MotoGP *spoiler*

What is the exchange rate between four leaf clovers and world
championships?

 

Got 7-1 on betfair 2 mins before the start ... only chucked on a couple of
quid, so have spent that beer money already. But it was beer of sweet
success ...

 

Well yes but that was Troy just being his stubborn self and sticking a
massive two fingers up to part of the Ducati establishment - even though
"he has an extremely good relationship with Ducati".

<cynicism alert>

Fair play to him but wouldn't racing be a damn sight more exciting if
these chaps who can pull off stonking single race victories like this
were a bit more consistent the rest of the season. It seem to take the
threat of losing their contract to make them pull their socks up and
ride as well as the other "on form" riders.

 

You what? Have you not been following WSB then?

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing)
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

No. I know he won but I don't what he did to win.

 

He racked up more points over the course of the season than anyone else.

 

What, by consistently finishing at or near the front of the race?

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3 (slightly broken, currently missing)
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Yeah I wondered about that. has he been offered a GP ride with Ducati, or
as he (as reported) staying in WSB?

He didn't do too badly in WSB though, but there're a few other in the GP
circus who don't have the "top" bikes until sometihng happens that makes the
teams sit up and take notice. I mean Colin Edwards hasn't had the same bike
as Rossi for most of the season, then, when he got one, and he was a lot
further up the field when he had one.


It seem to take the

Some people do respond better to the stick than the carrot though.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

*snort*


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

Sometimes twice.


--
Beav

VN 750
Zed 1000
OMF# 19

 

**** knows.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Beav

YAGordon Brown, AICMFF tax rises.

--
Wicked Uncle Nigel - Podium Placed Ducati Race Engineer as featured in
Performance Bikes and Fast Bikes

WS* GHPOTHUF#24 APOSTLE#14 DLC#1 COFF#20 BOTAFOT#150 HYPO#0(KoTL) IbW#41
SBS#39 OMF#6 Enfield 500 Curry House Racer "The Basmati Rice Burner",
Honda GL1000K2 (On its hols) Kawasaki ZN1300 Voyager "Oh, Oh, It's so big"
Suzuki TS250 "The Africa Single" Yamaha Vmax Honda ST1100 wiv trailer

 

That's not true at all. Troy was asked by Ducati to field the
second bike and he accepted. If he really wanted to stick
"two fingers up" then he would have said no.

Troy is an excellent rider and a really nice fella as well. He
left Ducati to go to Honda on very good terms. The money
was too good for him to turn down and at the time Federico
Minoli told him that he understood his decision, was sad to
see him go but that if he did change his mind there would
always be a job for him - Federico told that to us when we
had a chat with him at the factory early last year.

Troy started out the 2006 WSB season on a bike he'd
never raced on before, and won eight races in a row and
took 16 podiums out of 24 races over the season - if that's
not consistent then what is?!

Troy had already resigned with Ducati in SBK for 2007, so
he had nothing to prove or to gain by riding in MotoGP at
the weekend, but he wanted to ride because he is a true
sportsman. As Troy said after the race: "Seven days off
the beer and I come up a treat."

 

Then I'm afraid you recollect wrong. I spoke to Federico Minoli,
CEO of Ducati, in February on 2005 just after Troy left. He said
that they parted on friendly terms. Given Troy's long history
with Ducati, and the fact that he is now back "in the fold", there
is no reason to think otherwise.

Besides, why would Ducati fire him only for him to move to
the satellite Honda Camel squad? In terms of money/sponsorship
this is a step up, so he must have been doing something right?

Replacing him with Checa wasn't a move up either - Checa was
previously at the Yamaha satellite team and his best result
in 2004 was a single 2nd place among a smattering of mid-table
placings.

Replacing Checa with Gibernau for 2006 was a move that could
have payed off if Gibbers didn't bring his baggage with him. He
should have been able to wipe the slate clean over his battles with
Rossi and made a decent attempt on a bike that can win races.
I personally think that Rossi has done a number on him so badly
that Gibbers will retire within the next 2 years, slowly fading away
from the limelight in a Biaggi-esque fashion.

Bayliss is a world class rider and when things go right he can get
the results and make it look easy, just as you said in another
post. Ducati suffered terribly in 2004 because they didn't improve
the bike over the great start they made in 2003, and some say
they made it worse. Bayliss had a terrible year, missing out on
points in 8 races for a variety of reasons, not all down to his
riding. Ducati spent 2005 putting things right and the latter
half of last year the bike was getting the results, including wins
for Capirossi. This season has proven to be their best yet with four
race wins, four second places and a third place and with Capirossi
getting third in the championship. Next year will be interesting with
the switch to 800cc, and some are saying that the new bike is
faster than the old one ... but we'll have to wait and see.

Getting Bayliss back on a WSB shows that Ducati have confidence
in him as a rider and also shows just how good he is. He may
have played the points game in the latter half of the season,
but (as Hayden has shown) you don't have to win em all to
win the championship!

 

I was gutted. I figured the race wouldn't live up to the hype, but I
didn't quite expect that.

I didn't catch what the circuit commentator said at the time, and it
happened on one of the 2 corners that couldn't be seen from my seat.
There was lots of cheering, and I thought he'd taken Hayden, given that
there were a lot of yellow hats and shirts around. When everyone
including McCoy went passed, I knew how wrong I'd been.

Still, it was bloody hot and the usual great atmosphere.

 

Don't you imagine that Mr Minoli would say that anyway? Sorry to be
cynical but he's hardly likely to reveal the truth to Ducati fans
visiting the factory now is he? He's not going to give you the potential
for a journalistic scoop if you opted to sell the story on nor is he
going to present an view of life in Ducati that is anything than a
lovely shade of sparkling Ducati Red and White?

And this is what they referred to many times on Sunday. I claim no
originality for my comments in my post - I was regurgitating what was
said by the commentating duo. I tend to believe what they say as they
are suitably close to the people who count.

Either way none of us here will ever know for certain as Troy and Ducati
top management are not going to pop round for tea to tell us. (Well they
might drop by at Ant's house).