| Author | Message | ||
     Bads1 |
I liked the interview as well. I know Edwards developing skill's is what has kept him where he is for so long. If what he says is true.... then these CRT's could maybe get very interesting to watch in due time down the rode.250 HP..... Wow!!! | ||
| Jaimec |
WSBK-spec bikes have been cranking out more hp than MotoGP bikes for years. It's been the chassis and electronics that have made the differences in the laptimes what they were. The future looks interesting. | ||
| Trojan |
I think we will need to see a season of development, some decent riders on CRT bikes and most importantly some intervention by Dorna before we see CRT bikes racing for the top 5 positions. If Dorna carry through their current plans it could certainly happen, although we may see factories leave as a result. The biggest problem with the CRT field at the moment seems to be lack of rider talent (Edwards excepted) and they really need to get some good up and coming riders on them rather than journeymen and riders that orinarily wouldn't make it to MotoGP. Maybe extend the 'no factory team' rookie rule to state that they must do a season on a CRT bike before they are allowed to race a factory prototype  I'm sure that would impress Marc Marquez | ||
| Bads1 |
I've read that Stoner will leave Moto GP if the prototypes are not used. I say See Ya then. I guess he said he'd go WSB. | ||
| Bads1 |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TMmKIaCZmw | ||
| Xb1125r |
Stoner will have soemone to hire him where ever he goes. his talent is unique. as a ducati fan it was the worst business decision to let him go and get Rossi. I gues patriotism overcame talent. | ||
| Bads1 |
Why I don't think Stoner is quite the rider Rossi is. | ||
| Jaimec |
If he quits because of CRT, all I can say is: "Don't let the door smack you in the ass too hard on your way out." | ||
| Xb1125r |
I think Stoner would have won the championship with a Ducati last year. I think Ducati made a mistake bringing Nicky who is not a top 5 rider and ducati bent over for him, they gave him more attention then then Stoner. and you can't argue with that. no one likes it when the new guy comes in and he is gettign more perks then you. specilly if you know you are better then him or her. | ||
| Jaimec |
I've seen absolutely NO proof that Nicky got preferential treatment over Stoner. In fact, they were trying to get just about ANYBODY in the paddock to replace Nicky, but when no one else wanted to ride that "career wrecker" they grudgingly re-signed Nicky for 2010. When Stoner jumped ship, they kept Nicky when they signed Vale... Where on EARTH did you get the idea Nicky got preferential treatment over "The Moaner??" Maybe the Press... Nicky is a much more likable PERSON, even if he isn't as talented a racer. | ||
| 46champ |
I know Ducati sold a batch of Nicky Hayden replica 848's I must have missed the Casey Stoner replica 1098's. Remember to follow the money. | ||
| Trojan |
I think Stoner would have won the championship with a Ducati last year. I think Ducati made a mistake bringing Nicky who is not a top 5 rider and ducati bent over for him, they gave him more attention then then Stoner. and you can't argue with that. I think you must have been watching a different series than the rest of us. The fact is that Stoner would have had a terrible season last year if he had stayed at Ducati, just as Rossi, Hayden and every other Ducati rider did. The bike haas fundamental flaws that were made worse by the Tyre construction and further 'confused' by the carbon chassis. Unlike the Jap bikes, Ducati couldn't move their engine around in the frame for better weight distribution or tyre wear, so were stuck with what they had until they developed their conventional perimeter style chassis very late in the year. Stoner and Hayden both complained of poor front end handling for 2 years and both had more than their fair share of crashes in 2010, so winning a championship in 2011 wasn't a realistic option for any Ducati rider (including Stoner had he stayed). Hopefully Ducati will get their act together later this year (although wins will still be hard to come by) and we'll see both Rossi and Hayden closer to the front again. | ||
| Jaimec |
I don't think the Hayden model was sold anywhere but in the United States, as Nicky is an American "hero" here. One of the first to beat Mladin on his own terms, and the first American World Champion since Kenny Roberts Jr. in 2000 (and that was on a two-stroke). Nicky is very marketable, gives "Good Interview," is always polite and charming, and respects his competitors. You can't say the same for the nasty Thylacine who is the current world champion. By the way, Honda never made a "Nicky Hayden" replica after Nicky won the World Championship either. | ||
| Trojan |
I know Ducati sold a batch of Nicky Hayden replica 848's I must have missed the Casey Stoner replica 1098's. I'm pretty sure Ducati built a Stoner rep 999 Ducati. It wasn't very popular though because they replaced the roar with an incessant whine.......The bike was supplied with a large book of excuses. | ||
| Jaimec |
