lol how many mechanical failures did he have? Outclassed? I don't think he ever really had a chance this past season so show what he had except for once when the bike actually worked and he was so shocked he binned it.
Watch Nicky Hayden's post race interview. He's always nice, but this was about as harsh as I've heard him talk about Ducati.
I've got the MotoGP video subscription , it may be free on their website. It was as disappointed as I've seen him. Also have I got the team standings right in that satellite Yamaha is going to beat Factory Ducati in the final team standings?
So what's going to happen, Krop? Do we get two more years of Preziosi smiling and side stepping questions while the Ducs fall further and further down the field? I think I read a comment by Vito G. saying they wouldn't have anything radically new to try at the Valencia tests. Meanwhile Honda and Yamaha and Aprilia march forward.
I've even stopped saying I'm a Ducatista in public, it's that bad.... Bloody Italian, when's he going to move out of his Mamas' house into the real world?
Change is coming, and it has four interlocked rings attached to the front of it. Next year is a wash, but there must be signs of change inside Bologna. If there is no progress, then Marlboro walks and Audi has to decide whether to pick up the tab or not. Audi is going to be more and more actively involved, and Preziosi may be moved sideways or have his responsibilities altered. The bigger test will come in WSBK. If the Panigale sucks as bad as it looks like it might, then Preziosi is looking for work, or shifted to engine mount design. If the Panigale is competitive, then he may keep his job.
Yabbut keep in mind T3 typically finished in front of the "other" factory Yamaha too. The Hondas were clearly putting down lots more power than everybody else - especially in the second half - but there did not appear to be too much daylight between the Yams. Lorenzo's title is more a testament to his powers of consistent concentration than a factory advantage.
So did I. Stoner was nervous, he said, he didn't want to take risks and not win the race. I think he sacrificed an attempt at the record for the win.
If you add LCR and Gresini together (the two satellite Hondas) they are ahead of the Ducati team as well. EDIT - wait, that isn't fair, have to subtract Pirro's points. Even then, it's 300 points for the satellite Hondas to 279 for Ducati factory team.
Is the Panigale unusably powerful and doesn't turn? I haven't read much about the bike other than I know Checa didn't like it enough to want to leave Ducati over it.
Preziosi might want to put tandem axels with dualies on his wheelchair; he's going to have the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Somewhat true, but the hole has got to be so much deeper now. Now that Ducati have thrown VR, JB, new frames & swing arms, untold versions of ECM software, various aero-bits and BIG truckloads of cash at the problem; yet the fundamental weakness of the bike remains unchanged. And Preziosi is therefore about the only major variable not changed. To me, that would mean the corporate crosshairs of Ingolstadt are currently focused right between his eyes. If he thought the pressure was heavy before, he is about to experience a whole new level of crushing, this time with his job clearly hanging from the on track results next year.
It's really hard to say what's actually going on here. Ducati says that they've changed this and that and Rossi says the bike is fundamentally the same one he tested at Valencia in 2010. Who knows?
News today is the Althea Racing has bailed on the 1199 Panigale for WSB. Ducati Corse left holding the bag for Checa. There's a foul air over Bologna.
As close as he could come to saying the bike is a POS I think! He mentioned how in the past, he and Rossi were battling for podiums and now it's for 7th or 8th. Also I see others here have been complaining that Jorge is too emotional and Stoner to stoic (generously paraphrased). They've earned the right to react however they want IMO. I can't imagine what they have to go through to get to be the champions they are. Good on them.