Moto GP 2012

[garth]

Just a general discussion thread, predictions etc.

With a new twin spar Ducati, is Rossi going to be more competitive?

Are the CRTs going to be a rolling road block?

Looking forward to Iannone on the satellite, shame as ever #58 won't be there.

Testing starts on the 31/01, Ducati were supposed to unveil their 2012 Desmo at Wroom, but didn't. Don't think it's finished!
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[UrbanRacer]

[Kris]

I really do hope that Ducati are competitive because we are running out of time to see the Rossi vs Stoner battles that should be happening if they both had competitive bikes.

If that doesn't happen and Stoner clears off again it will be a real shame.
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

The Sepang test'll be the one to watch.

Rossi's already said that the championship is an unrealistic goal for this year, although true that is, I've no idea. He's also looking for another 2 year deal, then I suspect he'll retire.

This year I think Stoner's probably going to walk it again. Stoner will be preference over Pedrosa, which is a bit crap for the wee Spaniard epecially after years of Honda loyalty. A dark horse could be Dovi on the Gresini bike, but if he couldn't make an impact on a Factory bike(We'll never know just how factory it was) what chance does he have on the "Factory, but not factory" Gresini bike.
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[garth]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[garth]

I'd like to see Cal Crutchlow ahead of Dovi, he was in testing.
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Are Yamaha still persisting with the crossplane crank btw?

In MotoGP where power is all, can they really afford it?
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[Al]

I don't think Iannone is riding in motogp this year unless he has changed his plans, he said a while back that he will be staying in moto2 for 2012. His 'Speed Master' team have entered a CRT bike but with Ant West as the rider!
There is still about 4/5 CRT bikes entered with no rider confirmed though.
Dovi and Hayden have training injuries, they were saying Hayden might not be able to ride at the next test.
I think the battle between Crutchlow and Dovi will be good with one of them up for the chop, hopefully the winner keeps their ride for next year and it doesn't come down to who brings the most sponsorship dosh with them.
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[UrbanRacer]

[garth]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[garth]

Sepang should give some sort of indication, though.
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[garth]

[garth]

GP12 '90% new'

https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/Preziosi%20press%20conference%20wrooom%202012
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[oldpink]

provisional lineup

1 CASEY STONER AUS - HONDA TEAM, HONDA
4 ANDREA DOVIZIOSO ITA - YAMAHA TECH 3, YAMAHA
5 COLIN EDWARDS USA - FORWARD RACING, SUTER*
6 STEFAN BRADL GER - LCR HONDA MotoGP, HONDA
8 HECTOR BARBERA SPA - PRAMAC RACING TEAM, DUCATI
9 DANILO PETRUCCI ITA - IODA RACING PROJECT, IODA*
11 BEN SPIES USA - YAMAHA FACTORY RACING, YAMAHA
13 ANTHONY WEST AUS - SPEED MASTER, ART*
14 RANDY DE PUNIET FRA - ASPAR TEAM MotoGP, ART*
17 KAREL ABRAHAM CZE - CARDION AB MOTORACING, DUCATI
19 ALVARO BAUTISTA SPA - HONDA GRESINI, HONDA
20 ALEIX ESPARGARO SPA - ASPAR TEAM MotoGP, ART*
22 IVAN SILVA SPA - BQR, BQR-FTR*
26 DANI PEDROSA SPA - HONDA TEAM, HONDA
35 CAL CRUTCHLOW GBR - YAMAHA TECH 3, YAMAHA
46 VALENTINO ROSSI ITA - DUCATI TEAM, DUCATI
51 MICHELE PIRRO ITA - HONDA GRESINI, FTR*
68 YONNY HERNANDEZ COL - BQR, BQR-FTR*
69 NICKY HAYDEN USA - DUCATI TEAM, DUCATI
77 JAMES ELLISON GBR - PAUL BIRD RACING, ART*
99 JORGE LORENZO SPA - YAMAHA FACTORY RACING, YAMAHA

posted on the motoGP site
https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2011/provisional+entry+list+motogp+2012+0
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[UrbanRacer]

decent amount on the grid now, lets hope for some good entertaining racing now.

[garth]

Ooh, Stacey Moaner wearing the #1 is he now.
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[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[robbieguy2003]

Whatever happens I think 2012 should be much better than the last season which promised a lot but didn't really deliver. Seeing SIC go out was the final nail really, such a shame and I reckon he'd have been winning regular races on the 1000s. He must have lost on straights to Stoner and Dani yet still somehow made up for it, the guy had talent.

