Valentino Rossi has warned that Ducati cannot expect miracles in the 2012 MotoGP season opener in Qatar. In the wake of a troubled pre-season - in which Rossi feels the team took the wrong direction initially - the Italian says Ducati will enter Doha neither 'too excited' nor 'too depressed'. He also drew parallels between Ducati's situation and that of Ferrari in Formula 1, but said he did not know whether the team would be capable of an upset akin to Fernando Alonso's surprise victory in Malaysia. "I don't know whether it's possible for us to do such a miracle in Doha," Rossi was quoted as saying in relation to Ferrari's Malaysian triumph byGazzetta dello Sport. "This is our real situation at this time: not too excited like at Sepang [test] one, nor so depressed like at Sepang two. "I've told [Filippo] Preziosi [Ducati Corse general manager] what are the things that don't work. After the first test in Malaysia someone had some 'marvellous ideas' that turned out to be s**t." Rossi said that the wrong direction the team had taken at Sepang had severely limited what it had then been able to learn from the final test at Jerez, although he said he still hopes the bike can be developed as the season progresses. "We began the Jerez test with the ideas that came up in that Sepang second test, which turned out to be wrong," Rossi admitted. "The rain on the second day made us lose plenty of time, so on the third day we had to do everything we didn't manage to do before, and when we had reached a decent point there was no more time nor tyres. "At least I've managed to do 15 consecutive laps. This is our position at the moment, and if everything goes well we'll be able to do it again in Qatar. "Let's keep in mind that this bike has only done eight track days, so I hope we'll be able to improve it during the season." Article Link: The Ducati Forum – Rossi: ‘Don’t expect miracles in Quatar’
I watched 2007 Moto GP DVD the other day, VR was patting and kissing the Yam+ha. I thought he doesn't love his Desmo like that. Apparently 71% in a poll think VR will win a race for Ducati. Wishful thinkers maybe, even the VR faithful must be a getting concerned.
Didn't you say he should stop whinging and get on with it? He's always moaning, blaming the bike, someone else. .. :tongue: Love you Stevie baby :biggrin:
Come on guys, between the two of you just accept that both Rossi and Stoner have more talent in their little finger than any of the rest of us will EVER have...and lets not turn this into a rider slating thread.,......they DO get a bit tiresome after a while.......
Aww, gissa kiss Dave Of course they're more talented than anyone on this forum, that goes without saying. It wasn't a rider slanging thread nor was I turning it into one, I can have a bit of banter with Steve just like I can with you ya ginga ninja (isn't being on the other side of the world cool?!) In all seriousness, fair enough. It was nothing personal, just a bit of banter. If you don't want banter on this site then fair enough, I won't argue with the majority.
The Stoner v Rossi needle will continue long into the night, but in the cold light of day, when they both hang up their leather's and the record books are cast in stone then and only the will the true GOAT be known.
I think VR will need to beat Ago's records to be the goat tbh. But with the younger riders coming good i doudt that will happen, But VR might win a race for Ducati and not many riders have 3 in the premier class wins on different bikes on their CV. Even doohan never left Honda! Lawson did and won.
Hey TP whats it like being back home and having to drink that kangaroo piss beer you have down under ? :smile:
There's so many new beers for me to try it's been great. A busy 4.5 mths that I've been back :wink: Hahn super dry is my favourite at the moment. But there's plenty of nice pale ales around, and wheat beers...mmmmm
Yeah true, but in Ago's day and even in the Sheene era, they raced so much more. They could race in 2-3 different classes on the same day to rack up their wins tally. Non of this prima donna, pampering they get now. I also think that the 3 different constructors is a real possibility for Casey as he's done the hard one, gone to Honda and it's been like it's on rails, so the hatrick with a Yamaha is a very possible reality. Someone give the kid a pint of milk to slooow him down and give the others a chance. Anth
I don't think Motogp will exist in it's current format in 5 years and Stoner has only recently said he won't continue if it all goes CRT-stylee. I think we are seeing out the golden era of Prototype motorcycle racing.
