Rossi ditching Ducati for Honda

[tigertim20]

not confirmed,but interesting

http://www.twowheelsblog.com/post/6918/valentino-rossi-has-asked-for-a-gresini-honda-says-marco-melandri

[Crasherfromwayback]

He'd lose a shit load of credibility in my eyes if he did so.

[tigertim20]

some wouldsay he's already losing credibility on the duke as it is. the guy is used to winning, lately he's been spending alot of time mid-grid, hanging out with things like that fucking ugly suzuki that always does shit

[DrunkenMistake]

Shit,
He would run the field if he got off that fucking Duck.
Would be interesting seeing him on a Honda though, replace stoner.. :shutup:

[Mully]

some wouldsay he's already losing credibility on the duke as it is. the guy is used to winning, lately he's been spending alot of time mid-grid, hanging out with things like that fucking ugly suzuki that always does shit

Didn't he lose like a mutherfucker when he first went to Yamaha? Weren't Yamaha rubbish before he went there?

[quallman1234]

Didn't he lose like a mutherfucker when he first went to Yamaha? Weren't Yamaha rubbish before he went there?

Won his first race with yamaha. Perhaps its not the fact he's losing. More that ducati are too strongly committed to a prototype carbon chassis and not listening to his cries?

[Mully]

Won his first race with yamaha

Huh - look at that.

Must be confusing him with Schumacher - went to Ferrari as a champ and made them champs.

I'm blaming concussion from Monday and a shitty week

[tigertim20]

the duke probably has a lot of promise, but it seems to me that for the time being, its an inferior machine. All the talk and crap thats gone on lately 'rossi is over, his shoulder is fucked, the ducati is holding him back, his shoulder is slowing him down' etc makes me want to see him get onto a decent bike like stoner and lorenzo have, and see if he can still win, that way he will either shut the disbelievers up, or we will know one way or the other.

Also, I think stoner is a whining, bitchy cocksucking little motherfucker, and I would like to see his ugly fucking head explode when he's out at practice, and rossi flies past him on a HONDA. the whining little prick would shit himself worrying about losing his job/losing possibly the best bike on the grid

[DEATH_INC.]

Weren't Yamaha rubbish before he went there?
Na, Biaggi beat Fagboy on the H*nda on it, can't have been that bad. The duc is the first time he hasn't been on a real top brand. Funny he ain't winning.

[DEATH_INC.]

Also, I think stoner is a whining, bitchy cocksucking little motherfucker, and I would like to see his ugly fucking head explode when he's out at practice, and rossi flies past him on a HONDA. the whining little prick would shit himself worrying about losing his job/losing possibly the best bike on the grid
The whining little cocksucker won on the Duc tho....

[onearmedbandit]

Stoner proved that the Duc was capable of winning, in the right hands, namely his. No one else has had the same level of success on them. However others have had excellent results on the two big brands, Honda and Yamaha. To me this suggests Stoner is a bit of a freak, able to take the Ducati and make it work, something no one else has been able to do. And that makes him pretty special.

But lets see how many MotoGP championships he wins on the Honda first. Especially if Rossi was to hop back on a similar bike. Now that would make for some interesting racing...

[AllanB]

I read a interesting article recently about Ducati and their carbon frame - supposed that they would not dump it as they are basing a road legal hyper bike on it and if they trash it in Moto why would you want the road bike!

[MIXONE]

Tall poppy syndrome anyone?
Rossi is the goat and always will be.

[Deano]

He's only the goat until someone better comes along. Never say never.

Personally I think Rossi might struggle to keep up with the Stoner nowadays, on equal machinery.

[slowpoke]

Stoner proved that the Duc was capable of winning, in the right hands, namely his. No one else has had the same level of success on them. However others have had excellent results on the two big brands, Honda and Yamaha. To me this suggests Stoner is a bit of a freak, able to take the Ducati and make it work, something no one else has been able to do. And that makes him pretty special.

But lets see how many MotoGP championships he wins on the Honda first. Especially if Rossi was to hop back on a similar bike. Now that would make for some interesting racing...

Don't forget Stoner inherited a Ducati that was obviously a decent weapon, with Capirossi winning and even Bayliss cleaning up in a one off ride (seems even more incredible looking back now). That suggests it was fairly rider friendly. But from that point on it's changed lil' bit by lil' bit into something obviously.....different. Stoner's advantage has been that he is the only guy who had the luxury of gradually adjusting to every lil' step along the way rather having to make one huge readjustment like every other rider who's attempted it.

