<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Mar 9 2008, 01:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I think all the speculation on the reasons for stoner's success last season on the ducati (we don't know that he is going to be successful this year yet) is just that, speculation. Some of it is contradictory eg schwantz saying it is the easiest bike to ride. I think all that can be really said is that it and stoner are suited, and several other talented riders have not been suited to it so far. These include several well perfomed 250 riders, including 2 championship winners, so I don't buy the whole motogp dumbed down to suit 250 riders thing. Stoner last year performed much better than he did as a 250 rider. The tc disadvantaging mature riders theory has achieved wide currency, but in my view is still a theory; I think we on this forum may have been among the first to advance it. A ducati insider elsewhere has said the bridgestone fronts have contibuted much more to casey's success than tc, and that casey has demonstrated the ability shown by previous top riders to ride around a bike's faults; I guess he would say that.
I am certainly not an expert on bike riding, but it has been said by others that stoner rides point and shoot, which it seems to me might suit the characteristics of the ducati, particularly the acceleration more than the ducati suits late braking smooth riders. As an ex-superbike rider the ducati might suit nicky as well.
Well considering the credit going to Bridgestones front tyre and the talk that Stoner makes alot of his advantage on corner entry would suggest that Nicky is not suited at all. He uses too much rear end to slow down. Furthermore Nicky has shown with the millions of laps he does without a breakthrough of any kind that he isn't as good as he should be at finding a setup with enough feel, which seems to be a major problem for Ducati riders.
I am certainly not an expert on bike riding, but it has been said by others that stoner rides point and shoot, which it seems to me might suit the characteristics of the ducati, particularly the acceleration more than the ducati suits late braking smooth riders. As an ex-superbike rider the ducati might suit nicky as well.
Well considering the credit going to Bridgestones front tyre and the talk that Stoner makes alot of his advantage on corner entry would suggest that Nicky is not suited at all. He uses too much rear end to slow down. Furthermore Nicky has shown with the millions of laps he does without a breakthrough of any kind that he isn't as good as he should be at finding a setup with enough feel, which seems to be a major problem for Ducati riders.
