| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
Honda, Kawasaki and Yamaha all use spring actuated valves. Suzuki is using pneumatic valves and I suspect that'll put them in the best position to challenge Ducati's hp advantage. It may be the reason Hopper is so competitive this year already. Hopkins has ALWAYS ridden hard, but his equipment has never been up to par with the competition till this year. | ||
| 12r |
Yes it is from BIKE and maybe you're right V, I just thought it was interesting. For sure the bikes have lost their distinctive exhaust notes and they do sound like screamers, perhaps this is due to the smaller capacity and increased rpm  | ||
| José_quiñones |
Is the Marlboro Ducati Desmosedici GP7 legal? | ||
| Jaimec |
More good reading: http://www.speedtv.com/articles/moto/motogp/37209/ | ||
| Rocketman |
Heads, thanks for posting those quotes. I enjoy the way you can stack up your argument without ever being offensive or insulting to the person. That said, whilst I think I understand where you are coming from, I would still say that I have never said Stoner was a bad rider or racer. I'm a little adamant about this because of one reason really. What kind of an idiot would I be to suggest Stoner is no good? Stoner is phenomenal. No question. Matt, that was a thought provoking posts considering you didn't see the race. Rocket | ||
| Heads |
Rocketman,i dont think you have called stoner a bad rider or racer,you have said he is good and been a little harsh on him. its just that i think he is better than good,i might be a little one eyed but thats just me. and for the record rossi was my favourite rider till stoner steped up to motogp. its all good rocket i would'nt insult or be offensive to you, i enjoy the debate. one thing for sure,it will be very interesting season i just hope there is no injuries to the top 5 or 6 riders that may blow there championship | ||
| Jimidan |
Stoner still weighs just over 100 lbs., which is a significant advantage over most of his serious competition (even on the Ducks). Also, he looked back over his shoulder to see how big of a wheelie he could do across the finish line. He knew nobody was close, because he would have heard them. | ||
| 12r |
Stoner weighs about 130 lbs but sometimes low body weight can work against a rider. For example Stoner has a perceived advantage over, say Rossi, because he is 20 lb lighter. Although this means Stoner can accelerate faster and brake harder, his light weight means his motorcycle has reduced traction on the exit of corners and it is also more sensitive to small changes in suspension/tyres. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I have been waiting for a rider&bike package to give Vale a run for his money, for many years. I want to see him really fight for the win, not just take it easy and smash the opposition. Finally we have it, Ducati&Stoner. The fact that it is a Ducati bike, is even greater! So why some people, want to take the glory away from the kid? Stoner is anorexic, Stoner rides the fastest bike, Michelin is crap this year,..... I do not know, why people just want to watch Vale win. I want to see Ducati win the championship. They have made a huge efford during the last years. They took a gamble with Bridgestone, and with Stoner. And now everything seems at the right place. Stoner's weight is irrelevant. Some sports favour certain bodytypes. So what? We are not talking football or basketball, but motoGP racing. Rossi is also a very thin and skinny person as well, so what is the thing with Stoners weight? | ||
| Jimidan |
Weight on a MotoGP bike package is hardly "irrelevant" regardless if it is on the bike or rider. If that were true, there would not be a weight limit for the bike. They would not be using titanium and carbon fiber composites to shave every ounce. Why did MotoGP increase the weight of the 800's a measly six pounds, if it was irrelevant? Why has Yammy been experimenting with moving 7 lbs. of ballast around on its bikes this year. I found Stoner's weight listed as 125 lbs. on a web site. That would mean that Hayden, Hopkins, Barros, Edwards, Checa, Roberts, Elias, and Rossi (and others) would be 40+ lbs heavier than Pedrosa and 25+ lbs more than Stoner, De Puniet, Tomada, Jacque, Melandri, and others. No, it isn't football, but weight is a huge advantage or handicap on a race bike, in an inverse relationship. The less you weigh the more the advantage. Would you say that allowing some rider to have a bike that weighed 25 - 40 lbs less than all of the others would still be irrelevant? I hardly think so. His weight advantage over Rossi and the other bigger racers sure hasn't hurt Stoner so far this year. I am a Stoner fan and definitely a Ducati fan (hell, I own a 998), so I am not putting him down for it...just stating a fact that most folks were not even considering in the discussion. | ||
| Rocketman |
I don't want to see Stoner, or anyone else for that matter, win the championship by having a distinct advantage. I want to see close racing, and a championship winner who had to work for his title proving that winning was well earned and well deserved. This season so far, there appears to be a suggestion that Rossi might just get the best opportunity yet to show how much better he his than everyone else. Stoner will be beaten by Rossi, and Rossi will win the title. Rocket | ||
