duhamel disapointment!

I must say I hoped he would have at least gone race distance just to say he'd done it on an 800. There must be a reason he pulled in though.

Nope he said in his interview with Randy Mamola that he just wanted to let the other guys race and not get in the way

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(phildean @ Jul 23 2007, 09:08 AM) [snapback]80899[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
Nope he said in his interview with Randy Mamola that he just wanted to let the other guys race and not get in the way


I give the guy credit for knowing when to pull it into the garage.

He was given the ride to appeal to American/Canadian audiences at the home GP. He generated the buzz, made the start, and did what he was supposed to do.

He is experienced and smart enough to not take a chance wrecking a million dollar piece of machinery (again since he wadded one in practice) or himself for only a top 20 result in a one off ride. He had very little time on the bike, and if he had stayed out on the track would have only served to slow other people down as lapped traffic. He has/had nothing to prove, and isn't looking for a GP ride.

The man is a class act. Few people would have the guts to throw a leg over a GP bike in a race with only a couple hours of practice, and even fewer still would have the guts to honestly admit they pulled it into the garage with no technical problems.

Fair play to the guy for saying he didn't want to get in the way of contenders or pitch the thing away again. But in my eyes, if that's the attitude you're going to take then why take the ride? There were other riders out there who would have loved to take the 212 around for 32 laps I'm sure with loads to prove. I'm glad Honda offered it to him, there hasn't been anymore more loyal to the brand on this continent but if Miguel was in this mindset then why accept?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(phildean @ Jul 23 2007, 05:08 PM) [snapback]80899[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
Nope he said in his interview with Randy Mamola that he just wanted to let the other guys race and not get in the way


Translation...He did not want to be embarassed by a bunch of kids 15+ years younger than him by being their moving chicane and to be multi-lapped at 'home'...

"He had very little time on the bike, and if he had stayed out on the track would have only served to slow other people down as lapped traffic. He has/had nothing to prove, and isn't looking for a GP ride."

Well, Davies didn't and it was his first time on a GP bike, let alone Laguna.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(phleg @ Jul 23 2007, 05:57 PM) [snapback]80913[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
"He had very little time on the bike, and if he had stayed out on the track would have only served to slow other people down as lapped traffic. He has/had nothing to prove, and isn't looking for a GP ride."

Well, Davies didn't and it was his first time on a GP bike, let alone Laguna.


Davies still rides for spirit racing and maybe wining.. and Duhamel rides for money now and not glory.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(phleg @ Jul 23 2007, 09:57 AM) [snapback]80913[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
"He had very little time on the bike, and if he had stayed out on the track would have only served to slow other people down as lapped traffic. He has/had nothing to prove, and isn't looking for a GP ride."

Well, Davies didn't and it was his first time on a GP bike, let alone Laguna.



Davies has everything to prove.

He lost his 250GP ride when the team folded, and is on a privateer bike here in the US. His best hope of getting back into GPs is to impress the international teams, and that's pretty hard to do running AMA in the states on a non-competitive bike.

He was lapping within .5 of Rossi when he lost the sprocket on his Duc. I think he proved a lot and made a good impression.

Full marks to Miguel for being mature and honest about the reasosn for his retirement. Atleast he did not make excuses about the bike etc, which so many other riders seem to do. However, it does shed light on how good the average MotoGP rider is wehn it comes to learning a new track.

So we have established that it was a waste of the bike to have Miguel on it. Hmmm, i'm pretty sure Phleg and me said that beofre hand.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tom @ Jul 23 2007, 10:10 AM) [snapback]80921[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
So we have established that it was a waste of the bike to have Miguel on it. Hmmm, i'm pretty sure Phleg and me said that beofre hand.



No it was a marketing tool to generate hype for the GP in the US, by putting one of the most popular AMA riders in the saddle. It also put 2 Gressini bikes on the grid, which is always good for sponsors

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(svgamer @ Jul 23 2007, 12:50 PM) [snapback]80908[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
I give the guy credit for knowing when to pull it into the garage.

He was given the ride to appeal to American/Canadian audiences at the home GP. He generated the buzz, made the start, and did what he was supposed to do.

He is experienced and smart enough to not take a chance wrecking a million dollar piece of machinery (again since he wadded one in practice) or himself for only a top 20 result in a one off ride. He had very little time on the bike, and if he had stayed out on the track would have only served to slow other people down as lapped traffic. He has/had nothing to prove, and isn't looking for a GP ride.

The man is a class act. Few people would have the guts to throw a leg over a GP bike in a race with only a couple hours of practice, and even fewer still would have the guts to honestly admit they pulled it into the garage with no technical problems.



I don't see him as a class act...I used to but this has tarnished his image in my opinion. He also stated that his head was not into the race. Like someone else said earlier, if his head isn't into it, why take the ride in the first place? I hardly believe it was to bring people out to the GP....At least not for those fans of his that had to watch at home. The only time we got a glimpse of Miguel was in his interview after he quit.....and YES that is exactly what he did.....he QUIT.

Now, I am no racer, but being in the field for the best racing series on the planet, has to get you going.....I mean, how can it NOT? After seeing Miguels performance at Daytona (where he wreck, got up and finished the race with out a speed screen) I would have said that there is a guy that will NEVER quit on his sponsors and the rest of his race team. How must the rest of the team feel after he quit? They worked their butts off to get this bike ready. They set it up for him. And then he quits.....I am still shaking my head about that......

Duhamel crashed during warmup. Is it possible that the team instructed him to not crash the second bike during the race?

Could be....but then why put him out there in the first place? I mean...it is racing after all. What if he had been taken out in T1 through no fault of his own?

I dont agree with excuses given for duhamel.like : he was wise to back out , he did not want to get in the way etc etc...
I do like the guy and he still is competitive in AMA SBK, but when I heard that he was to substittute in MotoGp I thought it was a joke" turned out to be pretty much that in the end.

Duhamel is a turd, we have known that for years. If that had been me I would have ridden that thing like an expensive Nevada prostitute and got my moneys worth!!! I also would have binned a bike just to say that I have binned a million dollar machine.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eagle088 @ Jul 24 2007, 11:36 AM) [snapback]81032[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
Duhamel is a turd, we have known that for years. If that had been me I would have ridden that thing like an expensive Nevada prostitute and got my moneys worth!!! I also would have binned a bike just to say that I have binned a million dollar machine.

Duhamel was crap. Just crap. No excuses, he couldn't get close to anyone. No harm done, but what a disappointment.