Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
I am happy to let it go these days as well, the bloke is nearly 9 years retired, but if someone brings him up I will still respond.
Remy Gardner, the son of the guy who originally drew me to the sport, is looking like a fair prospect for Australian fans in any case. Jack Miller, with the best will in the world, perhaps not so much.
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Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
Totally agree. Jack was a questionable signing to the factory duc. Imo he is the worst of the 4 Ducati riders. Bagnaia seems solid but I think Martin could be very special. He has been healthy for 3 races and shown amazing form. The way he is able to manage tires while being chased is better than most veteran riders. Also manages to put down scorching laps for quali on a regular basis. I think he has the most potential of any rider on the grid right now. I like Remy. He seems like a good kid with some serious speed on the track. Can't wait to see what he is capable of. We also have a couple Americans in the pipeline, but I can't help but feel that Roberts really blew his chance by not signing with Aprilia this year. Who new aprila was going to be decent this year though.
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
This is video of Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost battling each other in go-karts after the end of the 1993 season, in France. There's also a slew of F1 drivers of the day in this as well. Quick clip but adults do in fact drive go-karts including F1 world champions.
Joined Oct 2008
6K Posts | 5K+
In Cider
Senna was 33 at the time, Prost was 38. Max Verstappen won the world karting championship in 125 gearbox/shifters at age 15. Michael Schumacher raced karts into his late 40's until his head injury. Wayne Rainey is still racing a modified 250cc superkart aged 60.
Nice try at trolling. 'Albert'
Nice try at trolling. 'Albert'
Joined Feb 2018
178 Posts | 39+
Telly
Duh. Thats where they started, honed their craft and stepped up to adult cars. Do you think they learned to drive, by putting a phone book on the seat of an F1 car when they were 8?
You just proved my point.
Joined Feb 2018
178 Posts | 39+
Telly
Joined Feb 2018
178 Posts | 39+
Telly
Joined Nov 2015
872 Posts | 420+
Stratosphere
It should be obvious by now that Alvin Fatneck is immune to both fact and reality. Pointing out his errors is a waste of time. He's incapable of acknowledging his errors. In truth he loves throwing out howlingly fatuous nonsense just to see if he can ciick-bait you, push your buttons enough to make you waste your time correcting him. He thrives on the attention. Making others waste their time, is his way of extracting revenge on the world at large. Trolls are reliably, lonely guys, angry they can't get laid, hating a world they can never be a part of. It is a huge waste of time insulting them or trying to make them feel unwelcome; it doesn't work because trolls are broken people whose baseline is zero self esteem. Minus the requisite social skills required for garnering positive social intercourse, what remains is a limp impulse to cumulate negative feedback which serves both to reinforce his low opinion of himself and to validate his gratuitous lashing out at strangers. A vicious cycle. He can't be fixed, but at least by ignoring him, you will not further fuel his self pity or his childish beligerance toward all things happy and healthy.
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Joined Feb 2018
178 Posts | 39+
Telly
Here goes.
I actually don't see Jack as a questionable signing as for me he was the best available and had out-performed other options that would likely have fit within the dollar range that Ducati wanted plus he has potential and it was said he only wanted 1 year (and was on the Duke at the time)
I also see no real issues with a re-signing as has been done as at that point his results had been quite good with the failures being fixable - the old saying, 'you can teach a fast rider not to crash but you cannot teach a slow rider to be fast'.
Now that said, he needs to stop crashing.
I can cope with the fact that the tyres are an issue as all riders are having problems, but he needs to learn to ride within that component and stop throwing good results away
I have never felt that Jack is a title winner and I say that with openly bias eyes. Nope, to me he will win races, get some bloody good results but not win a title purely because I do not feel he is mature enough yet in race terms, and with his experience he has had chances to mature.
Next year is the make or break year as from all reports again it is a single year deal and without a close fought title battle it will be his last on a factory Ducati.
Said before in another post and meant it but Jack should have taken the Honda ride when it was said to be offered as I genuinely feel that there would be less pressure and expectations purely as the Aussie on the Ducati, there is pressure.
Sad to say from my side but I just do not see Jack as a champion but that said, he still has more race wins than many with longer careers
Edit to add:
I genuinely like Jack - I like that he is not robotic and scripted, he wears the heart on his sleeve, he gets emotional and seems genuinely about fun and having it.
But, this could also be the achilles heel to the whole package
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Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
I think their best option was a rider they already had. Dovi. They threw him out for probably the second best option at the time. Typical ducati making rash moves when they don't need to. They had Jack already, they had a rider that was out preforming him and tossed him aside. Thats what they do. Jack will need to start preforming or he will most definitely lose his seat to Martin.
The guys who really should be got rid of are Ducati management. They have basically burned every successful rider they have ever had, even Stoner as well as Dovi, and terminated a 3 time titleist in Lorenzo whom Gigi thought was important for bike development just as he was about to come good They are persistently short term in their outlook, ruthless with their one year deals but still sign the wrong guys. I think Jack would have been a good long term Pramac rider given he is obviously capable of winning races, and could have moved up if he had consistent success with them first. Instead it is all or nothing on the factory team as it was for Petrucci after one race win then gone a year later.
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
100% agree with all of this. JLo is the epitome of a rider to build a bike around. Dovi not being far off which is probably why the ducati is the bike it is right now. Honda needs a JLo or Dovi asap. That bike reminds me of the ducati of old. The front is so inconsistent because it doesn't have a rider who's data they can depend on. They need Dovi more than anyone else. Even if it is just as a test rider. Pedrosa is another excellent tester look at where the ktm is now and look at the honda since they lost him.
Joined Feb 2018
178 Posts | 39+
Telly
Ducati seems to bumble their way into good riders that they don’t value. Their strategy seems to be hire anyone that’s available and see how it works out. ATM that strategy is working, but inevitably they will find a way to bin it up.
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
Jack Miller will probably be gone from Ducati at the end of 2022. Unless he sets the world on fire next year, I can't see them keeping him beyond then because Jorge Martin is coming on fast. Him and Bagnaia I think would be Ducati's preferred lineup in the near future.