| Trojan |
Stoner is obese compared to Capirossi, and they are riding the same bikes, so weight is not the deciding issue here. Ducati have struck lucky this year because everything has come together at the right time for them. Stoner's 250 style suits the GP7 Ducati much better than Capirossi does at the moment (Capirossi will have a new engine at the next round that will have different power characteristics to Stoner). AlthoughCapirossi is an ex-250 rider he admits himself that he has struggled to get back into the high corner speed style required to get the 800 flying. Bridgestone have got their tyres sorted much faster than Michelin this year, and their tyres suit the high corner speed of the 800 bikes better. Once again, 7 of the top ten finishers in China were on Bridgestone rubber. The Ducati also has a huge advantage in power and aerodynamics over the rest of the field at present. The others will catch up (although Honda seem to be really floundering), just as they caught up with Honda and Yamaha when they held the advantage. In the meantime Ducati & Stoner will continue to make hay while the sun shines on them. By mid season the others will undoubtedly be much closer in terms of tyre and engine performance, and the tracks won't suit the Ducati quite so well, but it will be an interesting fight  The one thing that makes me smile this year above everything else is that Honda were the ones who pushed hardest for the 800 ruling more than anyone else, and now that they have it they are not competitive I would think that heads will roll at HRC before too long. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Another thing that is really fanny, is that Hayden and Melandri rejected factory Ducati's offer. They said that they wanted to stay with Honda so that they can ride the best bike of the 800cc era. | ||
| Jimidan |
FYI: Loris Capirossi Team: Marlboro Ducati MotoGP Team Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP6 Born: April 4, 1973 in Castel San Pietro, Italy Lives: Monaco Marital status: married to Ingrid Height: 165 cm Weight: 59 kg Casey Stoner PERSONAL STATS Born: 16 October 1985 in Kurri-Kurri (Australia) Marital Status: Married with Adriana Height: 1.70 m Weight: 58 kg Obese, hardly! Stoner weighs less than Loris. But you are correct that weight is not an issue between those two riders. | ||
| Jimidan |
Another thing that is really fanny, is that Hayden and Melandri rejected factory Ducati's offer. They said that they wanted to stay with Honda so that they can ride the best bike of the 800cc era. Nicky explains his perspective in the latest RoadRacer X: "Yeah, the Ducati looked strong early in the season, and give Ducati credit--they showed their 800 before anyone else did, and the bike has been strong since the get-go. Give Stoner credit too--everybody's talking about his bike being fast, but I have seen him ride some slow bikes in his time and he's solid. Still, even if we've go some work to do on my bike, I'm happy where I'm at. When you get to the prom, you don't just blow your girl off and try and change up; you dance with the girl you brought. I might be a fair-weather fan on some things--Kentucky basketball, for example---but when it comes to my bike and my team, we're definitely in it together. You win races as a team and you lose races as a team." Spoken like a true 153 lb. champion, Nicky. jimidan | ||
| Trojan |
Team: Marlboro Ducati MotoGP Team Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP6 Born: April 4, 1973 in Castel San Pietro, Italy Lives: Monaco Marital status: married to Ingrid Height: 165 cm Weight: 59 kg Loris obviously lies about his height/weight as well as his age these days  He wouldn't measure 1.65m standing on a large box and wearing platform boots! | ||
| Buell2001b |
this is awsome 3 wins for DUCATI. 4 japanese bikes, yamaha, honda, kawasaki and susuki and their bikes get dusted by DUCATI. if anyone saw the the race you saw how in the straght away the ducati just left Rossi behind. Buell needs to seriously learn from DUCATI. go BUELL racing | ||
| Court |
>>>if anyone saw the the race you saw how in the straght away the ducati just left Rossi behind. I agree. . . when Stoner rounded the corner he was absolutely walking away from Rossi. Generally when you see something like that in racing (cough...cough XR-750) someone's cheating. I think it was simply that much more powerful. | ||
| Heads |
Trojan thats correct, loris definately is just over the 5 foot mark. funny they say these stats when i have seen totaly diff stats for him elsewhere that are correct. | ||
| Jaimec |
Honda is back: http://tinyurl.com/2kgnwv | ||
| 12r |
