Joined Mar 2005
7K Posts | 20+
Woody Creek
You're absoloutely right Skid, Kenny deserved a Honda ride and if he would have gotten one who knows what would have happened. Take the names of riders who have won a world championship on a Suzuki, Kenny Roberts Jr., Kevin Schwantz and Barry Sheene. That's saying something about Junior.
The problem with Hopper is he has too much pride and confidence in himself. He said the main reason he stayed with Suzuki is because he loves his team and he didn't want to do all the development work he's done since 2003 and leave and see someone else reap the benefits of his hard work should it suddenly become competitive. He also made some sort of remark about just hopping on an instantly quick Honda, Yamaha or Ducati and how anyone can do it. I think the smart move would have been to swallow his pride and give up being the number one rider and sign for Ducati. Yes, he would have started the season as the number two rider but with his talent aboard a stunning GP06 he might have given Capirossi a run for his money. He screwed up and I don't think Suzuki is going to get any better when the switch is made to 800s.
Vermeulen... he had too much advice and generally the wrong advice. Honda did not want Chris in MotoGP until 2007 and when Vermeulen pressured them by showing interest in Suzuki they offered him a Pons ride. I understand that Vermeulen was very close with the late Barry Sheene and Sheene told Vermeulen that satellite rides are difficult because you don't get what you want in terms of parts or development and to always take a factory ride. Well when Honda wouldn't give him the Repsol ride he went to Suzuki and the rest is history. It probably helped Suzuki's cause that Sheene was very close to the factory and influenced Vermeulen's decision. But I think if Mr. Sheene were here today and knew how big of a pile the Suzuki is and how solid the Honda is he would have told Chris to take a satellite Honda ride. And because I know someone will bring up the fact that Pons folded I will rebuttle that. Vermeulen was basically HRC property, if Pons were to go belly up Honda would have taken care of Vermeulen the way they have taken care of Stoner and the LCR team. In addition to all his advice from Barry Sheene, Colin Edwards kept telling him to get to MotoGP as soon as possible. But Colin even knows this, you need a competitive ride to make going to MotoGP worth while. Vermeulen is very young and I think the smarter move would have been to do as HRC asked and stay in WSB one more year and then come to MotoGP in 2007 aboard a Honda, maybe even a factory supported Honda.
The problem with Hopper is he has too much pride and confidence in himself. He said the main reason he stayed with Suzuki is because he loves his team and he didn't want to do all the development work he's done since 2003 and leave and see someone else reap the benefits of his hard work should it suddenly become competitive. He also made some sort of remark about just hopping on an instantly quick Honda, Yamaha or Ducati and how anyone can do it. I think the smart move would have been to swallow his pride and give up being the number one rider and sign for Ducati. Yes, he would have started the season as the number two rider but with his talent aboard a stunning GP06 he might have given Capirossi a run for his money. He screwed up and I don't think Suzuki is going to get any better when the switch is made to 800s.
Vermeulen... he had too much advice and generally the wrong advice. Honda did not want Chris in MotoGP until 2007 and when Vermeulen pressured them by showing interest in Suzuki they offered him a Pons ride. I understand that Vermeulen was very close with the late Barry Sheene and Sheene told Vermeulen that satellite rides are difficult because you don't get what you want in terms of parts or development and to always take a factory ride. Well when Honda wouldn't give him the Repsol ride he went to Suzuki and the rest is history. It probably helped Suzuki's cause that Sheene was very close to the factory and influenced Vermeulen's decision. But I think if Mr. Sheene were here today and knew how big of a pile the Suzuki is and how solid the Honda is he would have told Chris to take a satellite Honda ride. And because I know someone will bring up the fact that Pons folded I will rebuttle that. Vermeulen was basically HRC property, if Pons were to go belly up Honda would have taken care of Vermeulen the way they have taken care of Stoner and the LCR team. In addition to all his advice from Barry Sheene, Colin Edwards kept telling him to get to MotoGP as soon as possible. But Colin even knows this, you need a competitive ride to make going to MotoGP worth while. Vermeulen is very young and I think the smarter move would have been to do as HRC asked and stay in WSB one more year and then come to MotoGP in 2007 aboard a Honda, maybe even a factory supported Honda.
