Joined Feb 2009
3K Posts | 2+
siebenbürgen süße heimat!
I was just reading some 2007 season summaries yesterday. The views given by respected journalists on the superiority of the Ducati are laughable. I thought the Ducati was pretty good in 2007, but realized I was wrong in 2008. The look on Melandri's face at Jerez was what made me realize that I had misjudged it.
Joined Feb 2009
3K Posts | 2+
siebenbürgen süße heimat!
no shame in that.
i was lead to believe by (what i otherwise would consider good publications) various magazines and the doctor himself that the only reason why capirossi didn't win the title on it was because he couldn't bring himself to just pin the throttle everywhere and let the ecu do the rest. in my defense i was 16 at the time and spent way too much time making my scooter look like a castrol honda
Joined Feb 2009
3K Posts | 2+
siebenbürgen süße heimat!
back to topic:
from what i know the chicken man will be running a ftr chassis that is buing developed right now to house a rsv4 engine.
correct?
from what i know the chicken man will be running a ftr chassis that is buing developed right now to house a rsv4 engine.
correct?
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
Lyria, it is reality. There are 20+ bikes in the "championship", yet we are exactly and pricisely100% iron clad assured guaranteed with zero chance of deviation most definitely and without qualification that the 2013 MotoGP champion will come from only 2 places, the factory Honda or Yamaha. That pretty much means the result is for all intents and purposes, “fixed”. Its fixed around these two factories. That is a small and extremely concentrated place were next year’s champ will come from, that is, ‘fixed’—as in a permanent rigid space, and got that way because it was “fixed” as in ‘contrived’; that is the permanent rigid place in which the next champ will come from was subjectively accomplish by the league office. Apart from the incoming rookie, in reality we have just 3 choices to chose from, that is you have a 1/3 chance of predicting the champion for next year with 100% certainty! What sport in the world has those odds of predictability? For all intents and purposes, this championship is a farce! There is absolutely no reason for the 17+ other riders to show up in hopes of winning a title; except for the casual spectator to think there is actually something going on in terms of championship battle.
Now, this is reality. Many of us know this on the forum, some still have their heads stuck in the sand, and you obviously are new so you get an honest pass. The inevitable question arises, why do we watch then? Here is the answer for me: because I enjoy watching the riders from best to worst, many of which we knew from lower categories, watch them ride their particular tier of motorcycle to the limit. I like watching because I hope for battles, the few battles that ensue on rare occasions for the lead (very rare) or the battles for other positions. I like watching the teams and engineers develop amazing machines throughout the season. I also like the drama between the riders, media, and banter between the spectators. I also like attending these events to watch them up close, having ridden a street bike myself, and having enough limited knowledge of what they are doing to know its marvelous. Plus I like to socialize with friends at the track and chase umbrella ......
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
Well thanks for reviewing it. As you saved me a lot of typing. While I was replying to Lyra, I was also composing a reply to you. You inevitably caught my attention when you said Pedro whined about his Honda being ...., and your manufacture ranking. I disagree with your ranking and you should know better about Pedro's complaining. So I'l say it here as I've said it before, the factory Ducati has NEVER been better than the factory Honda. NEVER! Not even in 2007, certainly not in 2010. In short, you pretty much made my case for me above. All you need to do is look at the other capable world champ not named Casey Stoner to realize what that POS of a machine was like compared to the other similar riders on Japanese brands. And thanks for pointing out the other "experts" that had their heads up their ..., some still due.
EDIT: which should give us all reason to question expert opinion on the Wonder years. Something I've been saying and exposing since day one on PS. Even still, many are reluctant to revise their "expert opinion" given the lesson of 2011-2012.
Ducati/Bridgestone were vastly superior, but they only had the advantages of 2007 for one season. The tire regulations changed for 2008, pursuant to the 2007 emergency tire negotiations, and Rossi somehow politicked his way into Bridgestone rubber for 2008. Bridgestone circumvented the tire regulations with that weird, squishy-edge front. Dorna responded by pointing a TV camera directly at the front tire so everyone could see how it worked. For 2009, the control tire regulations were introduced (after the 2008 tire war regs failed to slow the bikes and reintroduce competition), and Ducati moved to the carbon fiber monocoque to try to gain an advantage over Rossi/Burgess in the control tire era. Eventually, they hired Rossi/Burgess. None of it worked.
