MotoGP 2014 News & Chat

Hotblack Desiato

Jorge would need a lobotomy to sign for Ducati tbh, they're not likely to be competitive next year.

It was a good move for Cal because it was his only option to make factory rider $$$$ and he's not that young. He'd have better results on a Tech3 this season but make far less money. I'm not going to judge him for that, it's his life and bones on the line not mine.

Jorge will be offered a deal by Yamaha I've no doubt, it might not be as big a deal as he'd like but he'll pretty much have to take it.

Valentino is way outscoring him so far this year so that doesn't help his case at all.

Hotblack Desiato

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Their bike is obviously inferior to the Honda and Mark is so far ahead

I think the Honda is a bit better, not that much but a bit. The gap between Dani and Marc shows how exceptional a rider Marc is, Dani is no slouch.

Hotblack Desiato

Yet again, Dovi is criminally underrated... fantastic job he's doing on a less than competitive bike.

EB_2013

Infoanon wrote: »

A few weeks ago Suzuki stated that the big 4 would not be moving - this has proved correct to date, I cant see Jorge leaving his beloved Yamaha.

Aleix is being mentioned as the Suzuki rider for 2015.

Weren't Tech3 also looking at him to replace Smith. I'd love to see how he gets on a better spec bike. And I'm sure Tech3 would love to have two brothers fill their team.

CJhaughey

ninja900 wrote: »

Yet again, Dovi is criminally underrated... fantastic job he's doing on a less than competitive bike.

No shortage of HP though, not many bikes can pass Honda's in a straight line.
Must be up around the 280+hp mark.

frostie500

Chatted to Eugene Laverty last night and he said he has options from Ducati, Suzuki and Aprilia in MotoGP as well as in WSBK. The priority is to get into MotoGP but he has to wait for everything to play out before things can fall into place. Hopefully he'll get something sorted, it'd be great to see him on good bike in GP's

link

bladebrew

Another great day of racing from Sachsenring, I forgot how mental that track is, it looks like a BSB Track,
I just watched the interview with Cal Crutchlow, it's remarkable the effect that stupid Ducati had on him, He started off the interview saying he wasn't happy with the race and then seemed to try pretend nothing was wrong for the next 2 minutes! It was bizarre, as Hotblack said I believe he mentioned money when switching from tech3 to Ducati so that is obviously a factor but he really seemed pissed off so I can't imagine him there next year!?
Has Lorenzo signed again with Yamaha yet? I see no mention of it online despite the other top riders being confirmed already?,

frostie500

bladebrew wrote: »

Has Lorenzo signed again with Yamaha yet? I see no mention of it online despite the other top riders being confirmed already?,

Not yet but it's 99% certain that he'll stay, money and contract length is a stumbling block at the minute but it'll be confirmed in the next week or two. Ducati will make an announcement on Friday about their lineup, it's at Ducati world so they'll want to name two factory riders. Cal said that he'll make his announcement in the next few weeks

Hotblack Desiato

I presume Suzuki will have Randy dePuniet next year, and hopefully a second bike...? I saw last week on motogp.com they are looking to get one or two wildcard rides for Randy at the end of this season.

Infoanon

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

I presume Suzuki will have Randy dePuniet next year, and hopefully a second bike...? I saw last week on motogp.com they are looking to get one or two wildcard rides for Randy at the end of this season.

Randy is confirmed for Valencia, a lot of Suzuki promotion at the Sachsenring, the bike on show outside their hospitality tent had the number 14 on it though the only rider present was Nina Prinz who raced in the Moto 2 event.

Infoanon

There was a tragic accident during the sidecar qualifying at the Sachsenring on Saturday evening when the number 12 of Kurt Hoch and passenger Enrico Becker crashed at turn 12.

Enrico Becker sadly died at the scene while Kurt Hoch remains in hospital.

A minutes silence was observed before the start of the sidecar race on Sunday afternoon.

Enrico Becker RIP

CJhaughey

I watched the Sachsenring race BT feed and the team of Parrish and Ryder just doesn't work for me.
Parrish kept jabbering inanely and Ryder is trying to give some kind of rational explanation for Bradl falling down through the field like a stone.
However bad you may or may not have thought Toby Moody was he is nothing like the Spider Monkey on Red Bull that Parrish seems to be morphing into.
I also miss the considered insights of Spalding, he knows his stuff and could explain little things that were missed by most.
Not least that Honda were also using a 90º engine as well as Ducati.
I am afraid that I won't be paying for the BT sport package it just isn't worth it.

h3000

CJhaughey wrote: »

I watched the Sachsenring race BT feed and the team of Parrish and Ryder just doesn't work for me.
Parrish kept jabbering inanely and Ryder is trying to give some kind of rational explanation for Bradl falling down through the field like a stone.
However bad you may or may not have thought Toby Moody was he is nothing like the Spider Monkey on Red Bull that Parrish seems to be morphing into.
I also miss the considered insights of Spalding, he knows his stuff and could explain little things that were missed by most.
Not least that Honda were also using a 90º engine as well as Ducati.
I am afraid that I won't be paying for the BT sport package it just isn't worth it.

It's Keith Huewen not Steve Parrish. I have to say I like them as a team.

CJhaughey

h3000 wrote: »

It's Keith Huewen not Steve Parrish. I have to say I like them as a team.

Oh, my mistake. He sounds very like Parrish.
Maybe they might gel in time.

the culture of deference

Would love to see Ducati signing Marqez

legrand

^^^
As would everyone else on the grid and especially those in the Yamaha camp

h3000

Dovi extends his Ducati contract by two years.

Infoanon

h3000 wrote: »

Dovi extends his Ducati contract by two years.

