British, World, Super Moto GP

Jelster you naughty boy! Err you might recall that the Ducati reliability last season was somewhat better than that delivered by Honda!!!(he he he )You know I'm right don't you?

Ducati - 2 bikes
Honda - 7 bikes

I think that the Honda reliability is better than 3.5 x that of the Dukes....



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Steve...

Factory team Bikes:

Honda 2 /breakdowns 2.

Ducati 2/breakdowns nil/zilch/none!

[Supervox]

Originally Posted by Peter Henry

Ducati 2/breakdowns nil/zilch/none!

And how many crashes Peter ??

I'm sure Ducati would rather the rider crash then have a bike breakdown - its much better to be able to blame the rider after all !!

Sete crashes usually early doors so reliability isn't an issue.

Well yes to keep things interesting both Carlos and Loris had unfortunate falls last season.The one that Loris suffered was pretty severe although in practice and not during a race.(In fact if memory serves me well,I dont think either Ducati was binned during a race?)The timing was really bad as he was putting a fine string of results together.

Sete will now be forgiven all of his previous indiscretions and I think adding his and Marco's falls together last year would still add up to more than the Ducati's!

BTW not a stat that many would record....but Valentino despite having an awesome season last year....had a high number of falls in practice.

I have admired Rossi and really how can you do anything else? I was impressed with him at Valencia when despite not winning the race he came round to our grandstand and showed his appreciation of the vast bank of fans that he has here in Spain.Top man.

I do though strongly object to his faffing around with Ferrari when he is still contracted to a Moto GP team. It's just like he can do what he wants which is wrong.


Basket....Sete crashed once early on last season this was in a wet race when he screwed up on braking. He pulled up early at Valencia due to his HONDA motor going BANG!

[Supervox]

Originally Posted by Peter Henry

. . . I do though strongly object to his faffing around with Ferrari when he is still contracted to a Moto GP team. It's just like he can do what he wants which is wrong.

Bottom line is that he can do whatever he likes so long as Yamaha agree - maybe he has it written into his contract - who knows !!

Supervox wrote:

Bottom line is that he can do whatever he likes so long as Yamaha agree - maybe he has it written into his contract - who knows !!

I feel sure that is the case mate. Yamaha have been unbelievably accommodating in order to keep him sweet. Must have all been part of the contract extension negotiations.

[size=18]I think we should all do a list of our own 10 top contenders before the season starts and pass a few comments on what we feel about each rider? What you reckon?[/size]

What like...................

Rossi : Champion with a round to spare
Melandri : Runner-up, a couple of victories but lack of consistency
Hayden : Victorious on any anti-clockwise circuit, but in the gravel too often
Pedrosa : Winner at all 3 Spanish rounds but tries too hard to win every race in his debut season
Caparossi : Winner maybe once but let down by tyres at too many circuits
Gibernau : Still the fastest rider but in the gravel too often
Elias : Lack of support from Honda limits his opportunities, on the podium in Spain
Edwards : You wouldn't believe he was riding the same bike as Rossi, very poor replaced by Ellison at the end of the season
Nakano : Trying his hardest on an under-powered under-developed machine
Roberts Jr : A surprise package with the Honda engine mated with a stable chassis

Biggest Shock, a surprise entry from Harley Davidson at Laguna Seca! (you heard it here first)

Originally Posted by Mariner

What like...................

Rossi : Champion with a round to spare
Melandri : Runner-up, a couple of victories but lack of consistency
Hayden : Victorious on any anti-clockwise circuit, but in the gravel too often
Pedrosa : Winner at all 3 Spanish rounds but tries too hard to win every race in his debut season
Caparossi : Winner maybe once but let down by tyres at too many circuits
Gibernau : Still the fastest rider but in the gravel too often
Elias : Lack of support from Honda limits his opportunities, on the podium in Spain
Edwards : You wouldn't believe he was riding the same bike as Rossi, very poor replaced by Ellison at the end of the season
Nakano : Trying his hardest on an under-powered under-developed machine
Roberts Jr : A surprise package with the Honda engine mated with a stable chassis

Biggest Shock, a surprise entry from Harley Davidson at Laguna Seca! (you heard it here first)

Some of that is pretty good IMHO.....

I reckon Hayden will do better than you think.
Gibernau will take time to get over his obsession of Rossi.
Edwards - Good call (as much as I like the guy), he's just in a different class
A couple of podiums from Vermulen as he struggles in his first year of GP
Pedrosa will get a few podiums but will definately be trying to hard
Caporossi will give Rossi a run for his money, but I reckon it will be sorted with 2 races to spare
Rossi, will have a couple of DNF's as the other get wise to the way he likes to come from the back.

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