As above it’s now confirmed

Is Lorenzo staying there then?

Stuff Rossi, what about Cal?

Surprised. I thought he would have stuck at it with Ducati for another year to try and hammer it out. Clearly that bike is going nowhere…For him anyway.

I’m looking forward to Stoned deciding to keep riding and going back to Ducati just to win again for them 😉

Where is Bens Pies off too? I know that he posted on his twitter that he was leaving a few weeks back, but it was removed shortly after….will he stay in GP? or back to WSBK? It’d be a shame to see him drop off the radar imo

Great news, at least Rossi can get back to riding how he knows how to. FAST!

Bens Pie Shop back in WSB alongside Melandri at BMW. With an eye on BMW in Moto GP for 2014

So, will it be Dovi or Cal who gets the Factory Ducati now. I want Cal to stay at Tech 3 and stay with Yam but he’s pretty insistant on wanting a factory ride. We shall see

2013 gonna be an Epic Moto GP year. Just sad that no Stacey Moaner to watch in awe!

How are Rossi and Lorenzo going to get on now that Lorenzo has (quite rightly) got used to being the No.1 Yamaha rider?

Rossi the master at headgames, he will say that Jorge is the number 1 rider, he is a world champion, he is a fantastic rider etc then go and beat him on the track 😆

Cal should leave the Ducati alone but I think the lure of being a factory rider would be to much if he was offered. Ducati would rather Dovi I would think.

almightydutch –
Member
Great news, at least Rossi can get back to riding how he knows how to. FAST!

But only when on a fast bike it would seem…

How do you ride fast on a dog?

Ask Stoner

But only when on a fast bike it would seem…

Goes without saying surely??

Ask Stoner

Fast for him yes.

The Ducati is a fast bike, usually the fastest through the speed traps.

….the problem for Rossi, Hayden (and Melandri when he was there) is that it wont go round corners properly….Stoner could make it work intermittently but even he got hacked off with it eventually and went to ride for a proper manufacturer.

Stoner could make it work intermittently

Which is why Rossi would sit behind him and push him until he fell off, no front end feel = not knowing where the limit is, Stoner just used to be more willing to find it by accident/had bigger balls.

Intermittently doesn’t really fit with a bike that won the championship by a country mile. I’m also fairly certain that Mr Honda showed Casey more $$ than he could ever refuse.

I was looking forward to Rossi working with Ducati like Schumacher did with Ferrari. Looks a bit like he’s pussied out of the hard work imo

It’ll be interesting to see how Rossi gets on back at Yamaha. He has a bit of catching up to do on Lorenzo. Spies will have shot himself in the foot if he’s heading back to WSB (which he dominated when he was there) – he’ll find it tough to get back into MotoGP, which is where he wanted to be.

Dovi or Cal to Ducati now I guess.

legend – Member
Intermittently doesn’t really fit with a bike that won the championship by a country mile.

That would be the 2007 bike with a steel trellis frame, the frame they’d used with success since their debut in 2003….a frame that Stoner won the championship on that year, that Capirossi took to 3rd in the championship the previous season….the frame that even Checa got podiums with in 2005!….the frame that allowed Bayliss to rock up for a one off ride in 2006 and decimate the field….even Barros on a satellite Ducati in 2007 managed a podium on that bike/frame.

The problems with its front end occurred when the class went to a single tyre manufacturer in 2009 meaning Bridgestone were no longer making bespoke tyres for only the Ducati team….and the introduction of the carbon monocoque frame which seemed to exacerbate the lack of front end feel and despite the switch to aluminium recently they have never found the magic they had between 2003-07 again.

Impossible to compare the myriad versions of that bike that have been tried since the halcyon days of 2007….its now a mess and i think even Stoner would struggle on it.

As deviant says not really a valid comparison, Stoner has the right idea, retire with pots of cash now he has a young family.

