Melandri

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teomolca @ Apr 18 2008, 07:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Here you go:

After winning the first race like if nothing had changed since last year when he became champion, Casey Stoner hasn't done anything right since. Rather than talking about tyre crisis we can talk about something not working in the chasis. Stoner survives awaiting for better times, Marco Melandri is looking for someone that will free him from Ducati. He has a 2 year contract, it´s unlikely it will reach end of year. The man from Ravenna, already in the Portugal weekend looked for a way to 'kill' the already strained relationship. Be it with the red bike he cannot ride or be it with the Ducati manager Livio Suppo. At Estoril Melandri spent a lot of time in the Gresini team looking for a conversation, a return to the past. He could easily find a place in Kawasaki, who are tired of Anthony West, but the question is still far from being solved. The only sure thing is that Marco will not race for Ducati for long. His place could be taken by the young Nicolo Canepa, test rider that currently rides quicker than the race driver. We await to see what happens in China, where MotoGP will arrive guided by Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, leading the championship with 61 pts, with Rossi, third, only 14 pts behind and Stoner 4th, 7 points further behind. In a long championship everything still to be decided. Though some 'pawn' will soon be changed.
all of a sudden riders like capi and barros dont look so bad. it is the bike and for some strange reason only stoner can ride it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Teomolca @ Apr 18 2008, 11:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Here you go:

After winning the first race like if nothing had changed since last year when he became champion, Casey Stoner hasn't done anything right since. Rather than talking about tyre crisis we can talk about something not working in the chasis. Stoner survives awaiting for better times, Marco Melandri is looking for someone that will free him from Ducati. He has a 2 year contract, it´s unlikely it will reach end of year. The man from Ravenna, already in the Portugal weekend looked for a way to 'kill' the already strained relationship. Be it with the red bike he cannot ride or be it with the Ducati manager Livio Suppo. At Estoril Melandri spent a lot of time in the Gresini team looking for a conversation, a return to the past. He could easily find a place in Kawasaki, who are tired of Anthony West, but the question is still far from being solved. The only sure thing is that Marco will not race for Ducati for long. His place could be taken by the young Nicolo Canepa, test rider that currently rides quicker than the race driver. We await to see what happens in China, where MotoGP will arrive guided by Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, leading the championship with 61 pts, with Rossi, third, only 14 pts behind and Stoner 4th, 7 points further behind. In a long championship everything still to be decided. Though some 'pawn' will soon be changed.

Sounds like an MCN article with no quotes, all spin. Suppo has been saying all along the exact opposite. We are giving Marco time and all the support that he needs. Marco is also trying to keep it positive. Maybe he was over at the Gresini garage begging for his old setup data, or he may have a relationship with one of the paddockl girls over there. It could be anything.

If suppo is a prick and a PR twit then maybe this article is factual

Thanks Teo for translating that. Was about to then found you'd done it. Would have filled in a nice ten minutes. Off to the hospital this morning in case you were wondering Rog.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Helix @ Apr 18 2008, 10:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Melandri has never pissed off millions of Mindless Rossi Cheerleaders, by beating their boy.

Actually Melandri has beaten him more times than an ex-world champion I can think of.

About the article itself, Corriere dello sport is a highly reputable source for all things sport in Italy. Hardly MCN! I did check out the gazzetta though and they didn't pick up on it which is a bit odd.
Personally I've wanted to see Marco on the ducati for ages but seeing him get nowhere like this is a bit depressing. On his latest entry in his diary he says he still believes in this.
Livio Suppo is not an ....... imo, but I guess with Stoner floundering Marco is obviously not a top priority, as in they've obviously taken a wrong turning with that bike. And I guess at this point they're too deeply committed in the Stoner direction to make an about turn. Isn't their software supposed to adapt itself and 'learn' to update itself based on what the rider is actually doing?
Besides, Marco spent ages with Gresini but I doubt he'd go back there somehow. He might have been hanging around his old buddies. I doubt he'd be canvassing so publicly for a ride. He is after all under contract for 2 years, though given his performances Ducati would probably love to see the back of him at this point

While I have no real idea on the backroom shenanigans and who is truly saying what nor whom to believe I thought I would ask a question.

Given that there appears to be issues with the Ducati chassis (if the letter circuits are any guide as well as apparent Ducati actions), are we judging Marco to hastily.

Is there potential that when the chassis (or whatever it is) gets sorted so that CS can get back to the top, that Marco also finds a bike more suited or one that allows his set-up to work better?

For mine, given how I rate Marco I am disappointed with his results and want to see him progress back to the top 5 rider that his ability should allow (ok, so that may drift to top 7 in 2008). I would like to see what happens if/when CS is able to get the bike handling as whether Marco can then follow may well determine (for me anyway) whether he has a future at Ducati or whether he should look elsewhere.

But that said, the Kawasaki option sounds a likely scenario if things do go wrong and/or he is released as IMO West is going, going .................................................. gone.




Garry

The ducati looked fine for stoner at qatar, and presumably they can put the bike back to the way it was there. If he has the same sort of relative pace as at jerez and estoril, I think his title defence is over, but I expect him to be competitive. I think ducati/stoner went for too much at estoril and jerez where they couldn't realistically have expected to win with the improvement of the other bikes, and made a radically wrong turn with the set-up. At the end of the estoril race stoner was about at the same relative pace as last year, so maybe they changed it back for the race and it took him some time to regain confidence in the bike as well as being impeded by the TV camera etc.

