This should be interesting, the duck looks way different and a lot more serious in black! Honda looks amazing too........
Joined Jul 2006
11K Posts | 291+
Texas
Joined Apr 2011
1K Posts | 87+
Pangea
Ducati will have to make some progress you would think - but can they get to within less than 1 second a lap of the competition? If not expect Rossi by the end of this season to be wearing a big red t-shirt with the words "Good Riddance ....." printed in large bold white letters.
In all honesty this is d-day for Ducati and they are under intense pressure to get it right...failure is not an option.
PS - No one with any sense would ever label you a bopper.
I agree, if they're going round 1.5secs off its going to be a long season and i'm pretty sure Rossi will be off to pastures new come the end of the season, thing is, hasn't he burnt his bridges with all the remaining factories....all 2 of them? Btw, I think at 1 point last year he got within 1 sec of Casey but Casey then pulled the pin did some sub 2minute laps.
cheers mate!
I will be very interested to hear the feedback from the riders on the new tyres and what impact they are going to have on the Honda & Yamaha and their riders. I suspect Ducati/Rossi are going to be happy with them but others may not.
It would also be interesting to follow Capirossi during the test as he is going to be reporting back to Bridgestone on the feedback from riders on the "safety" of the tyres. I wonder how much time he will spend in discussion with which riders and who's feedback he will report on with the most vigour?
I predict that tyres will have a large impact on the upcoming season and could see some redesign of Honda and Yamaha chassis's.
It would also be interesting to follow Capirossi during the test as he is going to be reporting back to Bridgestone on the feedback from riders on the "safety" of the tyres. I wonder how much time he will spend in discussion with which riders and who's feedback he will report on with the most vigour?
I predict that tyres will have a large impact on the upcoming season and could see some redesign of Honda and Yamaha chassis's.
Joined Feb 2007
6K Posts | 58+
Rovrum S,Yorks Eng
BTW The test starts in just under 4hrs i think the uk is -8hr
on sepang the test runs 10am - 6pm local thats a 2am uk start time ?
http://motomatters.c...imes_new_a.html
More on motomatters
Broke the times up a bit
Dani Pedrosa Honda RC213V 1:31.807 1000 test
Randy de Puniet Suzuki 800 1:33.544 1.737 1000 test
November ^^ ---------------------------------------------
Randy de Puniet Aprilia ART 1:35.300 3.493 CRT test
Aleix Espargaro Aprilia ART 1:36.700 4.893 CRT test
Mattia Pasini Aprilia ART 1:37.800 5.993 CRT test
Today ^^ At Valencia -----------------------------------------------
Pasini crashed on his first outing on the CRP..Its on youtube
not sure how much that played into being 6 sec off Dani's time in November
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sps_fdtFofc[/media]
on sepang the test runs 10am - 6pm local thats a 2am uk start time ?
http://motomatters.c...imes_new_a.html
More on motomatters
Broke the times up a bit
Dani Pedrosa Honda RC213V 1:31.807 1000 test
Randy de Puniet Suzuki 800 1:33.544 1.737 1000 test
November ^^ ---------------------------------------------
Randy de Puniet Aprilia ART 1:35.300 3.493 CRT test
Aleix Espargaro Aprilia ART 1:36.700 4.893 CRT test
Mattia Pasini Aprilia ART 1:37.800 5.993 CRT test
Today ^^ At Valencia -----------------------------------------------
Pasini crashed on his first outing on the CRP..Its on youtube
not sure how much that played into being 6 sec off Dani's time in November
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sps_fdtFofc[/media]
Not sure any 1 factory is going to benefit really, if anything its Ducati that has the most to lose, they've done minimal testing with the twin spar so who's to say that tyre development doesn't royally fck them up? Remember the problems Yamaha had in 2006?? Btw, have the tyres changed much from the Valencia test?
I think they run harder compounds at Sepang compared to Valencia so the tyres will be different.
I disagree on the basis that the Honda and Yamaha both used the 2011 tyres well and the Ducati did not. If the tyres are softer in construction it is moving them in the direction that Ducati require to get feeling and away from where the Honda and Yamaha have successfully been performing. The question will be, have Honda and Yamaha made the correct changes to the chassis to utilise the new construction of tyre?
I see your point, i do remember Casey complaining about chatter after the last test...the Honda engineers will have phased that out since i'm sure. I think with Ducati though it'll be like trying to pin the tail on the donkey, they dont have years of experience when it comes to developing twin-spar chassis' so they'll have fingers, toes everything crossed in the hope that whatever changes have been made to the chassis, work with the new tyres. i guess we'll find out tomorrow what the craic is!
Joined Apr 2011
1K Posts | 87+
Pangea
I too am suspicious about the new role of LC as chief "tire adviser" having been a recent Ducati employee - but I dont think the newly designed Ducati GP12 has been around long enough to influence the direction of this years rubber. Cappa does seems to be intimating from recent comments that the development direction will be heading towards softer compounds that get up to temperature more rapidly....two problems areas for the Duc.
It would be interesting to do a scientific analysis over the course of this year to see if the compund does indeed change over time.....if all of a sudden the tires compund changes and begins to favour one team over another it would indicate that your conspiracy theories are well founded.....
Looks very nice. I hope Rossi can do better on this.
BTW, as Ducati did a lot of effort this off-season, Rossi could do a much greater effort from his part. He's very accommodated IMO.
Let's hope the ....... trained hard and starts to do a bit better in his riding style.
The bike has to be a lot better but it won't win alone.
BTW, as Ducati did a lot of effort this off-season, Rossi could do a much greater effort from his part. He's very accommodated IMO.
Let's hope the ....... trained hard and starts to do a bit better in his riding style.
The bike has to be a lot better but it won't win alone.
Joined Jun 2007
10K Posts | 1K+
Norah Head
IT'S Finished Ducati are GO...zzzzzz Dreams...TY Maria
Sleep time.....by then i get up the 1st test session will be over
If its not a rude question Pidg. ............... ?
Are you gay?
I really see why Ducati just have RED now .
Joined Jan 2011
3K Posts | 152+
The North!
From moto gp
[font=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif]The following Bridgestone tyre compounds will be available at the Sepang and Valencia tests: [/font]
Sepang[font=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif] – Front: Hard & Extra-Hard; Rear: Medium & Hard; Rain: Hard [/font]
Valencia[font=Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif] – Front: Soft & Medium; Rear: Medium & Hard (asymmetric); Rain: Soft[/font]