If Ducati were allowed to build on the success of 2007, Stoner would have won a run of championships. I also think Suzuki would have been competitive, and Kawasaki would never have withdrawn in 2009 when the control tire was introduced. Unfortunately, Ducati/Bridgestone/Stoner became victims of their own success. Emergency rules changes were introduced, and during the fog of regulatory war, Rossi somehow managed to come away with Bridgestone tires. The rest is history.
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
Agree with most, I wouldn't say the GP07 was "vastly superior", rather the tire combination allowed a hungry motivated talented CS enough parity to compete with Yamaha. Agree with the rest, in that once they figured out the only thing making the Duc relatively competitive was their relationship with Bridgestones, that was quickly taken away by Carmelo. Suzuki and Kawasaki were collateral damage, as VR not winning the title two years in a row was totally unacceptable 'flukes'.
Joined Jul 2007
5K Posts | 1K+
unda cheese
Years ago I had the opportunity to speak with a guy who wrenched for the Hayden brothers when they were just wee lads running dirt track. Tommy was the oldest brother and always got the new bikes. By the time they trickled down to Nicky they were heartily trashed.
One race Nicky was kicking everyones .... Tommy had next race but his bike broke so he needed to burrow Nickys. He goes out for warm up and quickly comes back saying the bike is broke it has no 2nd gear. They look at Nicky and ask if he knew it was broke. He shrugs and says he didnt notice
The guy who tells this story says this is the reason why Nicky was so good. He wasnt necessarily more talented then his older brother just more adept at riding thru problems because that was all he knew
Joined Feb 2008
3K Posts | 470+
Outback Steakhouse
That will be the only story outta johnny pantsdown lips you will want steal Krops. The rest is normally drivel
Joined Feb 2008
3K Posts | 470+
Outback Steakhouse
The experimental nature of the 2007 equipment makes it difficult to determine exactly who had a major performance advantage. However, by the end of the 2007 season, despite major investment from Yamaha and Honda to improve their bikes, Ducati/Bridgestone were still opening the gap at the top of the championship, and they were winning races by increasingly larger margins, including a few Bridgestone 1-2-3's.
It would have been like Yamaha 2004/2005. During the 2004 season, Rossi/Burgess/Furusawa were fiddling with experimental bike setups and tires. They won a close championship. Everyone was excited for the 2005 championship b/c 2004 was a solid contest. In the end, Yamaha were chasing the right concept, and Honda were stubbornly following mass-centralization down the road to perdition. The 2005 season was a slaughter-fest.
The 2008 season would have probably followed the same pattern b/c Ducati/Bridgestone/Stoner had correctly decoded the 21L formula just as Yamaha/Rossi/Michelin had done during the 990cc era, before the tight fuel restrictions. I think the 2008 season would have been very consistent domination with a few bogey tracks like Jerez or Estoril.
Joined Jan 2011
3K Posts | 152+
The North!
2 Great posts.
and Kropo shamelessness aint too bad a thing, we all do it,
Good of you to tell JK before you do it though, just that little touch of class shinig through.
p.s. welcome back the real Jumkie
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
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Hey hey, I'll have you know, I have my own intimate 'stories' about Nicky. But I'm not gonna just share them with strangers. There are rules ya know.
p.s. welcome back the real Jumkie
Hey hey, I'll have you know, I have my own intimate 'stories' about Nicky. But I'm not gonna just share them with strangers. There are rules ya know.
Joined Apr 2011
900 Posts | 4+
somewhere else
First of all, thanks for explaining it in such a decent and thoughtful way Jumkie. I truly do appreciate that
So maybe my question wasn't thought through enough and for that I apologise. The reasons you list for wanting to watch the races Jumkie are probably the same reasons why after only 3 races I am hooked on motogp myself. A mate of mine who used to watch F1 and has abandoned it like me, is amazed how much I know about this sport already, he's been watching it himself for years too and he's welcomed me over to the dark side as he put it
I can't claim to have ever ridden a bike on the roads, and for reasons I won't bore you with I'm unlikely to ever see a live race which saddens me, but I like my racing live and I like to understand how it works as much as I can. So maybe now I understand motogp a little better, and yes, I am still going to watch it all things considered, even if I do now have a good idea where to look for next years champion apparently
Exactly. I like Sykes a lot, and think he deserved the WSBK title this year, but in their respective rookie years he had his ... handed to him by Spies, who in turn has not shown the promise of speed he has in MotoGP. If he is say running in the top 5, where would Sykes/Brookes be? Lower than that for certain.
I dunno, have you seen Simon Andrews ride that Kawasaki the last few years with no TC? Jesus he was spectacular to watch!
