Now that is interesting. When I was watching the live timing this morning I wondering what the hell happened with Hayden. This is more what I expected of him at the beginning of the season. Not kicking everyones ass but being close.Wow, first Nicky is given a "completely different" Ducati to ride at Barcelona...
And then, they show the times from the first practice session.
Anyone still think the GP09 isn't a one-trick-pony POS???
GO. NICKY.
And Yet still no worth while results.... While Stoner continues to hang in there even while battling illness...The bike was a one trick pony, now its on its way to becoming a two trick pony
Nicky said they changed everything but the grips on the handlebars (a comedic exagerration, but nonetheless reflective of the degree of change the bike underwent).
In his defense, a great racer like Marco Melandri experienced the same problems with the Ducati last year and he is a former 250GP champion. He is a different racer this year, performing way better on a different bike. It can go the other way as well, the Yamahas in both WSBK and MotoGP really make the rider look even better than what they are. I'll bet if you put some of those guys back in the pack with previous championship performances, they would likely do much better. However, I think the Ducati is different because a certain style is needed to control the beast and I think Stoner has that style. I think Hayden is making progress and I predict he will do even better in the races to come.
problem isn't fixed. Ducati, one rider running up front three riders running near the back. Yamaha three riders near the front one rider in the back. Which is the better bike?
I predict that bike will end his career.
top 5... maybe on the 990 he could do it but with the new 800 it will never happen. I would be shocked if he could string together more than a couple of top 10's
Funny, Hayden had eight top five finished last year. They ran 800cc bikes last year right?
Well Melandri didn't have any problems finding a factory ride after his Ducati "backmarker" stint, although the factory soon went belly up. I think Nicky Hayden is very marketable and that certainly is valuable when looking for a ride (hell Gabor Talmasci basically skipped the 250 class because he is the big thing in Hungary and brings big money with him). Hayden has the ex-world champion trump card which goes a long way towards securing a ride. Look at Pedrossa, the HRC favored sun, who has yet to secure the world title in fewer seasons than Hayden.
The record of the bike says otherwise. No one else has been able to ride it even close to the level of Stoner. For most people, once they figure out the trick to doing a task (playing a video game, riding a motorcycle, cooking a certain meal) being sick doesn't make them forget everything they have learned. In the press conference he clearly stated that he physically was not able to get the bike to do what he wanted because he felt ill. That doesn't mean that his style of throttle modulation to deal with the rear chatter would be that greatly affected, but it does mean that he couldn't muscle the bike around to get it to turn in and hold the lines that he needed to maintain the pace.
I mean seriously give credit where it's deserved. Stop cutting everyone whose last name isn't Rossi off at the knees, that is if you can get his balls off your chin long enough to see the keyboard. Sheesh.
I almost want to skip ever single road racing thread once I come to your comments. You speculate out of your ass at every turn about how this rider CAN do this and that rider CAN'T do that. BLAH BLAH BLAH. I would love to see all of your bullshit put to the test. Put Rossi, Lorenzo, and Pedrosa on the Ducati. Let them prove that your words are the end all of what bike is great and what riders are aren't worth their salt.
OMG This has got to be the most ingnorant comment ever. Do you seriously think that riding a motorcycle at race pace for 25 laps doesnt require a person to be in top physical condition?? Its nothing like a video game unless you play video games while sprinting a marathon. Maybe you need to go do a trackday and see how you feel after a 20-30 minute session. The multiply that by 10 and add in the flu.. thats what Stoner did today. I gained alot of respect for that guy today.
Sorry to get you all worked up but arent we all just speculating here?? I would like to see all this BS (mine as well as those of you that disagee) put to the test as well. It would be awesome to see the moto GP paddock all jump on a spec bike and race for bragging rights.... Then why dont we line up a race between Foggy, Colin Edwards and Bayliss on WSBK machines. To bad this is the real world and the real facts are that the Ducati is CONSISTANTLY WINNING RACES, and for some reason you guys still think there is something wrong with the bike because Hayden cant ride it... Just like he couldnt ride the Honda last year.
Don't forget about Spies. He's got a huge broner for Spies too.
Even with the struggles he's happier where he is.
I totally agree with that.. I think the slipping sliding, point and shoot style favors Hayden more than whatever kinda style it takes to make the 800'c go fast.
Because Stoner is winning in spite of the bike and not because of it. If the bike was good there would be more Ducatis further up the field instead of languishing in the back. But we've been over this time and time again...
Hayden has won a world championship which as far as I know is more than Lorenzo, Pedrossa or any of the other "good" riders have done with the exception of Stoner and Rossi. But regardless of that the facts are very clear: Last year Nicky Hayden finished top five eight times and only finished outside the top ten four times. He put it on the podium twice (a second and third). He had two DNF's other than that his two finishes outside the top ten where two thirteenth place finishes. This was last year, so it is very recent not some pipe dream about something he did on the 990cc Honda three years ago, this was just last year. I won't even go into the Michelin tires or any of the other issues. lets just look at the results as they are.