He may get bored and race back in Oz I guess after a year or two, you’d be a bit miffed if he rolled up next to you at the local club race though wouldn’t you 😉

Deviant +1

I can hear the new brick wall in the yamaha garage being built now 😉

Deviant +1

Brillaint news… i’m very excited..

I’m buying a Rossi rep helmet for my R1’s today 🙂

deviant – Member

legend – Member
Intermittently doesn’t really fit with a bike that won the championship by a country mile.

That would be the 2007 bike with a steel trellis frame, the frame they’d used with success since their debut in 2003….a frame that Stoner won the championship on that year, that Capirossi took to 3rd in the championship the previous season….the frame that even Checa got podiums with in 2005!….the frame that allowed Bayliss to rock up for a one off ride in 2006 and decimate the field….even Barros on a satellite Ducati in 2007 managed a podium on that bike/frame.

The problems with its front end occurred when the class went to a single tyre manufacturer in 2009 meaning Bridgestone were no longer making bespoke tyres for only the Ducati team….and the introduction of the carbon monocoque frame which seemed to exacerbate the lack of front end feel and despite the switch to aluminium recently they have never found the magic they had between 2003-07 again.

Impossible to compare the myriad versions of that bike that have been tried since the halcyon days of 2007….its now a mess and i think even Stoner would struggle on it.

Finally… some brain-cells.

Comparing Stoners championship bike to this one is like comparing a 999 to an 1198. They’re simply different machines.

Stoner just used to be more willing to find it by accident/had bigger balls.

He had no choice really, the tyres felt different on individual laps meaning he had no idea where the limit was a lot of the time.
In some races the front ‘went off’ came back again before going off again and then on again – crazy trying to manage that. For whatever reason he was able to push without having the confidence that the thing would turn in.
I’ve really no idea how he managed to do that, he’s certainly not in the loony club so ???

This is good for MotoGP at least there should be some good racing next year as IMHO its become quite boring in the last couple of seasons.

BBC News

Brillaint news… i’m very excited..

I’m very very excited too.

The greatest racer of all time (IMO) racing head to head with the young pretender (now that Stoner’s going anyway) on the same machinery.

I just hope they can both make it to the end of the season without getting injured!

Remember Rossi is nick-named the Doctor because of “his ability” to put the bikes right when they need sorting. Well the Failed Doctor is now off to Yamaha with his tail between his legs and what everyone may be missing is maybe age has finally caught up with him and he may not be the great rider he once was. I am big Rossi fan but all good things come to an end and his dummy spat the time he left Yamaha may have been the writing on the wall and the marriage made in heaven failed miserably. Maybe it was a class of ego’s – Ducati’s against Rossi but the Italian press certainly didn’t like the coming together of the 2 beloved son’s of Italy and the rest is history. I hope he does do well as the lack of top “Aliens” has diminished MotoGP lately and it desperately needs some riders fighting for the top spot.

Whoregay will win this year and next

Rossi will be close but no cigar

Marquez will either injure himself really badly or win the championship the moment Whoregay lets his guard down.

Still gutted we wont see more Casey HD slo mo’s.

Think this might have something to do with it

Rossi will do a couple more years then bugger off to WSB and spend his last few seasons winding Max up again.

And I very much doubt he’d have beaten Casey these days on equally competitive machinery.
He’s not been the same since that last injury, really and should have called it a day a couple of years ago.

Is Burgess going with him?

Nice link snaps. That Furusawa interview is fascinating, particularly the loyalty to Yamaha, almost unheard of nowadays.

Jorge Lorenzo is a better rider now than he was a few years ago as Rossi’s team mate in 2008-2010, he is going to whipped his a$$ this time, it will look good for Lorenzo’s profile too.

Casey Stoner is a awesome rider and the only rider ever can ride and win on the Ducati, Rossi tried and failed.

Cant wait for next year.

Hope Rossi does well but is he getting too old, has the urge to win left him? Time will tell. As for Stoner, good luck to him, I suspect that his 07 championship was partly due to Ducati’s very italian interpretation of the fuel catch/overflow tank rules.