<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rising Sun @ Mar 30 2007, 08:24 AM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I'd been meaning to go and have a look at Melandri's diary for a long time, since I always see the link in your .sig; it certainly is an honest, interesting account of what he's feeling.
But I think the diary makes him look worse than any of the media reports. That's one hell of a dummy spit: He climbs off the bike at the end of the race, screams at his team to change the ....... bike anyway, anyhow (for the next day's test) storms off and sulks in his motorhome, having a screaming fit and blasting music from his stereo. He knows he's acting like a baby, when he talks about Locateli's injuries, and mentions apologising to the team later, but still thinks it's all justified anyway because he's sooooo
furious.
Grow up, .......
"all through winter it was said I would be an official rider on par with Nicky and Dany."
Well, are you? Yes or no? Is it in your contract?
I think not, somehow, or he wouldn't write a sentence like that. In the previous diary (after Qatar) he also describes himself as being in one of Honda's client teams. Marco, if you want full factory spec, get in a full factory team...
Regarding new parts for Jerez, what does he expect? If Rossi [after Qatar], who surely has Yamaha at his beck and call, wasn't expecting any radical improvements in two weeks (because it might be physically impossible in the time), why should Melandri think he's entitled to some?
If Honda were late delivering new stuff for Qatar, do you think it might have anything to do with the fact the bike is not so good and they're having a lot of problems? Melandri probably thinks that if that's the case, then give me the new stuff, and I'll sort it out. Sorry, Marco. It doesn't work that way. Factory guys get that privilege. Even Stoner understood this, which is why he bolted for that Ducati seat as soon as he could, despite everything that LCR had done for him.
Reading through his Qatar and Jerez race analysis it seems like a lot of his problems actually stem from tyres; he's using them up too quickly/they aren't lasting. Oops, those Bridgestones did that a lot last year with the Suzukis. Maybe picking through Valentino's left over Michelins doesn't look so bad now?
The other obvious point is that if the bike is so ....., how did Elias manage to get it to P4 after a bad start? Melandri says he's having problems with feeling in the front and his tyres aren't lasting. Wait a minute, doesn't that sound like someone else? They even have about the same number of points so far this year (19 for Melandri; 17 for Hayden). That's equally piss poor for a supposed-championship contender and a championship defender.
Probably the best thing about his little tantrum was that it seems to have motivated Melandri for the post-race tests. And with Turkey being the next race--a track where he remains undefeated--we might quickly see him back up at the sharp end of the grid.
I don't think Honda will be too ruffled by any of this (riders don't count, remember?), but it is the kind of thing that can sour relations within a team--especially if it keeps happening. What kind of a contract does Melandri have? If Elias (who also finished 4th at Jerez in 2006) actually started putting together consistent performances between now and Portugal, things could get interesting at Team Gresini.
....... that was a top-notch post! I'm gonna quote the whole thing just incase somebody missed it.
Well I get on pretty regularly on Marco’s diary. I read everything. I love the guy. My Italian isn't that great though, but I get what he is saying. As far as MotoGP.com chewing it up, well I'm not really buying it, it’s not that bad. Lets not all get so technical that we start splitting hairs and have our love for the guy overshadow the gist of what he is saying by getting all technical. Whoever they are paying to translate isn't working for the UN (where translating to a T might avoid or cause a real conflict). But the translation got the point across. He is pissed off, and he is letting it be known. No excuse for that childish tantrum he threw at his team, who probably stay up nights trying to get it right.
Man I can't improve on all your excellent points Sun, so I won't revisit them but just add a few thoughts. I'm no expert (I just play one on TV) but wouldn't the tire problem he is experiencing be heavily linked to the chassis & suspension and power delivery of the bike? I'm thinking he is chewing up his tires because his bike is not quiet right. Otherwise, Elias would be experiencing the same ware problems on his tires, don't you think? Anyway, just a thought.
Oh, and another thing, I couldn't help but notice, how and why did this thread become a Biaggi bashing dumb ground? The guy's mother abandoned him when he was a little kid, can we cut the guy a break?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (frosty58 @ Mar 30 2007, 09:14 AM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>it's a conspiracy bg. them spaniards over at motogp.com are tryin to get marco in trouble. get him kicked out of the team so he can be replaced by a spanish rider in 08.
No you didn't. Hahaha. There were two shooters in the grassy noll...