melandri and ducati

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinky @ Dec 10 2007, 01:22 AM) [snapback]103929[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
the LCR was hardly a WC winning bike or had the budget.

the ducatis is a WC capable bike and team.

setup and bike is damm important, the ducati has the base for a great bike has been for the last 5 years, just needed someone good enough to utilize it.


Fair enough - now...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinky @ Dec 10 2007, 12:22 AM) [snapback]103929[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
setup and bike is damm important, the ducati has the base for a great bike has been for the last 5 years, just needed someone good enough to utilize it.



someone new you mean, someone who utilizes traction control and is inexperienced enough to not know any old riding habits when these bikes were much more difficult to ride.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinky @ Dec 10 2007, 02:28 AM) [snapback]103933[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
i bet rossi would want to change the ducati red to yellow or some .... fucgly color like that.


You mean like fucgly Pink, right?

Yellow is a Ducati colour...and if you know anything about Dukes then you'll know it is the colour of ole super lights, and other dukes in yellow are called 'bright' models (as opposed to the all matt black 'dark' models)

no .... Einstein

Of course you know, now. They haven't been calling the yellows 'bright 'colors for years while they still call the matte black 'dark'. Besides while ducati is a traditional ducati color their true colors now are red and black so I can't see their factory team using yellow, while one of their satellite teams could very possibly use it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MonsterDuc214 @ Dec 17 2007, 08:38 PM) [snapback]104642[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
Of course you know, now. They haven't been calling the yellows 'bright 'colors for years while they still call the matte black 'dark'. Besides while ducati is a traditional ducati color their true colors now are red and black so I can't see their factory team using yellow, while one of their satellite teams could very possibly use it.


Whats with Italian companies using Red or Yellow.... Ferrari's favourite colours for their cars also.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(an4rew @ Dec 17 2007, 01:04 PM) [snapback]104574[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
someone new you mean, someone who utilizes traction control and is inexperienced enough to not know any old riding habits when these bikes were much more difficult to ride.

Do you ever give up???

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(an4rew @ Dec 17 2007, 01:15 PM) [snapback]104650[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
Whats with Italian companies using Red or Yellow.... Ferrari's favourite colours for their cars also.

History. At one time (early 1900s) the colors were designated by nation in grand prix auto racing. Italians have kept that color because it was part of their racing tradition.

These were the major European nations participating and their designated color:

Italy-Red
Great Britain-Green
France-Blue
Belgium-Yellow
Germany-White, but later became Silver

I think Melandri is going to struggle totherwise he would probarbly not
tell media that he is worried when he's got this ducati deal that many other riders would like to have.
My guess is that Stoner adapted a bit to the ducati too,but not as much as Capirossi needed to or Melandri needs to.
I get the impression that stoner adapts to what he's riding and just go fast,some how.
In a recent interview Capirossi said that ducati developed the bike listening more to stoner than him during 2007 of course, as he turned out to be the faster of the two.In that interview Capirossi also said that ducati made some changes in the engine for him mid season but it didn't do that much difference.
I think now when ducati have the worldtitle and have lot more money to put in for 2008 Melandri is going to get more help than Capirossi did.
But i don't think they will alter the engine to big bang because for that they would have to completely rebuild the whole engine and management.
Livio Suppo said ,the screamer is the better alternative because it is more fuel efficient and gives more hp on top.Then the management smoothes out the power delivery.I suspect that the engine lubrication they are using has got a big part of the superior engine output too.
Melandri is pointing out the same things capirossi did on the early 2007 bike by the way.
We'll see what happends.
My guess is that Melandri is going to end up 4th or 5th in the championship.
-Anders

Don't forget Ducati had targetted Melandri for some time and actually wanted him ahead of Stoner last year but he was still contracted to Honda. Long-term, I see Melandri as the main Duke man unless they can get Lorenzo or Rossi to change bikes. It will be very interesting to see how long it will take for Marco to beat his new teammate. May take him until the end of the season?

Time for Marco to fulfil his awesome potential and turn from pretender to contender. He has the ability but is so inconsistent! Though being a top factory rider for a premier manufacturer should allow him to compete on equal machinery with the best parts. That is unless the team focusses on Stoner retaining his title..

meh i've never seen blistering times from marco.

unlike from stoner when he was on the LCR, he set some blistering times on an inferior package/team

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Pinky @ Dec 26 2007, 08:54 AM) [snapback]105230[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
meh i've never seen blistering times from marco.

unlike from stoner when he was on the LCR, he set some blistering times on an inferior package/team

He was fairly fast in the race he won in 2006, when he beat stoner right on the line.
Going by the testing so far, I think it is unlikely marco will be as fast as casey on a ducati, although I expected he might be. As others have said, what he probably really needs is to be on a factory honda.
I think casey will have to destroy a large number of bikes next year before he loses favourite son status at ducati.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Anders GUZZI @ Dec 26 2007, 12:40 AM) [snapback]105225[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
I think Melandri is going to struggle totherwise he would probarbly not
tell media that he is worried when he's got this ducati deal that many other riders would like to have.
My guess is that Stoner adapted a bit to the ducati too,but not as much as Capirossi needed to or Melandri needs to.
I get the impression that stoner adapts to what he's riding and just go fast,some how.
In a recent interview Capirossi said that ducati developed the bike listening more to stoner than him during 2007 of course, as he turned out to be the faster of the two.In that interview Capirossi also said that ducati made some changes in the engine for him mid season but it didn't do that much difference.
I think now when ducati have the worldtitle and have lot more money to put in for 2008 Melandri is going to get more help than Capirossi did.
But i don't think they will alter the engine to big bang because for that they would have to completely rebuild the whole engine and management.
Livio Suppo said ,the screamer is the better alternative because it is more fuel efficient and gives more hp on top.Then the management smoothes out the power delivery.I suspect that the engine lubrication they are using has got a big part of the superior engine output too.
Melandri is pointing out the same things capirossi did on the early 2007 bike by the way.
We'll see what happends.
My guess is that Melandri is going to end up 4th or 5th in the championship.
-Anders

Anders.. do you have a link to the Capirex interview..
If not - what are the common things that Melandri and Capirossi point out on the bike.
Going one step further, I would love to hear what specifically Casey requested from Ducati to be changed that aided him to Victory this year.

