<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (chopperman @ Jul 21 2009, 09:59 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>stoners finished mate. seriously this aint a dig but i believe he has had his glory and will just be another one hit wonder. I think the press see this also because all they talk about is rossi v lorenzo. im sure stoner will win a race here and there but thats all. just my belief. I also think this has dawned on stoner too.
It would take more that a "special tyre" to help a mentally beaten man. im sure many of his fans deep down know this.
us who have followed the sport for decades rather than a couple of years have seen this many times.
I await the southern hemisphere time zone flaming.
Ok Roger, I will have a go.
While I disagree that Stoner is finished I fully expect and accept that he will never again dominate as he did in 2007 during the transition year. Doest his mean that he cannot win another title, not so sure because as we know racing is cyclical but FWIW I am not sure that Ducati have another title in them at the moment.
If we look at this year all was relatively even until Catalunya (just follow for a second people) as we had shared winners and the year looked fantastic in terms of results. But it was announced that prior to Catalunya Yamaha had upgraded their electronics (not linking - going from memory of posted articles at the time) and suddenly we have the Yamaha's dominating (just as Ducati did with an electronics upgrade in 2008).
Now, no doubt you or others will say that is a whinge etc and simply an excuse for CS' falling behind somewhat, but it isn't although to me it is an interesting coincidence between 2008 and 2009.
As well as this we have the Stoner illness that has manifested itself which may be a coincidence in timing and we have CS unable to challenge the Yamaha pairing, but still finishing very strongly in terms of points accumulation. It is also interesting that at the same time as this is going on there have been reports that Ducati have realised the single naturedness of their bike and as such have taken steps to solve the issues (new crew chief for Hayden as an example).
None of this is new as the game is cyclical and teams get upgrades that provide improved performances for them before a competitor catches up. So to write CS of yet is possibly a bit premature as at some stage one would expect that Ducati will upgrade electronics or similar technical marvels and then again be at or nearer the front.
All of this of course overlooks (and should not) the fact that the riders of the Yamaha are 2 of the top 4 skilled riders in the paddock and will be for years to come. So when you have talent to burn on awesome machinery you should be getting a similar stream of results where the one team is consistent a clear 1/2 or thereabouts. To me it is just teh Respon 500cc team era again and we all know that even that era ended.
As for CS and my earlier comment regarding Ducati, I do mean it. If we are fair Ducati did come from the wilderness in 2007 and realistically had done little before (yes we know that they were thereabouts in 2006) or in all truth since when looked at from a team perspective. People have been saying for sometime that the Ducati is to narrow focus and it is possible that to solve that issue may well mean the need to lessen whatever it is that CS can do, although I suspect any impacts on CS are accidental in that aspects.
As for this tyre sitaution as reported, well you have to admit that it looks suspicious (does not mean it is) and does raise a few points regarding tyre allocation and marking (ie. with respects to permanent marking of tyres before they are supplied to riders). But given that other teams have said nothing at this stage then there cannot be arguments as it would indicate that the tyres are indeed marked after being put onto teh rim as suggested by the article. But even the most ardent Rossi faithful would have to admit that some will find it 'interesting' in the manner it unfolded.
Garry
