[XVzrlWIv]

Any followers of Moto GP here?

Ducati should be renamed the "Stoner" as only Stoner has ever been able to ride that bike! It's only now that we are appreciating how hard he rode to make it look good, even the little master Rossi concedes he simply can't ride it. Karma is a bit ch Rossi, saying Stoner wasn't riding hard and the Ducati only needed half an hour of setup to work

[Aleksis]

I'm an avid follower of MotoGP, and half your post is rubbish.

The past two races, Rossi has been adapting his riding style to better suit the Ducati. That's a tremendous effort to undertake, considering Rossi's strengths are completely opposite to the Ducati's strengths. And with setup and riding changes, results have come almost immediately, with Rossi taking his best finish of the season so far, showing that the Ducati simply isn't that good a bike yet.

As for the two comments:
Rossi was one of the first to say that he couldn't gauge Stoner, because Stoner didn't ride many laps in testing or practice. He didn't push the Ducati throughout a session. That's very, very true and it's something Stoner has said time and again: the Australian has a very keen sense of what a bike is doing, and he doesn't need a dozen laps to confirm it. Stoner didn't keep pushing his Ducati and he doesn't keep pushing his Honda. He does the business, and goes back into the box. It's a magical talent that I think many riders would be very jealous of.

I think it was Burgess who said that there was about an hour's worth of tinkering to be done with the Ducati, and then they'd be at the limit of the machine. They wouldn't have it fixed, but they'd be done, because there's nothing else to do. The fact that Ducati has been scrambling for a year and a half now to make new parts, combined with the fact that setup changes hasn't helped Nicky, Valentino, Capirossi, de Puniet, Abraham, Barbera or any other Ducati MotoGP rider proves that what they said was true. There's not much more to scrape out of the Ducati barrel.

Anyway, Rossi/Ducati bashing aside... Stoner is showing to be the most talented rider in the field at the moment, although even he would have to admit he's also on the best bike. I think the factory Honda is better than the factory Yamaha, which is shown by the fact that Lorenzo can barely stick with Stoner, while the satellite Yamaha is better than the satellite Honda. Bautista should be battling with the Tech3 boys really. The championship this year will surely be Stoner's again, as he seems to be just as fast as Lorenzo even when he's not really pushing. Both at Estoril and at Jerez, Stoner showed he had a little extra in the bag and could pull it out seemingly at will. Despite his attitude as a sportsman, I think he's a fantastic rider with an extraordinary skillset. This man has the talent to race hard and the mindset to resist any pressure during the race. Rossi may be the GOAT, he's had his decade of success, and now it's Stoner's turn.

[BitStillrhile]

hehe, yeah my post was designed to stir the pot and get a Moto Gp thread going. But my point about Stoner riding the wheels of the Duke and making it look good still stands. Rossi got a huge shock with how hard it is to ride the bike, no matter what you try and do to it. The key seems to be to run with less electronic aids, Stoner always rode with them turned down and provided some spectacular images.

[expabsPapsgag]

hehe, yeah my post was designed to stir the pot and get a Moto Gp thread going. But my point about Stoner riding the wheels of the Duke and making it look good still stands. Rossi got a huge shock with how hard it is to ride the bike, no matter what you try and do to it. The key seems to be to run with less electronic aids, Stoner always rode with them turned down and provided some spectacular images.

The key isn't just electronics. Afterall, as a 500cc MotoGP champion, Valentino Rossi should be able to ride with less electronics as well. The key to Stoner's success, is that he uses his body and the real wheel in a slightly different way to everyone else. He manages to steer the bike a bit by sliding the rear, but in a way that works around every track, without using up the tyres like you would with a 'regular' slide. GPOne.com recently described it as using his body like a spinnaker. He lets the rear step out a bit, get a massive amount of grip, and shoot out of a corner regardless of what type of bike it is.

Stoner's rear wheel expertise suits the Ducati, which is definitely a bike with a stronger rear and a relatively weaker front. However, it completely goes against Rossi's strengths, which are breaking and corner entry.

Awesome quote from yesterday's Moto3 race:
Viñales called Cortese's moves 'not polite'. Cortese responded: "I left him enough room to finish second". Awesome!

[Patamuta]

That's my point about why Stoner can run with electronic aids though. The bike was never built around his style (they gave him a bike and said "ride"), he learn't that you need to ride it that way. Everyone else also knows that's how it needs to be ridden, but it's much harder to pull off.

