MotoGP 2017

[f1316]

Didn't see a topic for this so thought I'd start one.

To kick it off, here's something I don't really get:

One of the big areas of focus is Lorenzo adapting to Ducati and how, after being 1.6 seconds off the pace on the first day of the Sepang test, he's seemingly beginning to adapt - Pirro even says he's going to be challenging for the win in Qatar:

http://www.motorsport.com/motogp/news/l ... ro-872042/

But the 1.6 seconds was behind Ducati's own test rider. Now I get Stoner retired for a reason - that he's not your average Joe and all that - but if you have a guy in the garage who can do that, having not contested a gp for years on end, who cares if Lorenzo adapts? Just do everything you can to get him back!

I was going to make a bit of a rambling comparison to Schumacher's 2008 Ferrari test but tbh I don't think it's comparable; I know there are reasons for all this - and probably almost entirely on Casey's side - but it still strikes me as odd that someone so fast is not competing.

[Pierce89]

I'd still be watching if Stoner was still there.

[Cold Fussion]

Obviously we have to respect his choice for retiring but I can't help but feel the world is in far worse state having been deprived of a Marquez Stoner batter aboard the Honda.

[Andres125sx]

Obviously we have to respect his choice for retiring but I can't help but feel the world is in far worse state having been deprived of a Marquez Stoner batter aboard the Honda.

+1. That battle would have been amazing

[Pierce89]

If Stoner was still around, Marquez would just be another alien, winning races but not dominating like he has. He certainly wouldn't have won the championship in his rookie season.

[J.A.W.]

Agreed, & if HRC had taken on their top superbike racer Jonathan Rae to replace Dani Pedrosa,
( instead of cutting him loose - to go & win a brace of World Champs for Kawasaki),
they'd have a pair of top flite MotoGP riders, both duking it out for the win..

[f1316]

The only thing I'd say - to play devil's advocate - is that whatever motivated Stoner to quit also seemed to affect his performance in 2012. He's still got the pace - as he had back then, given he won 10 races - but he wasn't the same as the previous year and Dani was a match for him.

If whatever issues he had with a full time MGP schedule are still present (and surely they must be or he'd be racing) you wonder if he'd be at his absolute best on a consistent basis.

[Cold Fussion]

Stoner spent a lot of 2012 complaining about front end 'chatter' issues and had the crash mid seasonish that knocked him out for a couple races; and Pedrosa only really came on strong at the end of the season if remember correctly.

[Juzh]

Laptimes were pretty mental in testing at philip island.

[J.A.W.]

World Superbike Champ for Kawasaki J. Rea, made 'superpole' at Phillip Is. with a 1:29.5, or only ~a second slower than
the quickest of those 'mental' times recently set there by the Moto GP boys...

[Juzh]

World Superbike Champ for Kawasaki J. Rea, made 'superpole' at Phillip Is. with a 1:29.5, or only ~a second slower than
the quickest of those 'mental' times recently set there by the Moto GP boys...

Quali tires.

[J.A.W.]

Quali tires.

Yeah, Pirelli - not Michelin as Moto GP use..

& Rea is 'easy' on his rubber, as well as fast - he picked up the double win, while others had 'cooked' theirs..

[matt21]

Not only F1 is about aero

Yamaha




Ducati:

[J.A.W.]

Final pre-season test results from Losail indicate a fairly even match ( in Qatar, at least) bike-wise,
with Yamaha, Ducati, Honda respectively, in the top 3 postions...

New Yamaha signing M. Vinales is looking like a real rider's Championship contender, - on his pre-season performance..

[Andres125sx]

What about Suzuki? How are they performing?