Yooperbikemike's 2013 MotoGP Thread

Ah, the old "BNG" ploy. It works so well for laundry soap too.

Nicky sure is a trooper especially in the face of continued poor results. I'd be pretty depressed!

There's a lot on the line this year. Next year there will be 5 or 6 Honda Production racers available, the possibility of a handful of leased Yamaha motors available, and the possibility of Suzuki's return.

It will be nice to have someone with an actual personallity be interviewed after the race!

That and being reminded by the garage full of AMG toys and a fat bank account but I also think he does see a light in the Audi tunnel..

That's one hell of a slide - a lot of sideways ground to cover!

On the subject of Duc and Audi, )I just can't resist) one thing that we know for sure is that Audi knows how to win. Even a cursory look at Audi's Le Mans efforts show the highest degree of professionalism and effort. I can't imagine:

1. that they didn't know what they were getting when they took over the Ducati racing effort. These are smart and serious guys (and women) who aren't looking for a weekend at the races.

2. that they will be satisfied with a mid-pack result.

3. that they would commit to a 4 rider team just to employ some riders - not one of whom is German.

It seems to me that it's very early days - only one test in - and that there is a lot more to come. Ducati was the only "factory" team available (even Audi couldn't buy Yamaha), and buying a factory team brings a lot of expertise on MotoGP. That would be a lot easier than starting from scratch.

Maybe Audi feels that BMW needs a little competition in the 2-wheel arena.

My prediction - the four rings will be on the podium before the season ends.

I had no idea the Germans were serving Koolaid in those huge steins!

You vill race it unt you vill vin

Does that even translate into Italian? :eek1

Not a hope in hell, it takes years to work up a good bike from scratch and that is what is needed (has been for 3 years now), I hope Audi take it seriously as I am a Ducati fan and want to see a little factory from Bologna do good (even with Audi help).

They should just stick crt stickers on the bikes now and let the guys ride win a competitive environment rather than have the frustation of pretending it's a competetive prototype, this really is not fair to the riders who risk their well being to race an uncompetitive bike.

Off to the classic festival for the day... not a snowballs hope in hell of breaking world records but a lot of bike porn to enjoy... ah, the smell of castrol R in the morning!

I can envision the Ducati finishing behind most of those mentioned as coming into the series next year. I also don't see Hayden spending '14 riding a Duc in MotoGP.

Audi didn't buy a race team, they bought a motorcycle brand. And they got a team thrown in for free.
The only reason audi bought ducati is because Piech wanted a motorcycle brand in his portfolio, since BMW also has it. And VW has Horex...

So my opinion is that audi couldn't care less about the motogp reults. And that is why Rossi didn't stick around. He knew.


Four wheels good, two wheels better

I think you are wrong about Audi not wanting to win in MotoGP. Their main aim it to sell bikes and winning races helps sell bikes and winning at the top tier of racing is better still. That being said, Ducati isn't the primary priority of Audi and it never will be.

+1. Especially if he fares as well vs. Dovi as he did vs. Rossi. I.e. usually out-qualifying and most often better in the races. He will have shown his worth to someone with a better bike. And with 3 US rounds that can't hurt while the other US riders aren't impressing.

I heard Hayden was offered a 2 year deal but only wanted one. You're right, Rossi's running up front (so far) on a better bike, so why wouldn't Hayden.

Alvaro, we're talking about your Honda.

I just hope if Ducat does the engineering they do better than Ilmor did at their attempt at motorcycle engines King Kenny said they never could get around the different power characteristics needed between four wheels vs two wheels.

this...and if audi wants success on two wheels they have some results and much better experience in another series that is probably even closer aligned with what they ussually sell,for a whole lot le$$

Curiously enough, Ducati itself disproved that theorem. Record sales and dismal race results. So apparently, personalities sell bikes.

Why does this keep being repeated? Rossi finished 6th, and Hayden 9th. These are the numbers that count - the rest are just statistics.

Who's to say that their sales results wouldn't have been even better had the been competitive in MotoGP.

Dovi beat Dani in 2010 in points. If that was all the counts why was Dovi shown the door at HRC? Hayden was generally faster than Rossi and that matters. It matters to anyone paying attention and it matters when Hayden has to market himself. And had Hayden not missed races due to injury the points position may well not be the same. I am not saying anything against Rossi I am just saying his performance vs. Rossi didn't do any harm at all to his stock.