[Turbo329]

Don't call me a prophet but suffice it to say that a championship is out of the question for Rossi.

If he fails to even win a race I doubt his contract will be renewed and Ducati will likely take their ball and go home; making a shameful exit from Moto GP.

....just sayin'

 

[DesperateSP2]

Every great team and rider can have a bad year. I wouldn't be so harsh on Rossi and Ducati.
The big problem is, of course, Honda has awaken for its years long slumber. Nobody, not even Yamaha, can spend as much as they can. No other motorcycle manufacturer has their expertise and human resources (yes, they often fail to apply them to road bikes but that's another matter we already amply discussed). Once they got the HRC leadership together and finally accepted they needed a great pilot to win, they were back where they belonged.
I wouldn't still count Rossi out but the Honda we are seeing today is a much more formidable opponent of the Honda we saw around 2007 and 2008.
Ducati has the racing expertise, a large sports budget but it cannot realistically hope to win against Honda in a straight spending war, especially if Honda is able to retain the services of Mr Stoner. If rules become tighter, it will be worse for them since performance improvements will become much, much more expensive. That's why they are generally opposed to restrictions.

Save your scorn for Ezpeleta and his wacky CRT idea. Colin Edwards set a goal of bringing the the Suter-BMW to 2,2 seconds in these Sepang tests. He managed a 4,2 gap by riding the wheels off his machine. The FTR framed bikes proved to be not only embarrassingly slow, but also quite unreliable. No wonder they removed the 107% rule and gave them 12 engines for the whole season...

 

[drsus]

Don't call me a prophet but suffice it to say that a championship is out of the question for Rossi.

If he fails to even win a race I doubt his contract will be renewed and Ducati will likely take their ball and go home; making a shameful exit from Moto GP.

....just sayin'

If Ducati dumps him, he will join another team, period.

Rossi had one bad year and "end game"?......i don't see it, its easy to go there, not its just not realistic. If he has another bad year on Ducati it will simply go down as the two years Rossi rode a bike he didn't jive with. Thats how every one has seen it so far, and thats how every one will see it if it continues IMHO

 

[Old Baldy]

Mo way is Ducati dumping Rossi. They know that without Stoner available (that bridge is well burnt, after Stoner stopped racing due to his illness without discussing with them and due to his lack of motivation to act as a professional (sponsored) racer with sponsor appearance committments, etc), that he is the best of the rest, for them. Italian, the darling of the press and racing fans ("notable" exception aside on this board), and the best development rider on the circuit.....makes Rossi their very best choice for the next couple/few years.

 

[Turbo329]

If Ducati dumps him, he will join another team, period.

Rossi had one bad year and "end game"?......i don't see it, its easy to go there, not its just not realistic. If he has another bad year on Ducati it will simply go down as the two years Rossi rode a bike he didn't jive with. Thats how every one has seen it so far, and thats how every one will see it if it continues IMHO

Let me clarify..... it won't be end game for Rossi. I think it'll be End game for Ducati.

 

[Turbo329]

Mo way is Ducati dumping Rossi. They know that without Stoner available (that bridge is well burnt, after Stoner stopped racing due to his illness without discussing with them and due to his lack of motivation to act as a professional (sponsored) racer with sponsor appearance committments, etc), that he is the best of the rest, for them. Italian, the darling of the press and racing fans ("notable" exception aside on this board), and the best development rider on the circuit.....makes Rossi their very best choice for the next couple/few years.

I see your point. I guess if Rossi stayed and Ducati continued to race I could realistically see them fielding only 1 rider. Rossi's not cheap and neither are his development demands.

 

[sburns2421]

Ducati simply has to race. Their image is so tied to racing and sportbike types of bikes that not to race would mean thay are just another Italian motorcycle company. May as well be MV Agusta or Moto Guzzi at that point.

I don't see Ducati pulling out of the series unless forced to by finances. Nor will they field a single rider, the value of multiple streams of data (riders) for development is very important. Perhaps a mistake they made with Stoner was listening to him too much to the detriment of the overall progress. Most riders came and went on the Ducati (Melandri, Checa, Gibbers, Guintoli, Elias, etc), only Stoner could ride it but Stoner was the only one who rode continuously for the team. This year they have more continuity with riders which should also help them.

I could see Hayden dumped after 2012 if they have a better alternative (Spies? Pedrosa?). If the bike appears competitive with several riders such as Hayden, Rossi, and Barbera, then you will see other top riders willing to ride for the company.

I would guess Rossi will have a place on the team as long as he wants.

 

[Turbo329]

Ducati simply has to race. Their image is so tied to racing and sportbike types of bikes that not to race would mean thay are just another Italian motorcycle company. May as well be MV Agusta or Moto Guzzi at that point.

They would continue to race...... in WSBK where they are dominating in a deep field ....where winning races has a direct impact on Motorcycle sales.

They really don't need GP even though Rossi is a marketing god. Ducatis sold well long before the company entered Moto GP.

 

[sburns2421]

They would continue to race...... in WSBK where they are dominating in a deep field ....where winning races has a direct impact on Motorcycle sales.

They really don't need GP even though Rossi is a marketing god. Ducatis sold well long before the company entered Moto GP.

But your assumption is that if they pulled out of MotoGP they would reform the Ducati Corse WSBK team.

I'm not sure that would happen, Ducati doesn't seem to be all that interested in officially being back in WSBK.

 

[Jami6989]

The guy who killed Ducati MotoGP! King of development! Said Stoner didn't develop the Ducati! Yawn.........

 

[ChipRC51]

The guy who killed Ducati MotoGP! King of development! Said Stoner didn't develop the Ducati! Yawn.........

Jamie, this is all I can picture when you post lol

 

[duckdawg]

sexual chocolate?...

 

[Jami6989]

I guess u can call me a pimp of sorts. Thanks!

 

[RxRC]

They would continue to race...... in WSBK where they are dominating in a deep field ....

of Ducati's.

 

[Old Baldy]

of Ducati's.

Wonder why....

 

[sburns2421]

Funny thing is Ducati seems to have more participation and involvement with WSBK than the "big" manufacturers, even without Ducati Corse officially even being a team today.

 

[mrgrn]

Ducati simply has to race. Their image is so tied to racing and sportbike types of bikes

I could see Hayden dumped after 2012

I would guess Rossi will have a place on the team as long as he wants.

this is 100% spot on

there is no way Ducati is going to dump Rossi suicide comes to mind. I think ducati will spend whatever they have too in regards to rossi's demands and needs, their future hangs on this combo

 

[Jami6989]

this is 100% spot on

there is no way Ducati is going to dump Rossi suicide comes to mind. I think ducati will spend whatever they have too in regards to rossi's demands and needs, their future hangs on this combo

True! Look what happened to Kawi when they let go of Hopkins and Ducati when they let Stoner go. Neither of them won a race since.