Quote:
|
I tend to see both sides of this. Looking at it objectively, Stoner clearly had a machine advantage at the beginning of last year. He didn't have to pass anyone in the twisty bits, as he could blow them into the weeds down the straight. But that was pretty much gone by mid season.
|
I agree Stoner's obvious top speed advantage was gone my mid season.
Interestingly, if you look at the stats from the recent IRTA Jerez test, the Ducati was only 6th fastest in top speed.
ALL other manufacturers were faster than the Ducati.
1. Suzuki - Vermulean 268.3
2. Suzuki - Capirossi 267.1
3. Yamaha - Rossi 266.0
4. Kawasaki - West 265.4
5. Honda - Nakano 263.4
6. Ducati - Stoner 261.2
That's 7.1 km/hr down on the Suzuki and 4.8 km/hr down on the Yamaha.
Despite this Stoner's lap was 1.3 seconds faster than the next best (Rossi).
So it would appear that while the other manufacturers have been working hard on matching Ducati's outright speed advantage, Ducati have been working hard at improving cornering speed. As a result everyone has gotten faster but nobody has closed the gap to Ducati/Stoner.
Next week will tell us for sure. I can't wait
