Joined Jun 2007
10K Posts | 1K+
Norah Head
No i guess that fits too!
rossi is many types of "goat"
Just not "the greatest of all time"
No i guess that fits too!
rossi is many types of "goat"
Just not "the greatest of all time"
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
Right. I never said he was the favorite or anything like that. But out of all the riders, he just has to do what he is doing.
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
As has been pointed out - Dovi seems to be consistent as a rider. If Gigi can make the needful setting adjustments to adapt the bike for tracks other than those that already favor the Duc, Dovi could well be a contender. I thought he looked great in that last season on the Repsol and believed as others, that Repsol were dialing him down to keep him from taking points away from his teammates. These two wins will boost his confidence in a big way, and that (obviously) is major factor. Dovi is a really level headed guy - taking it one race at a time and won't get a big head and get stoopid.
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
And I never said that you said he was the favorite.
Sure in just looking at the points you can say he is a contender, but there's more than just simply looking at point titles involved in this as I think you would agree.
Outside of the Red Bull ring, none of the upcoming circuits from here through September are circuits that will favor the Ducati. They have their work cut out for them.
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
Already said points aside I see him as a contender which is why I said it preseason. I disagree that the ring is it. He won assen last year. Montegi and sepang are good. Aussie isle is alright. He will be competitive many places. You can't over look him because of possible changes. Strangely changes have been what has made Ducati so successful this year. Again it's not just about dovi and Ducati it's about the struggles of Yamaha and Honda. Tech 3 and old model Ducatis are competing with them. They are both struggling and as far as I can see will continue to.
Joined Jul 2007
5K Posts | 1K+
unda cheese
Joined May 2009
6K Posts | 4K+
Shovel's Club
Joined Aug 2013
163 Posts | 33+
Northants UK
Did Vinales make a pass on merit during the race, I noticed he moved up due to a couple of run offs and a crash but didn't notice him actually make an overtake?
Not a good performance when your Dad on the same bike although not too far in front at the end, did at times seem to be making moves forward!
Not a good performance when your Dad on the same bike although not too far in front at the end, did at times seem to be making moves forward!
Joined Apr 2008
7K Posts | 3K+
Out of Nowhere
Valentino knew that there was no chance of winning this given this afternoon's temperature , even though there were promising signs in morning warm up and they definitely made some progress in mitigating the rear grip problems. Knowing that he couldn't win, I think that Vale ran those early 1.46 lap times while he could and rather than manage his tyres to make a late charge, ensured that he put sufficient space between himself and Maverick and nursed it home. In the circumstance, eight was a very commendable result.
The soft left of the asymmetric front made life very difficult for Márquez, but safer because no one could really risk pushing. As Dovi said post race "we couldn't push but we had the speed"
There was one braking move from Marquez going into turn one where he closed a massive hair from himself to Dovi and Pedrosa. I'm sure it was partly due to everyone running with a strategy and not pushing hard. But on tv it looked ....... awesome.
Lorenzo looked awesome, but Dovi was going faster looking more like the smooth Lorenzo of years past, on the tires that the previous edition of Lorenzo would have favored under these conditions.
Though I have no real insight, I'd like to think JL is fine tuning his approach and methodically finding the tools to improve his performance on this bike.
He seems to be making headway, encouraging for this fan!
In any case, hats off to Dovi, he made all the right choices and totally deserved the win. Congratulations to Marquez for managing to stay on the bike!
Though I have no real insight, I'd like to think JL is fine tuning his approach and methodically finding the tools to improve his performance on this bike.
He seems to be making headway, encouraging for this fan!
In any case, hats off to Dovi, he made all the right choices and totally deserved the win. Congratulations to Marquez for managing to stay on the bike!
Joined Feb 2007
11K Posts | 2K+
Tennessee
Damn Dovi, you matched your career total in 7 days, thatta boy. Flawless race for Desmo Dovi, toyed with Pedrosa and Marquez then waved by-by. 5 crashes and a tumble in the pits this weekend for Marquez, a miracle he brought it home for some good points. How much longer can the riders bite their tongues before going the .... off on Michelin. Im guessing we are close to a revolt. This is much to serious a sport to have a supplier show up week after week with unpredictable junk.
You didn't get what I posted Dubs.
If you want to say who is a 'contender', than at this stage each and every rider remains a contender as the points gap between first and last does not yet exceed the available points left for the season.
Or alternately, one could say it is still to early as we are not yet on the downhill side/stretch?
Could he win?
Yes.
Could Rabat win?
Yes
On may be in a better position than the other, but at this stage there are enough points available for Tito.