It's exactly like suspension tuning: if you incrementally changed things over the course of a day the rider could/would adapt, possibly without even realising it. (I guarantee a few race chiefs have done exactly this) Make a large change in one hit though and it's a different story.

[Brett]

I think that this backs up the results...that Ducati have fundamental engineering issues with their machines and Rossi doesn't see a foreseeable future where they can sort this out. yes, Stoner had some wins on the Duc, that is only because he is a phenomenal rider, not because the Ducati was suddenly a great bike.
Love or hate Rossi, he is not a mid to tail end of the pack racer. He is a top 5 racer on any given day on a decent bike. He is getting on in the years now and if I was him I would also be looking to swap teams so that my last few seasons could be good ones.

[BMWST?]

I think that this backs up the results...that Ducati have fundamental engineering issues with their machines and Rossi doesn't see a foreseeable future where they can sort this out. yes, Stoner had some wins on the Duc, that is only because he is a phenomenal rider, not because the Ducati was suddenly a great bike.
Love or hate Rossi, he is not a mid to tail end of the pack racer. He is a top 5 racer on any given day on a decent bike. He is getting on in the years now and if I was him I would also be looking to swap teams so that my last few seasons could be good ones.

i think you are right on every count,but i think he will stay at Ducati until they get the bike to work.It will be a disaster for Rossi,Burgess and Ducati if they cant make the bike at least able to battle for the lead.

[White trash]

Tall poppy syndrome anyone?
Rossi is the goat and always will be.



He's only the goat until someone better comes along. Never say never

Listen you two retards, Rossi is not the GOAT. Some fucken unimaginative commentator or reporter stole the nickname from it's rightful owner RICKY CARMICHAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Deano]

Listen you two retards, Rossi is not the GOAT. Some fucken unimaginative commentator or reporter stole the nickname from it's rightful owner RICKY CARMICHAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your retarded for comparing apples and oranges. What has Ricky achieved on the asphalt ? In any case, I still think Mick is the Man.

[Deano]

Listen you two retards, Rossi is not the GOAT. Some fucken unimaginative commentator or reporter stole the nickname from it's rightful owner RICKY CARMICHAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IIRC, Colin Edwards referred to Rossi as the GOAT in Faster 2.

[White trash]

Your retarded for comparing apples and oranges. What has Ricky achieved on the asphalt ? In any case, I still think Mick is the Man.

You miss my point. The GOAT was coined for Ricky Carmichael years before the asphalt poofters even thought of calling Rossi it.

[Deano]

You miss my point. The GOAT was coined for Ricky Carmichael years before the asphalt poofters even thought of calling Rossi it.

The term was probably coined well before that for someone somewhere not even associated with bike racing. :blink:

[Latte]

You miss my point. The GOAT was coined for Ricky Carmichael years before the asphalt poofters even thought of calling Rossi it.

+1 , it's like calling someone from MX the doctor, or the texas tornado.

[Dodgyiti]

Stoner proved that the Duc was capable of winning, in the right hands, namely his. No one else has had the same level of success on them.

Exactly. At the end of last season Stoner had a race winning, pole setting bike. Enter Rossi and suddenly the Ducati is shit:weird:

The entire season of Rossi on the Ducati has been very discouraging. Rossi got on the Yamaha and made it win, why can't he get on the Ducati and do the same when it was winning to begin with... could he not be such a great rider as we would imagine?
Could this also say something for Casey Stoner's skills?
No one has had the success he has on the Ducati, and Nicky Hayden is no slouch- and he can not get a podium unless a few guys crash out and he has been on that bike for years now.
Then Casey jumps straight on the Honda and wins races against Pedrosa (in full health) and Dovi who have both been on that bike for a few years.
As for a switch to Honda, if you have been following the financial crisis in Italy, you would steer clear of any Italian companies right now...

