The rumor just wont go away

The only things we know for sure are that;
- Melandri is unhappy and wants out....
- No one other than Casey has been able to ride the Duc with any consistent success
- and Ducati have now had 2 years with 2nd seat riders not being able to tame the beast....

So in my view...Ducati will have some money free to hire just about anyone THEY want, and that they are not going to pay much for them JUST in case the hired rider CANNOT ride the beast either....this includes Nicky, Hopper, Giveupnow Kallio, Bautista, Biaggi, or even Dovi...

So good luck to anyone they do hire cause they will need it.

But is Hayden really as medicore as many people make him out to be? He did win the championship after all...

I have to say that I see Hayden going to Ducati being less than 50% chance, but I don't think it's anything entirely impossible either. He couldn't do worse than Melandri, could he?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Wander @ Jul 12 2008, 09:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>But is Hayden really as medicore as many people make him out to be? He did win the championship after all...

I have to say that I see Hayden going to Ducati being less than 50% chance, but I don't think it's anything entirely impossible either. He couldn't do worse than Melandri, could he?

That is a matter of opinion and been discussed to death on this forum...but to sum it up....Hayden fans thinks he is a great rider and talent...and non-Nicky fans thinks he is a mediocre rider that got lucky in 2006....

No prizes for guessing where I stand on the question.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pinky @ Jul 12 2008, 10:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>i''l leavve this forum never to return if ducati signs hayden

bookmarks and prays this will come back to haunt you

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sally @ Jul 12 2008, 08:48 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>bookmarks and prays this will come back to haunt you

Yes, I will bookmark this as well! Let's see if Pinky will do the right thing, if Nicky goes to Ducati!

Even if he goes to the Sat Team, that still counts! As Pinky did not state Factory Ducati Team!

He just said, "Ducati."

From a business standpoint: Signing Nicky = More US Market Share

From a pure love of the sport: Signing Nicky = Taking a chance (he could really great or really bad)

They already have Stoner, so we will see what Ducati will do!

pfft u know what i meant, i meant factory ducati.

ducati dont really give a .... about the satellite teams and nor should they, they lease out the bikes and the rest is up to them.

i dont mind if nicky goes to ducati, i reckon hes a good guy, but it just wont happen for the reasons i already mentioned. thats it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Wander @ Jul 12 2008, 09:33 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>But is Hayden really as medicore as many people make him out to be? He did win the championship after all...

I have to say that I see Hayden going to Ducati being less than 50% chance, but I don't think it's anything entirely impossible either. He couldn't do worse than Melandri, could he?
I'm a big Hayden fan and I rate Melandri highly to a point where I believe he's a better rider than Hayden which is why I fear Hayden wouldn't do any better at Ducati.

Anyone who says Hayden is medicore is blind.

