Dovi has been pretty coy about his plans, can't see him ditching Ducati UNLESS they refuse to pay him as much/more than George. George knows that a paycut is coming going off an article I read a while back so maybe they'll go 50/50. You can bet your arse that Aprilia will be opening their cheque books trying to draw him in.
If the Ducati seat were to become free then they'd want a cheap alien (I'd bet Pedrosa would race for free if it gave him a title) or a young Italian, of which none are ready to grab a factory bike yet... KTM would throw some decent money at them and Pol has already hinted at how he would like Pedrosa as a team mate to learn off...
Depends on Honda, I don't see them ever shit canning Dani, he's their golden boy who's been with them a very long time and brought them major dominance in the smaller classes and regular title challenges in motogp. I think he NEEDS to leave Honda though else the title will never happen, if he's not got it on that bike after 10 or so years then its time to try another bike. Shame he never took the Yamaha seat I don't see his light arse having tyre wear issues.
Suzuki royally fucked up when they didn't keep Aleix, the guy regularly beat full motogp bikes on a CRT or open class POS and put in some solid results for them on the previous tyres in their first year. Mitchies didn't work for him at first so his results when Mav was kicking arse weren't quite as good, but without him Mav wouldn't have had a bike to win on, DUMB!
Rins will finish ahead of AI in the points this year, I wont be surprised to see him win one or two races as well. BRING IT! Always been a Rins fan guys kept his nose real clean coming forward and almost won a championship pretty much every year he's raced.
David Emmett posted overnight that in his opinion the next two riders to be elevated to MotoGP will be Oliveira and Binder.
He didn't say which teams.
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
So testing is done, the cold war is over and the heat of real battle is about to begin!
A lot of riders are looking good this year, but in the end I think MM is going to be too strong once again. My feeling is he has a better bike this year and will tone down his push until crashing in order to find the absolute limit near every practice session antics - but will still be devastating in the races.
MM - The man to beat, no question. Only injury can stop him IMO.
Dovi - with different bikes working at different times of the day at different tracks - consistency will be key - Step forward Mr consistently - consistently fast that is!
Lorenzo - Will likely win some races this year - could even be dark horse if things align. Watch out for him disappearing into the distance and staying there if he can get tyre management sorted this year. Still a prick and a arsehole imo lol
Pedrosa - Same old same old, probably will win one - should of gone to Yamaha, massive missed opportunity for him there.
Rossi - Lots of drive and enthusiasm, problem is, so do most of the other young bucks. Could well win a few, but more likely when the usual race leaders have bad luck.
Maverick - Had high hopes for this guy, but spends waaaaay to much time in his head - he beats himself imo, and not in a temporarily satisfying way.
Rins - Looking better and better, will consistently beat his team mate, may win one if others suffer misfortune. One to watch for the future.
Iannone - Now if Suzuki could organize a F1 car to head the race dangling pies, doughnuts with both muff n dick behind it - IA would be World champ! Nuff said.
Zarco - Many podiums, and surely win one or more - Yamaha not giving him a leg up and supplying a defacto factory bike - major fail, as they are beginning to do more and more. Prob would of kept tech 3 on board until VR46 team was ready too.
Crutchlow - Well Crashlow is Crashlow, never stays on the bike enough to mount a serious title challenge and I do not see this changing for 2018.
Miller - Watch out for him in wet races, could well podium in the dry races - do not see him winning unless 3 or so front runners fall.
Others - a lot of talent in the others department this year, some could really surprise - watch this space!
Bwadley Smith - should of been sent to WSBK years ago.
I'm currently living only a 9 hour drive from the Cota track, Texas. Hmmm, do I want to do the drive in order to watch a race with a pre-determined winner - MM?
Last edited by sugilite; 9th March 2018 at 08:23. Reason: opps, forgot lorenzo and crashlow
Nice summary, only factor you left out is Aleix Asparagrus, who's going to be up there dicing and making a nuisance of himself, podium for Aleix at PI I reckon, he'll smash his team mate week in week out though.
Redding's just too big for motogp, guys got the talent but he's at a major disadvantage always.
Yes you should go to COTA, even if it's just to rub it all in our faces that you're there and we aren't
Definitely. And I see on TV that there is some great barbecue to be had in Austin.
Is it that you guys don't like gingers? I know Cartman said gingers don't have a soul but...
Bradders is reputedly intelligent and articulate and is thus not too bad a choice as a development rider - apart from any questions about his experience. They like older riders to develop new bikes because the young guys are too busy trying to figure out how they can go faster to worry about making the bike go faster. The older guys know how fast they can go and can focus on making the bike go faster. Therein lies my slight concern about Smith as a development rider.
David Emmett is picking Moto2 to be good this year with five or so capable of winning the title and another similar sized group capable of giving them trouble. Emmett thinks the winner will be the one who makes the least mistakes.
Only a week to go, must check the SKY schedule.
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
I was impressed with Fenati last season, second half of last season.... Being sacked by God must be pretty sobering.
Quatararo must be close to drinking age now - looking forward to seeing him in moto 2.
and Brad Binder, finished the last few races last year really well. Might be putting a few bob on him, not the new fullas.
Manopausal.
My American fiance has a quaint saying that applies to Bwadley - "Shit or get off the pot!"
Yes, you are absolutely right, the Asparagrass could well give the top contenders their fair share of greens!
Now realizing I would be a complete mug to miss Austin - I'm in!
They got Kalio for testing. I have nothing against Gingers. His hair matches the bike! They have Kalio for development, so they should of given Bradders bike to a hungry young rider with big balls and skillz this year imo.
Have decided I will get some BBQ in Austin, While watching the race live! It will be my first live MotoGP experience - have read it is a good idea to take ear plugs!
Yo Blood! I was gonna ask what the fuck you were doing over there, but you've answered my question. Nice work and congrats mate!
You won't regret going to the GP mate, you'll wet your fucking pants! But most DEF take ear plugs!! Enjoy, I'm very jealous!
Motorsport have a video on Youtube, Mat Oxley and Freddie Spencer discuss the prospects for the 2018 season
Ok, there is over an hour of this, so if you have an issue with capped broadband there is also a Soundcloud version.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZhxjc071JA
There is a grey blur, and a green blur. I try to stay on the grey one. - Joey Dunlop
Oh boy!! Is it this weekend??
If you can make it on Kiwibiker you can make it anywhere.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Bookmarks