[Kiwi Graham]

The term was probably coined well before that for someone somewhere not even associated with bike racing. :blink:

Yep, first time I heard the term was associated with Mohammed Ali :yes:

[Crasherfromwayback]

Exactly. At the end of last season Stoner had a race winning, pole setting bike. Enter Rossi and suddenly the Ducati is shit:weird:

The entire season of Rossi on the Ducati has been very discouraging. Rossi got on the Yamaha and made it win, why can't he get on the Ducati and do the same when it was winning to begin with... could he not be such a great rider as we would imagine?
Could this also say something for Casey Stoner's skills?
No one has had the success he has on the Ducati, and Nicky Hayden is no slouch- and he can not get a podium unless a few guys crash out and he has been on that bike for years now.
Then Casey jumps straight on the Honda and wins races against Pedrosa (in full health) and Dovi who have both been on that bike for a few years.
As for a switch to Honda, if you have been following the financial crisis in Italy, you would steer clear of any Italian companies right now...

Rossi can do no wrong...even if he whimps out and jumps ship. Hell, he did it with Michelin tyres a few years ago. It's like the silly old joke. How many gears did a 2nd world war Italian tank have? 5. I forward and four reverse.

[Mental Trousers]

As for a switch to Honda, if you have been following the financial crisis in Italy, you would steer clear of any Italian companies right now...

With Rossi at Ducati they have a good chance to do well through the current Italian financial problems. Without him, Ducati is dead. Italians are all about soul and emotion etc and if he leaves the Italian public would go suicidal. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if the Italian Government stepped in to ensure he stays with Ducati. This sort of shit is that important to Italians.

[Crasherfromwayback]

With Rossi at Ducati they have a good chance to do well through the current Italian financial problems. Without him, Ducati is dead. Italians are all about soul and emotion etc and if he leaves the Italian public would go suicidal. Hell, it wouldn't surprise me if the Italian Government stepped in to ensure he stays with Ducati. This sort of shit is that important to Italians.

He'd risk being shot if he left them!

[Mental Trousers]

He'd risk being shot if he left them!

Tavullia and it's surrounding district would burn if he abandoned Italy (Ducati epitomizes Italy in the minds of the Italians).

[Crasherfromwayback]

Tavullia and it's surrounding district would burn if he abandoned Italy (Ducati epitomizes Italy in the minds of the Italians).

Yeah I hope he doesn't. I'd genuinely love to see him get the Ducati up front, where he and it belong.

[MIXONE]

Listen you two retards, Rossi is not the GOAT. Some fucken unimaginative commentator or reporter stole the nickname from it's rightful owner RICKY CARMICHAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not a RETARD.My mum says I'm special.

[Crasherfromwayback]

Also, I think stoner is a whining, bitchy cocksucking little motherfucker, and I would like to see his ugly fucking head explode when he's out at practice, and rossi flies past him on a HONDA. the whining little prick would shit himself worrying about losing his job/losing possibly the best bike on the grid

Whoa. Jealous much?

[tigertim20]

Whoa. Jealous much?

nope, Just cant fucking stand the guy

[Crasherfromwayback]

nope, Just cant fucking stand the guy

Met him on a personal level a few times have you?

[Swoop]

:rofl::rofl:

Fucking honda fags.

[DEATH_INC.]

:rofl::rofl:

Fucking honda fags.
But the fag is on a Ducati244115

[RobGassit]

Listen you two retards, Rossi is not the GOAT. Some fucken unimaginative commentator or reporter stole the nickname from it's rightful owner RICKY CARMICHAEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Two words,,Jeremy McGrath:woohoo:

[DEATH_INC.]

According to google 'the goat' is Earl Manigault, some basketball player or something...

[Dodgy_Matt]

Two words,,Jeremy McGrath:woohoo:
In the day he was the ploops...
But Ricky Kicked ass and won more than Jeremy ever did :crybaby:

[Swoop]

But the fag is on a Ducati244115
Precisely. Which makes it doubly funny! :rofl:

[slowpoke]

You miss my point. The GOAT was coined for Ricky Carmichael years before the asphalt poofters even thought of calling Rossi it.

My eyes aren't what they used to be in my twilight years...can someone see one of those wee copyright thingo's next to the term that I can't?

Jaysus, next thing ya know someone will register "Radler" and fuck up the beer market.....

[tigertim20]

Met him on a personal level a few times have you?

nope. and no desire to. now get back under your bridge troll!

[jasonu]

Two words,,Jeremy McGrath:woohoo:

Wrong. MC or Showtime is known as 'The King'.