I think the Honda this year will still be on it, the development from last year will carry through to the 1000s. I think Stoner is strong but I think this year it's a make or break year for Dani so he's going to push very hard as well, if he doesnt' hurt himself then he'll be a force.

I'd agree about Lorenzo, he's a very good rider, i think the closest to the supersmooth style of Rossi, but I dont think he can develop a bike. That was kind of proven this year when at Mugello Yamaha dismissed their developments and went back to the final 2010 spec bike that Rossi had left, so with the change to the 1000s I could see maybe Spies doing a better job initially as Lorenzo starts to learn the style of the 1000s.

And Ducati, well, i'm glad everyone on here hasn't wrote off Rossi yet, half the press seem to have along with every muppet that's not been following GP for very long.

I know this is obvious but they're either going to have a really crap run or they're going to cleanup in a massive way.

They've developed a bike in ~7 months (the Ally frame was spied in CAD @ Mugello), they've obviously not had all the time in developing alloy frames that the Jap guys have, but FTR are in on it so I reckon they stand a fighting chance. Ducati are also smaller, so that means less politics and more getting on with it, which should also let them develop faster.

The 1.5 seconds off at the Valencia test was in no way a bad thing, that cant really reflect on the new bike, the frame was attached to the old motor that was used in the CF frameless design, so it wasn't the final motor that they'll stick in. All the tubes and welds for bits weren't in their final places either, all that will effect weight, handling, setup and everything in between. I reckon at best, the Valencia bike was an initial concept to test feel and see if they could at least deliver an ok frame.

So with the engine changes (apparantly moving the angle to help weight) and a ton of other bits, they might be ok with the bike.

So if the bike is good, that leaves it down to Rossi and Co. If the bike, as they're saying is about giving the raceteams a package that allows them to freely move stuff around quite a lot, then JB and the rest should be able to do some cool stuff with it and get it running for Vale. At that point, it's over to Vale.

Some have said he's lost it since his injuries. If that was the case his Sepang win in 2010 showed nothing of that, 11th in the first corner and won the race, the guy still has oodles of talent.

And while Stoner is being put on a plinth and everyone is now saying he's untouchable, I also dont think thats the case, I do however think Stoner + HRC will be about the hardest challenge Rossi will have, but I dont think it's impossible.

I think a lot of the problems come from the single tyre rule, if everyone is running the same tyre then Ducati is a minority and the odd one out with their design, so really they're stuck from the word go. And I think this has gotten worse over the years with 2010/2011 really bearing the brunt of this.

Look at the below info;

Stoner 2007 1st (0 retirements)
Stoner 2008 2nd (2 retirements but two crashes and raced on - so 4 race crashes
Stoner 2009 4th (4 DNS, 3 due to illness, 1 his warm-up crash in Valencia) - his most consistent season on the CF duke.
Stoner 2010 4th (5 Retirements)
Rossi 2011 6th/7th, (3 Retirements - 2 of which were collisons JPN & VAL).

Stoner only really done well in 2008 on the CF duke, after that it started going downhill, even for him. It's only because he rode the granny out of it that it managed to work and then the slightest mistake would see him crash, it has however been a great 'training' vehicle for him.

But to look at what Rossi has done on it, bearing in mind that at Assen, very early on they'd effectively scrapped their season to develop a new bike, he hasn't done totally rubbish.

I think 2012 will be interesting, I hope this pays off for Ducati and they have a more ridable bike, because then it'll mix the grid up with the Customer bikes as well, so it should be good to watch.

I want it to work, not just because I like Rossi - and Hayden, but if this really fails then who can see Ducati staying beyond 2012? Last thing everyone wants is Just Honda, Yamaha and a gaggle of CRTs running in the back.

Anyway, rant over, I need to go out!
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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]

Where's the best place for news for gp?

Crash.net full of wankers!

I do has teh twitters though.
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[robbieguy2003]

Yeah the comments on crash.net are awful.

Erm, https://motomatters.com/ isn't a bad site, I follow the guy who does it on twitter as well.

Twitter is worth having though, the only thing I use it for is GP so far, prob a couple of other sites but can't think of them of the top of my head.
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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