| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa are STILL "aliens." Marquez?? He's something altogether new... "Super Alien??" No, Marquez is the 'Predator'! | ||
| Jaimec |
 I'd agree but for one thing: He really ISN'T one ugly motherf... | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
I wouldn't call Marquez's first two seasons easy. he crashed at 200mph Crashing at 200mph only served to make him appear invincible as well as unbeatable, such has been the luck of the young man. Rocket in England | ||
| Jaimec |
Last year it was apparent Cal Crutchlow was more interested in racing for the money than in racing for the points. Is he having a change of heart? http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2014/Jul/14070135to suzuki.htm | ||
| Simond |
The suggestion last weekend was that the deal (with Suzuki) has already been done. I can't see what Honda have to gain by dropping Pedrosa and signing Crutchlow........ unless, of course, it is really Pedrosa that has the deal with Suzuki and not Cal. | ||
| Gaesati |
And Andrea Dovizioso keeps on going fast on the utterly unmanageable Ducati. It is a tribute to Nicky Hayden that he performed as well as he did on it. Meanwhile Crutchlow seems to be having a similar year to that which Ben Spies had on the factory Yamaha that kept falling to bits under him. I would have thought that Dovizioso would be the rider most likely to go to Suzuki if the machine tests out alright. | ||
| Simond |
I think Dovi would be well advised to stay where he is. I'm sure Dall'Igna would want to keep him and I doubt that the Suzuki will be any better next year. Although Cal's had a lot of bad luck this year, his pace when the bike is working cannot match Dovi and Iannone. His press statements are carefully worded to (badly) disguise a poor relationship with the team. I can't see him staying at Ducati next year but I suspect that that would be his best option. | ||
| Trojan |
Last year it was apparent Cal Crutchlow was more interested in racing for the money than in racing for the points. I think the money was good but not the main reason for changing teams. Cal knew that he would be on yet another customer bike for the forseeable future if he stayed at Yamaha, as there is no way they would be getting rid of Lorenzo or Rossi to make way for him. In fact he had to start looking for a new team simply because Tech 3 already had two riders signed up for 2014 before Cal had a chance to negotiate a contract. Pol was signed by Yamaha and bradley was on a 2 year deal, leaving Cal no choice but to look elsewhere. Initially he was favourite to steal Bradls ride at LCR until Bradl suddenly got competitive at Laguna, which meant only Ducati was an option (albiet a risky one). Cal knew he was going to struggle this year, so would be much better served keeping his mouth closed and just soldiering on, but that isn't his style. I think he has alienated the team and a lot of fans this year so find it unlikely that he will remain in red for next year. Hopefully he will ride for Suzuki and it will be competitive, otherwise he'll be moaning again pretty soon  Dovi is favourite son at Ducati this year and has outperformed Hayden's results already on what is still a dog of a bike. Likewise Iannone has shown that when he gets a good bike he is fast, so hopefully we'll see both of them at Ducati next year. Scott Redding was initially told he woudl inherit Bautista's bike next year, but even that is now in doubt apparently. gresini have now said that no decision has been made, which must make Scott a bit pissed off to say the least. he has more podiums than either of the Espagaro brothers yet ends up on a customer Honda for a year with no guarantee of a better ride | ||
| Gaesati |
Scott is a talented rider who deserves a proper MotoGp bike. Unfortunately, his career has been blighted so far by his size and the bad luck he had at Phillip Island last year. | ||
| Trojan |
Unfortunately, his career has been blighted so far by his size and the bad luck he had at Phillip Island last year. And his passport. Maybe he should rename himself Scotto Reddingo and start speaking Spanish instead. he must wonder what he has to do to get a decent ride when he sees people he regularly beat (Bradley Smith, Pol Espagaro, Aleix Espagaro, Andrea Iannone etc) get factory supported bikes | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Perhaps it's time there were more factory rides / bikes on the grid. It's not like the sport can't afford it. More factory riders should make for more competition, which in turn should bring in bigger profits. Rocket in England | ||
| Trojan |
Perhaps it's time there were more factory rides / bikes on the grid. It's not like the sport can't afford it. The problem is that Honda/Yamaha/Ducati don't want to pay millions to theri top riders and then have some upstart beat them on equal equipment, so they plead poverty adn say that they can only supply 4 factory bikes each, and have the rules written to reflect that. Now that Honda and Yamaha have pretty much fixed their rider lineups for the next 2 years + any other riders wanting a decent bike will be very unlucky. The choice between Suzuki and Ducati is Hobsons choice really as neither are going to win races before 2016. Much as I love Rossi he and some other older riders are holding up the rider market by staying for 2 more years, so we may see exception talent go by the wayside because there are just no rides for them, as happened a few years ago at the end of the 2 stroke era. The only answer is to have more factoyr bikes or slow down the factory bikes so that the 'privateers' are more competitive. | ||
| Jaimec |
Other than Marquez, NONE of the new riders can hold a candle to Rossi... so why should he step aside?? | ||
| Gaesati |
Espargaro the younger and Scott Redding were good enough to compete on near equal terms wit Marquez given equal machinery in moto2. | ||
| Jaimec |
Scott has an excuse... but the Tech3 Yamaha is NOT that much different than the factory bike, and Pol has Guy Coulon in his corner as well. He should be at LEAST a podium threat, as Andrea Dovizioso, Cal Crutchlow, and Ben Spies were ahead of him. | ||
| Trojan |