Cal has confirmed for Ducati as well - this time last week he seemed destined for Suzuki.

Now the attention moves to the Hondas - LCR and Gresini - Jack Miller and Scott Redding are favourites for the seats but Miller has contractual issues which may see him in Moto 2.

h3000

Infoanon wrote: »

Cal has confirmed for Ducati as well - this time last week he seemed destined for Suzuki.

Now the attention moves to the Hondas - LCR and Gresini - Jack Miller and Scott Redding are favourites for the seats but Miller has contractual issues which may see him in Moto 2.

I think we will see Redding and Miller on the satellite Hondas alright. Not too sure about the rest but I think we might see Aleix and with a bit (please) Eugene Laverty on the Suzuki.

Infoanon

h3000 wrote: »

I think we will see Redding and Miller on the satellite Hondas alright. Not too sure about the rest but I think we might see Aleix and with a bit (please) Eugene Laverty on the Suzuki.

Bradley Smiths ride at Tech 3 is at risk,apart from a poor season to date all the teams are looking for the next Marquez - thats what we are seeing with Jack Miller and Maverick Vinales being mentioned as Moto GP riders next season, Rabat btw has decided to stay in Moto 2 next season.

h3000

It seems like Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales to Suzuki is a done deal. Should be an official announcement today or tomorrow.

frostie500

h3000 wrote: »

It seems like Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales to Suzuki is a done deal. Should be an official announcement today or tomorrow.

I'm still not 100% convinced on this rumour. I trust who's come out and said that it's a done deal but I can't see why Vinales would sign a three year deal when he could do one more year in Moto2 and possibily win the title and then have the choice of a Yamaha seat seeing as they've been linked with him so much in the past

h3000

frostie500 wrote: »

I'm still not 100% convinced on this rumour. I trust who's come out and said that it's a done deal but I can't see why Vinales would sign a three year deal when he could do one more year in Moto2 and possibily win the title and then have the choice of a Yamaha seat seeing as they've been linked with him so much in the past

I taught Vinales would have stayed in Moto2 for another year alright. I'm sure we will find out whats happening soon enough.

CJhaughey

If PBM pulls out then you could well see Eugene replacing his brother on a Factory Aprilia and possibly Bautista who will have no RCV because Redding will be riding it.
Redding should go well on a better performing pneumatic valve RCV if current results are anything to go by, beating and matching Hayden on the same machine is no bad thing considering Reddings size and weight handicap.
Smith and Bradl are likely to be looking for new rides as neither have performed well enough at this level.
CE II retiring will also free up a seat (not before time) and A Espargaro will also be moving away from Forward. 2 x seats vacant there?
I'd personally prefer to see Eugene on the Aprilia then the Suzuki, the Ape has a lot more development done then the Suzuki and Eugene did really well on the same make in SBK so should be used to the power characteristics of it.

Infoanon

CJhaughey wrote: »

If PBM pulls out then you could well see Eugene replacing his brother on a Factory Aprilia and possibly Bautista who will have no RCV because Redding will be riding it.
Redding should go well on a better performing pneumatic valve RCV if current results are anything to go by, beating and matching Hayden on the same machine is no bad thing considering Reddings size and weight handicap.
Smith and Bradl are likely to be looking for new rides as neither have performed well enough at this level.
CE II retiring will also free up a seat (not before time) and A Espargaro will also be moving away from Forward. 2 x seats vacant there?
I'd personally prefer to see Eugene on the Aprilia then the Suzuki, the Ape has a lot more development done then the Suzuki and Eugene did really well on the same make in SBK so should be used to the power characteristics of it.

First mention of PBM quitting, Herve has done an interview on crash.net which reading between the lines indicates that Bradley is out with a Moto 2 or Moto 3 rider getting the Tech 3 seat.
Aprilla have not confirmed their much rumoured return a year ahead of schedule.

frostie500

CJhaughey wrote: »

If PBM pulls out then you could well see Eugene replacing his brother on a Factory Aprilia and possibly Bautista who will have no RCV because Redding will be riding it

PBM will only be pulling out if Aprilia (or another team) buys their two grid slots. The slots are worth a few million quid (probably 3 million) so if an offer is made you'd imagine that Bird will look at selling them. It's unfortunate because given the resources that the team has they do a great job and Laverty has ridden really well for them this year with some good showings by Parkes.

Infoanon wrote: »

First mention of PBM quitting, Herve has done an interview on crash.net which reading between the lines indicates that Bradley is out with a Moto 2 or Moto 3 rider getting the Tech 3 seat.
Aprilla have not confirmed their much rumoured return a year ahead of schedule.

Yeah, looks like Herve will only take on a young rider, I've not idea who I'd be putting money on it being though! Rabat will stay in Moto2, Folger had been linked but he's staying at AGR. In Moto2 with Miller looking like going to Honda you'd imagine that Rins or Fenati would be targeted but I think Fenati is going to Moto2. Interesting to see what happens but I wouldn't rule out a one year deal for Smith

Infoanon

Leon Camier has been announced as replacement rider for Nicky Hayden at Aspar for the Indy and Brno rounds.Nicky should be fit again for Misano.

h3000

Infoanon wrote: »

Leon Camier has been announced as replacement rider for Nicky Hayden at Aspar for the Indy and Brno rounds.Nicky should be fit again for Misano.

Indy is a really big one for Nicky miss. I wouldn't say he is too happy to miss it.

Fabio

Still silence from Suzuki about contracts...

Infoanon

Cal Crutchlow has been confirmed at LCR Honda with Andrea Iannone to take his Ducati seat.

Rumours had been rife all morning that Cal would not be staying with Ducati just days after confirming he had taken up his option.

LCR also confirmed a new UK based sponsor.