MotoGP 2013

**Crasherfromwayback** · 30th November 2012, 21:36

Originally Posted by Tony.OK

Yup.......I wanted to see Redding on a MotoGP bike, maybe not the best season either for him but clearly more talented than Smith, a fair bit heavier too which was a disadvantage on the 600's. Be fast on a big bike once the red mist is controlled.

Originally Posted by tail_end_charlie

Isn't that exactly what Smitty is talking about? All those guys who are better than him are cheaters......................how can he have a equal footing to them?!?!

Originally Posted by tail_end_charlie

Ditto to that. IMHO Redding was doing much better, and running more consistently than Smitty ever did.

Perhaps they just feel sorry for the cunt seeing as he's a carrot top.

**tail_end_charlie** · 30th November 2012, 22:55

Originally Posted by Crasherfromwayback

Perhaps they just feel sorry for the cunt seeing as he's a carrot top.

Carrot's top is green............

**DidJit** · 4th December 2012, 08:38

Two races at Sepang?

**DidJit** · 5th December 2012, 07:24

PBM announce 2013 line-up: Laverty and Hernandez.

**Mental Trousers** · 5th December 2012, 08:01

I was hoping they'd put Shakey on the Aprillia but there's nothing wrong with having Michael Laverty there.

**DidJit** · 5th December 2012, 08:07

Shakey said, “Fuck that — I wanna be on the podium!” (or something to that effect.)

He’s staying with PBM in BSB where he knows he can still get up there. The interview is interesting in that Michael admits his closest buddies were split 50/50 as to whether it was a good opportunity or not. Still, when opportunity knocks...

**Mental Trousers** · 5th December 2012, 09:47

heh, yeah. Staying put wasn't a bad move for Shakey. He's getting too old to get a really good ride in MotoGP these days but he gets the best gear in BSB.

For a young guy I reckon you'd have to be mad not to take a ride like that, even if it is CRT. Doesn't matter which competition it is, to get the best rides you have to get any ride first and impress people with what you're given. Petrucci had an engine that sucked compared to the NZ Superbike guys but he really impressed people and now he's been offered the Ducati Test Rider job. Not quite what he was after I'd say but a definite step in the right direction.

**tail_end_charlie** · 7th December 2012, 09:10

Didn't really know if I should post this in the MotoGP 2013 thread or the WSBK 2013 thread, as it relates to both.

Granted, making a comparison between races at the same track on different days includes a bit of error, but still, we are only talking about 1-2 seconds of error most likely. Still, it makes for an interesting quote:

"Come to think of it, I guess the people who build MotoGP bikes are frustrated by these equations, too. I mean, if you set the value of a factory prototype at a conservative $2,000,000, you must wonder what gives when you realize that your last $1,975,000 only bought you 10 seconds a lap."

Now that 10 seconds he is refering to is at the Aragon track, the other three tracks that MotoGP and WSBK both race at the difference is more like 3 seconds.The large difference at the Aragon track is evidently due to the different track lengths that MotoGP use compared to WSBK, though I haven't confirmed this via any other sources. And if you make the argument that WSBK are more prototype than production bike, then take a look at the SuperStock times. Aragon was the only place that the fastest pole sitter in Superstock wouldn't qualify within the 107% of MotoGP. The best example of this is at Misano:

"In fact, at Misano, the polesitter Eddie La Marra qualified faster on his nearly stock Ducati Panigale than David Salom went on the Avintia Blusens’ team’s CRT bike."

I guess overall I would have to agree with the author; these comparisons say more about the quality state of production bikes than the failure of the prototype superiority.

**Mental Trousers** · 7th December 2012, 09:58

What everyone fails to take into account everytime this comes up is that going faster means diminishing returns for higher expenditure.

Often the last 5% of performance consumes 95% of the budget.

It isn't that difficult to get a production bike to within a few seconds of a prototype, but to get a production bike to shave those last few seconds costs an extraordinary amount of money.

The problem at the moment is faster = more money but more money = fewer teams. So Dorna are trying to make it cheaper but still keep the MotoGP bikes faster than the production bikes.

**denill** · 7th December 2012, 10:17

Originally Posted by Mental Trousers

What everyone fails to take into account everytime this comes up is that going faster means diminishing returns for higher expenditure.

Often the last 5% of performance consumes 95% of the budget.

It isn't that difficult to get a production bike to within a few seconds of a prototype, but to get a production bike to shave those last few seconds costs an extraordinary amount of money.

The problem at the moment is faster = more money but more money = fewer teams. So Dorna are trying to make it cheaper but still keep the MotoGP bikes faster than the production bikes.

Faster has always equaled - more money. (For that matter, in all forms of motor sport!)

**DidJit** · 11th December 2012, 11:19

Suzuki ‘in talks’ to return to MotoGP in 2014...

Wasn’t that always the plan?

**Mental Trousers** · 11th December 2012, 11:36

Suzuki only wanted to commit to a single year, whereas Dorna were wanting them to commit for 3 years. But 2014 was the year they were aiming to return.