JLo isn't adapting to either the Michelin or the Ducati as fast as a he needs, and in my view having Stoner as a test rider isnt going to help JLo at all. Ducati need to dump Stoner, and only listen to JLo's needs (aka make the ducati into a yamaha) in order for JLo to have any chance of getting near a podium let alone a win in the next 2 years....
Also, Stoner as test rider is not going to help Lorenzo at all....it may actually hurt JLo's chances of finding a right direction and actually frustrate him further....
I think if he doesnt win or come close to winning in the next 2 years he will look at retiring at end of his contract...
Last season I was actually wondering wtf Stoner was doing as a test rider, for Ducati of all teams. Now I think I'm just beginning to understand. Pov has already stated it straight to the point in true Pov style. Howerever to revise when he wanted to pull a fast lap out of his ..., Stoner went out and did it. As a retired rider. Nowhere near race fit. We gloss over it but riding at that speed requires absolute precise reflexes, in the body and in the mind. Fully focussed, no fear. One mistake, its all over. We admire the bravery of Marquez, the risks he takes, but for a retired rider to go faster? Here comes this guy not ridden a MotoGP race in years and he simply tops the time sheets at will? .... me.
He refused to wildcard last year and I put .... on him for not being a team player. I take it all back. Back in 2009 he left Ducati because they chased Lorenzo. Since he left in 2010 Ducati, despite the influx of much more cash, stealing a head engineer, a totally revamped bike, and now finally a multi time champ on it, more championships than Stoner. Race fit. All that. Slower. Like every other rider that threw a leg over the Duc. I've always had this long running dissagreement with J4rno even though he no longer posts these days I continue the arguement. He thinks the 2007 and all other Ducatis just happened to suit Stoner. He thinks they needed Rossi to show them the way. Without Rossi the bike would never have improved. Is this improved? I say absolute ......... Stoner states it clearly. The first ride he ever had on the Duc his first reaction was wtf. The bike was a dog. The screamer engine was wild and vibrated so bad in his words it would rattle your fillings loose. It suited Stoner no better than any other rider including our so called Goat. Stoner is a ....... genious on a bike.
Cathcart tested the 2007 bikes and found Stoners setup very odd. Not like a race bike at all. In fact Stoner recalls he argued vehemently with the team to set the bike up this way. The pig wouldn't turn. All the setup guys and conventional wisdom said to make it turn, put more weight on the front. Pitch the bike forward. Raise the rear.
Stoner did the complete opposite. He lowered the rear. He raised the bars. He dropped the footpegs. Cathcart quoted "is this a chopper?". Barry machine will understand this. You put the bars high and the pegs low and the ... low because you plan to manhandle and rear wheel steer that ....... pig around corners like your riding a bucking bronco, or your going to ride it speedway style. But no rider does that on tarmac, not like Stoner did. They all tried, including the GOAT, they all got off shaking their head saying how did he do it?
So let's remember Rossi rode the Duc. Crashslow, Melandri etc etc. It's early days and Lorenzo has ridden the Duc and he's confused. I don't blame him. The average normal human rider takes at least a year to figure it out, even this Gigi designed one. It's still an enigma of sorts.
As for Stoner, why wildcard? They insulted him in 2009 putting a massive offer in for Lorenzo. Now they have Lorenzo. He's slower than Stoner, just like Rossi was slower than Stoner. So why wildcard for the .......s, just rub their noses in it. If we still can't understand what we witnessed those years from 2007 to 2010 whats the point trying to prove it yet again now? He already did, as a test rider, he's faster than Lorenzo. Good luck to you Ducati, you let the one in a hundred years rider get away.
