after reading about capirossi and melandri's struggles w/ the ducati

i have more respect for stoner's ability.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/s.../jan1608mleandrihopingtoimprove/?&R=EPI-98091

 

I think Melandri and Elias will be disappointing this season. Jury's out
on Capirossi. On Edwards too.

Just a few more days and it begins.

Is it right that there's no Repsol Honda team in 250 or 125? In fact are
there any Hondas left? That's quite a landmark that there's not a single
Japanese factory in the support classes. How far back do you have to go
for when that happened before. 1962?

 

Really? No Nips in either 125, or 250? I was under the impression they
were going to hang for another year, or so, interesting...

 

Well maybe I'm missing something but the only Honda I can see in either
class is Williarott on a private Honda.

 

Melandri comments he wants the engine tamed a bit to suit his style, I
think the fact that Casey was able to ride the bike on the edge with a
motor that Capirossi and now it seems Melandri can't adapt to was one
of the factors to his success, I have been watching the races from
last year again and Casey really rode the wheels off that bike, for
sure it had the speed but he pushed hard and was able to keep up up
through the twisty bits to be able to take advantage of that. The
more I watch last years races the more I believe he deserved the
championship. I really think he will defend his title this year and
this years MGP could be a real classic season with close races and a
tight title fight between Stoner, Rossi, Pedrosa and Hayden. Yep I
think this years bike will suit Nicky much better and he will be
determiined to make an impression and be in for a shot at the title
again.
I don't think Melandri will adapt to be a real threat and don't see
Capirossi or unfortunately Hopkins being one either.
Still less than a month away before the first official test and less
than 2 months before it all kicks off.

My preseason title predictions are...

Stoner
Rossi
Hayden

but subject to change

Paul

 

It's interesting reading that article as well.
I see it as Ducati made a bike(motor) that made great power for the duration
of a race with the limited fuel range that they had.

The fine line between a perfect air/fuel mix & running too lean is something
thar they have shown to perfect over the past season.
Most of us know that the more fuel = more power so they have managed a
strong motor with the minimal fuel available.
A bike that is running "fat" or rich is far easier to ride as it's not as
snappy on the throttle but may not last race distance. It's quite
embarrassing for the bike to not finish due to poor fuel economy than to
finish back in the pack a little.
It is interesting that Capirossi won in Japan where the heat & humidity are
quite high, which tends to make the bike a little more doughy on the
throttle but in other races he struggled.

Anyone remember when the Big Bang bikes entered 500cc gp's?? Doohan
complained, amongst others that the bikes were too easy to ride.
Other riders & journo's have commented that this generation of motogp bikes
are quite tame, maybe Ducati going with a screamer engine worked as they had
a rider who preferred a snappy throttle.

Anyway, I'll just go back to the couch.

Daron

 

One thing I noticed the other day. There aren't any "no-hopers" this
year. There's no team on Dunlops. If the satellite Hondas are as good as
the Repsol's from the last race of 2007, they'll be competitive at the
start of the season. The D'Antin team seem like they might actually have
some money and their Ducatis should also be as good as Stoner's from
late 2007. KR doesn't look like they'll be on the grid. I think we'll
see several races in the first half of the season where the entire grid
is covered by 1 second. This is bound to change as the top teams move
their development away from the private teams but at least to start with
I think it's all going to be very close.

But then quality will out. I think Hopkins will end up exactly where he
was last year. In the TV frame in 3rd and 4th. And he may well have
Vermeulen and another 4 or 5 bikes for company.

Perhaps it doesn't matter if there's only 18 bikes starting if they're
all covered by 20s. Which is going to make it even more important not to
have an off day. If Melandri or Capirossi have a bad day, they could end
up with a faster race time than last year, 20s back from the front and
15th.

The other fun question is whether any of the wunderkind will do a Dani P
and win a race in their rookie season. Jorge at Assen? Dovi at a wet Le
Mans? Toseland at Qatar? Then there's the question of who's going to get
taken out by De Puniet, De Angelis, Elias and where.

Yup, it's going to be the best season ever. Like always. And there's
good reason to think that 250, 125, WSB and WSS are all going to be epic
as well. And that's before we get to the national championships.
DonchaJusLoveThisSport?

 

One thing I noticed was Melandri comment that he needs to be more comfortable
with opening up the throttle. To me it seems like that means trusting the
electronics more. So again (given the amount of crashes the previous year,
and the complete lack of them this past year) maybe the Duc was rewarding
the youthful reckless abandon.

Bruce

 

If true, it also means there is even less crossover left at all
between MotoGP and the support classes, and only one MSMA member
involved in the support classes - Aprilia. The MSMA is the key body
with regard to machine definition issues, with any unanimous vote
among them having the power of law, so technically they can impose new
support class definitions without consulting Dorna, the IRTA or the
FIM. But all it takes is one contrary vote among them and any decision
goes to Dorna. That gives Aprilia significant power here, able to veto
the will of the MotoGP manufacturers if they want.

In the real world it all gets decidid behind closed doors and who has
photos of key individuals in compromising positions, etc. Not a great
situation, with the Big Show supporters not involved in the support
classes but likely to have their ideas on what they should be and what
might get them involved, and Aprilia being close to the only active
supporter of those classes and having materially different interests
and ideas. An unfortunate standoff which is unlikely to eventually
resolve itself in a very satisfactory manner...