He did his best on the big GP bikes, so I think just that will make him feel more comfortable. The bike is one of the best on the grid (if not the best), and he'll be top 2. I think the Aprilia will be down, and Rea will be the champ, due to Melandri's inexperience on the type of bike. Still, it'll be a Spies like first season. 5+ wins, 14-15 podiums.
Joined Feb 2009
3K Posts | 2+
siebenbürgen süße heimat!
those laptimes already look really good!
marco is a fantastic rider, one of the best of the 990cc days for sure so i expect him to do well ,lets say top 5!
biaggis on a mission though , i expect a three way battle for the title between biaggi haslam and melandri
Joined Feb 2007
11K Posts | 2K+
Tennessee
It wouldnt look good if he went in and won the title. With that being said, If the Steril Garda team is as good without Meregalli, he might just do it. I still consider Mekandri as on of the top 6-7 riders in the world, if his experience in GP has not ...... with his head.
Scenario 1: Melandri gets off to a slow start. Tardozzi goes on a rant about how Melandri should already be winning. Melandri rejects TarDuce's overbearing caustic personality. The entire project blows up.
Scenario 2: Melandri gets off to a good start. Tardozzi is happy. Melandri's career is saved.
Scenario 2: Melandri gets off to a good start. Tardozzi is happy. Melandri's career is saved.
I don't think that the Yamaha was/is as good as people think. Crutchlow said as much in an indirect way. The bike still needs a lot of work and Melandri has shown he doesn't have what it takes to setup a bike and to weather the storm when things don't go his way. I'm going to say top ten would be a realistic goal for him.
I'm also not a fan of Melandri though.
I'm also not a fan of Melandri though.
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
Well first of all, I'm amazed at so many responses. I thought all you guys were hiding in a cave. But I'm not surprised of who is responding, a compliment. Anywho, I'm thinking, yeah, Travi, you got a good point. But on one hand, I also want Melandri to do well, so that hopefully peeps can see the scripted machine based series GP is all about. But then I thought, who am I kidding, they will just think the Wsbk riders are ..... Which I think they already do.
We just sick of beating the same dead whore. You can only say so much about Rossi being great, Hayden sucking, "we hated Pedrosa, now we like him, okay, we still think he sucks", and "Lorenzo is a great rider, but he's still a ......".
We still have essentially the same thing, but it's pretty unbias (as I cannot think of any member really being a major fan of his or a major hater).
But while it also might make people think the SBK riders are trash, it'll bring up the question about how good Melandri possibly is.
Joined Feb 2009
3K Posts | 2+
siebenbürgen süße heimat!
@sackwack : i can recall a quote from berti hauser ( bmw motorsport) when asked about yamahas success with the r1 in 2009 : (translated) " their secret is called spies,not crankshaft"
i personally think the yamaha is not that great of a motorcycle
why? toseland surely is a good rider and what did he manage this year?however ,it remains to be seen whether crutchlow rode really good or toseland just lacked pace
to be honest i haven't watched more than lets say half the races so i feel i'm not qualified to judge them
i agree that melandri isn't really good when it comes to setting up bikes. of course his style is totally different to stoners and haydens, but if hayden is capable of producing decent results on the duc ,melandri should have been able to do the same if he was able to somehow find a decent set up.he displayed his talent,nobody ever doubted that i think.
i think for melandri it all boils down to the question of how technically mature the r1 really is.
if the bikes good i see him challanging for the race wins, if not more. it the bike needs some fixing i expect him to be ......
i personally think the yamaha is not that great of a motorcycle
why? toseland surely is a good rider and what did he manage this year?however ,it remains to be seen whether crutchlow rode really good or toseland just lacked pace
to be honest i haven't watched more than lets say half the races so i feel i'm not qualified to judge them
i agree that melandri isn't really good when it comes to setting up bikes. of course his style is totally different to stoners and haydens, but if hayden is capable of producing decent results on the duc ,melandri should have been able to do the same if he was able to somehow find a decent set up.he displayed his talent,nobody ever doubted that i think.
i think for melandri it all boils down to the question of how technically mature the r1 really is.
if the bikes good i see him challanging for the race wins, if not more. it the bike needs some fixing i expect him to be ......
Melandri will have weekends where he shines and challenges for wins, and also have weekends where he is a headcase struggles to finish top 10. I'll be very surprised if he gets close to challenging for the title.
Good topic Jumkie, but i think its really tough to say. The history of GP riders winning in superbike is obvious to all, but that doesn't mean it's an easy ride for anyone prepared to go that way. Particularly those who go over from a relatively poor position in terms of results and confidence. Even JT (and we know he can ride a superbike) went back and struggled. Carlos Checa has been mighty impressive this year, but it didn't come right away. He's not the worst of them either. On the other hand, Biaggi won his first ever race, and is not the world champion.
What strikes me about superbike at the moment is that factories not involved in GP are fielding factory teams, and bikes that are designed largely with racing success in mind even when they hit the street, kind of like the good old days. For that reason, i'd be concerned to be riding for a Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha or Ducati team, none of which are properly factory when BMW, Aprilia and Kawasaki (i hope) are making real efforts to develop winning bikes, and hiring top riders to get the job done.
What strikes me about superbike at the moment is that factories not involved in GP are fielding factory teams, and bikes that are designed largely with racing success in mind even when they hit the street, kind of like the good old days. For that reason, i'd be concerned to be riding for a Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha or Ducati team, none of which are properly factory when BMW, Aprilia and Kawasaki (i hope) are making real efforts to develop winning bikes, and hiring top riders to get the job done.
Its feels strange to think that in 05 it was consistency that got him the runner up spot in motogp!!
Yeah, if he didn't drop out, his lowest finish was 7th.
But saying that, WSBK seems to be like that though. Biaggi has had that consistency issue his first couple of seasons. Took an 8th in Valencia '07, but in race 2, ended up 2nd. Many of his weekends were much the same.
Toesland dropped off the map on his return (and even before during his championship years, still had those off-weekends).
This.
I think he'll have a similar season to say Barros in 2006, though i hope with a few more wins.
In the end i'll still be rooting for Haga though, especially now he's the underdog again.
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
Buddy, I hate to tell you this but Haga is done.
BTW, 16 replies? What the hell is going on here? I only expected 3.
I like the 2 scenario scheme, but my take is like this:
Scenario 1 - Marco is fast from the start, finishes in the top 3 or 4
Scenario 2 - Marco can't adjust, and ends up in the top 15
Nothing in between.
Joined Feb 2007
11K Posts | 2K+
Tennessee
ME http://www.powerslide.net/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/.....gif
I can easily say that the last two years I have looked forward to the WSBK championship than GP. This year GP is shaping up to be interesting on paper where as I think the racing in WSBK is going to be insane.
Does Melandri remember what its like to race?
