When Ducati MotoGP test rider Vittoriano Guareschi suffered a minor injury during testing at Mugello, former seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher was called up to take his place on Thursday - but once again denied any racing ambitions.
Never slowed him down when he broke both legs in the car ;)
Posted by Gunthar - Unregistered (42 days ago)
2 people disagree.
Over 40, what would you like to see? He is good enough without so much experience and any carrier on ride although it seems like a PR activity.
Anyway he is a source of rating!...
Posted by King - Unregistered (42 days ago)
4 people agree.3 people disagree.
if he ride a snail in under 2 mins replace elias and put shumi in
Posted by rbr46 - Unregistered (42 days ago)
4 people agree.5 people disagree.
put him on the bike he couldnt do any worse than melandri!!!
Posted by yamaha r1 - Unregistered (42 days ago)
3 people agree.1 people disagree.
yamaha r1 - mate, that's a little harsh , keep the faith, Melandri will catch on. Like somebody said before, if it's in the blood, doesn't matter how many wheels that thing got, you can ride it fast..
Posted by Peter99 - Unregistered (42 days ago)
4 people agree.2 people disagree.
Dunno about that Peter99
Marco is a *good* rider with the history to prove it... but so is/was Loris Capirossi and he struggled much of the time and so did Alex Barros.
That Ducati's a brilliant bike but evidently a very weird one too.
Melandri is a professional driver on two wheels and Schumi was in other planet. If Schumi chose his way in MotoGP, the scenario could be different!...But in reality he is retired and he doesn' t have any intention to break any record anymore!...
Posted by King - Unregistered (42 days ago)
2 people agree.2 people disagree.
Lets not get too excited, his time is about as quick as the kids on 125's do, no doubt he's faster than your average weekend warrior, but he would look very slow if he was thrown in as a wildcard.
Posted by Tom - Unregistered (42 days ago)
1 people agree.2 people disagree.
I thought barros did alright on the ducati
Posted by Brendan - Unregistered (42 days ago)
1 people agree.2 people disagree.
Ducati has bought in Schumacher to sort out the handling of the beasts ;) ;)
Posted by Saltbush - Unregistered (42 days ago)
2 people agree.2 people disagree.
Tom's right: He's unbelievably fast for someone who is new two-wheeled racing, but still nowhere near as fast as the regular MotoGP field. For perspective, here's a comparison to the 2007 Mugello GP: If he had done 23 laps at his best time, he would have been lapped by the twelve fastest riders, and would have crossed the finish line more than a minute behind Kurtis Roberts.
Posted by mZERO - Unregistered (42 days ago)
4 people agree.1 people disagree.
Don't forget to take into account the 'Difficult weather conditions' so comparing times against last years Race ain't exactly Apples with Apples - never have liked Schumacher, but have never failed to be impressed by him either. A True living Legend!
You can't expect someone riding GP8 for the 1st time to run with a regular MotoGP level pace. Yet, he was faster than his 990cc ride previously at Mugello. 1.58s consider a quite an improvement withing 42 laps. Give him a regular 3 days tests like regular MotoGP riders did, we might see an interesting pace coming out from him.
We don't have to expect he will ride for MotoGP race or a wildcard. But, a new like this from a F1 legend definitely welcome by MotoGP fans. I think he pursue his personal adventure on how long it take for him to ride MotoGP bike within the record pace before he retire from handling any high speed vehicle.
Posted by zydon - Unregistered (42 days ago)
2 people agree.2 people disagree.
Pretty impressive, no doubt, particularly considering that the Ducati seems to be too much for anyone in Motogp whose name isn't Casey Stoner. Makes you wonder..
Posted by Mattjam - Unregistered (42 days ago)
2 people agree.2 people disagree.
I love how Schumi said he won't do Le Mans etc because its to dangerous but yet he jumps on a wild Moto GP bike!
Posted by no need to know who - Unregistered (42 days ago)
3 people agree.1 people disagree.
There is probably 10,000 racers worldwide who could do as well this.
The only difference is they would not generate the PR you get with Michael.
Vittoriano Guareschi does not have to worry about losing his ride to Schumi.
Put somebody on the bike desparate to get to MotoGP and see what happens.
Posted by Garry Coates - Unregistered (42 days ago)
1 people agree.1 people disagree.
I will add that this is pretty much how Casey Stoner got his first race at 16 years old in the MotoGP/500 cc class.
I think there is much more value in hunting for talent then making PR.
If not, give Randy Mamola a ride!
Posted by Garry Coates - Unregistered (42 days ago)
Although the administrators and moderators of this website will attempt to keep all objectionable comments off these pages, it is impossible for us to review all messages.
All messages express the views of the poster, and neither Crash Media Group nor Crash.Net will be held responsible for the content of any message.
We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any message.
If you find a message objectionable, please contact us and inform us of the problem or use the [report] function next to the offending post.
Any message that does not conform with the policy of this service can be edited or removed with immediate effect.