| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
Could be a translation issue. Did he say "till his job was finished" or did he REALLY say "till HE was finished"? | ||
| Bads1 |
Sound like hes staying. This is the report Matt is speaking of but its from Monza during the race he was just in with Ferarri. http://www.motomatters.com/news/2012/04/13/after_a _week_of_rumors_rossi_tells_itali.html | ||
| Jaimec |
Another good analysis from Asphalt and Rubber: http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/racing/valentino-r ossi-ducati-analysis/ | ||
| Bads1 |
That is a very good one indeed. Looks at alot of different angles in Rossi present and future state. The gresini deal would be very interesting. | ||
| Davegess |
Well Ducati is now part of Audi. One they don't like to lose, two they have a very large pot of money to spend. Me thinks that changes in the Ducati GP bike will come quickly. | ||
| Bads1 |
Actually Dave the sale of Ducati is not done. Its just news the Audi is going to purchase and that the sale should be final very quickly according to reports. I wonder what quickly means (how long)??? Factory GP Ducati and Rossi really don't have... time. | ||
| Davegess |
Agreed, it still has to close but many things can happen prior to the actual close of the sale if Audi wants them to happen. | ||
| Trojan |
Well Ducati is now part of Audi. One they don't like to lose, two they have a very large pot of money to spend. Me thinks that changes in the Ducati GP bike will come quickly. The other scenarios are that VW/Audi have bought Ducati just as an asset with little hands on contact, and will leave it alone to run as it has been doing, or alternatively steam in and make huge cuts in the racing dept to try and maximise more profit for themselves  I can't see VW throwing MORE money in than Ducati/Philip Morris already have, as the MotoGP side of the business is apparently already 20% over budget for the 2012 season and we have only had one race so far! With the prospect of another brand new narrow angl engine coming mid season already I think they will probably double their pre-season spending estimate this year. VW/Audi may just consider it to be a lost cause and abandone the project completely. | ||
| Davegess |
abandon the project completely. I hope not, Audi has had great success in racing and hopefully they have caught the racing bug and will commit to winning in Moto-GP. I still remember the Honda Formula 1 car engine project back in the 80's that proved disappointing in the first race. Within a few weeks the had a new engine, they spent whatever it took in money and manpower to make this happen. Maybe Audi will jump in with equal enthusiasm! | ||
| Simond |
I hope not, Audi has had great success in racing ....who knows - Rossi could be testing the first diesel Ducati soon  ! | ||
| Jaimec |
...with all-wheel drive. | ||
| Bads1 |
And air brakes!! | ||
| Trojan |
they spent whatever it took in money and manpower to make this happen. Then remember, they then sddenly pulled out of the sport completely after a few years with little success. It was only after Honda left and Ross Brawn raised the finance to continue running the team as Brawn GP that they won a championship with Jenson Button. The 'old' Honda team is now the Mercedes team in F1. Getting car manufacturers involved in Bike racing may not be a good thing at all, and could lead to raising hopes then cruelly dashing them when they pull out again Most of the major manufacturers who got involved in F1 (Honda, Toyota, Renault) have pulled the plug on racing at short notice, and that would not be good for MotoGP where money is even shorter supply. I doubt if VW/Audi will actually invest anything in Ducati, but will keep the status quo and let it run as an independant business exactly as it does now. More importantly to the GP project is the Marlboro money that keeps the project afloat. If they pulled the plug (which is increasingly likely the longer they don't achieve success with Rossi) it would almost certainly mean the end of Ducatis GP aspirations. Philip Morris covers almost the entire Ducati race budget, so is the most important link in the chain. When Stoner missed races because of his mystery illness Marlboror were behind the plans to try and sign Lorenzo to replace him, and were certainly not happy. If they keep getting negative publicity from teh current situation I can't see them ploughing many more millions into a lost cause | ||
| Jaimec |
I have to wonder WHY Phillip Morris is so loyal to Ducati. They USED to sponsor Yamaha, and right now Yamaha is a lot more likely to win the championship than Ducati, yet Yamaha is in their second year without a major sponsor. Meanwhile, Phillip Morris is sticking with Ducati and, except for last year, Repsol stuck out the entire 800 series with Honda without winning a title. Rizla sponsored Suzuki and that bike NEVER had a chance. I just don't get it. | ||
| Trojan |
