[stryder]

Bingo!!! It wasnt faster, it was WAY faster. Thats why it only won in 07 and after that the other manufactures realized the disadvantage and caught up, and the game ended. Not taking anything away from Stoner, in fact if the guy would of had a competitive bike from 07 on he would of probably kept on winning, just like he was/is doing on the Honda. As much as some people hate to admit it the ducati is just a huge POS. Some blame Rossi, some not, but as far as I see no one has been able to win/ride that bike after 2007. Even Stoner in 08 was struggling although he rode it better then Rossi or anyone else for that matter, but then again it was a completely different bike. I just dont see Ducati winnig again in a long time

The MotoGP bikes were all competitive before and during Stoner's tenure, winning races, ie podiumed in Ducati's first Motogp race, and a won Championship in 2007 due to the desmos revibility, (Yamaha went to pneumatics the next year and won) *and* Stoner's brilliance. All that changed when the c/f GP9 came out. Other than Stoner's brilliance on that bike, partly inspired perhaps by his insistence that the trellis frame was built too inconsitently and gave the go ahead for the c/f monocoque frame so he had more at stake than just a ride: *Then* it became a POS in corners, but still makes great power with the desmos. When they tried to correct the bike through major changes, they chose to change the frame first. Too bad they didn't try a trellis frame again instead of a twin spar Al perimiter one. I'd have loved to see Rossi on one of them. Maybe he would have found the front end feedback he was looking for.

Is 2 years an unreasonably long time not to win a race in motorcycle gran prix racing?

 

[stryder]

I think it changed when traction control was introduced.. Vale seemed to be the best of the until then.. Not take anything away from Stoner, he is an amazing rider. Ducati can make a fast bike on the straights sure. Electronics are playing such a big part in who wins anymore and we all know how well Ducati does electronics.. It might be 2015 before another win.

Aren't Ducati's electronics done by Magneti Marelli? You know, Ferrari's F-1 electronics developer/supplier?