MotoGP 2013 predictions

[rac3r]

So far we know that Stoner will retire and Lorenzo will be with Yamaha. Rossi says he will make his decision after Laguna/Brno race (once the new bike has been ridden), Pedrosa will say where he's going in two weeks and Dorna have scrapped the rookie rule which means maybe Marquez at HRC. Also rumours say Yamaha want their second rider to be American (mainly for marketing probably) so at a guess I would say Hayden unless there's some new dude

So where do you think they will all end up!?
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[garth]

Marquez has signed for Repsol.

I want Cal to go factory Yam, but I reckon he'll go factory Duc alongside Rossi.

[rac3r]

[rac3r]

Suzuki may be back as well

https://www.cycleworld.com/2012/05/22/spied-2014-suzuki-motogp-prototype/
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[map]

I predict that there will be some races. Also that one will be won by whatshisname riding for thingy, Sadly youknowtheonewiththesillyhaircut will crash at ohthatsillynamedbend.

Have to go now, picking the lottery ticket numbers
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...and the whirlwind is in the thorn trees, it's hard for thee to kick against the pricks...
Gibbs, what did Duckie look like when he was younger?

[rac3r]

I was talking about which riders will go where
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[Al]

So did Honda make all that stuff up about only having one Spanish rider in the factory team?
I'm not really sure of the reason that they introduced the rookie/factory team rule but it seems a bit of a coincidence that it's being scrapped at the exact same time that Marquez is entering MotoGP and Honda have just lost their star rider

Paul Bird has said that he wants to run a second bike next year with an all British team, I would have thought if Ellison stays the second rider will be Shakey or Scott Redding maybe.

Obviously it depends what the Ducati is like next year but I can't see it being the greatest of Career moves for Cal, although being able to say you ride for a factory team and that Valentino Rossi is your team mate probably makes it seem quite tempting.
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[robbieguy2003]

I think the Rookie rule drop is a good thing. Gresini or LCR would have been forced to sign Marquez who is going to spend A LOT of time in the gravel trap.

Two big bits of the puzzle that need lining up before the rest makes sense are;

Honda - Who do they expect to win for them in 2013?

Dani I think is a great rider, and he IS championship winning material were it not for the fact that he picks up bad injuries when coming off. The guy has had one hell of a lot of bad luck in his career. I cant see Honda getting rid of him for 2012, they need someone to continue the development line of the RC213, if he goes and Casey goes they're down to test riders - Bradl isn't on a Factory Spec and is new to GP, and Bautista is again new to Honda, but is on Showa suspension, so it'd be tricky to carry on without Dani.

So keeping Dani and Mr Marquez looking like he's got the vacant seat, who's going to challenge Lorenzo in 2013? I'm sorry but I don't think Dani can do it, and I also think Marquez will not get anywhere near Lorenzo next year, I think he'll pick up a few injuries trying though.

So Honda need a rider that's capable of winning titles and a certain valentino rossi really needs a bike capable of winning titles. Excluding past history, these two really aren't that bad a fit. A major part of Valentino going to Honda would be the four bike rule being dropped, which is more than possible, lots of viewers want to see Rossi at the front and Honda can happily deliver more than four bikes if the money is available, which it is with Rossi.

Although unlikely, I wouldn't bet against a three man repsol team - OR a two man repsol with vale on a Factory Bike in his own team with that black/yellow/sun scheme he had on the Fiesta/Ferrari.


Ducati - Will the bike still be shite?

This really is the pivotal piece of the puzzle. Valentino doesn't need to earn money, he's worth hundreds of millions, he has little to prove, but he's here so when that bike comes good, he can challenge for a title on it. The question is, will it ever turn good? Vale has experience of Honda and Yamaha, you mention a problem and generally it's gone in the next iteration or two, it might introduce something else but generally they'll nail things down.

Ducati just don't seem to be doing that. Last year, I, as did many others thought the issue was about the frame, but as they change bits, it's becoming more and more telling that the issue may indeed be the layout of that engine. At Silverstone, Rossi said their main problem is still grip on the front when entering and during corners. That issue has existed since the GP 07, it's gradually got worse, a big part of this might have been the move to spec tyres. Everyone else ran alloy beam frames and a V4/L4, Ducati continued with the CF frame and an L4 which has a long and low layout rather than a high and short layout, both use tyres very differently.

Vito - the team manager suggested that the new engine will still be an L4, just with revised internals to stop the bike pushing out on the initial bite of the throttle. My main fear with this is that it wont solve the issue with braking and corner entry, so in essence, the bike will still largely suck when up against the Honda and Yamaha.

I think the one thing that could turn it for Ducati is a drop in the spec tyre rule, so they could have something specifically for the front of that bike. I do think that it'd help Hayden more than Rossi though, because it wouldn't change the style of the bike, it'd just mask it more.

Cal Crutchlow thinks his style would work on the Ducati - I MASSIVELY HOPE TO GOD he doesn't go to Ducati. Casey even said to him don't, the bikes garbage, and he can see Valentino and Nicky struggling week in/week out. I hope it's just part of contract negotiation stuff with Yamaha to show he's other options.

