All you need is a rider

[Paul_E_D]

Damn, How about Melandri's result in the Lemans Race. John Hopkins must be feeling like an ass right about now. I wanted to believe Hopkins had the talent, and perhaps he does, but it seems like he couldn't handle the life. He lost his focus.

Marco clearly has the talent. Makes you wonder what the hell is going on at Ducati? Is it the crew? Poor Nicky will be lucky if he can save his career.

[13]

I kindof agree, but I think the weather really played into it......

[Paul_E_D]

There was plenty of rain and mixed conditions in John's day. He never took advantage in any way. Great riders will not let these opportunities slip by.

[13]

Good point.

[xsiliconkid]

There was plenty of rain and mixed conditions in John's day. He never took advantage in any way. Great riders will not let these opportunities slip by.

true but the weather is a power equalizer..... the Kawi is a 07 model updated for 08 and we know the rest......
but as you said - you have to be a great rider to take advantage of the conditions.....

How about poor Ben Spies..... makes you think there is a consiricy... gear shifter breaks just as he gets by everyone..... I guess could have been worse...like on the last lap...!

[smf]

the kawi is a completely new bike for 09 (at least that's what the BBC announcers have been saying) so, while hopper might suck - i hope not - it's also not the bike he raced, but it is the bike he helped develop. so it's hard to interpret.

having said that it'd F-ing AWESOME that melandri is kicking ass on it. i love that it's all-black with no huge sponsors

it'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few races with ducati since they just reorganized the team a bit. at this point if hayden continues to disappoint i'd bet he'll end up ok since no one other than stoner can ride the thing. of course i'd really like to see him running at the front on that thing.

[smf]

and spies just makes me sad... out of gas in italy, now a broken shifter? c'mon!

[KawiSmurf]

I think Melandri is a talented rider, but the Hayate bike is really starting to show its stuff now, and the combination is paying off. It may be another case of the bike having to find the right rider, as is the case with Stoner and GP7/8/9. Even Hayden is starting to look bad, but I have faith he'll learn how to rein it in eventually. On that note, since no one else has been able to tame the wild Duc (even Bayliss is trying), maybe Stoner is just such a lethal racer, that on the Hayate he would be a monster in every race. Would definitely make for a good test.

As for SBK, I had no doubts at the beginning of the season that Haga would try and run away with the points, but I also had no idea Spies would have this much trouble. When his bike works right, he's on fire. It's the glitches that keep holding him back. And can somebody show Parkes or Tamada how to ride that Kawi onto the podium, they're driving me nuts!

[xsiliconkid]

I think Melandri is a talented rider, but the Hayate bike is really starting to show its stuff now, and the combination is paying off. It may be another case of the bike having to find the right rider, as is the case with Stoner and GP7/8/9. Even Hayden is starting to look bad, but I have faith he'll learn how to rein it in eventually. On that note, since no one else has been able to tame the wild Duc (even Bayliss is trying), maybe Stoner is just such a lethal racer, that on the Hayate he would be a monster in every race. Would definitely make for a good test.

As for SBK, I had no doubts at the beginning of the season that Haga would try and run away with the points, but I also had no idea Spies would have this much trouble. When his bike works right, he's on fire. It's the glitches that keep holding him back. And can somebody show Parkes or Tamada how to ride that Kawi onto the podium, they're driving me nuts!

OBSERVATION. - riding the Ducati MGP bike
at indy last year in wet practice - Stoner on the Ducati vs Melandri.... we were quite close in the very tight section of corners......when Stoner got to the apex it was wack the throttle wide open while Melandri feed the throttle on like a normal racer.... seems the Duc traction system was getting confused by Melandri's throttle modualtion.... Stoner's traction control was barking far more then anyones else out there...on any brand!

[Kurlon]

The MotoGP announcers have also said that each of the few Kawi's Melandri has are unique machines, no two matching setups... so it'll be interesting to see how long they can keep a working setup together or if he suddenly is off his game if forced onto the '#2' bike.

[13]

Wirelessly posted (my phone: Mozilla/4.1 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; ) 400x240 LGE VX10000)

Anyone watch the 125cc race from that event? Holy crash fest!

[DerekSBelanger]

Melandri has a pretty awesome record. Getting race wins on a customer bike seems to be a big ask. Melandri had two in 2005 with Moviestar Honda - the same year he was championship runner-up. He had three wins in 2006 with Fortuna Honda.

During 2005-2006 Melandri won two more race than did Hayden on the factory Honda.

[BMFR6]

melandri is a great rider and he does have a good record, but IMO he has to make something out of this year or he is going to have to call it a career. there are a lot of very talented young riders out there that want GP rides and deserve them. whats going to make it touch for marco, as the season goes on, all the factory supported bikes will be improving due to development of new parts, thats not going to happen in marco's case.

i'm not sure if anyone but stoner can ride that ducati.