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| Xb1125r |
I think Ducati should have invested money in puttign stoners name out there. I think you are forgetting how Stoner won the championship and how the following year , when he was not sick he was winning races or finishing in top 4. Nicky has not been able to do that, its not Nickis fault, just that Stoner is a very precise rider. no one takes a corner like stoner. maybe Lorenzo! | ||
| Trojan |
I think Ducati should have invested money in puttign stoners name out there. Ducati paid Stoner a LOT of money during his tenure with the team. They also supported him when he decided to go awol mid season (much to the annoyance of the major team sponsors) with his mystery illness. You have to remember that Ducati didn't sack Stoner, he left of his own accord to go to Honda for more money. | ||
| Jaimec |
Which also put to lie the earlier assertion that Honda didn't spend like drunken sailors on leave in the final year of the 800 era. For crying out loud, they had FOUR FACTORY BIKES on the grid! Twice as many as Yamaha and Ducati and four times as many as Suzuki. They were DESPERATE to salvage at least ONE win out of the era they rammed down everyone else's throats and they were finally able to buy that championship. Here's hoping Ben Spies gels with the 1000 and can help Yamaha take it back. Will Casey be as good on the 1000 as he was on the 800? That remains to be seen. He wrecked an AWFUL lot of 990s the year before the 800s came into play... | ||
| Trojan |
He wrecked an AWFUL lot of 990s the year before the 800s came into play... Unfortunately he now has a lot more experience and the new 1000s have all the same electronics (or more) as the 800s, so I don't think we'll see anywhere near as many high side crashes as we used to in the 990 days. Anyone thinking that the new 1000s will be more spectactular or akin to the 990s is destined for disappointment I think, as the electronics will keep everything in line and much the same as last year with the exception of slightly higher top speeds  The best we can hope for this year is that the other manufacturers (including Ducati)have caught up with Honda over the winter and can at least make a fight of it from the start. | ||
| Blake |
I don't think we can say there is any "catching up" to do with the onset of the new liter bikes. It's a whole new game and no one knows yet whose machine if any will be the one to beat. | ||
| Jaimec |
If the paddock rumors are to be believed, Casey likes running with as little electronic assistance as possible... | ||
| 46champ |
with as little electronic assistance as possible... That is still an arbitrary number and is a whole lot more than none. | ||
| Gaesati |
As little as possible in Stoner's case means less than any other Ducati rider. Certainly, significantly less than Nicky's by Nicky's own admission. Stoner did crash in 2006. In interview he said he was a dirt tracker who was shocked by other competitors ability to run in hard under brakes when he came to Europe. He spent a lot f time learning how to ride the front as hard or harder than anyone else. He was prepared to accept crashes to find out where the limit was and to master it. Interestingly, no one else even Valentino can ride the front of the Ducati as well as Stoner as Valentino's many crashes last season indicate. Interestingly, also nobody seems to be bagging out Valentino about the number of times he crashed race motorcycles in 2011 during races and in practice.. | ||
| Gaesati |
SOME STATISTICS FOR 2006-2011 STARTS : Rossi 101 Stoner 100 POLES: Rossi 19 Stoner 34 PODIUMS: Rossi 58 Stoner 59 WINS Rossi 26 Stoner 33 WIN RATE Rossi 25.7% Stoner 33% CHAMPIONSHIPS Rossi 2 Stoner 2 | ||
| Gaesati |
These stats (2006 on) obviously include Stoner's rookie year on a privateer honda. C'mon guys Its getting OLD reading your carping comments that belittle the talents of an outstanding athlete. He crashes too much, He only wins because he's got a faster bike. He only wins because he's got better electronics, He only wins because he places absolute faith in the electronics and has no finesse. He crashes the ducati because he is brittle under pressure. He had an "imaginary" illness. He crashes the ducati because he can't develop a bike. Not one of those criticisms I have read here ad nauseam can be substantiated in any meaningful way. If those criticisms were true what does it say about the statistics for all his other opponents whom I did not even bother to look up: i.e. Hayden, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Dovizioso, Spies, Capirossi etc etc etc | ||
| Trojan |
