Honda unlikely to retain Dovizioso & Simoncelli in 2012

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Nov 19, 2010
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Interesting article with direct quotes from Honda racing boss Shuhei Nakamoto. Pretty obvious that 2011 was a last ditch, no expense spared attempt by Honda to secure a 800cc title before the formula switches to 1000cc. No surprise though that this year's effort would not be sustainable going forward into the future, and as such looks like a more normal approach is in on the cards for 2012. Shame for Dovi & Simo, but if you had to pick 2 factory riders from the current crop of 4, I don't think anyone could argue with a Pedrosa/Stoner line up.



Will be interesting to see what follows on from a Honda decision in August. Will Dovi be pushed to the Satellite Honda team, would make that line up a lot stronger, not sure about 2 Italian riders from a sponsorship perspective in the one team though.



I know a lot of people are hoping Suzuki revert to a more standard 2 bike team for 2012, hopefully this Honda decision is not indicative of what we can expect from other Japanese manufacturers. Would be best for all to see a strong 4 manufacturer series next year (am assuming Ducati can get their act together, which doesn't look too likely right now).





http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/93182
 
We had this discussion somewhere else on the forum, but I think with Simo's natural turn of speed and fearlessness as well as his size will make him a formidable 1000cc rider.



Dovi is likable but so is the kid i get to mow my lawn, and neither are going to be championship winners.



I'd like to see Simo get a decent ride, and by that I mean a Honda or Yamaha and preferably a factory one for next year just to see the sparks fly.
 
I think Dovi will move quickly to secure Edwards Tech3 Yamaha and Simoncelli will stay where he is on a 'factory' Honda rather than the Factory Honda he has now.



If Gresini secures 2 of the 4 Honda's what is LCR going to run? Could they possibly secure a Factory Suzuki? I doubt there would be additional Yamaha's as they have not been tempted to front up with more than 4 M1's so far. Maybe we could see RdP return to LCR with a factory ride at last, leaving 2 satellite Ducati's spare for anyone wanting to end their career early.
 
Honda still hand in glove with dorna perhaps? All the (proposed anyway) CRT teams may mean no more need for honda to provide grid filler.
 
Just to throw this out there, what if Rossi decides he's had enough and walks away at the end of 2011 or possibly Ducati buys Hayden out of his seat or both happen? You could have 1 or 2 factory Ducati seats available? Crazier things have happened.
 
Just to throw this out there, what if Rossi decides he's had enough and walks away at the end of 2011 or possibly Ducati buys Hayden out of his seat or both happen? You could have 1 or 2 factory Ducati seats available? Crazier things have happened.

I think Ducati is now aware that their bikes are career killers, and will be happy to keep whomever is willing to ride the POS. They might even get a raise to stay. Or they can accept their fate as a backmarker and hire the cheapest rider they can find.
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Just to throw this out there, what if Rossi decides he's had enough and walks away at the end of 2011 or possibly Ducati buys Hayden out of his seat or both happen? You could have 1 or 2 factory Ducati seats available? Crazier things have happened.



Be interesting to see how they would go with Hayden as lead rider.
 
Dovi is likable but so is the kid i get to mow my lawn, and neither are going to be championship winners.



Well, not like Pedrosa has won one yet either.



Both Sic and Dovi are above average riders and they are capable of stealing wins here and there on the right bike (Dovi has already), so it's not like a team signing them would be disappointed if they got either of them.
 
I still laugh every time I read someone refer to 'the 4 Hondas next year'. based solely on one sensationalized news story. All that was actually said was 'the Repsol team is going back to 2 riders'. Honda has not announced plans to reduce the number of bikes on the grid to my knowledge.



HRC wanted a 2 rider Repsol team this season. Dovi showed his contract and threatened litigation after the desired sponsor for Stoner's one man team fell through. There is no news there.
 
HRC wanted a 2 rider Repsol team this season. Dovi showed his contract and threatened litigation after the desired sponsor for Stoner's one man team fell through. There is no news there.

Yes, and the hrc factory team, and in particular their major sponsor repsol, are (fairly or not) perhaps not best pleased with marco simoncelli after dani's collar bone fracture either.
 
I still laugh every time I read someone refer to 'the 4 Hondas next year'. based solely on one sensationalized news story. All that was actually said was 'the Repsol team is going back to 2 riders'. Honda has not announced plans to reduce the number of bikes on the grid to my knowledge.



HRC wanted a 2 rider Repsol team this season. Dovi showed his contract and threatened litigation after the desired sponsor for Stoner's one man team fell through. There is no news there.



Why laugh? Do you have evidence that Honda will have 6 bikes on the grid in 2012? No you don't so it is just as likely that they will have 4 as it is that they will have 6.



The article to me suggests that Honda spent up big this year and next year will be the casualty of the 2011 effort so there is every likely hood that there will be less Honda's on the grid in 2012.



Yamaha only have 4 bikes and I would not be surprised to see sponsors walking out of the ducati door with the results being so poor and Ducati being unable to field the 6 bikes they field now. Four bikes from each of the 3 factories is highly likely I would suggest.
 
