Yooperbikemike's 2012 MotoGP Thread

[azkiwi]

This seems like pretty plain talk;

Originally Posted by Gazzetta dello Sport

... Rossi admitted Lorenzo's form made the decision harder than in 2003, when he switched from the works Honda team.

"Back then it was a matter of sorting out a bike that wouldn't go quick, while now it's a matter of beating the best rider in the world on equal machinery."

Rossi added that Ducati remains a strong option ... I'm proud that the new owner, Audi, wants to make this project a winner and wants to do it with me."

Dovi ... head explody.

[DougZ73]

Originally Posted by azkiwi

Are you high? Take out the drama and all you have left is 40 minutes of motorcycles every other week. Krop is out of a job and we all have to talk to our spouses and co-workers.

Just saying there is has been more crap/BS in this last year of GP, then there has been in the previous years combined, since I started watching in 05.

[Joe]

Originally Posted by azkiwi

This seems like pretty plain talk;



Dovi ... head explody.

I guess if you have 9 world championships, another one may not be as big of a deal as developing a bike into a championship winner. Maybe Valentino is looking looking beyond the big picture at the bigger picture.

[ORIF]

Kropotkin,

Do you know exactly the technique that Stoner used to ride the Ducati so effectively that the other riders have not been able to duplicate? I remember Rossi indicating that he was unable to "ride the bike like Stoner". I have heard allusions to him using the brakes in an unorthodox manner while rolling on the throttle.

Can you shed any light on this?

[mdubya]

Look at how tight and tidy the Aprilia street bike looks in comparison to the turnip truck. Ducati should buy one of these and start prototyping it.

[swimmer]

Nicky and Ducati

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/182..._contract.html

[viajero]

Glad to see Ducati has inked Hayden for another year. Wish it had been for two, though. I think it will take at least two more years to get that bike competitive, with Audi help.

At least there'll be one yank us 'muricans can pull for. CEII doesn't count anymore, unfortunately. Crap CRTs, you know.

[RedRocket]

Originally Posted by viajero

Glad to see Ducati has inked Hayden for another year. Wish it had been for two, though. I think it will take at least two more years to get that bike competitive, with Audi help.

At least there'll be one yank us 'muricans can pull for. CEII doesn't count anymore, unfortunately. Crap CRTs, you know.

I think his previous Ducati contracts have been the same, 1 year with an option on the 2nd.

[mdubya]

FP 1. FP 2 starts at 5PM eastern time.

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 263.8 1'21.424
2 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 262.6 1'21.498 0.074 / 0.074
3 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 263.3 1'21.829 0.405 / 0.331
4 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 263.0 1'21.939 0.515 / 0.110
5 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 262.8 1'22.609 1.185 / 0.670
6 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 264.8 1'22.672 1.248 / 0.063
7 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 266.9 1'23.216 1.792 / 0.544
8 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 251.6 1'23.249 1.825 / 0.033
9 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 260.0 1'23.310 1.886 / 0.061
10 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 258.9 1'23.537 2.113 / 0.227
11 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 253.9 1'24.905 3.481 / 1.368
12 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 242.5 1'25.169 3.745 / 0.264
13 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 255.8 1'25.215 3.791 / 0.046
14 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 240.6 1'25.488 4.064 / 0.273
15 24 Toni ELIAS SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 255.5 1'25.816 4.392 / 0.328
16 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR 236.8 1'25.904 4.480 / 0.088
17 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 234.4 1'25.931 4.507 / 0.027
18 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 237.1 1'26.125 4.701 / 0.194
19 51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 243.2 1'26.421 4.997 / 0.296
20 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 233.0 1'26.703 5.279 / 0.282
21 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR 236.8 1'27.102 5.678 / 0.399
15 Steve RAPP USA Attack Performance APR 234.4 1'29.814 8.390 / 2.712

[Pantah]

Ben's AMA Superbike lap record is a 23.1. That was during his 50 mile race in 2007.

[Pantah]

Meanwhile Rapp is quite a bit slower than last year's R6's on DOT labeled race tires.

[ErikY.]

Originally Posted by DougZ73

Wow...." As the World Turns"...in MotoGP. Hopefully once everything is done, we can get back to racing the best bikes with the best riders..and leave the drama and BS for the soaps.
.

I sheepishly admit to liking the drama!

[HarveyMushman]

Originally Posted by Pantah

Meanwhile Rapp is quite a bit slower than last year's R6's on DOT labeled race tires.

Pretty sure that session was the first time the bike has ever been on a track.

[Kropotkin]

Originally Posted by ORIF

Kropotkin,

Do you know exactly the technique that Stoner used to ride the Ducati so effectively that the other riders have not been able to duplicate? I remember Rossi indicating that he was unable to "ride the bike like Stoner". I have heard allusions to him using the brakes in an unorthodox manner while rolling on the throttle.

Can you shed any light on this?

As far as I have been able to piece together, Stoner did a few things differently. Firstly, he has always had complete trust in the Bridgestone front tire, and known that the only way to get heat into it is to work it straight away. Often, he would be putting race-pace sector times on his out lap. That means braking very late and very hard straight away. Do that on the Michelins and the front locks....

Another factor is his throttle use. Stoner has always used less electronics than other riders, and used that to spin the rear to help the bike to turn. The bike has always had understeer, Stoner 'simply' slid the rear to help get the front pointing in the right direction. It seems that this took some of the stress from the front tire and allowed it to grip (Stoner spoke of 'loading the front using the throttle', while Gabarrini, his crew chief, denied this was what he was doing).

Finally, there's his body. Hayden says that Stoner let the bike buck around underneath him while keeping his body smooth and still. Stoner hangs off the bike very oddly (quite similar to Pedrosa, oddly enough) and this allows him to stand the bike up earlier and manage the bike more easily.

That's what I've been able to piece together from talking to various people. Stoner won't tell you how he does it, because he's afraid others will copy him. I don't think anyone could, even if he wrote a training manual.

[Kropotkin]

Originally Posted by HarveyMushman

Pretty sure that session was the first time the bike has ever been on a track.

Correct. This is a shakedown. High visibility shakedown indeed.