What happened to Westy?

This has got me thinking;

What happened to Nakano?
What happened to Elias?
What happened to Guintoli?
What happened to deAngelis?

Oh yeah, what happened to Melandri?

They are all going .........!

West was crap at Qatar ... the above mentioned riders were right with him in the "I'm getting paid to do jack ...." stakes!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (krusty @ Mar 14 2008, 12:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>This has got me thinking;

What happened to Nakano?
What happened to Elias?
What happened to Guintoli?
What happened to deAngelis?

Oh yeah, what happened to Melandri?

They are all going .........!

West was crap at Qatar ... the above mentioned riders were right with him in the "I'm getting paid to do jack ...." stakes!
I think it's unfair to say that, it implies they aren't really trying, and I don't believe for a minute that any of these guys ever give less than 100%, whether they have the talent (or the package) to be competitive is another matter.
Unfortunately for Westy, I don't think he does.

I think it's unfair to put Guintoli on that list, he did actually lead a race last year and on Dunlops. (Then he fell off.....)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (krusty @ Mar 14 2008, 11:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>This has got me thinking;

What happened to Nakano?
What happened to Elias?
What happened to Guintoli?
What happened to deAngelis?

Oh yeah, what happened to Melandri?

They are all going .........!

West was crap at Qatar ... the above mentioned riders were right with him in the "I'm getting paid to do jack ...." stakes!
Agreed. No two ways about it, these guys are simply doing ........., Melandri especially.

Let's face it - no one can ride a ducati besides Stoner, and the kawasaki's and suzuki's are ..... I expect nothing from any of these guys for most of the season.

I think West's problem is that he's stuck at the 95% mark; he can get 95% out of the bike's potential, but not the last 5% that he would need to get near (or into) the top ten. And, really, he's been stuck there for quite a while, too. His first few races when he got the ride were his best, although he was all at sea on qualifiers. He did make some improvements in qualifying at the tail end of last season, but actually started to go backwards in the races.

Qatar is only one race, but based on his preseason form 2008 doesn't look promising at all. It didn't help that he injured an arm in the off season, and that Hopper took all his crew, but just about every rider in the field can point to excuses on a similar level. West is standing still.

Another point about Qatar, is that the mid-pack has shifted. There's no crap Tech 3 bikes on Dunlops, no Team Roberts and no Hoffman keeping West 4-5 slots off the bottom.

To keep his seat next year I imagine he'd have to win a wet race and/or take a dry podium. Stranger things have happened, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it!