There are still 11 races to run which gives 275 points on offer so for mine, the downhill stretch which truly shows who the contenders may be start around the final half of the season (have used Sashenring as a guide for years). That said, at this stage I will also give Dovi the Red Bull ring as that has showed itself (last year anyway) to suit the Ducati advantages.
Early days.
They don't give out trophy's half way through a season, although they do occasionally award Mundialito's for the latter half.
Do not underestimate Pirro along with the upper echelon changes in this as well as for mine, the change seems to be that Ducati are now listening rather than telling.
To be brutally fair though Dubs, I think that the issue is tyres that are causing the 'failures' of the HRC/Yamaha factories and if (when?) that levels out that they will again return to the dominant form of their riders or backers (read between lines).
Ducati at the moment have seemingly gotten the better out of the tyres but as with every time Ducati do well, things change and their performances tend to wane as they are not supposed to beat the likes of HRC/Yamaha.
Mind you, on the other hand, 2017 is 10 years on from their first title
As they say in golf.
It isn't how, but how many.
So whatever works but for mine, the fact that Dovi can ride it has always and continues to be an indication to me that Lorenzo will get his head around it and across the last few weeks we are seeing positives.
Genuine question.
Is it his consistency or the other's inconsistency?
I ask as when was the last time we saw Rossi having a season of inconsistency (I use him as a benchmark of consistency based on past years)?
To be fair, it is a little from column A and a little from column B as without the other's inconsistency I suspect that Dovi would still be there or thereabouts at this stage of the season but that the points would be different
Joined Nov 2015
242 Posts | 144+
Australia
Crikey, what a race. I was expecting Dani to get away in one of his rare untouchable races at the beginning there but that wasn't to be. Still a great race by him to set pace half way through and create something for Dovi to get around. Whilst not finishing as strong as he might have hoped for at the start, bringing it home for some valuable championship points and a place on the podium is still going to make Mr Honda happy.
What a ride from Dovi. He's one of the riders that makes me still believe that a smooth approach can still work on the Ducati. He has been battling that bucking bronco for a while now and it looks like whilst Yamaha and Honda have been 'on or off' this year, his approach is somehow creating some consistency that has the potential to become a very valuable asset in this years WC fight. An amazing calculated approach through the whole race. Can he keep this momentum going?
What a weekend for Marquez. All those drops and seemingly bad luck made me think that trying to chase down Dovi for a race win was only going to end in tears but kudos to him in being able to recognize that bringing it home for 5 less points was still a great result for his WC standing with the factory Yamahas in damage control. His ability to have a laugh at himself about it was good to see also.
Even I have to admit that after a handful of laps of seeing the old Lorenzo brilliance start to fade back to a tactic of damage control, I thought it was only going to head south from then on. What a pleasant surprise to see him start to come good again! For sure, it hasn't take him 80 seconds to adapt to the Ducati but with signs of competitiveness starting to become more and more common, it's becoming harder to deny that he is actually making inroads to getting his competitiveness back. It actually looked like he has achieved a new level of confidence with the Ducati watching him backing it into T1! I got to add that it was great to see him in the crowd showing support to his team mates win as well.
Only 28 points between 1st and 5th in the WC going into round 8. What a cracker of a season this is turning out to be.
What a ride from Dovi. He's one of the riders that makes me still believe that a smooth approach can still work on the Ducati. He has been battling that bucking bronco for a while now and it looks like whilst Yamaha and Honda have been 'on or off' this year, his approach is somehow creating some consistency that has the potential to become a very valuable asset in this years WC fight. An amazing calculated approach through the whole race. Can he keep this momentum going?
What a weekend for Marquez. All those drops and seemingly bad luck made me think that trying to chase down Dovi for a race win was only going to end in tears but kudos to him in being able to recognize that bringing it home for 5 less points was still a great result for his WC standing with the factory Yamahas in damage control. His ability to have a laugh at himself about it was good to see also.
Even I have to admit that after a handful of laps of seeing the old Lorenzo brilliance start to fade back to a tactic of damage control, I thought it was only going to head south from then on. What a pleasant surprise to see him start to come good again! For sure, it hasn't take him 80 seconds to adapt to the Ducati but with signs of competitiveness starting to become more and more common, it's becoming harder to deny that he is actually making inroads to getting his competitiveness back. It actually looked like he has achieved a new level of confidence with the Ducati watching him backing it into T1! I got to add that it was great to see him in the crowd showing support to his team mates win as well.
Only 28 points between 1st and 5th in the WC going into round 8. What a cracker of a season this is turning out to be.
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