we all know how well this goes down in bolonnnnggghhha!!

Time to call on the ferrari boys again me thinks!

This was the first move in preparing for Valentino 2011.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ROCKGOD01 @ Nov 1 2009, 04:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>This was the first move in preparing for Valentino 2011.


could be... isnt rossi good friends with guareschi?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (jazkat @ Nov 1 2009, 02:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>could be... isnt rossi good friends with guareschi?
They made note of that on the motgp.com broadcast as guareschi was on the podium excepting for the ducati win.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Talpa @ Nov 1 2009, 05:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Ducati are pissing in the wind.... Really, they have one person on the planet that can ride the bike close to the front, and after 3 years they haven't seem to figure out why, only fools say that cs is a much greater rider than Hayden or melandri , this is bs, they have been falling apart at the seems over the last two years and for the first time in a while they haven't captured a world title in either class......we all know how well this goes down in bolonnnnggghhha!!

Time to call on the ferrari boys again me thinks!

I think you're you pissing in the wind dude.
I say CS is a much greater rider than Hayden or Melandri.
Does this make me a fool ???
More BS eh Talps.

There are four guys in MotoGP that are consistently at the front, and the same four guys will be at the front in 2010. They are at the front because they are the best riders, and they have developed the bikes to their liking.
Hayden and Melandri had access to exactly the same equip as Stoner. We are told that the Pramac bikes are exactly the same as the factory bikes, so the Pramac guys have the same potential (probably reinforced by the fact Kallio was in the same position on the factory bike as he was on the Pramac bike). Stoner is at the front because he is one of the best. Why do you think people like JB pushed so hard to get him into Yamaha if he was no better than Hayden or Melandri.

The difference is, Hayden is working his ... off to do the best job he can and bridge the gap. Melandri gave up half way through the year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nuts @ Nov 2 2009, 11:49 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I think you're you pissing in the wind dude.
I say CS is a much greater rider than Hayden or Melandri.
Does this make me a fool ???
More BS eh Talps.

There are four guys in MotoGP that are consistently at the front, and the same four guys will be at the front in 2010. They are at the front because they are the best riders, and they have developed the bikes to their liking.
Hayden and Melandri had access to exactly the same equip as Stoner. We are told that the Pramac bikes are exactly the same as the factory bikes, so the Pramac guys have the same potential (probably reinforced by the fact Kallio was in the same position on the factory bike as he was on the Pramac bike). Stoner is at the front because he is one of the best. Why do you think people like JB pushed so hard to get him into Yamaha if he was no better than Hayden or Melandri.

The difference is, Hayden is working his ... off to do the best job he can and bridge the gap. Melandri gave up half way through the year.
Well then, what can we say, both are world title winners, there are no riders who are 'much greater' than them.... And yes you have now proved foolish

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Talpa @ Nov 2 2009, 11:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Well then, what can we say, both are world title winners, there are no riders who are 'much greater' than them.... And yes you have now proved foolish

Oh yeah, I forgot. Hayden and Melandri are both world title winners.
Yeah, you're right, they are both 'much greater' than Stoner will ever be.

.... it - and now I have made myself look foolish........... !!!!!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nuts @ Nov 2 2009, 12:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Oh yeah, I forgot. Hayden and Melandri are both world title winners.
Yeah, you're right, they are both 'much greater' than Stoner will ever be.

.... it - and now I have made myself look foolish........... !!!!!!

I never said they were much greater than cs, only that he was not much greater than them

so yes, now you have made a fool of yourself twice....should we continue?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Talpa @ Nov 1 2009, 07:09 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I never said they were much greater than cs, only that he was not much greater than them

so yes, now you have made a fool of yourself twice....should we continue?

Stoner is a good deal greater than both Hayden and Melandri. The 20 gp win club is incredibly exclusive.

There is nothing wrong with the Ducati. Why does everyone always make a big deal that only one person can ride the ducati? Is yamaha's 'two' that much better? How about Honda's one consistent winner? Or suzuki's zero?

