Or maybe in the background it will make aprilia give themselves a kick up the back side, for the better. Would be good to see them come through and start mixing with the top few, as Suzuki do.
I think that Bradders (no, not you @bradders ) is a prime example of how a team want their rider to behave when the bike is not it’s best. When the KTM has struggled, he behaves impeccably.
Smith also seems happy with just riding the bike and developing it. His teammate beats him, he just cracks on. He has a job to do, so he does it. No real ego. That isn’t Kent or Redding. Their ambition is far higher and egos far bigger.
Think they do. He does a perfect job for them: genuine MGP quality rider and happy to test whatever they put under him. Real pro who understands the team effort stuff imho
Pretty sure he always knew he couldn’t win. There are only a few that can. But he’s happy to do a job that is riding bikes.
I think he just lacks that willingness to chuck it into a corner and see what the outcome is after. Strikes me as methodical. Grab a tenth here, a hundredth there and slowly build a better idea of what parts have what affect on the bike.
I wouldn’t argue about him being happy.... however if I were managing a MotoGP team, he wouldn’t be in it. I would definitely consider him as a test rider though.
I know what you are saying. Don’t know if he brings an sponsorship, which is another criteria. It’s worked for KTM because it’s a real test and they are a development team, but if they want to win the title in 2020 they will need to buy in an alien. I’d be surprised if Kent or Redding brought much.
politically incorrect move I'd say, but I guess he knew the writing was on the wall. He's a talented rider just needs a good bike and he could be up there with the rest of them .......good luck to him regardless.
I know this is a Scott Redding thread, but as we mentioned Danny Kent, I want to express some highly subjective and possibly factually incorrect views!! It seems to me as though Danny's dip in form coincided with when he started dating the blonde (very glamourous) girl when he was in Moto 3... and he only just held on to win the title. Then one interview that I saw, I think last season, or it could have been this season, mentioned about needing to train in the gym for Moto 2, and that he didn't really like it but was going to start. We all have our own ways of achieving our goals and motivating ourselves, but I'm not sure if the dedication and commitment was as visible as some of his peers. All the top riders are 100% focused and extreme in their training and commitment. Yes, Moto 3 world champion was a superb achievement, and it was won fair and square and fully deserved. But with Danny's talent, how can it be that his results have been so terrible in the Moto 2 class? Perhaps the teams have not been the best, but look at Quateraro - on his way to a reasonably competitive (for a rookie) MotoGp ride by producing some great rides on the unpopular SpeedUp. I hope Danny can shine again in the right environment.
Scott's obviously a bit of a thick twat. But he's perhaps a bit naïve through youth, so I'll cut him some slack. You have to be very careful what you say, and that applies to all walks of life- particularly when you're at work. And Aprilia is where Scott works right now. Fine, he may be able to jump ship but his bridge with Aprilia is well and truly burnt. And also some cultures will take deep offence at the way we brits often casually phrase things. The Italians for example don't appreciate perceived loutishness, the Japanese even less so. I'm a field service engineer for gas turbine company and I sometimes get frustrated with design, tech support, lead times etc when I'm out in the field. But I'm a company representative and the last thing I'm going to do is gob off to the wider audience about how shite our products are.... I'd be down the road sharpish. With Scott
