Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
who do you think will win the 2017 championship?
- Thread starter shaunna
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- 2017 championship win
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
While Michelin has (with varying degrees of success) sorted out tires using data from last year's bikes - riders will have another learning curve to climb - with the wings removed after several years.
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
Rears haven't much been an issue in 2016. Fronts have been Michelin's weakness.
Joined Feb 2017
584 Posts | 370+
Acadiana
Yes they were for Suzukis. How many times did you witness Suzuki fading after first half of the race. Even Yamaha complained about rear not lasting whole distance. With custom electronics they were able to adjust the traction as tire wore, now I hear there is no such option with unified electronics.
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
Hmm... no recollection of that my friend, but even so, that was one company - at one race and not statistically significant in the overall picture. If it was only Suzuki at one race - empirically speaking, it stand to reason, the issue was Suzuki.
Joined Mar 2015
2K Posts | 337+
Chertsey, Surrey, UK
AI as in artificial intelligence? I think number 29 is almost another 58 and we know what happened to him
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Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
AI as in artificial intelligence? I think number 29 is almost another 58 and we know what happened to him
While he has demonstrated a capacity to act like a pulsating ....... - he is clearly much more talented, as he's produced actual results in the premiere class. Assuming he sticks around, I believe, he'll mature and be a consistent top five finisher. He won't win any world championships - but he'll be interesting to watch.
Joined Mar 2015
2K Posts | 337+
Chertsey, Surrey, UK
I hope so as well, but he's been remarkably inconsistent every year he's ridden. Far to many bad crashes an he's taken a few out.
Joined Sep 2016
894 Posts | 557+
Queensland Australia
Iannone is an explosive and fun rider to watch. Marquez is one also. Marquez also had his fair share of crashes and run ins with other riders.
Iannone will mature and work things out on his own, hopefully it doesn't take him to long. The Suzuki has a good chassis, hopefully that allows him to ride the bike in his style and not throw him down the road as much.
Joined Sep 2016
894 Posts | 557+
Queensland Australia
I think the move to unified software has been a good thing, its compressed the performance disparity between the teams and last years results reflected that.
Marquez took the championship in Japan, but if the Yamaha's had not binned it so much and even got themselves on the podium in those races .. the championship would have been decided at the last round.
Hopefully with the unified electronics it now forces manufacturers to fix performance issues via mechanical means rather than just clever computer programming and bigger teams throwing more money at electronics.
Marquez/Rossi (differing reasons but the 2 I can see being there at the end)
That said, and as an admitted doubter of Vinales I become more impressed each and every day I see him ride and see what he can produce in terms of time wise and consistency but as we know testing is simply testing with races a different matter.
But, I would not be at all surprised if at seasons end MV has scored the most points ........
AI will continue his consistent approach to being inconsistent
The Ducati's will struggle at some circuits and dominate at others but not enough for a championship, although I do expect a few victories from them across the year.
Zarco will likely be best of the rest away from the big name.
That said, and as an admitted doubter of Vinales I become more impressed each and every day I see him ride and see what he can produce in terms of time wise and consistency but as we know testing is simply testing with races a different matter.
But, I would not be at all surprised if at seasons end MV has scored the most points ........
AI will continue his consistent approach to being inconsistent
The Ducati's will struggle at some circuits and dominate at others but not enough for a championship, although I do expect a few victories from them across the year.
Zarco will likely be best of the rest away from the big name.
Joined Sep 2016
894 Posts | 557+
Queensland Australia
He has stiff competition this year from Rins, Abraham may upset the the party and beat them both to the wooden spoon.
I feel very very sorry for Rabat. He's a hard working, conscientious and steady lad who deserves better. He's not a slow rider - his record in the junior classes is better than Smith & Redding for example.
Just his miserable fortune that while Smith, Vinales and to some extent even Iannone had the opportunity to learn on a stable forgiving bike, he was given an absolute nightmare to ride.
Of the five regular Honda riders, at year end, three were walking around with screws, pins & plates in their bodies. A number that now includes Rabat with two broken wrists, a broken metacarpal, a broken foot and a knee scraped to the bone after last week's crash.
Its a bike designed for Marc Marquez and ONLY for Marc Marquez (and even that's a little iffy). Crutchlow called the Honda the toughest bike he's ever ridden (and he spent a season on the Ducati GP14). With five years of experience under his belt, he appeared to have finally got it under control in the latter half of the last season but still.. lets not forget the mockery he faced right up to Sachsenring last year.
Jack Miller was in the same shoes as Rabat last year but without the latter's experience or caution. He finished with 17 pts and a broken body. And a wonderful gutsy win doesn't change the fact that in two full seasons, he's finished only 20 races (11 DNFs + 5 DNSs). No slow rider himself, he faced more than his fair share of jeers and that's something that got to him; very evident from his teary parc ferme interview post-Assen.
The worst part is that while Rabat may be shown the door at the end of the season, they'll just move on to destroying the next rider, physically & professionally. Probably Nakagami or Morbidelli. Or maybe even the younger Marquez (wouldn't that be ironic).
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Cal Crutchlow: 2015 MotoGP Honda hardest bike I've ridden - Feb 2016
Cal Crutchlow: Honda was most difficult MotoGP bike again in 2016 - Dec 2016
Cal Crutchlow: Honda was most difficult MotoGP bike again in 2016 - Dec 2016
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Abraham isn't as bad as we like to pretend he is. I guess it's a bit of resentment because his father buys him rides. But truthfully I don't think he is any worse than most of the lower middle guys.
Joined Sep 2016
894 Posts | 557+
Queensland Australia
Dont underestimate Abrahams ambition, if he wants the wooden spoon then he will get it.
His daddy paying for his rides means he wont hesitate in the slightest to throw it down the road should Rins or Rabat be slower than him and threatening his chances of winning the 2017 wooden spoon.
His daddy paying for his rides means he wont hesitate in the slightest to throw it down the road should Rins or Rabat be slower than him and threatening his chances of winning the 2017 wooden spoon.
I still have my money on JLO. Gonna be a beast on that duc. Marc wont win nor will maverick. Its gonna be rossi or crylenzo.