You ladies are reading too much into the pre season...he'll get it sorted by round 1...













PS: A Yellow Duc would be great......

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Duc999 @ Dec 26 2007, 05:01 PM) [snapback]105253[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
Anders.. do you have a link to the Capirex interview..
If not - what are the common things that Melandri and Capirossi point out on the bike.
Going one step further, I would love to hear what specifically Casey requested from Ducati to be changed that aided him to Victory this year.

The capirossi interview is at www.moto-live.com, but it's in there archives
by now so you have to pay and join .It is just a short piece in which he sums up 2007.
The common things Melandri and Capirossi says is riding position ,wheight
distribution,that probably makes turning more difficult.Things that i think comes from that they are not the tallest people on the planet,and that the ducati is quite big.It is probarbly more important for a 800bike to be nimble than the990,i don't know.
http://www.cyclenews.com/testride/latestissue.html (page 13)
There was also an interview i read but i can't find it now.I think it was from a link on this forum,about Melandri commenting the Ducati.
I would love to hear what Casey requested too,it's from the capirossi piece-moto-live-2007 summary.Capirossi is just saying that they ofcourse listen more to the number one rider,as would any factory team.
-Anders

If Melandri doesn't win races with the Ducati, my opinion of him will go down greatly.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(an4rew @ Dec 26 2007, 05:57 PM) [snapback]105263[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
If Melandri doesn't win races with the Ducati, my opinion of him will go down greatly.



Why?

Do you consider that the Ducati is that good that 'even' Marco can win on it, therefore saying (by inference) that he is not a top flight rider. Or do you hold him in high regard and will be disappointed?

If the latter, does it (in your eyes) make Stoner's effort greater?

Now, my opinion of MM has been said elsewhere and I really like the guy because he reminds me of an old school type rider, just get out there and ride it hard. I expect that he should win a race or two this year but do not expect domination as he has to adjust and I seriously hope he can do it otherwise I fear it may be the end of him in MotoGP.

As for the problems, it is interesting that both he and Capirex complain of similar issues with their ability to adjust to the bike but these guys will manage somehow.




Garry

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(an4rew @ Dec 26 2007, 09:57 AM) [snapback]105263[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
If Melandri doesn't win races with the Ducati, my opinion of him will go down greatly.


I agree.

Melandri is the second most qualified rider on the grid behind Rossi (not counting the departing Capirossi and the incumbent Stoner) when it comes to wins (the stat in question).

Rossi has 62

Stoner has 10

Capirossi has 9

Melandri has 5

There have been long circulating rumors that Melandri needs easily ridden machines to get good results. If he can't ride the Duc it would corroborate all the stories about his inability to ride the Yamaha his first year in.

I don't think if Marco fails on the Ducati he will be out of MotoGP. He still has more wins than most. Pedrosa will probably pass him in 2008, but they way things are shaping up at Honda, Hayden won't.

I always root for Melandri b/c he is the unsung hero of MotoGP. He deserved the boost to the factory team, but Repsol had someone with a Spanish sounding name in mind.

I hope he goes well. It's tough seeing 20 bikes line up when only 2 or 3 have a realistic chance of winning. If Michelin improve and Melandri learns to ride the Duc it will allow 5 or 6 riders to have a realistic chance (at the start anyway).

Will Ducati pull a reverse Casey/Capirossi? What I mean by that is the team starts to revolve around Melandri and leaves Casey to sort things out for himself.

I don't see it happening at all. But you never know. (I am still a bit mad at Ducati as to how they treated Bayliss in Motogp)

It will be really interesting to see how Ducati handles the Melandri - Casey saga.
You have the guy that brought you the championship and the guy that you have been wanting to center you team around that you finally got from Honda.

It sounds a lot like the Nicky Hayden-Dani Pedrosa saga over at HRC. But we know clearly who is the number 1 and preferred rider over there.

Ducati - Give Casey the continued support that you have given to him.
Give Melandri a bike that he can also exploit. Put the Number 1 vs Number 2 rider thing to bed and have a successfull Doohan-Criville attack for 2008 - 2010.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Duc999 @ Dec 29 2007, 09:37 AM) [snapback]105446[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
Will Ducati pull a reverse Casey/Capirossi? What I mean by that is the team starts to revolve around Melandri and leaves Casey to sort things out for himself.

Ducati absolutely want to pull a reverse Stoner/Capirossi. So the story goes, Stoner was consistently quicker than Capi and development started moving in Stoner's direction.

If Melandri finds speed without significantly reengineering the bike, things will get sketchy for Casey in the Ducati paddock. If Stoner and Melandri are 1 and 2 headed down the stretch after summer break and Stoner takes the title, there will be no doubt in my mind that he is a significantly better rider than most in the MotoGP paddock.

No Italian has ever won a modern world championship on a Ducati. The company is aching to pop their cherry.

If Hayden had signed with Ducati a Melandri/Hayden showdown would be amazing to watch. Both Italy and America each account for about 1/3 of Ducati's total sales. I wonder if they would bench Melandri to capture a serious chunk of the American motorcycling market? I wonder if exchange rates would influence their decision?

I hate team politics.