[DailyRingtone]

Not being an avid follower, just an ocassional viewer, I got the impression from the media (yeah, I know) that Rossi was putting down Stoner's abilities and saying it due to the Duc' - now he's riding one he's found it wasn't due to the bike but Stoner's ability to maximise what the bike was able to offer. There was also the impression that his mechanic was of the opinion that it'd only take an hour to set the bike up, by this I gathered that he meant to set it up properly to suit Rossi, not to run out of adjustments.

But, as I said, that was from the media and we all know how reliable they are

[Gcromqgb]

I used to be a hardcore MogoGP fan during the Doohan, Schwanz, Rainey days and later Rossi, Biaggi, Gibernau (sp?) days. Then I just stopped watching it for some reason. That's weird since I've always thought MotoGP was way more entertaining than F1, but then I don't watch F1 either.

edit : So Rossi is with Ducati now? Damn.

[replicajoy]

But, as I said, that was from the media and we all know how reliable they are

Exactly.

To emphasize the quality of media publishing MotoGP: in the space of a week, rumors have emerged that both Stoner ánd Rossi would soon retire. This wasn't one rumor, it was two separate instances. One said Stoner would soon quit, the other said Rossi would. When asked for a comment, Stoner's said: "Don't read what you write". Rossi was quite clear on Twitter as well, saying the rumor was rubbish.

I guess with the racing at Estoril not producing any big dramas, the journo's are going out of their way to create some fictional drama. It's sad, really. Especially when there are plenty of interesting stories to be found in the lower classes, or with underperforming GP riders (Ben Spies, Karel Abraham), or with the CRT machines, or with the Tech3 battle between Dovizioso and Crutchlow, etc etc... Every story shouldn't have to revolve around Stoner or Rossi!

[MIBgirlsXXL]

Sure stories/rumours are just that. But when a rider and technical engineer actually say it, then it can be taken at face value. Stoner was pretty annoyed by what was said about him and the Ducati.

[Acrogeokickic]

Sure stories/rumours are just that. But when a rider and technical engineer actually say it, then it can be taken at face value. Stoner was pretty annoyed by what was said about him and the Ducati.

Stoner gets annoyed if you look at him for too long. He gets annoyed at just about anything, really. And face value is fine, but the media love to deliberately turn fact into crazy pot stirring rumor mill, just to keep things interesting. It's a bit sad, really.

And yet, I keep coming back for more racing.

[Super-Luser]

7 days until the start rolling at Le Mans

[secondmertg]

And we get diddly-squat coverage here...

[Kliopeion]

i havent made the trip to MotoGP in a few years. Last time we had gone we camped out.

[Enladalusange]

And we get diddly-squat coverage here...

Same here in the Netherlands. Actually, there are some pay-for-view channels and there's the occasional BBC live broadcast. But I've chosen to just get a video pass at MotoGP.com. HD, live, lots of extra features, costs less than €5 per MotoGP race, let alone if you factor in the lower classes.

[IrrettelatWet]

Me bad, I thought he was talking about the 24 hour car race - the bike coverage is pretty good here.

[mypharmalife]

Doing my own MotoGP thing.

[Ruilnasr]

Anyone watch the Superbikes race 2 from Donington?
blinking good race with a rather unfortunate incident right at the end...

[Hoijdxvh]

Anyone watch the Superbikes race 2 from Donington?
blinking good race with a rather unfortunate incident right at the end...

Awesome races, the pair of them, and the latter was... Well, awesome!

I would personally put the "blame" for what was a race incident in Superbikes terms at Melandri's feet. He should know better, as a BMW factory rider, than to torpedo his team mate twice in succession, possibly costing BMW a win and a podium. Unsettling both himself and Leon left the door wide open for either Biaggi or Rea to jump in there, which is exactly what happened.

Rea went over to Haslam's to apologize, the two of them ended up having a beer. Yay twitter.

[Fksxneng]

Today's bombshell: Casey Stoner, two times MotoGP world champion, the only man to win multiple races and the championship with the Ducati, has announced he will retire at the old age of 26. After his second season with Repsol Honda, the team he's won his second championship with last year, he's calling it a day.

On the one hand I'm sad to see the racer in him gone, especially as I'd have loved to see what'd happen if Lorenzo started troubling him. But on the other hand, I've never liked Casey as a person in the paddock, so I'm looking forward to other riders taking the reigns of what's now his Honda.

Crazy though, for him to retire already!

[RlUbQU3R]

There's a rumour he's returning to live in Aussie and will drive in the Aussie V8's !
Seems many bike racers make very good drivers, perhaps because it was crucial that they could read and respond to the track conditions and they can transfer that ability?