Laguna Seca: Practice and Qualifying

JohnnyKnockdown said:

It's motor istoo ....... slow and they can't figure out how to balance the POS. Please enlighten us on it's positive qualities as compared to it's rivals.

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I dont agree as 2010 races proves Ducati is mostly quick and has the top speed along with hondas. only yamaha's and Suzuki's were slower. Correct me if I am wrong..

Jumkie said:

Hey look, superbikeplanet is having another fan photo contest. LINK



(For a laugh, click on the first link of fan photo examples. I think you will find a familiar one).

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Your becoming nearly as famous as chopperman!

Ajith said:

I dont agree as 2010 races proves Ducati is mostly quick and has the top speed along with hondas. only yamaha's and Suzuki's were slower. Correct me if I am wrong..

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Top speed is still ok but I don't think it has the acceleration particularly out of corners possessed by the previous screamer ducatis, and despite the carbon fibre accoutrements, new forks, bigbang engine etc all of which were going to fix the chassis/handling problems which plagued riders not called casey stoner (and even him at the tighter european tracks), it still does not seem as balanced as the yamaha, and at least initially seemed to be less than predictable. This of course is not anybody's problem except ducati's and their current riders, who may or may not have contributed sufficiently to development, and they seem to have now decided to address the problems by contracting a rider who apparently has something of a knack for developing racebikes.

well thats probably why Ducati is dropping huge cash on Rossi, far beyond the marketing dream the guy is. Rossi can fix the Ducati, he will get that bike setup correctly. I dont think Stoner is all the good and bike development, Hayden has been the primary person for development on the GP10 if I'm correct. I recall them stating the Hayden has done a great job but I guess not good enough. I'm curious how Rossi will change the direction of development to suit his riding style/needs. That's one thing I wish I could hear is the conversations going on in the paddock about bike setup etc. to hear the riders explaining whats going on and how to fix it, what the bike is doing, problems with corners, all of that would be very cool to hear first hand.

Here are my predictions:



1. Jumkie will be the drunkest person there. And will take any opportunity to slip a ruffie into Pedros redbull bottle before the race.



2. Gator will be the smartest person there, and will take over as president of DORNA.



3. Ck will use the child to pull an umbrella girl. Oh yeah children as well as dogs at picking up ladies!



4. Sack whack will not show, but thats a given. Are you on tether by chance?



5. Keshav will sell his ticket after he runs out of crack. Is he really going?

Tikki said:

Hayden has been the primary person for development on the GP10 if I'm correct. I recall them stating the Hayden has done a great job but I guess not good enough.

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Sadly Big Bang is probably Hayden, and has proved to make the bike less for Stoner but ok'ish for Hayden. It seems whoever adopted the big bang didn't counter the effects of grip balance so they had all the front end problems. I still think the screamer was Stoners forte ( like his likeness Doohan ) and they should go back there for him.This I also wonder about when Stoner goes Honda if its a Big Bang.



Don't know who adopted he 2010 Ohlins but Stoner took those off and started to come good.



In short the 2010 Ducati seemed a cacaphony of good ideas, all applied on top of each other, none of which they seemed to have an prerequisite knowledge of nor had refined before the next mod. was added. It all semed to start mid 09.

My picks

1.Nicky....a superhuman effort

2.Stoner

3.Vale,Dani or Jorge.



Spies,Colin ,they could be anywhere on Sunday. To be honest I don`t really care as I just love bikes at the Seca.Its a rush.

Thanks Michaelm, Tikki & BarryMachine for your information. I agree with that at the same time cant rule out Ducati as the worst Machine because they are now more tamable and recently we witness even the satelite riders performing well (credit to Nicky).

As far as Yamaha.. their riders I think have better understanding of their machine's and handling them well.



I started following this sport only since 2007 and all my knowledge is restricted to internet stuff and some of the postings in this forum.

-Ajith

Ajith, Well yeah Yamaha has Rossi, his knowledge and feedback it what made the M1 great. Lorenzo is still wet behind the ears, I dont think he has the development skills Rossi does. That's why I think Lorenzo wants yamaha to keep him, he doesnt have to do development if Rossi's there, now that Rossi is gone Lorenzo is left to do upcoming development. I bet that bike will basically be the same for the next few years, minor enhancements. I just dont think Lorenzo is a development rider.

