Think Rossi would loan it to them This is precisely why I hate the silly season starting so early. I don't think Lorenzo or Ducati would have wanted to part ways if negotiating started now.
Oh fuck those guys (Ducati). These guys were A. Talking mad shit about Jorge before he started going like stink B. Didn’t provide him the changes he asked for ages ago. They definitely sound like jilted lovers, but I think it’s mostly an example of magical thinking. Plenty of businesses do the exact same shit but at smaller scale. People buy expensive ERP systems and don’t make the changes necessary to exploit it, then bitch about the system and the product. Seen it plenty of times. It’s the same thing with any expensive business asset. You pay a lot for it, then you have to pay a lot more to get the max performance out of it. I’m not saying Ducati didn’t work with him, but they seem to have a strong “we’re paying you, just ride it” mentality and are resistant to rider requests. Others have said the same thing about them, it seems to be a trait of Italian companies. HRC will favor Marc, of course. But this is a company that will bring a half dozen chassis iterations to a single test for each rider. Does Ducati even test 6 chassis variants a year? HRC alone probably has more engineering resources than the entire Ducati company. Jorge will get the bike he wants. Honda would’ve made him his plastic tank fairing the day after he asked for it, not 8 months later. The Honda apparently ain’t easy to ride but Honda has the resources and desire to make it work well for Jorge, and quick like. He’ll have some shit days but I’m confident he’s going to win within the first 3-4 races. I’ll bet on Qatar. In the end Marc will finish ahead of him in the championship because his bad days are 2nd-3rd and Jorge’s will be 5th-10th.
Ducati has a long history of not listening to the riders, but I thought that changed after Iron Sides left (can't remember his name)?
lol....yea the KTM is going to win with Zarco, Aprilia are going to put a competitive bike on the grid and Honda isn't going to dominate in 2019.
Zarco will be at KTM for years. Zarco is cashing in, wisely. Even if his career dies there he might not really give a fuck when he looks at that bank account. No matter how much they might love it this is still a job for these guys. Zarco was completely right with what he said. To beat Marc at Honda he’d have to get as good as Marc anyway, so why shouldn’t he go lead the KTM effort? And make mega bucks while doing it. I remember Scott Russell saying something like, “I used to curse Harley every day when I rode for them, now I’m thankful every day that I rode for them.” I think Maverick is an amazing and fast rider who’d win if Yamaha has their shit together better. However, it looks like he has a ton of trouble when the chips are down. Valentino is pulling solid results and podiums out of his ass. Maverick’s bitching is definitely justified, but I think his attitude shows some flaws that could easily kill his future championship bids. The way he handled the Forcada situation was absolutely terrible. I think Maverick will be devastatingly good once he matures a bit, but until then even with a good bike I think it’ll hurt his ability to bring home championships.
Preziosi. Brilliant man. I wouldn’t put it all on him, he was probably hamstrung by corporate as I understand. Ducati didn’t fix their shit until Ze Germans fixed them. Ducati are fucking douchebags. I seem to remember they let Capirossi know he was fired via press conference after saying the year before he’d be a Ducati rider for life. Though Aprilia are such assholes they actually make Ducati look good.
You remember correctly ref Capirossi. Despite being the only rider in 13 YEARS to deliver race wins for Ducati other than Stoner, he was indeed fired via press conference. Oh, and FYI - there is no “Ze” word in the German language.
I didn't mean to imply it was all Preziosi's (thank you) fault. If I remember correctly, when Stoner tested the carbon "frame" mid season 2008 he begged Ducati to let him finish the season on it but they refused. I'm curious as to who's decision that was.
we make our american frens call us ze germanz... because of "SNATCH" if you haven't seen that movie, go see it.
You and some others keep neglecting that it was Rossi’s direction that steered the ducati into a worse pile of shit. Make no mistake about it, Rossi got exactly what his crew asked for. There was never a time where they were not getting what they asked for.