Dovizioso is nothing more then your average rider. To be honest, under-performing with the package that he's been given. Consistently out-paced in every race by his 2 teammates. Honda needs to drop him. Simoncelli I think should get Dani's ride. Midget has his chance, he hasn't shown to be a consistent championship contendor. A few odd race wins here and there...... but over-all performance is lackluster. Honda needs to invest in Simoncelli now.... as I've said before, I always thought he was going to be Rossi's replacement in MotoGP. He's got what it takes, with time he will be up there consistently.
 
Dovizioso is nothing more then your average rider. To be honest, under-performing with the package that he's been given. Consistently out-paced in every race by his 2 teammates. Honda needs to drop him. Simoncelli I think should get Dani's ride. Midget has his chance, he hasn't shown to be a consistent championship contendor. A few odd race wins here and there...... but over-all performance is lackluster. Honda needs to invest in Simoncelli now.... as I've said before, I always thought he was going to be Rossi's replacement in MotoGP. He's got what it takes, with time he will be up there consistently.



Lets be realistic, all Simoncelli has is speed (lots of) and a 250 world title. Nothing else. Now i'm not suggesting that is a bad thing, his last two years in 250cc racing we superb, but at motopg level he hasn't really produced much in the way of results or hope. Just excitement. Dovi is the best italian in motogp at the moment. As for Dani, he is now the best rider ever to not win the motogp title, so after the world champions in the class he is probably your best bet.
 
Lets be realistic, all Simoncelli has is speed (lots of) and a 250 world title. Nothing else. Now i'm not suggesting that is a bad thing, his last two years in 250cc racing we superb, but at motopg level he hasn't really produced much in the way of results or hope. Just excitement. Dovi is the best italian in motogp at the moment. As for Dani, he is now the best rider ever to not win the motogp title, so after the world champions in the class he is probably your best bet.

Marco is supposedly riding the exact same equipment as the other 3, if he doesnt make a huge move in the last half of the season and win some races, i dont see how you could possibly replace Dani with him. Of course, it could come down to who sells the most T shirts. If Marco surpasses Dani in popularity, Repsol might make a decision based purely on that. If thats the case, it would just be another example of looking weird, or acting weird trumping results, and the normal guy getting ...... because he is not an attention whore.The most painful thing in the world to watch is someone trying to be something they are not, yet you might see Dani have to don a chicken suit and .... a goat in parc ferme to keep his ride.
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Why laugh? Do you have evidence that Honda will have 6 bikes on the grid in 2012? No you don't so it is just as likely that they will have 4 as it is that they will have 6.



The article to me suggests that Honda spent up big this year and next year will be the casualty of the 2011 effort so there is every likely hood that there will be less Honda's on the grid in 2012.



Yamaha only have 4 bikes and I would not be surprised to see sponsors walking out of the ducati door with the results being so poor and Ducati being unable to field the 6 bikes they field now. Four bikes from each of the 3 factories is highly likely I would suggest.



I've seen NOTHING to suggest that Honda is reducing the number of bikes other than one article written by a site that likes to sensationalize stories to get people to read and discuss them, and where the words spoken by the HRC official were saying that the Repsol team would be a 2 rider team (no surprise) and implied that HRC was not going to pay either or both of Simoncelli or Dovizioso's salaries - again, no surprise. I've seen nothing at all, including that article (aside from generous journalistic interpretation), to say that Honda will have fewer bikes on the grid. I have seen some possibilities that they will have MORE bikes on the grid, but they will need to pay for them, Honda isn't footing the bill.



Could I be wrong? Oh yeah...
 
http://www.superbike...g/110830c18.htm Maybe Andrea Dovizioso needs to pump up the volume. Dovi continues to quietly build his case to keep a Honda factory contract for 2012 and beyond despite HRC's infatuation with Marco Simoncelli, which seemingly becomes more inexplicable by the race.

Reports continue to circulate that Honda will drop one factory rider for 2012 from its four-man roster this season of Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, Dovizioso and Simoncelli, with Dovi reportedly the man left without a chair when the music stops in a Japanese boardroom.

That decision is looking increasingly like one based on marketing rather than results. Dovi delivers results but is quiet and indistinguishable; Simoncelli rarely has fulfilled the promise of his impressive speed in two years on MotoGP machinery yet is a lightning rod who inspires grown men to wear Bozo afro wigs at racetracks across the globe.

How else can the decision be explained?

Both Dovi and Super Sic are on factory HRC bikes this season, Dovizioso with the Repsol Honda Team and Simoncelli with Gresini. Dovi is third in the standings with 174 points, just 25 behind reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo. Simoncelli is ninth in the standings with 80 points, a whopping 94 behind Dovizioso.

The numbers continue to tip the scales of contract justice toward Dovi. He has five podium finishes this season; Simoncelli has one. Dovizioso has finished every race this season; Super Sic has finished just eight of 12.

And in the most damning number: Dovizioso has beaten Simoncelli in all 12 races this season.

What more does a rider have to do to keep his factory ride? Maybe grow out his hair.

Tech 3 Team Principal Herve Poncharal will get the steal of the silly season if Dovi signs with the Yamaha satellite team to replace the departing Colin Edwards, as rumored over the Indianapolis event weekend.







There is no justice in the world of racing
 

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