2006 Silly Season Thread.

[Dani Filth]

Originally Posted by djb

when I was able to watch 250 and 500 gp stuff fairly regularly a bunch of years ago, I'm pretty certain I remember a 250 race with Rossi playing cat and mouse with a Jap. rider I think, each one not wanting to be leading the last 10 laps or so, with Rossi sometimes wheeling down the front straight just to **** the guy off behind him so that he would lose his cool and go in front.

anyone else remember that? It was a real lark anyway whoever it was. the best part was that sure enough the guy got so ticked off that he went ahead and Rossi was able to pip him at the end and win. I seem to remember the guy not being exactly happy during the post race interviews or podium.

he did a lot of that in 125(less) and 250 . it was Ukawa mainly .

[asha]

Ukawa was always rossi's bunny

[Gerben24]

Originally Posted by djb

when I was able to watch 250 and 500 gp stuff fairly regularly a bunch of years ago, I'm pretty certain I remember a 250 race with Rossi playing cat and mouse with a Jap. rider I think, each one not wanting to be leading the last 10 laps or so, with Rossi sometimes wheeling down the front straight just to **** the guy off behind him so that he would lose his cool and go in front.

anyone else remember that? It was a real lark anyway whoever it was. the best part was that sure enough the guy got so ticked off that he went ahead and Rossi was able to pip him at the end and win. I seem to remember the guy not being exactly happy during the post race interviews or podium.

The race mentioned was in Paul Ricard where Rossi was following Harada for the first part of the race. Then Harada 'ran wide' in the first corner so Rossi had to lead which he didn't want. So he started doing really slow laptimes and pulled a wheely at start finish so Harada had to overtake him again.

I never really thought of Rossi playing with anybody in 250. When he stopped crashing and running into other riders, he won the last 4 races or something like that of his first 250 season. In his second season he was just to good...

[SkaifeHRT]

Yeah, I think Pedrosa will replace Biaggi at Repsol Honda. I think Hinda may be getting sick of working with Biaggi, as he is supposedly difficult to deal with, and frankly hasn't delivered the goods.

[Oaksnaf]

Originally Posted by Hazza

Bayliss back on Ducati would be great, and thats what I'm hoping for. If Xaus gets that ride i'll be furious.

And it's a real pitty about WCM. I mean, race winners to podium getters to back of the grid in 3 years! Its amazing they're survived annother 2 years or so from that. And I really do hope that they survive as they're a great team.

Whats wrong with Xaus (spiderman) i mean he isn't the crashaholic he used to be in SBK, and has posted some respectable results in his time at Moto. I like him as a rider, always provides action where ever he is. A bit like Loopy Lorenzo in a way.

[Alex K]

His team is getting second hand bikes from manufacturer.

[Hazza]

Because Ruben has had all the chances and come up with not much. He does still in fact crash a little bit more than normal. And Troy is an EX-World Champion with Ducati.

And I don't see Xaus returning to Ducati as they dropped him in 2002 only for Edwards to escape the Ducati contract by going to GPs, and thusly they re-hired Xaus.

[Dani Filth]

well .. the same applies to Troy actually .. he had far better bikes and still nothing really .. from all the guys that came from WSBK lately . only Edwards showed something

[Alex K]

And Hayden :wink:

And they all were stars in SBK racing, all. The biggest stars ofc were Baylistick and Texas Tornado, but Makoto Tamada, Nicky Hayden and Shane Byrne were cChampionship Winners in their countries SBK champs. And American, British and All-Japan SBK Champ's are top racing champ's, with factory machines and factrory riders.

[Dani Filth]

i said WSBK .. and actually .. IMHO . Hayden overall .. underachieaving quite badly ..
Tamada .. this year doesn't really shine a lot .. and Shane come in with Aprilia .. and that says it all really

[Alex K]

Anyway silly season has started.

John Hopkins signed new two year deal with Suzuki MotoGP.

AFALa Repubblica saying etc.
Kawasaki Racing Team is paying 3M US$ to Max Biaggi just for a sign under contract.
Max Biaggi and Sete Gibernau are two fav's to be Globe Hopper's teammate's, but I think they will stay with Honda satellites.
Sete is losing his Telefonica backing.
Fausto Gresini is fighting for a cash, Telefonica retiring.
Sete has 5M US$ offer from Ducati Corse.
Loris will stay with Ducati.
Kenny Roberts Jr. is signing his contract at Motegi, but with whom? I think he will stay with Suzi :wink:

[Hazza]

Howdy! I changed the title because the content of the thread on page three does not resemble anything that the first page was discussing.

That and I'd like one silly season thread to rule them all.

Anyway! I personally belive that Loris will move back to Honda, however, this could hinge on whether Ducati/Bridgestone keep their current competitiveness.

As for Gresini going broke? I don't doubt that it could happen, but you are forgetting that MotoGP is mega in spain, and I'm pretty sure that they arn't going to pull backing just because Pedrosa has got himself a Repsol seat. Sete is still going to put his mug on the front page of quite a few papers no matter what he does.

Interesting tid-bit about Roberts there! There seems to be quite a malestorm over who will be riding alongside Hopper. We'll have to wait and see I guess!

[Alex K]

Fausto is talking to few Spanish multi-billion companies.

[N I Tram]

I think Kenny will only stay with Suzuki if they can't get one of the guys they're really after, and if Honda are keen to keep Seté and Max, even on customer bikes, they would be getting more cometitive machinery and probably comparable salaries. It'd be a shame if Gresini struggle to keep full funding, as they've really outperformed the factory bikes recently.

