Joined Jul 2015
812 Posts | 336+
Hurricane, WV
Joined Jun 2007
3K Posts | 309+
UK
At somepoint....that could be too late for HRC....if it take as long 1 season and 5 races again....
I dont think MM will let JLo get anywhere near beating him again especially on the same bike....MM will be cordial and fun with him, but ruthless on the track against JLo from now to establish dominance going into next year and until their no longer teammates....
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
You're not 'hanging your hat' on the statement, yet you brought up the statement to make a point? Perhaps you're not familiar with this idiom, it means to believe in or depend on something. My point is that the iterations of the GP07 to GP18 requires a bit of substantive analysis rather than oversimplification. The GP17-18 is a much more user friendly machine for Non-Stoner type riders to win on, evidenced by not only Dovi, but, Iannone, Petrucci, Miller.
If you live in a glass house don't throw rocks.
Joined Jun 2015
488 Posts | 303+
Cornwall England
Bet youve had a rollercoaster of a week
But in the end it couldnt have turned out any better
Its been pretty emotional !
been walking round in stunned delight to be honest!! lol congratulations to Alberto, Jorge's manager, for pulling this one off, im like WOW..
Joined Jul 2007
5K Posts | 1K+
unda cheese
Joined Feb 2018
681 Posts | 535+
Italy
Joined Oct 2008
6K Posts | 5K+
In Cider
I very much doubt it will take Lorenzo 18 months to be competitive on the Honda. Crutchlow bailed after a year on the Factory Duc to take a Satellite Honda ride and aside from Dovi, has won more races than any Ducati rider since switching. The only riders that have struggled consistently have been riders who aren't world champion material on 3rd tier satellite RCV's.
I thought some of the problems last year for Jorge (and Vinales) was the binning of the tyre that they preferred. Surely that would have had an impact on Jorge's acclimatisation with the bike if the tyre was suddenly swapped out?
I appreciate that Jorge has to take responsibility for his actions and failures and I could certainly see when his head dropped or he got rattled by others disrupting his rhythm but learning a new bike then having the tyre you'd been practising on being pulled would have caused a setback.
Joined Mar 2016
2K Posts | 2K+
FNQ
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
Dovi has not "crumbled" inasmuch as Marquez hasn't crumbled because he crashed. Dovi came into the season STILL the 'underdog', and won the first race under a last corner lunge by Marc (4-0 Dovi on this record). The take away was that the Honda had improved given it was in contention for the win at Qatar, a venue not considered a "Honda track". Dovi came into this season as the championship challenger and has actually performed to expectation--as the 'underdog'. (You do know what 'underdog' means, right?) At Jerez he was poised to challenge Marc if not runners-up podium, but while he was taking the risk to pass Lorenzo (who strapped on soft tires and was bound to lose 'pace') he was taken out by said rider because Jlo rejoined unsafely after leaving the race line. Who crumbled? That's like saying Pedro crumbled because he DNFed at Argentina and Jerez.
Dovi crashing out at Le Mans we can count as an uncharacteristic mistake, not outlandish when you consider the overall event in terms of 'number of crashes' though, that's why substantive analysis is required when oversimplified conclusions are made. At Mugello he immediately understood Lorenzo had won the tire gamble and said as much in the post race interview. We can say the tank modification was partially positive for Lorenzo, but to ignore the tire choice and it's impact on the outcome, particularly with Dovi and Marquez at Mugello, is rather shortsighted. Look at it this way, Dovi didn't choose the optimal tire choice and came runners-up, contrasted with Marc didn’t choose the optimal tire choice and crashed. Who crumbled?
Ducati vs Honda, which is the 'underdog'? How does the underdog "crumble"? If anything Marquez has "crumbled" given as you say his brain farts. That Dovi has won Qatar race, was taken out at Jerez where he was poised to challenge the podium, came runner-up at Mugello, is exactly what an underdog does, that is, hangs in there when there is little chance of competing for the title against the perennial juggernauts. I agree it's unlikely Ducati will win championship, given they're the underdog that's normal, but I think putting their eggs into Dovi's basket was the smart choice.
If you live in a glass house don't throw rocks.
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Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
Sure Mate, he'll get on the podium but given how long it took to win a race on the Duc, the evidence points to a guy who hasn't been quick to adapt. It's been more about adapting the bike to the rider than the other way around. There won't be the same amount of attention to him as 2nd rider in the HRC garage. As a benchmark, look at how much more competitive Iannone and Petrucci were their first respective years on the Duc. That should tell you something. What BTW do Stoner, Marquez and Iannone have in common? The will to ride over the edge in a state of continual near-crash without getting flustered. Of course Crazy Joe wasn't as good - but still better on the Ducati than Lorenzo in the first year. For the record, I never said Petrucci was championship material.
Cheers.
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It was still an optimistic pass which wasn’t gong to stick sans Pedrosa at Jerez, and I believe the dynamic between him and Lorenzo, justifying the new contract etc had something to do with it. He would imo have been more judicious if it was MM he was trying to pass as he has demonstrated on several occasions in the past.
Dani is the one who was both behind and had full knowledge of where the other 2 riders were, and any rider in the field would have tried to immediately re-pass after Dovi ran wide which Dani should have anticipated, and at least had a chance to anticipate; .
He was immediately fast in 2008. Pole for the first three races, podium in his first race, won at Estoril almost immediately...
Joined Oct 2011
248 Posts | 112+
Adelaide
My prediction, for what it's worth, is that Lorenzo will be much more competitive than most here seem to believe. Much better than a Pedrosa 2.0. Maybe a surprise is in store for the doubters. I look forward to being proved wrong of course, just because it will be great to watch.
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
We've covered that. The brilliance of the M1 was it's suitability for riders coming from the two-stroke era. Good fortune that. I've said before if he hadn't been there on that bike, he might have ended up a mid-pack rider on a bike that he wouldn't be perfect for him. Lorenzo is still struggling with the point and shoot concept. Mind you, I'm not a Lorenzo hater. This is just my opinion. Time will tell.
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Joined Jan 2016
801 Posts | 401+
Uk
Got to disagree slightly Kesh. In his earlier years Lorenzo was highly adaptable jumping onto several different marques, albeit two strokes.
IMO Lorenzo’s slowness to adapt to the Ducati is down to the number of consecutive years he’s had on the Yamaha, this was likely a factor with Rossi too. Riding the Yamaha had become as natural as putting one foot in front of the other to Lorenzo and that’s why it’s taken more time.
Next year jumping onto the Honda may not be such a big deal now he’s getting the Yamaha way out of his system a little, so to speak.