I don't think we can say there is any "catching up" to do with the onset of the new liter bikes. It's a whole new game and no one knows yet whose machine if any will be the one to beat. Honda already had the bet bike last year, and the 1000cc bike is really just a bigger version of the same bike, with VERY little changes. Yamaha looks to be the same so it is really only Ducati (and the CRT teams)that are coming in with a properly new bike this year. Honda and yamaha can afford to run pretty much the same bikes as before with just minor updates to accomodate the larger motor whereas Ducati don't have that luxury. C'mon guys Its getting OLD reading your carping comments that belittle the talents of an outstanding athlete. Nobody doubts Stoners riding ability. It is when he gets off the bike and opens his mouth that he loses friends and makes enemies. There are very few top sportsmen who are as truculent and abrasive as he appears to be, not just to the press an fans but to his fellow racers (who he thinks he is above for some reason!). His recent comments about Rossi 'belittling his championship win' are just too childish for words, so maybe his management need to get a grip of him or he needs to mature a bit more before making stupid and childish comments. It is because of his attitude that people don't like him, and I'm one of that number Stoner did crash in 2006. In interview he said he was a dirt tracker who was shocked by other competitors ability to run in hard under brakes when he came to Europe. Blatantly untrue. Stoner spent years in the British and Spanish 125 championships before moving to 125 and 250GP and then to MotoGP, so to suggest that he was wet behind the ears and didn't know how European racers worked is pretty unbelievable. Stoner crahed in 2006 because he tried to hard. | ||
| Gaesati |
Sorry, Stoner WAS shocked when he came to Europe. He pushed throughout all his time in junior racing prior to MotoGP. If he saw the need to further raise his game to compete with Pedrosa (for example) he was obviously prepared to do so. Re: he "crashed in 2006 because he tried too hard." That's probably how you find the limit, especially if one is on a privateer bike. Marco Simoncelli was another great talent who pushed very hard in a satellite team. If the issue is with his personality why is there constant criticism that belittles his talent? Look back over your own comments over the last five years. When I consider how greatly I respect your other comments on motorcycling matters I find your single minded subjective negativity in this one area truly disconcerting. | ||
| Trojan |
At Last!!! testing for the 2012 season has started, as has rumour and conjecture over riders and bikes! Times for the first day at Sepang are in, and are NOT faster than the 800 bikes they replace, although weatehr conditions are poorer than laast year and this is of course the first REAL 1000cc test. The Ducati seems much improved and Cal Crutchlow seems to like the new Yamaha Stoner missed the entire session due to a re-occurrence of a back injury whilst warming up this morning, so spent the day in physio instead. The CRT bikes are WAY off the pace, although Edwards had major electrical problems and didn't get as much track time as he would have liked (21 laps). The FTR/BQR Kawasakis are more worrying, given the relative inexperience of both riders trying to develop the bike at a level where neither have raced before. Both are currently slower than the Moto2 bikes at Sepang last year. Hopefully some of the other CRT bikes (currently testing at Valencia) will be more competitive than these. Pos Rider Team Time Diff. Diff Previous Laps 1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.657 30 2 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 2:02.003 0.346 0.346 48 3 Cal Crutchlow Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:02.221 0.564 0.218 32 4 Ben Spies Yamaha Factory Racing 2:02.234 0.577 0.013 28 5 Valentino Rossi Ducati Team 2:02.392 0.735 0.158 43 6 Andrea Dovizioso Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:02.751 1.094 0.359 20 7 Hector Barbera Pramac Racing Team 2:02.773 1.116 0.022 41 8 Katsuyuki Nakasuga Yamaha Factory 2:02.829 1.172 0.056 32 9 Alvaro Bautista San Carlo Honda Gresini 2:02.869 1.212 0.040 45 10 Nicky Hayden Ducati Team 2:03.151 1.494 0.282 33 11 Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2:03.668 2.011 0.517 44 12 Karel Abraham Cardion AB Motoracing 2:03.781 2.124 0.113 45 13 Franco Battaini Ducati Team 2:04.986 3.329 1.205 35 14 Kousuke Akiyoshi Repsol Honda Team 2:07.163 5.506 2.177 4 15 Colin Edwards NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:08.240 6.583 1.077 21 16 Jordi Torres Avintia Racing 2:10.671 9.014 2.431 42 17 Ivan Silva Avintia Racing 2:11.267 9.610 0.596 12 | ||
| Davegess |
All this carping about Stoner/Rossi is annoying. Stoner is certainly an absolute top notch rider. He may well be the best at the moment but Lorenzo is very close. Rossi is nearing the end of his amazing career but I think he has a couple of good years left so if they can get the Ducati to work right he will be a force to be reckoned with. Comparing Stoner to Rossi; it is too soon. Let Stoner race another 5-8 years at this level and we will talk. | ||
| Gaesati |
I can't recall any racers who could push Rossi as hard in the period 2000-2005(inclusive) as the current crop of riders. I think that the Spanish race series have a great deal to do with that. Rossi is the best yardstick to use to counter the specific criticisms of Stoner. The argument has always been whether or not Stoner is a talented rider and has the determination to win and indeed, whether he deserves to do so on the basis of his ability. |
