2007 Ducat Team (spoiler)
 

What are the odds on Ducati having a third bike in the team for Troy Bayliss???,

And Hodgson taking his ride in WSB???

Stranger things could happen( and they did in todays final race of the season)



Chris:burn:

Pleaseeeee Hodgson the only thing he can do is talk a good race his WSB title was won on the back of the poorest line up since its instigation.

Too harsh on Hodgy - esp as he was top Ducati rider in AMA this year.

Three Ducati's in the factory team, I think Randy asked the same question of Lupo at the end of Eurosports live program but, I couldn't understand the reply ?!?

F

Never mind a three man team, as good a prospect as Casey is, lets just hope he keeps the black stuff on the road, as he's hardly managed it this season.. yet another off, Honda must be glad he's going, that should halve the repair bill... Bayliss is a true god..

Pretty sure he said they've picked their riders,we couldn't see him but I imagine him shrugging his shoulders while saying it.

Maybe it was only me but I did seem to detect a sense of eurosports commentry team(whom I like BTW) being pleased to see Rossi lose the title.
Shame really,as Hayden( Mr consistent my butt- mr not good enough to win consistently more like ) will never keep it beyond next year:devil: .

I have to agree and say that with 2?DNF's due to mechanical failure, 2 off's and being punted off at the first corner of the first race by Tony Elias and Vale still only loses the title by 5 points................
I don't believe that Nicky won the title, I think that Vale lost it due mainly to things outside of his control. Assuming that the 800 Yamaha is on the pace next year I expect normal service to be resumed-you really can't have a champion who doesn't win races.

John

Toby Moody thought Hayden would win the championship weeks ago (it was mentioned in an interview he did), hence why he probably sounded particularly delighted at the result .However, I dont think that should be taken as 'pleased Rossi lost' ; I think the Eurosprt team are absolute professionals and would give equal plaudits to whoever won.

I'm not saying that Hayden is the greatest MotoGp rider or anything, but I totally disagree that he won the title through default. All classes of motorsport sees people pick-up championships in different ways, and ultimately it is the person with the most points at the end of the season that wins.
Hayden also has had problems with his bike and DNF through no fault of his own.....

At the end of the day Rossi winning the championship was in his own hands. He was on pole and he had an 8 point lead in the championship.

No-one made him fluff the start and no-one made him lose the front and bin it. From a guy who rarely makes mistakes he made two that were entirely his own fault and that's what ultimately cost him the title.

I reckon he's great, he's easily the best rider out there but you can't say that it was out of his hands.

Don't forget the crash at Assen and subsequent injuries were his fault too - just bad luck. That cost him dearly.

Totally agree with all of that......

Well Hayden is the world champion, he's just not an awesome rider or race winner... His rookie team mate won and shone more all season!! in a dog fight he was nowhere to be seen. Bayliss won only one less race than hayden and he only turned up for the last race!!! Plus he's got the worst Yank voice i've ever heard...and his winners speech was written by Gwyneth Paltrow, what with thanking god and all that other total ****....Sorry but there's too many yanks on TV telling everyone their great and how things should be done, we don't need another one........rant over....

What a load of old shoddy. Nobody gets to ride a MotoGP bike unless they're an awesome rider, and the guy has won races at the top level...fact!

I'm not a particular Hayden fan but there seem to be an awful lot of 'sour grapes' armchair expert Rossi fans having a right old whinge at the moment. You don't get to be world champion at anything in this world if you have zero talent. OK, the guy might not set the world on fire but he's done enough to be in the hunt all season and put himself in a position where he has been able to claim the title - respect has got to be due for that.

All the guy seems to get is mean spirited criticism.

Emotion? Sure I can understand that. Seems to me that if you had spent your life chasing a dream you would be pretty emotional about it as well. He's worked hard for it, his family have scrimped and saved on his behalf and he probably has a flood of gratitude for all the people who helped him get there.

I MC'd the DSC Dinner Dance at the weekend, and I had a big lump in my throat and a crack in my voice just announcing that one of my best friends, Pete Ford, had won the Paul Morton award. Never mind making a speech as a newly crowned world champion - how emotional would you feel and would you be able to string more than two words together?

As far as I'm concerned it was the right result all round yesterday. I had my fingers crossed for Troy all race long - brilliant ride and a fitting reward for a great rider.

As TP said, Rossi's bad luck was all his own making yesterday, an unforced error early in the race. I don't think it was anywhere near the bad luck that Hayden suffered at Pedrosa's hands so in my view everyone has been dealt the same hand.

I'll probably get lynched for this but I'll come right out and say it. I don't like Rossi. Or to put it more accurately, I have nothing against Rossi per se and I do believe he is by far the best rider out there. What I can't stand is all the bum licking, sycophantic 'Rossi is God' hype that the media and his fans peddle. To listen to most commentators and read the press, Rossi can do no wrong. Let's have a small side bet shall we? When MCN comes out on Wednesday I bet all the headline stories will be about Rossi losing the title rather than Hayden winning it.

Jools, I think that Rossi is God.

Does this mean we're not mates anymore?