[Alex K]

And I am worry of Dani Pedrosa. Max's engineer doesn't know much about today's machines, he has problems with using comp's to setup the bike... If he'll be Dani's engineer, Nicky will dominate youngster all the way.

OMT. Dani's weight is just under 50 kgs, I am worry that he will have problems with handle that bike.

[Hazza]

If Max's engineer is Erv, then lets be realistic. Erv knows his stuff. And he won't have any problems with that.

People have speculated that part of Pedrosa's speed was based on his light weight, for 250ccs the total weight is based on the bike alone and not bike/rider. However, Pedrosa hasn't tested properly on the big bikes. Watching video of Dovi and Pedrosa testing the RCVs they were not fanging it into the corners, they were sort of hanging onto the bike and not throwing their weight around.

Ultimately we'll have to see, personally I feel that the weight thing is an excuse brought up by Pedrosa's haters, who have memories of Jacque and too a lesser extent Melandri who dominated the smaller classes and didn't quite get it all together on the big bikes.

[BootsOntheSide]

Melandri's "got it all together on the big bikes" now. I think people's expectations for Dani as a rookie should be moderate, but I think with the right diet and some practice he can be a MotoGP frontrunner in the long term. He will need team support as well, much like Marco.

[Alex K]

{quote]If Max's engineer is Erv, then lets be realistic. Erv knows his stuff. And he won't have any problems with that.[/quote]

It is Erv, he knows his staff but he has not a big understanding in how prototypes work these days. Why does Max has so many problems with front of his bike : Why most of the time he is late with his set-up, when everybody have completed work, he is still searching...

No I am not Pedrosa hater, I am worring. I am worring very much, I even think he should move to SBK racing for one year (220 BHP max) until the new formula will come into play in Moto GP.

[chunder]

I think you will find that Max has ALWAYS had problems with fron of his bike to be honest. Erv can only do so much with anything, remember he does not ride the thing! Ervs reputation coems from working and getting success with many different riders over the years and having a great understanding of the bike. His problem seems to be consistency and staying with one team for a long time.
BTW, Honda are testing a completely new RCV this weekend but focussing on Sete and Max, Nicky aint even gonna be there! Very interesting eh!

[Alex K]

Yeah I know, but that is why Erv came to the team to help the kid.
Yeah I know he understands the bike, but he wasn't working with prototypes, and this a completely different from working with 500cc.

[Hazza]

http://www.crash.net/uk/en/news_view...d=6&nid=117914

An interesting read about the possibilities for 2006.

[bestfit]

Kevin McGee on Fox Sports last weekend was reporting that Pedrosa may ride the new 800cc Honda next season. I don't know where he got this info, because I haven't seen it reported elsewhere, but I think this would be a very clever move by Honda.
It would give Dani a chance to get up to speed in the main game on a smaller/lighter bike without the added pressure of being an immediate front runner, while giving Honda a full season's developement of the new bike before the new regs kick in in 2007.
I would like to see this happen.

[Dani Filth]

are they allowed to run the 800cc next year ???

[Hazza]

Originally Posted by Dani Filth

are they allowed to run the 800cc next year ???

The rules state that you can run up to a 500cc 2-Stroke or 990cc 4-stroke, so yes. But it might be pantsed on the fast tracks.

[Alex K]

Originally Posted by Hazza

One thing I'd also like to point out, is why get sponsers to pay for a one bike Vale team...


...when you can get them to pay twice as much for 2 bikes?

It.s simple Hazza.
Why would sponsor pay for two entry team, if it has Vale :
Valentino will be competing in Alice Nastro Azzuro Yamaha Racing next year, and now it is a question if Colin Edwards will be his teammate there, or in the different livery of Yamaha Racing (Gauloises with Toni Elias. Also Rossi will be Michelin's 2006 wonder kid.

Ruben Xaus is headding into SBK, or D'Antin if he will have enough money to field two bikes.

It's almost certain Gibernau will sign with Ducati, he is losing his Telefonica support, and he has to go somewhere, and Ducati Corse will pay around 3, 4M €. His teammate will be Loris Capirossi.

Troy Bayliss returns to WSBK with Ducati. Max Biaggi has 3M € offer from Kawasaki, but I suppose he will stay with Honda camp in Honda pons camp with Alex Barros. Gresini is changing his support to Fortuna brand. His top rider on wish list is Mr Toni Elias, with Marco Melandri staying if it's enough money in the team, although he has no other place to go.

Japan Italy Racing will most likely stay with Makoto Tamada, if they will have enough money to continue.

Repsol HRC team will field Nicky Hayden and Daniel Pedrosa.

Kawasaki Racing is tired of Harald Eckl, and maybe, The big IF, they will try to field factory team themselves... but AFAIK Kawasaki Racing has no HQ in Europe... This rumour places Eckl's team as privatere Kawasaki user.

I don't know what bike will Tech 3 field next year, D'Antin most certain is staying with Desmosedici.

Suzuki MotoGP, one of possible riders connected to Suzi squad is James Toseland. It makes sense, Ducati has really good riders in WSBK championship like Lorenzo Lanzi, who is IMHO ready to step up into factory boots. Also there is Troy Bayliss returning to the SBK game, most likely WSBK. And IMHO JT is losing to Regis Laconi, who dominated him this year. We shall see.

Team Roberts, WCM... who knows :