Video - Rossi's first ride on the Ducati

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by 101lifts2

Ducati has had front end issues all year...and the bike was just not as stable as the Yammi or Honda.

Stoner and Lorenzo are gonna walk Rossi in '11.

Similar words were spoken when he went to Yamaha...

[Mr Lefty]

Originally Posted by Amber Lamps

Similar words were spoken when he went to Yamaha...

that's exactly what crossed my mind when I read that!

I think the most underrated part of Rossi(and JB) is how he develops the bike... I mean look how quick he turn the Yami around in just the off season the first year on the bike.

[Amber Lamps]

Originally Posted by eBBs15

that's exactly what crossed my mind when I read that!

I think the most underrated part of Rossi(and JB) is how he develops the bike... I mean look how quick he turn the Yami around in just the off season the first year on the bike.

Everyone said that it was impossible to win on the Yamaha but Rossi did it. Heck, that's been a going theme in MotoGp for as long as I've watched it. There have always been "non-ridable"/"non-competitive" bikes that some special rider manages to win on. Even Casey Moaner is an example of this.

[defector]

Goddam I love the sound of that bike.

[Porkchop]

Originally Posted by Amber Lamps

Everyone said that it was impossible to win on the Yamaha but Rossi did it. Heck, that's been a going theme in MotoGp for as long as I've watched it. There have always been "non-ridable"/"non-competitive" bikes that some special rider manages to win on. Even Casey Moaner is an example of this.

Casey Moaner won on an 800.... not a 990. The 990 was the bike that no one could tame....

[Dave]

Originally Posted by eBBs15

that's exactly what crossed my mind when I read that!

I think the most underrated part of Rossi(and JB) is how he develops the bike... I mean look how quick he turn the Yami around in just the off season the first year on the bike.

Somehow I doubt it was valentino himself who yanked the carbs for fuel injection and tossed the 180* crank in favor of a crossplane.

[fasternyou929]

Originally Posted by Dave

Somehow I doubt it was valentino himself who yanked the carbs for fuel injection and tossed the 180* crank in favor of a crossplane.

While he's not an engineer, he gives the inputs that drive the engineers to make specific impovements:

Front end and chassis stability under braking and throughout a turn
Smooth, predictable power delivery
How well are the traction control and wheelie control electronics working
How well does the bike tip-in
etc.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by fasternyou929

While he's not an engineer, he gives the inputs that drive the engineers to make specific impovements:

Front end and chassis stability under braking and throughout a turn
Smooth, predictable power delivery
How well are the traction control and wheelie control electronics working
How well does the bike tip-in
etc.

Right, and I get that. But he isint making hardware decisions and yamaha made some big ones that year

[fnfalman]

Hell, everybody said that Stoner was the man and the Duck was the bike after the first year's slaughter. Then comes next year and the year after that...neither Stoner was the man nor the Duck was the bike.

[Porkchop]

VALENCIA, SPAIN, NOV 9 - Nicky Hayden and new teammate Valentino Rossi spent the first of two days of testing trying to pick an engine. The choice for 2011 is the big bang or screamer firing order and both were put into service. Hayden was faster on the big bang, but liked the screamer, and said there was more work to do before making a decision.

Hayden said that if he was "racing tomorrow we'd choose big bang, because obviously I've been riding it all year. I'm a bit more comfortable on it. Though the screamer I enjoyed riding a lot. Was, the sound was amazing. I mean, probably the best sounding bike I've ever ridden. And the feeling, when you open the throttle it had some drive and was really responsive. I enjoyed riding it a lot, but it was a bit aggressive.

Filippo Preziosi, the genius behind the Ducati race team, said the main goal of the test is to decide the firing order for next year. Ducati has prepared three bikes; one is a GP10 bike with the big bang engine, that is more or less the bike that raced on Sunday, one is a GP11 with a revised version of the Big Bang engine, and the other is the screamer. The plan is to start with the GP11 big bang engine, make minimal chassis changes, then jump on the other GP11 to start the direct comparison. Preziosi said that such a test should be undertaken in private, but that's not possible, so he asked Rossi for a favor. Rather than search for the day's best lap time, Rossi's brief is to concentrate on the two engines.

Sounds like they might be staying with the revised big bang...