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god your full of shit Nostro

When Rossi first got on the Ducati he had just had a massive shoulder reconstruction and looked like death. But according to you it was fine and it was a weak excuse for not being able be on the pace from the off. Give it up before you look like the total loser most of us know you are to the rest of the blinkered pawns.

Lessons in life..

Old wosi has been paying attention for quite some time and would wager he's ridden more bikes than Eddy's had wanks over his photo's, although it's probably close..

The natural order of things mean we all grow older, slow down, get a few more aches & pains..usually becoming a little more sensible and aware of our vulnerability along the way.

Top sportsmen have to deal with this well known fact in condensed terms. Their sell-by-date comes around a lot quicker and it is probably one of the hardest things to judge when you should quit, especially if you're still at the top.

Like Jockeys, riders are but part of the equation in their sporting success. The horse does the running like the bike covers the miles. Lorenzo didn't sprint 170 laps of Sepang at the test..he piloted his bike. They are not fighters or rugby players, whose bodies are everything..and, if they stay largely injury free and still have the motivation, can extend careers beyond the competitive norm.

Rossi must be aware he's approaching an age where many have retired..I think in 'modern times' only Phil Read, nearly 40 years ago, has won the title at a more advanced age than Val is now. It won't be easy and he has said as much.

A broken leg, the first big injury of his career, and Marco have only seved to heighten this awareness, probably altering the way he rides a little. At Ducati, he simply was not prepared to try and ride the bike over it's ill defined limits to get 4th or 5th, like previous riders.

In practice/testing, he crashed more often than at any point in his career other than the start..so he was trying to identify that limit.

Herein lies Ducati's problem..Due to lack of front end feel, world class riders keep crashing the fkn thing because the tipping point is so vague.

Marquez fell losing the front and said he knows where the limit is now. Not so at Ducati.

The new Ducati riders will have to re-assess parameters and it is going be a painful learning curve.

The pain will be all the greater for realising it doesn't matter how brave or determined they are, the same thing is going to happen time & time again..as the opposition disappear into the distance.

That can break a Man's spirit..and with nothing on the horizon to change things, this year will be a real test for Dovi and Spies.

Shut up comedian...

In his 1st year in the Duke Rossi pushed and felt and showed bravery with the thing. The difference is the opposition moved on. After the 1st year and the failure from their r&d to deliver a competitive bike he decided not to push anymore to gain 1- 2 aces on the grid risking to really heart himself. Wise choice. Stoner left Ducati for the same reasons and when the gap with yamahonda's was much smaller. What really matters is that he kept trying and he admited he could not ride the bike like CS. Chapeau! In the opposite way, Stoner never admited Rossi kicked his ass in LAGUNA, didn't accepted his congratulations nor apologies in France, had lactose syndrome, started to hate the fans, the Brits, his dog... And then Lorenzo erases him in an inferior bike and he goes fishing. Kaput, quit, dead, gone.

Reverse gear..

There are plenty of technically challenged fans calling for a return the CF monocoque concept.

What baffles me, is why stop there?

Why not go the whole hog and go back to the steel trellis frame that brought rider & manufacturer titles. The GP7/8 amassed 17 wins in the last two seasons before it was replaced? 

I mean..the CF bike chopped that win statistic to just 7 the following in two years following it's introduction - Five wins a season less - and saw Ducati drop to bottom of the current MSMA pile in the manufacturer standings?

What the hell were they playing at?

Ben Spies

This might be considered as off topic but I have a comment about Ben Spies. He's recovering from a serious shoulder injury and 2 seconds off the pace. So this means that he's right on the Ducati pace whilst adjusting to the red devil and injured. So I for one am looking forward to seeing how well he goes once he is fully recovered and racing starts again. As for Rossi, I heard that he said (of the Ducati after his first test on it) that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. Cheers,