As a Ducati owner and fan, i hope they do sign him. Right after Laguna. I would love to see Hayden on the Ducati at Indy!
Right now it would seem that if Nicky wants a factory ride next year his two choices are Ducati and kawasaki. Where would you go? I think Sete and Canepa have shown the bike can be ridden by someone other than Casey.
If he can get on the Ducati after Laguna, why not? He'd have almost 1/2 a season to learn the bike. Who knows- agree to a mutual parting clause with Ducati at the end of the year if it isnt working out. He is Nicky Hayden, he'd end up somewhere next year. Not that either Ducati or Nicky give a st what i think, but I do think it'd be worth the chance.
And yeah, Hayden would be huge for Ducati in the US- and he doesnt have to win the championship. Casey can do that. He just has to finish in the top 5 or so. Win at Laguna and Indy. Go on the Jay Leno show, sell a few thousand motorcycles.
And if Rossi and Jorge can get along- everyone said they couldnt- why cant Stoner and Hayden? Think off all the fun they could have ragging on Pedro together.
Completely off topic- why all the ragging on Capirossi and the Ducati? I don't think he did a bad job last year, a few bad breaks. All the work he put into development, i hated to see him go.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (trackday @ Jul 12 2008, 09:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>As a Ducati owner and fan, i hope they do sign him. Right after Laguna. I would love to see Hayden on the Ducati at Indy!
Right now it would seem that if Nicky wants a factory ride next year his two choices are Ducati and kawasaki. Where would you go? I think Sete and Canepa have shown the bike can be ridden by someone other than Casey.
If he can get on the Ducati after Laguna, why not? He'd have almost 1/2 a season to learn the bike. Who knows- agree to a mutual parting clause with Ducati at the end of the year if it isnt working out. He is Nicky Hayden, he'd end up somewhere next year. Not that either Ducati or Nicky give a st what i think, but I do think it'd be worth the chance.
And yeah, Hayden would be huge for Ducati in the US- and he doesnt have to win the championship. Casey can do that. He just has to finish in the top 5 or so. Win at Laguna and Indy. Go on the Jay Leno show, sell a few thousand motorcycles.
And if Rossi and Jorge can get along- everyone said they couldnt- why cant Stoner and Hayden? Think off all the fun they could have ragging on Pedro together.
Completely off topic- why all the ragging on Capirossi and the Ducati? I don't think he did a bad job last year, a few bad breaks. All the work he put into development, i hated to see him go.

r u stupid, there is something called a contract till end of 2008 u know

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pinky @ Jul 12 2008, 06:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>r u stupid, there is something called a contract till end of 2008 u know
^ hey ......., then why all the talk about Melandri being released and going to Kawasaki or Honda after Laguna? If Honda can keep Dovi by bumping him up to Hayden's bike during the break, why not?
Everybody wins.
You know, someday we're all gonna read a little blip on the internet "little tiny pink body found pummled into a pulp. no identifying marks except the victim had a big empty mouth and was wearing a pair of casey stoner panties."
And everyone here on the forum will know exactly who it is and PARTY.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pinky @ Jul 12 2008, 12:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>pfft u know what i meant, i meant factory ducati.

You didn't state that explicitly. I am so going to own your ... come 2009.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pinky @ Jul 12 2008, 09:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>i''l leavve this forum never to return if ducati signs hayden
I've said in other threads that I have a few reservations about Nicky going to Ducati, but in light of this quote, I hope he bloody well does sign with them.

I think Hayden signing with Ducati would be the most logical outcome for Nicki.
Casey was an accomplished dirt track rider Nicki is also an accomplished dirt track rider. The bike is loose and favours this riding style. Casey and Nicki both usurped Rossi and are the alternate champions in the Rossi era. At the moment Casey will be the number 1 rider and Nicki is likely to be on a performance contract (didn’t that cost Ducati with Casey…) but he will be able to finish high enough and provide direction for the bikes development. I would predict podiums and maybe a win or two)

Casey’s only problem is he screws the PR stuff and Nicki is the SAC (salubrious alysosis cool) and can teach Casey a little about coming across like a gent.

Also, Nicki doesn’t give up like Melandri who has shown himself to be an overpaid temperamental sook. Casey is here for the long run and Nicki can mould him into a better champ.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Andy Roo @ Jul 12 2008, 10:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Nicki is the SAC (salubrious alysosis cool) .
i gues you mean the time in between when nickys lower lip quivers and is about to burst into tears when he dumps the bike or runs out of fuel

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Helix @ Jul 12 2008, 12:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I've said in other threads that I have a few reservations about Nicky going to Ducati, but in light of this quote, I hope he bloody well does sign with them.

LOL....LOL.............LOL

Now the Hayden move to Ducati is even worth more to me and some other forum members!

Pinky making the comment that he meant Factory of course is a hint that he wished he never posted that comment about forever leaving this forum if Hayden goes to Ducati.

I am watching QP right now and the commentators keep talking about Nicky going to Ducati! And based on past years experiences, the commentators are usually right about the gossips (but not all the time). We will see!

Don't know what this means but during Free Practice 3 Hayden smoked the tires on Rossi during a corner pass. On the way back to his HRC pit, The Factory Ducati Team cheered Hayden for that little stunt involving Rossi.