Tikki said:

Ajith, Well yeah Yamaha has Rossi, his knowledge and feedback it what made the M1 great. Lorenzo is still wet behind the ears, I dont think he has the development skills Rossi does. That's why I think Lorenzo wants yamaha to keep him, he doesnt have to do development if Rossi's there, now that Rossi is gone Lorenzo is left to do upcoming development. I bet that bike will basically be the same for the next few years, minor enhancements. I just dont think Lorenzo is a development rider.

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That's easy to say when Rossi has had some of the best people around him since 2000 including Burgess!



Rossi is a rider not an engineer. There is a reason why he took most of his crew from Honda to Yam...



As for Lorenzo... he's coping quite well with Rossi's pit wall isn't he?

bonnielass said:

Your becoming nearly as famous as chopperman!

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Dont you mean 'infamous' ?

Some good news for the recently injured Espargaro. LINK

Pigeon said:

Horney looks like he's been to Leno's place got some pics etc and is he on the tonight show



is it recorded / live ? when is it on TV Listings programme info any one ?

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I have found some links for Jay Leno, I'll pm them for you.

The only thing i love to see this week is the Rossi, Stoner show part 2.

and if Pedrosa can beat Horhay again, even better.

inconvenience said:

That's easy to say when Rossi has had some of the best people around him since 2000 including Burgess!



Rossi is a rider not an engineer. There is a reason why he took most of his crew from Honda to Yam...



As for Lorenzo... he's coping quite well with Rossi's pit wall isn't he?

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Yes Rossi has had lots of help, I wont deny that at all. Lorenzo gets handed a finished bike. So for day to day racing the "wall" might matter but year over year, I think Lorenzo is going to miss Rossi. I mean wouldn't you want Rossi developing a bike for you to ride? Hell yeah.

Yam special cowling for laguna

It has been debated on here that Ducati had to go big bang to make it thru and entire season with the engine rules put into place. I think the GP10 is just a few tweeks away from being a damn good bike, unfortunately for Ducati those tweeks are the hardest to figure out and they all seem to focus on edge grip and drive out of the corners. Bring on the larger displacement bikes and drop fuel and engine limits please, also allow some more testing during the off season!!!!!



predictions....



Pedrosa runs away with it

Lorenzo tries his ... off but comes up a little short

Spies gets his updates and pips Rossi at the line

Rossi finishes just behind Spies

Hayden says Son of a mother fcking ....., I'm dropping by to see Jumkie and get some pirate juice

Stoner says Crikey I can't wait until the end of the fcking season so I can get on that Honda!

Dovi messes up in heat of battle with Hayden and Stoner

Edwards because it's Laguna

Melandri don't know why

R.L Hayden because DePuniet's bike is a fcking rocketship!!!

Let Rossi's shenanigans begin.

He didn't come back early to compete in J4rno loserlito championship. Rossi still believes that the championship is not out of reach. Salvage points at Germany and press Jorge to make mistakes and hopefully crash and injure himself. Finish 1st from here on out and he's got a shot. Luckily for him Lorenzo happens to pick a little spot nestled in the hills of Monterey to take flying lessons with no landing gear.

I wonder id Dorna still has that little hidden paved path under the corkscrew gravel trap for when things are going wrong for him. Yam must realize that he is about to sabotage their championship so they finally gave Spies some upgrades so he can play bodyguard.

-Other than Stoner the Duc has been a flaming pile of .... at Laguna for a long time and I don't think anything will change this year.

-Colin will undoubtedly make stupid brash comments about the state of things, and everyone will gush and say how refreshing he is.

-Some rich famous ........ who have no idea what motogp is will get a 2 up ride on Mamola's Ducati for another worthless "save a hungry african with aids charity" while us real hardcore fans who would pay anything for that opportunity will be left in the cold like a Jehovahs Witness on Christmas morning.

-If Roger De Puniet has a respectable outing Migs errrrrrrrrrrrrr Chopperman will find a way to slag down his accomplishment



Challenge of the weekend for Jumkie CK and Gatorduc. Steal Rossi's Oxicotin stash just before racetime.

No seriously. I want you guys to hunt down and get a pic of the PS crew with Kropotkin