MotoGP 2017

**denill** · 7th June 2017, 08:43

Originally Posted by Crasherfromwayback

Hell yes. And I think Ducati may well have been too stubborn to listen to Stoner regarding the bike back then. Toward the end, he was crashing his brains out on the thing out riding it.

Yes, the management structure has undergone numerous changes since the Stoner era. He would never have taken on his current role with the former regime. Thinking about it, Stoner has not featured lately in his test rider role. I was looking forward to a wildcard ride.

**Autech** · 7th June 2017, 09:08

Originally Posted by Crasherfromwayback

Funnily enough, the Stoner haters that used to wank on about his lack of test rider feedback (Hi Oscar!!), have been pretty quiet of late. Both he and Pedro used to win races reg like when he was on the Repsol payroll. Now...the Ducati has won races Rossi couldn't. Fluke? Doubt it.

I'd say it's more Gigi, Dovi and Pirro that have made the difference at Ducati, in that order. Stoner is a brand ambassador and also someone they can wheel out to demoralise all the other full time riders at a test. Brilliant rider of course but I think he's more of a yard stick, the best ever rider on a Ducati so if he can be out there lapping at X the bike is good. He can also give feed back on the direction they've taken at the tests he doesn't attend, ie the bike feels like it can do X better now since I last rode it...

Gigi made the Aprillia in WSBK one of the best bikes on the grid, soon as he left it all went down hill. The bike shared similar characteristics to the Ducati GP bike in the way it could tear the paint off any other bike down the straight but didn't turn as well as the others. Gigi must worship horsepower above all else and I must say as a bucket racer on long tracks I agree with him 100% on building a fast bike. I can be out there riding the fucking wheels off my bike every corner but come the straights if you lose out to a faster bike you have to go and make that back up again. That's all well and good if your bike can do it but you still have to find a spot to overtake the other rider in the midfield, which if they other guy is a pro GP rider you're pretty fucked! Now they've brought into their project a rider who knows all about corner speed and smooth lines, with his assistance that bike should soon be unstoppable if they can make that magic step.

**BMWST?** · 7th June 2017, 15:38

I think that ducati now know they have to change the bike,and after hiring Lorenzo it is imperative.They have got to give him a bike he can use.And they will and he will.Back in the Stoner and Rossi days they thought they knew better

**Crasherfromwayback** · 7th June 2017, 16:41

Originally Posted by denill

I was looking forward to a wildcard ride.

Me too. But I doubt we're gonna see it.

**speights_bud** · 7th June 2017, 16:51

Originally Posted by Crasherfromwayback

Me too. But I doubt we're gonna see it.

At least we can accept he's not likely to do a wild card ride.

Unlike every cunt whenever he posts a photo of his Mrs on Facebook.

They all seem to think telling Stoner he has to ride again will change his mind.

**Crasherfromwayback** · 7th June 2017, 17:12

Originally Posted by speights_bud

At least we can accept he's not likely to do a wild card ride.

Unlike every cunt whenever he posts a photo of his Mrs on Facebook.

They all seem to think telling Stoner he has to ride again will change his mind.

Hahahahaha. Yep.

**speights_bud** · 7th June 2017, 21:57

Slightly off topic, Guy Martin reflects on his latest TT crash. It also appears Honda has some issues with their superbikes, is it the sp2? I'm not up to speed with what the lads are riding, but mcguinness's threw him off as well and they're not the first to have issues from what I've heard.

Fairly shaken by the looks of it. Never seen him so quiet....

https://youtu.be/sjZXaUwYoog

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk

**Cosmik de Bris** · 8th June 2017, 11:31

Originally Posted by speights_bud

Slightly off topic, Guy Martin reflects on his latest TT crash. It also appears Honda has some issues with their superbikes, is it the sp2? I'm not up to speed with what the lads are riding, but mcguinness's threw him off as well and they're not the first to have issues from what I've heard.

Fairly shaken by the looks of it. Never seen him so quiet....

https://youtu.be/sjZXaUwYoog

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk

Yes, neither of them looked happy. They weren't too confident in confirming the reliability of the rebuilt bike either.

Cheers

**husaberg** · 8th June 2017, 20:44

Originally Posted by denill

Yes, the management structure has undergone numerous changes since the Stoner era. He would never have taken on his current role with the former regime. Thinking about it, Stoner has not featured lately in his test rider role. I was looking forward to a wildcard ride.

Stoner was offer the opportunity to race a couple of races last year in place of an injured rider, he chose not to.
Who can blame him, nothing to gain in reputation if he did well, but potentially a lot to lose if he failed.

**pritch** · 8th June 2017, 21:10

Can't remember exactly how he worded it, but I seem to recall Stoner saying that test riders ride with something in reserve, racers are sometimes all out. He felt that it was years since he had ridden ten tenths so he should stick to testing. Seemed sensible.

**Berries** · 8th June 2017, 21:52

Originally Posted by speights_bud

Slightly off topic, Guy Martin reflects on his latest TT crash. It also appears Honda has some issues with their superbikes, is it the sp2? I'm not up to speed with what the lads are riding, but mcguinness's threw him off as well and they're not the first to have issues from what I've heard.

Fairly shaken by the looks of it. Never seen him so quiet....

https://youtu.be/sjZXaUwYoog

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk

Don't know if anyone has posted it but Sky are showing an hour long TT programme every night of racing sometime around midnight. The night after they showed this they had an interview with Guy and his team manager (not sure of the position). Every answer was very carefully thought out and the body language was quite revealing. Steve Parish reckoned he won't race at all this week. Anyroad, wrong thread but worth watching if you get the chance.

**Autech** · 9th June 2017, 10:31

So this weekend:

It's apparently going to be hot as hell, on a greasy track with very little grip to begin with. Lots of riders are complaining about the new section in the rear, funnily enough one of them that is not is Marquez, who apparently "Likes" the new layout. He's not going to be using the tyre offered at the test though so isn't too happy about that. Time will tell.

We could end up potentially with a Jerez like race I think with the Yams suffering and a few key players up the front. So going into the weekend without anything other than stipulation, reading tea leaves and a sacrificed goat I'd like to predict the following:

MM
DP
JL
AE