MOTOGP » Troy Bayliss to test Ducati GP9

Well this oughta start some Bayliss/Rossi web yapping going again.

I cant think of anyone better than Troy to up the performance of the Ducati. He is so talented and probably a lot more technically gifted than Casey. This could make the rest of the season even more interesting.

Damn i miss bayliss racing, One of the last racers to tell it like it is & happy to rub shoulders on a bike !!!!!!

Perhaps they will find someone other than Stoner who can actually ride the thing - cos Hayden and Melandri couldn't !

This is a good move by Ducati, Bayliss has always developed a fairly "broad spectrum" set up on his bikes that most riders can work with (just look at Haga at the moment).

He did stuggle with the early 990 Duke's rear weight bias (less of a problem on the 800 due to the shorter stroke engine), to the point where he ran most of his last season with 5kg of lead ballast bolted to the bikes steering head to give some front end "feel".

I hope he can find a more user friendly set up for the GP9, Stoner could really use another Duke riding "shotgun"

Sorry but this guy is yesterdays news. He spent 3 winless seasons in MotoGP. He was clearly the number 2 rider to Capirossi when was in the factory Ducati MotoGP team and did little to impress on the RC211V, a proven package. Sounds like a courtesy ride to me. Another world superbike champion who underperformed in MotoGP. If this is Ducati's hope to improve the desomsedici, I'm afraid they will be disappointed.

Yes, but what if Bayless can't ride it? When the Ducati test rider does even worse than Hayden and Kallio hasn't done anything lately and Milandri flopped and is going so well on the orphan Kawasaki, it really is an unusual situation.

Finally! Looks like Ducati are admitting that the Desmo is a one trick poney that needs some more developing. Troy isn't exactly a 250cc style rider so he will have much different input than Stoner. Hopefully they will find something to help the other Duc riders out.

Surely Ducati have realized that Stoner has them by the balls and will have to hand over a blank check because he's the only one that has been able to win or even look respectable on the Desmo. And if no one else can ride the thing than who would want to sign with them?

I think we're getting close to the stage where even the most ardent "Ducatisti" is going to have to face up to the distinct possiblity that the bike is just a total pig. Are Ducati themselves even starting to think so and in desperation are turning to their most reliable rider over the past decade or so just to confirm it?

The list of riders that have failed miserably with the thing just keeps getting longer and longer, compounded now by the fact that Marco is back on something different and he's quick again!!

How does Stoner go so fast on it?????, that becomes more of a mystery with just about every other rider that fails.

if anyone can move ducati in the right direction it's this man with his talent and experience he should be able to tame the duke.
no point listening to haydens input look at the pigs ear he made of the rc212v