MotoGP 2014

**Shaun Harris** · 28th February 2014, 07:25

Originally Posted by Moto-Dynamix

Ducati gotta go OPEN class route and if they do, they will be back on the podium again I reckon well before the season is over. 2015 is going to be like watching Moto2 or 3 in the motogp class again, way cool

Dovi strated testing open spec yesterday after I posted this

Who wants lotto winning numbers then haha

**tail_end_charlie** · 28th February 2014, 08:41

Originally Posted by pritch

Honda have said he will not be at Phillip Island. He has said he intends to take a year off all motorsport, no testing, but then he was challenging some top V8 drivers to a kart race a week or two back.

Guess we will know the truth in October?

Bugger, hadn't heard anything official yet. I know that CS is his own person and can do more or less what he wants, but damned if I don't want to see the little shit out there tearing up PI again and showing them how to ride Stoner corner.....

**pritch** · 28th February 2014, 08:59

The Yamaha factory bikes can't handle the new stiffer Bridgstones designed to handle the extra heat. Rossi is having difficulty but not as much as Lorenzo. Lorenzo refused to take part in the press conference yesterday saying he had nothing to add to what he had said the day before. Lorenzo was already having difficulty with the new fuel saving electronics which make the engine response to throttle adjustments more abrupt.

I guess this is the sort of thing that happens when you have a single supplier. Yamaha have told Bridgestone the tyres are not suitable. Bridgstone aren't prepared to change anything. If there was another supplier there would be more pressure on Bridgestone to listen to complaints.

Pos Rider Team Fastest lap Lead. Gap Prev. Gap Laps Last lap
1 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team 2:00.039 55 / 57
2 ESPARGARO, Aleix NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:00.320 0.281 0.281 39 / 41
3 BAUTISTA, Alvaro GO&FUN Honda Gresini 2:00.500 0.461 0.180 52 / 55
4 ROSSI, Valentino Yamaha Factory Racing 2:00.605 0.566 0.105 9 / 60
5 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team 2:00.787 0.748 0.182 8 / 48
6 BRADL, Stefan LCR Honda MotoGP 2:00.902 0.863 0.115 4 / 52
7 CRUTCHLOW, Cal Ducati Team 2:00.952 0.913 0.050 50 / 52
8 ESPARGARO, Pol Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.027 0.988 0.075 12 / 47
9 LORENZO, Jorge Yamaha Factory Racing 2:01.049 1.010 0.022 30 / 57
10 SMITH, Bradley Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2:01.098 1.059 0.049 57 / 60
11 IANNONE, Andrea Pramac Racing 2:01.173 1.134 0.075 23 / 49
12 HERNANDEZ, Yonny Energy T.I. Pramac Racing 2:01.658 1.619 0.485 7 / 50
13 EDWARDS, Colin NGM Mobile Forward Racing 2:01.996 1.957 0.338 25 / 45
14 HAYDEN, Nicky Drive M7 Aspar 2:02.088 2.049 0.092 55 / 59
15 DE PUNIET, Randy Team Suzuki MotoGP 2:02.139 2.100 0.051 59 / 60
16 BARBERA, Hector Avintia Racing 2:02.149 2.110 0.010 43 / 45
17 REDDING, Scott GO&FUN Honda Gresini 2:02.652 2.613 0.503 38 / 54
18 AOYAMA, Hiroshi Drive M7 Aspar 2:02.786 2.747 0.134 70 / 72
19 PIRRO, Michele Ducati Test Team 2:02.799 2.760 0.013 25 / 45
20 NAKASUGA, Katsuyuki Yamaha Factory Test Team 2:02.802 2.763 0.003 47 / 48
21 DI MEGLIO, Mike Avintia Racing 2:03.946 3.907 1.144 50 / 51
22 ABRAHAM, Karel Cardion AB Motoracing 2:05.198 5.159 1.252 4 / 25
23 AOKI, Nobuatsu Team Suzuki MotoGP 2:07.462 7.423 2.264 19 / 20

**Crasherfromwayback** · 28th February 2014, 09:36

Originally Posted by pritch

The Yamaha factory bikes can't handle the new stiffer Bridgstones designed to handle the extra heat. Rossi is having difficulty but not as much as Lorenzo. Lorenzo refused to take part in the press conference yesterday saying he had nothing to add to what he had said the day before. Lorenzo was already having difficulty with the new fuel saving electronics which make the engine response to throttle adjustments more abrupt.

I guess this is the sort of thing that happens when you have a single supplier. Yamaha have told Bridgestone the tyres are not suitable. Bridgstone aren't prepared to change anything. If there was another supplier there would be more pressure on Bridgestone to listen to complaints.

Swings and roundabouts. The other year it was the top two Honda guys having trouble with the then new tyre.

**tail_end_charlie** · 28th February 2014, 10:06

Originally Posted by pritch

The Yamaha factory bikes can't handle the new stiffer Bridgstones designed to handle the extra heat. Rossi is having difficulty but not as much as Lorenzo. Lorenzo refused to take part in the press conference yesterday saying he had nothing to add to what he had said the day before. Lorenzo was already having difficulty with the new fuel saving electronics which make the engine response to throttle adjustments more abrupt.

I guess this is the sort of thing that happens when you have a single supplier. Yamaha have told Bridgestone the tyres are not suitable. Bridgstone aren't prepared to change anything. If there was another supplier there would be more pressure on Bridgestone to listen to complaints.

Originally Posted by Crasherfromwayback

Swings and roundabouts. The other year it was the top two Honda guys having trouble with the then new tyre.