[Crasherfromwayback]

nope. and no desire to. now get back under your bridge troll!

Actually...it was a serious question. Seems really weird to me that someone would have so much hate for one of the best racers we've been lucky enough to see without some sort of reason. If he's arse raped your girlfriend/wife/dog, maybe I'd understand.

Only reason I can see without that though...is you're hating his ability to ride/race motorcycles, his 12 odd million Euro a year, his wife...or your life.

Get one.

[Metastable]

Melandri must finally be laughing his @$$ off. Looks like he is having fun... although he did just found out he's out of a ride with Yamaha for next year.

Stoner does sound like a whinny biatch, but I do like seeing him give it to Pedro and some of the other spoon fed euro Dora golden boys.

[tigertim20]

Actually...it was a serious question. Seems really weird to me that someone would have so much hate for one of the best racers we've been lucky enough to see without some sort of reason. If he's arse raped your girlfriend/wife/dog, maybe I'd understand.

Only reason I can see without that though...is you're hating his ability to ride/race motorcycles, his 12 odd million Euro a year, his wife...or your life.

Get one.

wrong on all counts!! :facepalm:
By that theory, Id have to hate Lorenzo, and Rossi, Doohan, Schwantz and Rainey as well!:shit:
Its seems you Have been mistaken into thinking that your opinion means a fuck to me on the matter, - it doesnt!! so dont worry your pretty little head!:violin:

Most fans of any sport will have their favourites, and the ones they don't like for whatever reason. Get over it!!!!:yes:

[Crasherfromwayback]

Most fans of any sport will have their favourites, and the ones they don't like for whatever reason. Get over it!!!!:yes:

I certainly do. But I don't 'hate' my least faves and wish them dead as you do. Might be you that needs to get over things. Your raving jealousy for starters.

[tigertim20]

:yes:
Melandri must finally be laughing his @$$ off. Looks like he is having fun... although he did just found out he's out of a ride with Yamaha for next year.

Stoner does sound like a whinny biatch, but I do like seeing him give it to Pedro and some of the other spoon fed euro Dora golden boys.
true, with the results the guy is acheiving, and he still whines like a little girl!

I certainly do. But I don't 'hate' my least faves and wish them dead as you do. Might be you that needs to get over things. Your raving jealousy for starters.

hmm, funny, dont remember wishing him dead, you stopped taking those alzheimers meds again?
Take off your panties and cheerleaders uniform and accept that someone else dared have a different opinion than you. Its done, MOVE ON MAN!!!:yes:

[Crasherfromwayback]

Also, I think stoner is a whining, bitchy cocksucking little motherfucker, and I would like to see his ugly fucking head explode when he's out at practice,


:yes:

hmm, funny, dont remember wishing him dead, you stopped taking those alzheimers meds again?
:

I reckon he'd die if his head exploded!

[quallman1234]

Interesting read.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/MotoGP/2011/August/aug0511-valentino-rossi-didnt-underestimate-ducati-challenge/

[Banditbandit]

In his autobiography Rossi makes a big thing out of how important the rider is - he says he left Honda because they valued the bike and not the rider - Honda beleived that anyone could win on the Honda because it was the best bike in the field

Rossi wanted to prove that the rider was important - and he claims he did that at Yamaha ... in many ways he did.

If he walks away from Ducati now it kinda contradicts all he says in his autobiography .. especially if he goes back to Honda ..

[Metastable]

If he walks away from Ducati now it kinda contradicts all he says in his autobiography .. especially if he goes back to Honda ..

My thoughts exactly. If he went back to Yamaha..... then it wouldn't appear as bad, but if he went back to Honda.... ouch... it would discredit his book. I wonder why he wouldn't go race rally cars instead.

[Crasherfromwayback]

If he walks away from Ducati now it kinda contradicts all he says in his autobiography .. especially if he goes back to Honda ..

Agreed. I think it'd be a horrible way to end such a stellar legacy. Crawling back to Honda with your tail between your legs. Stay on at Ducati...come back next year when it's a thou...and give the fans and Ducati what they want. An Italian winning on an Italian bike in GP. Think we'd ALL like to see that.

[Metastable]

Has it become THIS BAD? :shit:
http://ww4.sinaimg.cn/bmiddle/67c00720tw1djmw9ejr20g.gif