I think so long as the bike is at or near the front then winning isn't necessary for Marlboro, they just want positive exposure. Likewise for Repsol and Rizla. However when the publicity is overwhelmingly negative large sponsors don't like it and get a bit twitchy. Repsol are happy to stay because they exert tremendous influence on HRC and can pretty much insist on at least one Spanish rider in the team all the time. Their market target is Spain and southern Europe anyway so they know they are getting maximum exposure this way. Rizla were a bit of a strange sponsor for bike racing all along, and managed to avaoid the ban on tobacco advertising in most countries. In the end they simply decided to stop their motorcycle sponsorship across the board at the same time, which of course included MotoGP and BSB. Big name title sponsors are now getting much harder to come by, and I think once Marlboro and Repsol leave we will see a lot more teams running multiple sponsors like Gresini and Aspar do now, even with different sponsors at different rounds. If Yamaha don't pick up a big title sponsor this year it wouldn't surprise me to see their MotoGP effort diminish soon either They have already cut back to the bone with their race projects and can't cut much more without leaving altogether. An all CRT grid would be a much more enticing proposition, as smaller teams need less in the way of finance from large corporations. The factory teams could bow out but still supply/sell production based engines for the chassis builders to make complete race bikes. It wouldn't necessarily have to be a road spec or even close to WSB, just based on a production 1000cc block. If a Yamaha/Honda/Aprilia engined bike wins then they get great publicity for very little effort. if it loses they just say nothing and blame the chassis  It works well in F1 and I see no reason why an all CRT grid wouldn't work much better than the current system in MotoGP either. | ||
| Trojan |
First 'proper' GP of the season this weekend!! yahoo I expect that I shall end Sunday afternoon disappointed with processional racing at the front and the same old faces on the podium, but the anticipation is worthwhile all the same One interesting factor could be the weatehr forecast......fine for practice and qualifying but wet for race day.... And there is always Moto3 & Moto2 to watch to break the MotoGP tedium of course | ||
| Amafan |
Poor Trojan, does not like the MotoGP class anymore,because his hero is getting whipped, get over it,and get behind Crutchlow instead . I hope the weather man is wrong like he was for the AMA races at Atlanta last weekend . I hate rain races,the 1st WSBK race at Assen was a great race, until it started raining,and then it turned into a crash fest,with riders just riding around hoping they do not crash. | ||
| Jaimec |
I thought Crutchlow WAS his hero?? There aren't any other Brits in the premiere class. | ||
| Jaimec |
Looks like Ducati is crushing Vale's legacy: http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/motogp-noye s-notebook-men-who-stare-at-goats/ | ||
| Bads1 |
I don't think it will get crushed and I do think Rossi will be back. But will it be Ducati?? Will it be Gresini Honda??? Or maybe Yamaha ??? Personally I'd love to see him go Gresini. | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm fantasizing of Rossi and Burgess turning a CRT project into a race winner... | ||
| Bads1 |
Jaime, I'd have to say if Ducati doesn't turn around and quick and also if Audi doesn't step in to change it. It will be a field of CRT'. Its Important that Ducati is capable to stay in the game at a high level. | ||
| Bads1 |
Maybe Rossi knows something thats about to happen and him having a Coke sponsor. http://money.msn.com/investing/latest.aspx?post=31 41c3c7-2f15-43f4-bdb0-fe945badd639 | ||
| Trojan |
Poor Trojan, does not like the MotoGP class anymore,because his hero is getting whipped, I've been following Motorcycle GP's since before Rossi was born, so my real heroes are probably people you have never heard of, and not necessarily British either Jarno Saarinen, Mike Hailwood, Bill Ivy, Barry Sheene, Phil Read, Ray Pickrell and Renzo Passolini spring to mind ahead of Rossi, even though he may have won more championships. However Rossi is undoubtedly the best rider of his generation and it will be a sad day when he decides to retire from top class motorcycle racing. There are very few real characters left in the sport and he will leave a big hole when he goes, quite apart from the fact that there are also precious few riders capable of true 'Alien' status and of running at the font these days. Unlike you, I am really hoping for a wet race, as that is the only way we are going to get an exciting competition with more than just the usual 3 riders capable of winning or getting on the podium. A full dry race will just be another combination of Lorenzo/Stoner/Pedrosa on the podium again Maybe we will get some brief excitement for 4th-6th places and the ongoing Crutchlow-Dovi battle, but don't bet on it. | ||
| Trojan |
FP1 was very much rain affected, so many of the riders didn't even venture out of the garages today (could be a big mistake if it stays wet all weekend as they have all missed vital setup time). However just to show what wet conditions can throw up in the way of strange results, the top 3 in the wet sessions were...... Ivan Silva (BQR/Inmotec Kawasaki) Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) Randy De Puniet (ART) Wouldn't that be great if that was a race result on Sunday! | ||
| Jaimec |
Here's your front row for tomorrow: Jorge Lorenzo Dani Pedrosa NICKY HAYDEN!! And where's Vale? The LAST non-CRT bike on the grid. WTF?? Whatever changes Ducati is implementing for Vale seem to be working out far better for Nicky than for Vale! | ||
| Firstbuell |
man, happy as I am for 69, that's how sad I am for 46..... } | ||
| Smoke |
go Nicky! tim | ||
| Gaesati |
My prediction: 1st Pedrosa but not if Lorenzo is close enough to pass in the last two laps. 2nd Lorenzo 3rd Spies 4th Stoner 5th Hayden | ||
| Jaimec |
Most likely: 1) Lorenzo 2) Pedrosa 3) Stoner Vale is pretty damned lucky to have a team mate with the class and character of Nicky Hayden by the way. Just about anybody else on the grid would be jumping all OVER him right now. http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Apr/120428mnze .htm Has Ducati gotten into his head the way it did to Marco Melandri? At least the improvements they've been making have been helping out the other half of the factory garage... |