As it stands, It's all a bit of a mess at Ducati, anyone that gets a seat knows they'll get a factory ride, and if they win, they'll get a lot of applause, but the odds of winning on it do seem very stacked.

Vale says he'll make his mind up by Brno, once that happens I think the rest will start to fall into place quite quickly.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[rac3r]

Latest rumours are Rossi is going to Gresini and Cal to Ducati...
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[garth]

Sauce?


I know Cal has been offered a 2 year factory Ducati deal. I hope he doesn't take it though - That bike is a dog.

[rac3r]

Rumours over from this years WDW. I will reserve judgement until something better comes along
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[robbieguy2003]

Carmelo - Head of Dorna has came out (not in a gay way) and said Rossi will be on a competitive ride and fighting for the win next year, but he's said he can't say what that ride will be yet...

My first preference, despite the lack of listening that seems to have been paid initially, is that Rossi remains at Ducati and wins on a YamaDuke, or a duke that steers how he wants it to steer.

If he does leave Ducati then that's fair enough, and it'll be interesting to see him riding something else, if anything I think it'd be a Honda, Yamaha have more riders than bikes so are in a good position, Honda are not in that position so are more likely to want a rider like Vale for next season.

I absolutely hope to god Cal doesn't go anywhere NEAR that ducati though. He's having a great year, and he'd be better to stay at Tech3 rather than jump to the Ducati factory. According to twitter gossip, even Casey told Cal not to consider it an option saying the bike is miles off the Honda/Yamaha.

I'm just going to actually watch the season infront of me now, so many rumours are flying about regarding next season and this seasons still at full tilt. It's happened pretty much since Rossi left Yamaha, as soon as a seasons started, everyones went it's ok, it's just this season, next year will be fine. Next year will be the third year, so third time lucky, I hope the bikes sorted and he's on it. But this season isn't too shabby either and Moto2 has been fantastic. I've still got a lot of viewing to do before the big seat shuffle
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[garth]

[robbieguy2003]

I struggled to find who I found it off (twitter being very slow to load the feed) but here's a link to an article;

[url https://www.twowheelsblog.com/post/10595/dorna-boss-says-rossi-will-have-a-competitive-bike-in-2013]https://www.twowheelsblog.com/post/10595/dorna-boss-says-rossi-will-have-a-competitive-bike-in-2013[/url]

I also think if he moves Gresini makes sense, although the only killer with that is his team/guys - I think Gresini have their own crew so I'm not so sure what would happen with that? Although the reality is, that'd be a smaller problem in the grand scheme of things.

If Honda do sign Marquez for Repsol and keep Dani, then Dani needs a massive amount of luck and a great bike to even challenge Jorge, and Marquez will spend at least a year or two picking himself out the dirt before he gets properly fast.

As it stands, I don't see Honda with a rider that can take the challenge to Yamaha, so I'd bet they'd drop a Factory Bike into Gresini with Rossi aboard it to stand some chance of winning.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[UrbanRacer]

Dorna need Rossi to do well over the next 2 years as it buys them a little more time to find another cash cow. At the moment I can't see me following MotoGP if Rossi isn't racing in it.

[garth]

Moto2 is where it's at.

[robbieguy2003]

Couldn't agree more Garth. I was sat at Club Corner at Silverstone and got to see Scott do Marquez at the end of that race, the whole thing was great, just constant battles and overtakes. It was fun to watch.

Nothing quite matches the noise out of the GP bikes, but the spectacle simply isn't as good.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[rac3r]

Hayden left in no man's land

https://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120628-69.htm

There are rumours there could be an announcement soon from Suzuki which includes Hayden
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[garth]

So Rossi has said that his priority is to make the Ducati competitive.

I reckon it's going to be Rossi and Crutchlow on factory Dukes.

MM and DP on repsol

Lorenzo and ?? on Yamaha. I doubt that'd be Dovi. Maybe it could be Crutchlow still.

[robbieguy2003]

It is starting to look like this duke could turn a corner, I think this front tyre has helped. I also think the constant electronic updates might be something to do with Audi, Ducati struggled to make two electronics packs in a year, they've pretty much had a fairly big update to the electronics nearly every race.

Although if It comes good, it'd be nice to see Cal on it, I'd much prefer that Nicky gets a season on it, he's by no means a crap rider, and he's stuck with them through the really bad times, he deserves it if nothing else.

Spies could turn it around, Yamaha US want him for sponsorship reasons, so if he starts pulling results in, then I'd bet they'll fight his corner as well.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[garth]

https://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120628ruydernotes.htm

[robbieguy2003]

I spotted that last night and thought hmm. Is he basically saying the Suzuki will Wildcard at Misano and then it'll potentially be ridden by Nicky next year?

If so, having another manufacturer back in would be immense.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[garth]

Oh and Danny Kent was quickest in Moto3 FP3.

[garth]

[robbieguy2003]

Cool stuff for Danny, Moto3 looks like it'd be VERY hard to be near the front.

I suppose if you've not got to fanny around with 18 public races and constant 'but what about next week' things, you could go away and make a very quick package by having some time out. They know the lap times of the others, they know what their 800 would do. It'd be nice if it was fast.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03