[crankspleenless]

Fuck Lorenzo. He's got great talent. But here is my problem with him... he doesn't seem to love riding. Rossi, Marquez, any of the *greats* seem to really LOVE riding. Lorenzo seems to do it because he is good at it. I'm sure he loves it, but he comes off as a douche-canoe robot.

I think he'll finish around 12th like someone else mentioned. The Duc hasn't been very good at COTA. I don't think he will crash. He's probably had his ass chewed after last race...

 

[Anthony D]

Well, looks like he finished in 9th... Inside the top 10, wonder what Gigi will have to say about that.

 

[TheGeek]

But Crutchlow and Vinales crashed out, so that would have put him in 11th. That race was pretty boring. About the biggest excitement was watching Pedrosa fall on his face after a strong start.

 

[Anthony D]

Pedrobot cooked the shit out of his tires, and fell off bad towards the end! He had nothing for Rossi.

 

[Yngve]

But Crutchlow and Vinales crashed out, so that would have put him in 11th. That race was pretty boring. About the biggest excitement was watching Pedrosa fall on his face after a strong start.

I must have watched another race because in the one I did see Crutchlow did get 4th.

 

[Anthony D]

Yeah, Cal got 4th ahead of Zarco.

 

[TheGeek]

I must have watched another race because in the one I did see Crutchlow did get 4th.

Maybe they said Crutchlow but corrected themselves and I missed it. Who else was up in the top 10 and crashed out?

 

[Yngve]

Nobody. It was only Vinales who crashed out of the top 10.

 

[Ryan...]

Fuck Lorenzo. He's got great talent. But here is my problem with him... he doesn't seem to love riding. Rossi,

He's passionate because he loves riding and competing more than anything. Unlike Rossi or Marc, who are constantly smiling, Lorenzo is much, much more reserved.

Honestly? I hope he keeps throwing temper tantrums until Ducati decides to start LISTENING to their riders. The Ducati garage needs to accept that having the more powerful engine isn't good enough any more, and Stoner isn't coming back to make the thing lap with the Yamaha/Honda bikes. I love Ducati and will always cheer them on, but this is getting silly. They simply refuse to make a more manageable chassis that suits their riders, which is what Stoner/Rossi/Lorenzo have all said.

What more do they need? They've effectively stolen years of racing from two (three?) of the sport's greatest riders in Stoner, Rossi, and now Lorenzo, all of whom are more than capable of winning championships on competent bikes.

As it is right now, in an alternate universe, I bet Lorenzo finishes inside the top 7 every race if you put him on the Suzuki.

 

[TheGeek]

Hard to blame Ducati. Lorenzo didn't have to ride for them. I get what you're saying. They did ditch the carbon fiber chassis and they've made other smaller changes. But, Dovi is doing okay on it. Stoner did fine on it. Some of the satellite riders are holding their own.... Could they just adapt to the bike? It's pretty clear there's something about the Ducati that demands something from the rider that it would seem very different than any other bike. And don't forget, Stoner did it on a different electronics package. Remember Laguna when they had GPS and corner specific suspension and throttle maps? I'd like to see what Stoner could do racing the current generation. I'm sure it's not entirely the bike, but maybe Ducati should stop trying to polish a turd and go for a total chassis redesign.

 

[Ryan...]

Hard to blame Ducati. Lorenzo didn't have to ride for them. I get what you're saying. They did ditch the carbon fiber chassis and they've made other smaller changes. But, Dovi is doing okay on it. Stoner did fine on it. Some of the satellite riders are holding their own.... Could they just adapt to the bike? It's pretty clear there's something about the Ducati that demands something from the rider that it would seem very different than any other bike. And don't forget, Stoner did it on a different electronics package. Remember Laguna when they had GPS and corner specific suspension and throttle maps? I'd like to see what Stoner could do racing the current generation. I'm sure it's not entirely the bike, but maybe Ducati should stop trying to polish a turd and go for a total chassis redesign.

I agree that Ducati needs a ground up redesign. Keep that powerful engine, but everything else needs to go.

As for Dovi and the other satellite bikes, they've done OK at some tracks where the engine can overcompensate for the rest of the bike. I don't think anyone believes the Duc is a competitive bike that's capable of allowing someone to chase the championship. Even when Dovi isn't being smoked by his own teammates (or Pedrosa), there's too many races where he had to fight tooth and nail just to be in the top 10, let alone the top 5.

You look at the Yamaha and Honda, and there isn't a single track where you won't find both of them in the top 3-4.


The Stoner era was an odd one if I recall correctly, I do remember those GPS maps for different corners, tire manufactures and that whole controversy, etc..

 

[TheGeek]

Well, that was unexpected.....

 

[Anthony D]

Yeah, for sure. Can't complain about 3rd, although 14 seconds behind the winner isn't too good.

 

[TheGeek]

Looked like everyone was struggling, except Pedrosa.

 

[Anthony D]

Pedrosa and Marquez were the only two... And Marquez just played it safe on the last lap it seemed.

Everyone else was in a different zip code.

 

[Ryan...]

14 seconds back isn't great by any means, but the Hondas were so far above and beyond everyone else..

The fact that we saw Lorenzo mix it up with top riders again is great. I think we're starting to see the "old" Lorenzo again, he certainly enjoyed the race and was happy with the results. If he keeps molding with the bike and Ducati keeps adapting it to suit his needs, we *just* might see him on the top step this year, provided some things fall his way

 

[Anthony D]

8th at Mugello... Although he did lead the race for like 3 laps.

 

[grtfast]

Lorenzo is my least favorite rider on the grid. Zero personality. Boring riding style. Can't adapt to less that ideal conditions. Rossi, Marquez, Dovi, Zarco, and Maverick are way more fun to watch.

In the right situation, Lorenzo is unbeatable, but he's still just sterile and boring to watch in my opinion.

 

[Anthony D]

I agree. I am still surprised Ducati hasn't found a way out of their contract with him. His salary is probably bleeding them dry! Meanwhile Dovi makes a fraction of what they are paying Lorenzo, and is leading the championship.

 

[Deathstroke]

Maybe they should throw him on the Suzuki, and Iannone back on the Ducati. Both of those guys are having hard times.