Other than Marquez, NONE of the new riders can hold a candle to Rossi... so why should he step aside?? So long as he is competitive he shouldn't of course. However there is a danger that Yamaha may keep him on for longer because he is a great ambassador for the sport and the brand. Whether he would be happy to continue riding around in 15th place is another matter of course. Outside of Rossi there are other riders in MotoGp who really haven't delivered and should be replaced. Bradl & Bautista are both on factory spec Hondas yet hardly ever trouble the top 5 let alone the top 3. Bautista has been rumoured to be out on his ear more than once but somehow manages to hold onto his ride. Bradl is supposed to be out of favour at HRC yet his team want to keep him for reason (sponsorship probably). With limited slots available in MotoGP there is a bottleneck for young riders coming up who probably could challenge Marquez but can't get a ride. Where can Esteve rabat find a decent ride for next year? His name isn't even being mentioned in contract rumours amongst the top teams yet he is pretty certain to win the Moto2 crown this year. Honda won't supply any more customer RCV1000's than they do now and Yamaha won't /can't supply any more M1's, so where do they go? The only answer is more grid slots and more factory bikes, but I don't see that happening. maybe they need to have a rule that disqualifies riders who don't score a certain number of points in a season (on a sliding scale so factory riders would need to score more than privateers to keep their place) so that at least there is some movement in the rider market. | ||
| Crusty |
They should set Muslin Extremists (they're cut from a different cloth!) up with long barrel rifles along the course and let them take pot shots at the riders. That will eliminate a few and the rising stars could take their rides. Maybe even one of them could take out the little rat weasel! | ||
| Pwnzor |
Was that supposed to be funny? | ||
| Crusty |
Yes, it was. | ||
| Jaimec |
Bautista, of course, has the correct passport. Bradl, on the other hand... | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
So it really does come down to Motor GP needing more works rides. If it is all about (big) money, or a lack of willingness to use it, does this mean MotoGP is a diminished series Matt, and if so is there not an argument for the teams be made to field more factory rides to fill the grid more? Spend money then! Rocket in England | ||
| Gaesati |
How many Manx nortons or Yamaha td's, tr's were produced during the early '60's ? How could small factories afford to do it back then? How can modern bikes be dumbed down to make it possible these days? | ||
| Trojan |
does this mean MotoGP is a diminished series Matt, I can see that the organisers don't want to have too many bikes on teh gris, and to try and keep the top class 'exclusive'. Howevr they run the risk now of not being able to accomodate all the good teams that want to enter. Suzuki has already been told that there will not be 'extra' slots for them so they will have to take someone elses grid slot. if Marc VDS, Pons and other top Moto2 teasm fancy moving up they simply can't get a slot now, regardless of talent or how good their bike is. I think they should increase the slots available but make sure that the bikes are at least competitive before giving them an entry. Avinita, Cardion and PBM should go in my view to make way for Marc VDS, Pons and Suzuki. How many Manx nortons or Yamaha td's, tr's were produced during the early '60's ? if only things were so simple now Go to your dealer, order an RG500/TZ500 etc, load your van and go GP racing  I don't think we will ever see such days again sadly, and the days of true privateer winners are long gone (Jon Ekerold was the last true privateer world champion). Unfortunatley the reality was that even though the majority raced 'over the counter' bikes the factory boys still dominated. Agostini won somehting like 20 races in a row in 1971/72 and would have had more but missed races becaue he didn't like the Ulster track and didn't need to score any more points! At Spa he lapped every rider including 2nd place Factories could make competitive race bikes available back then becaue they were cheap to build and much more related to the road bikes of the time. Maybe GP bosses should limit bikes to twin cylinders, carb fuelling and no electronics, or maybe adapt the Supertwin rules used on the IOM and Irish race series for GP racing in place of Moto2 Go to your dealer, order a Kawasaki ER6, load your van and go GP racing | ||
| Gaesati |
The best racing seems to come from motorcycles which embody racing principles but are closer to stock. E.g. WSS . | ||
| Rocket_in_uk |
Birdy always struck me as a bloke that gets the job done though Matt. Do you think he's bit off a bit more than he can chew with Moto GP? Maybe running in BSB and rallying interests spreads PBM a little thin. Begs the question, can PBM succeed as a privateer team in Moto GP or is Birdy on a stepping stone towards running a factory team. Suzuki perchance? Rocket in England | ||
| Jaimec |
I hope they never "dumb down" MotoGP. It should always represent the ultimate motorcycles with the best riders in the world. On the flip side, I can see the need for cost restraints, or you'd end up with just Honda (and their seemingly bottomless R&D budget) on the grid and nobody else. It's a fine balancing act for sure. (Message edited by jaimec on July 05, 2014) | ||
| Pwnzor |
I have very little time in my life to devote to anything other than my family. That being said, if I'm going to watch motorcycle racing, I want to see the fastest bikes with the best riders. I'm with Jamie on that count. As for there being all Hondas on the grid, I wouldn't mind seeing everybody racing the same bike, as long as it's the fastest bike around. | ||
| Jaimec |
Aleix is apparently still tearing up the practice sessions. I wish he could convert that speed into podiums. | ||
| Trojan |
Aleix is apparently still tearing up the practice sessions. I If you look in detail he only sets a fast time right at the end of the session on the softest tyres available. The rest of the session it was Marquez and Lorenzo doing the running. It makes for good headlines for Forward/Espagaro, but maybe they should spend the practice sessions finding a race setup that will last rather than one lap wonders? The track is one of the slowest of the year so maybe we will see some odd podium contenders, although I wouldn't bet against the usual suspect for the win. | ||
| Pwnzor |
Marquez had a big high side crash in FP1 yesterday, but it didn't stop him from coming out in front in FP3 this morning. |
