Yooperbikemike's 2013 MotoGP Thread

you misunderstand....i think WINNING is a very big buzz for Mr Stoner

So CS will now just hop back on an RCV, and beat DP & MM? OK, in Phillip Island, MAYBE.

But HRC are not stupid, they want to clinch the rider´s championship, before they´ll let one guy satisfy his personal ambitions (and possibly do harm to that first goal in the process).

Last year, while Rossi was still at Ducati, Nicky has been there. A couple newspapers reported that he was cycling on the adriatic coast in Italy and went to Tavullia, so he passed by the "ranch" but the keeper didn't recognize him and didn't let him in. It took one of Rossi's friend to let him enter...

Gotta love the new mood around the paddock. Racing should be fun and not worrying about being arrested.

Welcome to the world of media manipulation. Take two unrelated photos, and put them together to create a suggestion. It's all over the news media, if you look for it.

I think they are getting confused. I suspect it is about half that.

$5M a year? Damn, that's 8 ppg 9th man money. While a lot in real world terms, it doesn't seem quite equitable from a risk/reward pov.

I was thinking 5M Quid seemed a lot for who/what's going on.
So if it's maybe 2.5- 3M $$ from Ducati, I assume there's more coming from sponsors?

Well ErikY. would be happy to race for 8th place for the $$, but I didn't think Cal Crutchlow would

8 ppg (points per game) and 9th man (4th substitute after the starting 5) was a basketball reference meant to convey how "minor league" motorcycle racing salaries are in the context of other professional sports.

I was hoping there would be an announcement about Cal's future right after Laguna but he seems to be implying that there'll be no concrete news before Indy.
I know the Ducati deal is big bucks but I thought these guys wanted to try to win, looking at Dovi's results show what will happen if he moves from Tech 3 to Ducati. We know what he can do on an M1 so for me the Honda would be the most interesting move to see. A shame if Bradl gets dropped though, he seems like a good guy.

^^^ This. Real racers should want to race to WIN, not for $$. I just don't get it. Ducati = dead end career, nothing more, nothing less.

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Very idealistic but not real sensible.
When Cal is 50 years old are you going to feed Cal's kids (if he gets some), support his wife, pay his mortgage, etc....? It's easier for someone like VR or any past champion to take a pay cut and go for a more competitive bike over higher pay because they are already set but for someone like Cal he needs to put his pay higher on the list of priorities.

If you had to choose $500k (if that) for a very good chance at a handful of podiums per year. or $2.5m for a very small chance of any podiums which would you choose? Double those salaries for two years. He isn't likely to win a race either way even I would like him to do so.

DucAudi needs to focus on bike development and listening to rider feedback. Throwing money at riders hasn't proved productive.
They have an excellent rider with Dovi.
Cal would add nothing above what Dovi can give to Ducati.

After Stoner pulled out of MotoGP, Ducati should have picked up Gabbarini as technical director. Stoner and Gabbarini would be helping Ducati instead of Honda.

Hey, I'm sure Mr. Casket works for Glory and not a paycheck . . .

Ah I see. Gotcha.

According to the BBC Sports website Bradl is rumoured to have re signed for HRC after his performance at Laguna. Cal has said himself that he's not staying at Tech 3 so it sounds increasingly likely that it's going to be Ducati. I really don't understand him if that's the case. Big paycheck for two seasons maybe but his stock is almost certain to fall over that two year period, he'd be better off staying put imho. I was really hoping for a move to Gresini or LCR to see what he could do on an RCV.

Re-do the math per eyeball and maybe it evens out?

Probably (unfortunately) tilts waaaaaay in favor (detriment?) to the racers