The commentors also said that word around the paddock is that Nicky is super excited about going to Ducati next year.

So, there is a lot of speculation! But certain signs point to Hayden going to Ducati or the Honda Scot Team. We will see!

Hayden will go to Ducati - Italians buy Ducati's irrespective of whoever is riding them and the USA is the worlds most voluminous market. An American rider is worth bucket loads to them.

Ducati has a long history of racing with English speaking racers (Fogerty/Corser/Hodgkins/Toseland/Bayliss/Stoner etc.)

Okay – Nicki dropped the bottom lip and Colin is probably the most popular American – but Colin is the ultimate “nearly rider” and Nicki has won before and does have a championship. Colin is married to Yamaha at this time - Nicki can sell cool a hell of a lot better than Casey can and he will work well with the team.

Plus Ducati will do what they did to Casey and sign him at a bargain price and put him on commission – more wins – more money. Nicki has the work ethic (always does the most laps testing) to get a handle on the bike.

From Nicki’s perspective why would he want to ride a satellite bike when he can hop on the hardest to tame but the greatest rewarding bike out there for a hard worker. It doesn’t fit – no one on a satellite bike is going to win anything while Vale, Pedro, Casey and Jorge are riding factory bikes. Nicki needs to give himself the same chance.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Wander @ Jul 12 2008, 06:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>But is Hayden really as medicore as many people make him out to be? He did win the championship after all...

I have to say that I see Hayden going to Ducati being less than 50% chance, but I don't think it's anything entirely impossible either. He couldn't do worse than Melandri, could he?

beaten by his teammate in every race, every practice and every quali session and even satelite riders on a regular basis.

mid pack finish for a werks bike doesnt cut it.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Helix @ Jul 12 2008, 09:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I've said in other threads that I have a few reservations about Nicky going to Ducati, but in light of this quote, I hope he bloody well does sign with them.

Amen to that. 1 less troll.

---
There are news for you, Hayden-Ducati fans :

It has now been made public by Mr. Vergani (Melandri's manager) that the two parties have mutually agreed NOT to continue in 2009. So Melandri is now officially free for next year, and more importantly a red factory Ducati is free for next year as well...

I am not glad to have been right months ago about Melandri's poor chances on a Ducati, but that was something predictable that only Livio Suppo didn't want to see, perhaps out of friendship with Marco.

Around the same time, I also posted in this forum that Hayden is probably one of the few riders in activity who could actually tame the Ducati and ride it "a la" Stoner. I have little doubt that Ducati will sign Nicky, if he leaves Honda.

The Gibernau tests may also have had the purpose of showing Hayden that a muscled rider who did well on a 990cc Honda, can do well on a 800cc Ducati also.

Ah... I hope Pinky will NOT be true to his word. It wouldn't be fun, not to have him around when Ducati fields two World Champs in their works team - something you don't see every day...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (J4rn0 @ Jul 12 2008, 04:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>---
There are news for you, Hayden-Ducati fans :

It has now been made public by Mr. Vergani (Melandri's manager) that the two parties have mutually agreed NOT to continue in 2009. So Melandri is now officially free for next year, and more importantly a red factory Ducati is free for next year as well...

I am not glad to have been right months ago about Melandri's poor chances on a Ducati, but that was something predictable that only Livio Suppo didn't want to see, perhaps out of friendship with Marco.

Around the same time, I also posted in this forum that Hayden is probably one of the few riders in activity who could actually tame the Ducati and ride it "a la" Stoner. I have little doubt that Ducati will sign Nicky, if he leaves Honda.

The Gibernau tests may also have had the purpose of showing Hayden that a muscled rider who did well on a 990cc Honda, can do well on a 800cc Ducati also.

Ah... I hope Pinky will NOT be true to his word. It wouldn't be fun, not to have him around when Ducati fields two World Champs in their works team - something you don't see every day...

i agree although i will drag it up just to rub his trolling nose in it