BC

Valid points, well put as usual Jools,

But Rossi lost the title. :frog: :frog:

Hayden or even Stoner did not put him under the pressure so he cracked and then fell, he simply made a mistake.
The Pedrosa incident is some rewards for the bad luck Rossi had during the year. Rossi threw it away!

My money was on Loris, till Sete stuffed him, at the end of the year how many points was Loris behind 23? without his "team mate" he'd have been well placed to challenge.
I'm just not for rewarding Mr average and putting him up there as a true Champion.
It's not anti Honda/Yank or anything like it, I just think like a lot of people that a Champion should "Win it" and not be "the most consistant runner up in a race."

Strewth, I actually agree with that!

Does that mean we can be friends then? :)

Don't get carried away.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

Till the next Pedrosa thread then.


Just sharpening my sword now! :devil: :devil:

I've been searching all over for easy to read stats of the Podium positions for MotoGP.....turns out I've found a BRILLIANT one for almost every class...period:

However, whilst I'd much of preferred Loris to be wearing the No1 plate - Haydens consistency over the first two thirds of the season has been stunning......but let me guess - thats only because of 'Vale's misfortunes:

http://www.motorsportsetc.com/points/06m_wins.htm

Enjoy!

If you like, although I did actually retract my pro-Pedrosa comments in the "Rossi & Hayden" thread posted by doogalman on October 16th.

(For the record)

BC

Not to make the whole issue sound as if I'm some major Rossi fan;

But put into perspective the final placing of Loris, after what he has been through and I believe missed 1 race? lost points due to lack of fitness (more like should be in hospital), for the championship race to be that close, really says how well Loris did or how much Nicky under achieved, because he should have had more distance between him and Loris!

I was unaware BC, as I tend not to go over every post.

I'm quite happy to clash swords on a difference of opinion BC, but life is too short to make enemies over nowt. :) :)

Hardly enemies Jeff, I just happen to think you talk a lot of bollox a lot of the time. So it was nice to see something different for a change.

I'm not sure it's actually your fault though, it seems to be common to most of you Surrey guys, so maybe it's something they put in the water down there?

BC

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

I have to sign off now!

I'm quite proud of my talking Bollox if you don't mind!

This could all go horribly wrong if I stayed.

Trouble is that Hayden did not set the world alight, did not grab the championship by the scruff of the neck and thrash everyone to obivion.

He gave a performance as exciting as Eddie Lawson back in the days when you had racers like Rainey and Schwantz battling it out.....

Eddie Lawson..?? Rainey,Schwantz..??? Never heard of them Ozzmonster,tell us more about these knights of olden days....

I thought his Mom had the worst Yank voice??? I had to put the TV on mute until they took the microphone off her.

You're gonna get a slap young Jedi.... (although I think you are actually older than me if I remember rightly ya old git).

I agree that Rossi has to take the blame for yesterday's uncharacteristic mistake & Hayden was very unlucky at Estoril, but 2 engine failures + 1 tyre failure for Rossi hardly seems like they were dealt the same hand.

The fact is, Yamaha just haven't been good enough this year & the HRC/ Hayden package has. You can't knock Hayden for winning it, but I for one would rather the best rider won (as opposed to the best team package).

Either way, the 2nd half of the season has been great entertainment. I can't wait to see what happens with the 800's. :)

You can slap me if you bring your monster out for a bimble down this way or if you come down for a night of classic rock..and beer.

I suspect I may be down your way if there is rock and beer involved.... :D

What goes around comes around. Rossi has had several years with virtually no bad luck, and then it all came this year. Hayden on the other hand might not have been the fastest rider out there this year (or any year) but he didn't make mistakes - not one as I recall, and it's consistency that wins championships, hence Hayden is champion and Rossi isn't.

'To finish first, first you must finish' is the expression I believe

Besides - we had a Ducati one-two.... what else matters?

Martin

hang on?....this thread is about the new replacment not being good enough to replace the long standing icon. sound familiar? :)

i reckon Nicky Hayden got it fair and square. at the end of the day if the bikes got problems (chatter or clutch) then it's down to other members of the team to sort it. i think Rossi is definitley the better rider but i'm glad Hayden won it because i dont think he'll have another chance on these smaller bikes.

I think Pedrosa might take it next year but of course i'm routing for Loris :)

I would have loved to see Vale win more for the post race celibrtions!!!!

However with Nicky winning (which i think he fully deserves) it will make real interesting racing next year.

Sorry but I don't subscribe to the 'Rossi is God' school of thought either, I do however think he is the most talented rider out there currently-but thankfully there are some others coming through who will challenge him, just I don't think in a straight fight Nicky hayden is it. Danny Pedrosa will next year be more up for it-have you seen how small the 800 Honda is?-it actually makes pint sized Danny look normal. Casey Stoner is another one who will challenge IMHO, then there is Marco Mellandri, and of course not forgetting Loris-the 800's are much more to his size since he is another tiny guy, but he also has more than 16 years of GP experience. According to both Loris and Vale the 800 bikes will suit the ex 250 riders down to the ground being basically bigger more powerful 250's-it will be interesting to see how riders like Nicky cope with them since he is an (ex) Superbike rider not a GP250 rider.
I have been chatting to John Hackett today and he says the 800 Sedici revs to 20,000!!!-bring on 2007!:devil:

John