Swings and roundabouts yes, but thats exactly the problem. 2012 Bridgestone introduced the the front tire and the Honda guys hated it, just couldn't get it to work as good as the old one. And it took HRC the first 1/3 of the season to get things sorted out and deal with the problem. Why? Because they were developing the bike on the old spec front tire, and when they new came out they had to rework things to make it work. Pretty much the same thing seems to be happening in 2014 with the rear tire and Yamaha. You have two different bikes that rely of different strengths to be the fastest around the track. Changing an intigral part of the bike (tires) right before the start of the season doesn't seem to bright for all involved. Someone will end up getting screwed.

So, if you bring back the tire compitition, or even provide the new tire spec an year in advance or something, the teams/manufactures can at least take the new spec tire into account and be prepared for it. Instead right now all they can do is react in panic and try to change the bike to match the tire spec during the season.....

**Crasherfromwayback** · 28th February 2014, 10:12

Originally Posted by tail_end_charlie

So, if you bring back the tire compitition, or even provide the new tire spec an year in advance or something, the teams/manufactures can at least take the new spec tire into account and be prepared for it. Instead right now all they can do is react in panic and try to change the bike to match the tire spec during the season.....

Agree 100%. I've never thought Moto GP should have a single tyre supplier rule. It's detrimental to the sport I reckon.

**Shaun Harris** · 28th February 2014, 10:20

Originally Posted by Crasherfromwayback

Agree 100%. I've never thought Moto GP should have a single tyre supplier rule. It's detrimental to the sport I reckon.

Agreed man, elecronic this and that bullshit when the tyres are one brand it is so hard to plan for, it throws all budgets out the window

**DidJit** · 28th February 2014, 11:57

No questioning Cal’s dedication...

**Shaun Harris** · 28th February 2014, 12:10

Originally Posted by DidJit

No questioning Cal’s dedication...

I love his working class mentallity

**tail_end_charlie** · 28th February 2014, 13:22

Originally Posted by Crasherfromwayback

Agree 100%. I've never thought Moto GP should have a single tyre supplier rule. It's detrimental to the sport I reckon.

And it looks like David Emmett thinks the same way as well. The "...putting the cart before the horse." is probably the best way to describe the current situation.

"With Bridgestone contracted to supply a single spec of tires to all of the teams equally (with minor variations for hard and soft tires, and an extra construction for the Open class bikes), the tire becomes the central parameter around which the bikes are designed. When the tire changes – always in response to requests from the riders and the teams, and usually in response to safety concerns – that means bikes need changing too, to adapt to the new circumstances. This is, of course, putting the cart before the horse. After all, modifying the design of a tire can be done relatively quickly and easily. Modifying a bike to cope with a different tire can take months, and many, many iterations of chassis, modifying stiffness in varying directions, as well as suspension and electronics set up."

**Dave-** · 28th February 2014, 14:30

Originally Posted by Moto-Dynamix

Agreed man, elecronic this and that bullshit when the tyres are one brand it is so hard to plan for, it throws all budgets out the window

I love Shaun's commentary on motogp. As someone who has clearly been involved in running a highly successful grand prix team I think his contribution to this thread is outstanding.

What are these 'electronics and bullshit' that are such a integral part of the tyre?

Why is it so much more difficult to plan for two tyre brands than just one? And why does this mean the budget has to be discarded?

**pritch** · 28th February 2014, 21:45

Interesting:

Pos Rider Team
1 ROSSI, Valentino Yamaha Factory Racing
2 DOVIZIOSO, Andrea Ducati Team
3 ESPARGARO, Aleix NGM Mobile Forward Racing
4 BRADL, Stefan LCR Honda MotoGP
5 PEDROSA, Dani Repsol Honda Team
6 BAUTISTA, Alvaro GO&FUN Honda Gresini
7 LORENZO, Jorge Yamaha Factory Racing
8 CRUTCHLOW, Cal Ducati Team
9 ESPARGARO, Pol Monster Yanaha Tech 3
10 SMITH, Bradley Monster Yamaha Tech 3
11 IANNONE, Andrea Pramac Racing
12 DE PUNIET, Randy Team Suzuki MotoGP
13 HERNANDEZ, Yonny Energy T.I. Pramac Racing
14 EDWARDS, Colin NGM Mobile Forward Racing
15 PIRRO, Michele Ducati Test Team
16 HAYDEN, Nicky Drive M7 Aspar
17 BARBERA, Hector Avintia Racing
18 REDDING, Scott GO&FUN Honda Gresini
19 AOYAMA, Hiroshi Drive M7 Aspar
20 NAKASUGA, Katsuyuki Yamaha Factory Test Team
21 DI MEGLIO, Mike Avintia Racing
22 ABRAHAM, Karel Cardion AB Motoracing
23 AOKI, Nobuatsu Team Suzuki MotoGP

**Brian d marge** · 1st March 2014, 02:02

Originally Posted by Moto-Dynamix

Ducati gotta go OPEN class route and if they do, they will be back on the podium again I reckon well before the season is over. 2015 is going to be like watching Moto2 or 3 in the motogp class again, way cool

agreed , but Ducati have to move the crank forward , and get the COG in line , or slightly above of the axial plane ( ie in the right place ) and get those electrics sorted

and that aint goint to happen with a trad duke layout or the team they have

bin the fkin thing and go 750 v4 2t 60 odd degree layout

Stephen

IMHO

and get MM to ride it , or some one with balls