Stoner says his bike isn't that fast, Edwards says he's lying  The new tyre rule means that Michelin can't make Rossi's tyres on Saturday night and the weather forecast for Le Mans is 'changeable'. Should be a good race | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Le Man Qualifying was very interesting. Stoner prooved that he can make Ducati work at tight tracks with race and Q tires. For the first time Edwards managed to do better than Rossi with both race and Q tires. My prediction : 1. Stoner 2. Rossi 3. Hopkins | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
folks, if i may: there is some VERY cool MotoGP at Laguna Seca 2005 swag still up for grabs in the Matt Ware Benefit Auction. this auction ends Monday night 5/21 at 10 p.m. BadWeB (Eastern) time. here's the link to the thread (below). thx for looking, and for keeping Matt Ware and his family in your thoughts and prayers. FB http://www.badweatherbikers.com/cgibin/discus/show .cgi?tpc=4062&post=886820#POST886820 | ||
| Jaimec |
Dang! What the hell happened to Colin Edwards?? He had the pole position, and quickly dropped to LAST place! How the heck did that happen? Why does he do so well in qualifying, but generally falls apart during the race itself? He never used to be that way? He's even had a podium finish this year! Ideas? And boy! Does Michelin ever look to be behind the 8-ball this year, huh? Top three riders were ALL on Bridgestones at Michelin's HOME race! | ||
| 12r |
I think Colin is trying to wind up Lin Jarvis, and he is succeeding It was a fine ride from Vermin and Stoner, and another bad day for Michelin. | ||
| Trojan |
Michelin had yet another disastrous race weekend, and to add insult to injury it was their home race  Even their wet tyres are no match for Bridgestone this year. Another Bridgestone 1-2-3 won't be too popular back at head office. Rossi's body language summed it up for me at the end, and I was surprised he didn't throw his bike on the ground and storm off to his motorhome (I would have!). The current tyre rules are a joke, which is borne out by the sight of seeing Guintoli adn De Puniet fighting for the lead of a GP and Alex Hoffman overtaking Rossi. Exciting racing for the armchair spectators but not a true picture of ability or even the best bike. Having said that, well done Chris Vermuelen on a very mature and impressive ride. All he needs to do now is go faster in dry conditions and he's cracked it Anyone know what Colin Edwards problem was? Even changing bikes didn't make him any quicker and he was 10 seconds a lap slower at one point. He seems to have more bad luck than almost anyone else in the paddock, and I can't see him hanging on to his factory ride at the end of this year unless he can turn it around pretty quickly. | ||
| 12r |
Anyone know what Colin Edwards problem was? IIRC Steve Parrish said he'd gone in for wets right at the start, fried them and then pitted again. Colin didn't give much away at the post-race interview. | ||
| Trojan |
Edwards obviously had problems even before pitting for his spare bike. He managed to accelerate straight to the back of the field on lap one, struggled round for a lap or two and then came in to change bikes. Maybe he fried his clutch at the start, but I don't think he came in and changed specifically because of tyres the first time. Unfortuately he had no choice other than to go out on wet tyres because that is how his spare bike was set up, even though the track was at that time still dry. By the time the track got wet enough to justify wet tyres he had knackered his set, so came in again to swap them for a second time. Even after he got onto the right tyres for the conditions he was just cruising around at the back hoping to pick up any points that came his way. Unusually, I haven't seen any press releases from Yamaha or Colin yet to explain what went wrong, although Rossi has come out with some guarded negative comments regarding his michelins. | ||
| 12r |
Here's what Colin had to say about it: "We encountered some problems that I've run into before - in Australia last year when I crashed in the rain and at the Jerez test this year. It's hard to explain, but to me it feels like it's related to the engine braking - when we've got less traction from the tyres in the wet it just seems to appear. I think even yesterday's crash was down to something similar. Basically I try to put it into the corner but the rear comes round on me and it slides. Valentino and I have quite different styles - he holds the clutch in there a lot longer whilst I just kind of dump it and today it was a big problem for me. To be honest that wasn't really rain racing for me, it was more like ice racing and it was impossible. At the start it was at its worst because being on a slick tyre with a damp track just exacerbated the problem. I came in early because in the circumstances I thought I'd gamble and hope it was going to chuck it down with rain, but a few laps out there on rain tyres when it wasn't that wet wasn't fun either. I came back in again, thinking maybe the tyre was too hard, and we tried a softer rain tyre and that was better in the end. I'm really sorry to the team and to everyone involved; I don't like wasting my first pole and I had hoped for great things today." | ||
| Jaimec |
Post race comments from Fiat Yamaha Riders at the Soup: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2007/May/070520rw.h tm |