Ducati have had 1 or 2 non Stoner podium finishers for the past two years, which correlate well with the other manufacturers' podiums from their auxiliary riders. Yamaha has only had one podium finisher besides Rossi/Lorenzo, and Suzuki is even worse. The only manufacturer with multiple podium finishers, besides the factory team, is Honda, which field a handful more bikes that the other manufacturers.

The Ducati is fine. With Vitty G they might get better. He is a genius of a test rider, we will see how his management skills fare. He wears Puma too so thats a plus in my book.

The Guareschi appointment is a positive one in my mind. He's been the test rider at Ducati since the early days of the Desmo project and will continue with those duties. This makes be invaluably knowledgeable about every facet of the bike, and he'll be in the garage every weekend. On top of it, he has a good relationship with both Stoner and Hayden.

There is clearly something wrong with the Ducati. I'm not inferring that Stoner is some God-like talent that, if put on a Honda or Yamaha would suddenly be a second faster than Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa on a regular basis. However, when riders like Capirossi, Melandri and Hayden are struggling to compete with riders like Dovizioso, Edwards, Elias, de Puniet, De Angelis etc., it's obvious to me that there is something wrong. Riders don't go from battling for wins/podiums to well down the order just like that.

I believe that Hayden is going to be very valuable to Ducati and his input will be received as such. They certainly won't deter any of Stoner's work but in his time at Ducati, Stoner is yet to develop a motorcycle that other riders can ride with any substantial success. Someone mentioned earlier, Stoner isn't going to be around forever and when he leaves where will Ducati be? If they continue as they have, they could have two factory riders fighting to crack the top 10. Stoner's success is almost a detriment to Ducati. How do you ignore the input of a guy who's won 20 (?) races in three seasons? But something isn't working and having a guy who has done a heavy bit of development detail with a racing department as strong as Honda's is nothing to sneeze at.

Like I said, Stoner is Stoner and Ducati will give him what he wants in terms of a motorcycle. Racing sells for Ducati, Stoner is a successful racer, he'll get his. But big picture, Ducati need to be very receptive to input from their second factory seat, whoever it be.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yello13 @ Nov 1 2009, 08:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>He wears Puma too so thats a plus in my book.
Everyone at Ducati wears Puma, they're an official supplier to the team. When it comes to race gear, Vitto wears and tests for Alpinestars.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Austin @ Nov 2 2009, 02:48 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The Guareschi appointment is a positive one in my mind. He's been the test rider at Ducati since the early days of the Desmo project and will continue with those duties. This makes be invaluably knowledgeable about every facet of the bike, and he'll be in the garage every weekend. On top of it, he has a good relationship with both Stoner and Hayden.

There is clearly something wrong with the Ducati. I'm not inferring that Stoner is some God-like talent that, if put on a Honda or Yamaha would suddenly be a second faster than Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa on a regular basis. However, when riders like Capirossi, Melandri and Hayden are struggling to compete with riders like Dovizioso, Edwards, Elias, de Puniet, De Angelis etc., it's obvious to me that there is something wrong. Riders don't go from battling for wins/podiums to well down the order just like that.

I believe that Hayden is going to be very valuable to Ducati and his input will be received as such. They certainly won't deter any of Stoner's work but in his time at Ducati, Stoner is yet to develop a motorcycle that other riders can ride with any substantial success. Someone mentioned earlier, Stoner isn't going to be around forever and when he leaves where will Ducati be? If they continue as they have, they could have two factory riders fighting to crack the top 10. Stoner's success is almost a detriment to Ducati. How do you ignore the input of a guy who's won 20 (?) races in three seasons? But something isn't working and having a guy who has done a heavy bit of development detail with a racing department as strong as Honda's is nothing to sneeze at.

Like I said, Stoner is Stoner and Ducati will give him what he wants in terms of a motorcycle. Racing sells for Ducati, Stoner is a successful racer, he'll get his. But big picture, Ducati need to be very receptive to input from their second factory seat, whoever it be.

I'm not sure why you wasted so much of your time with such an eloquent post. As has been asserted above, there is nothing wrong with the Ducati. It's just fine, and Stoner is only average....

Again, I repeat; ignore all of the reports (from multiple sources) about the difficulties assorted Ducati riders have spoken of. They are untrue. The bike's fine!