MOTOGP » Nakano to get factory Honda at Brno

I think one of the reason our great champions (Rossi, Schumi etc) have been so successful is because they have the ability to make their team really work and feel like a team, to motivate all the people around them even when things get tough and make everyone work together in the same direction. Does Stoner or Pedrosa have this ability? Well, we only see a fraction of their racing lives, but from that it certainly doesn't seem like that.

Anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is...
Go Nicky! Go Shinya!

lol look at all these Hayden ball swingers!

@ That Dude

Do rest of the field were also on a REPSOL HONDA FACTORY BIKE? No! And in 2006, Melandri has won as many races as Fayden's entire career in a single season on a satellite machine for crying out loud. And the race Fayden won in Germany was hardly a win, I was so happy for CE when Fayden's bike stopped running right before the line, haha payback is a bish!

The only reason he even made it to MotoGP is because of Honda America, this guy is so overrated is not even funny. lol you guys said he's having some bad luck atm? I think he used all his luck in 2006. Last year and this year continue to prove how overrated he really is.

You have to think this move perhaps shows HRC being a little peeved with both their riders. Nicky seems to be almost dead man walking, while Pedrobot can't ride hurt. Still the American market is to important to be seen as slagging Nicky, and none of the Honda AMA riders have any MotoGP potential. In fact DuHamel's place on the team at his age is an admission of their lack of potential. Hodgeson hasn't been able to produce anything like his expectations. Word on Soup is Honda was after Rossi (fat chance) as well as Ducati. Boy that would really be overkill to have the 2 best riders on the Duck! If nakano doesn't show well at Bruno, their will be some red faces in the old HRC corral.

An overrated World Champion? How does that sound? So what does that say about the riders he beat for the championship? How many former MotoGP Champions are on the grid? Rossi, Stoner, and Hayden - it's 3 and Hayden is one of them. And he would have been in GP without Honda - Yamaha was gonna sign him if Honda didn't so US Honda went ahead and put him in the Repsol Team. Not to mention HRC pulled their WSBK factory team after 2002 - there was no where to put him but GP if they wanted to keep him.

People keep harping on Nicky's 3 wins & saying its not enough. What about the rest of the grid who have been there equally as long if not longer with 0 wins? Should they not be in MotoGp either? - posted by That Dude

The other riders without a win don't have the luxury of being in the biggest team in the paddock, so no they should not go, they also have not put in thousands of laps and failed to develop the bike. And please stop trotting out that crap about the bike being developed for Dani, rubbish this is HRC & they are more than capable of developing a machine for each rider, just face it Flukey does not have the ability to develop anything let alone race and mix it

Prolific, where have you been? Have you just started watching MotoGP this year? HONDA PUBLICLY ADMITTED THEY BUILT THE BIKE FOR PEDROSA LAST YEAR. So crap it is not - it's fact. HRC might be able to develop two bikes but they don't - no manufacture develops bikes for each rider. Are you new to MotoGP? Anyone that watches knows that.

HRC quiting WSBK in '02, reminds me how they told Colin they would have no ride for him in '03, just after he won the Suzuki 8 hr for them and went on to win the WSBK title. Then they pissed off Rossi big time and then did a hatchet job on Max. And the Repsol 800 bike was clearly sized for a midget. Get the drift. Luckily for HRC Divo looks to be the real deal so they have a back-up to Pedrobot. But they have no edge in the bike and a liability in Michlins as of now. Will Bridgestone be willing to take on more customers is the question.

So Red Dawg why do the riders get the machines taylored to fit them, i.e seat height, padding, bars and foot peg position, and the electronics don't they get mapped to suit the rider let alone the circuit

@guest ( whoever you may be) and prolific...

The Repsol Honda hasnt been the best bike on the grid in a while, definately not in 06! So all the nonsense about everybody else not being on a Repsol Honda can go. As for your case for Melandri, that just proves how much impact a bike that suits the rider has. I think Raw Dog's post sums up the rest of what I have to say...

er, when talk about "building a bike" it ain't exactly the bolt-ons (pegs, seat, bars, etc) that matter. It's the size, geometry, weight transfer, front or rear bias, etc. It's the built-in characteristics that aren't affected by changing the bolt-on stuff. Being able to adjust seat, pegs, bars, and the like are for rider comfort - not performance or riding style.