Marco, for whom I have a great admiration and expected to do well and beat stoner on occasion this year, seems to be someone who needs to feel the bike is absolutely right; he didn't do very well on a yamaha either. I guess if stoner comes good at shanghai they can start working on a different set-up for marco; there has been talk of them changing the power delivery of the engine as was the case for capirossi last year. In any case, the current ducati chassis seems to me to be about at the end of the line and unlikely to be competitive in anyone's hands next year so building a new bike that marco and other riders aside from stoner can ride might be a good idea .

The worrying aspect for me is that Marco wasn't quick on last years Ducati when he tested it either.
He has not been anywhere near on the pace at any track, or in any conditions. I think it's going to take something a little more radical than tinkering with the power delivery for Marco to run at the front on the Ducati. It's still early days and anything is possible, but I would imagine there will be a little wheeling & dealing going on behind the scenes if things don't turn around for him soon.
Preziosi mentioned softening the chassis for his style a couple of weeks ago. I wonder when they may be able to have a softer chassis available?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Frizzle @ Apr 21 2008, 06:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The worrying aspect for me is that Marco wasn't quick on last years Ducati when he tested it either.
He has not been anywhere near on the pace at any track, or in any conditions. I think it's going to take something a little more radical than tinkering with the power delivery for Marco to run at the front on the Ducati. It's still early days and anything is possible, but I would imagine there will be a little wheeling & dealing going on behind the scenes if things don't turn around for him soon.
Preziosi mentioned softening the chassis for his style a couple of weeks ago. I wonder when they may be able to have a softer chassis available?
Your point is well made. I had forgotten marco was slow on the gp07 as well and he could have ridden capirossi's set-up had he desired; maybe he didn't want to as casey's bike was the one that won the championship.

The other thing is that although they always have made powerful engines ducati are probably only ever going to win world championships (and I haven't given up on this year yet ) by going radical and jagging both a competitive bike and a competitive rider, given that at least honda and yamaha have more engineering resources for developing a bike along conventional lines and are generally likely to be more attractive to the best riders.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (roger-m @ Apr 19 2008, 03:46 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>all of a sudden riders like capi and barros dont look so bad. it is the bike and for some strange reason only stoner can ride it.

For nor apparent reason, I start to believe only Stoner can ride GP7 and GP8. Capirossi had been riding the Duke for quite sometimes since 2003 and bang suddenly stoner got all the name. Even the like of Gibernau and Checa could not tame the beast. It could be only the new generation who able to play with the electronics..

When Melandry was with Yamaha in 2004 & 2003 he is not at the back of the grid and in 2005 and 2006 he was the front runner. If he fails to proove himself that he can ride the duke if not better than Capirex, Giber n Checa by mid season, he should be looking for other rides..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yamaka46 @ Apr 21 2008, 06:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Kropotkin translates from Marco's Website
gotta feel for the guy... very dire situation he finds himself in.

MotoGP News

"We've tried everything we can think of to try to make Marco not utterly rubbish" explained one Ducati insider "but we just don't know what's wrong. Maybe it's his preference to how to setup the bike? Or maybe he can't now find the correct feeling with the tricky front Bridgestone? Or, as many of us here believe, it's because he has a head that looks like it should belong to Melbourne Cup runner. Whatever the reason we can only slow the Alice Ducati's down so much."

If KR were on the field, would they still be last or would Melandri be thanking them for holding up the rear?

I hope things get better with Marco. We need another front funner to keep it interesting.

marco was never a front runner.

five wins in 5 years is testimate to that

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pinky @ Apr 24 2008, 01:38 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>marco was never a front runner.

five wins in 5 years is testimate to that
5 wins is pretty good actually, particularly as he has mainly been on satellite bikes. He also finished second in the world championship on one occasion, so your definition of a front- runner is obviously only the actual championship winner; most would disagree with this definition.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Apr 23 2008, 08:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>5 wins is pretty good actually, particularly as he has mainly been on satellite bikes. He also finished second in the world championship on one occasion, so your definition of a front- runner is obviously only the actual championship winner; most would disagree with this definition.
Fourth most premier-class wins on the grid by my count, in a tie with Pedrosa now.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pinky @ Apr 23 2008, 06:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>marco was never a front runner.

five wins in 5 years is testimate to that



<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Apr 23 2008, 07:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>5 wins is pretty good actually, particularly as he has mainly been on satellite bikes. He also finished second in the world championship on one occasion, so your definition of a front- runner is obviously only the actual championship winner; most would disagree with this definition.

There is only room for ONE "front-runner" around here, don't you know? His name is Casey Stoner--only problem is he's FOURTH at the moment. Ooops.

I'd be interested to know the stats on injury for Marco. I can't recall a season he wasn't hurt in some way.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Goatboy @ Apr 23 2008, 09:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I'd be interested to know the stats on injury for Marco. I can't recall a season he wasn't hurt in some way.
I don't know about the other years, but for sure his pride is suffering serious injury this year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (mattsteg @ Apr 24 2008, 03:13 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Fourth most premier-class wins on the grid by my count, in a tie with Pedrosa now.
Quite right.

For those who like stats, the current grid has the following wins in the top class:

Rossi 61
Stoner 11
Capirossi 8
Melandri 5
Pedrosa 5
Hayden 3
Elias 1
Lorenzo 1
Vermeulen 1

those that bowed out last year:

KRJR 8
Barros 6
Checa 2

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (yamaka46 @ Apr 24 2008, 12:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Rossi 61










































Stoner 11



That's amazing, 50 more wins than his nearest rival.