Ducati: Stoner has nothing to prove.

For sure, Stoner has nothing to prove. The bike handles like a pig, as you could see the way it bucked and weaved today. He still gave it 100% with the other Ducati's nowhere as usual.
Quite right - Ducati need to get their act together and produce an all-round competitive and rideable bike.

Yes nothing to prove but more to repeat? (for championship)

Nonsense, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the handling on the duke. it's the electronics that need mastering which Stoner has. The bucking is because he doesn't have the finesse of a Rossi, with Rossi the bucking is gentler because it is controlled by his right wrist, with CS it's the electronics, he gets on the power almost immediately after the apex, but rather than a gentle rolling of the wrist it's the on/off(noughts and ones) of the electronics which mean they bite harder, but it is also what has made him so fast...not an excuse...He was well beaten from 9th by Rossi and demolished by DP...he has a lot to prove..........

I guess rossi was right about the same tires as Casey. Well they been on the same tires all season now and Rossi has been kicking his but. Casey's advantage last year was clearly machinery. He's still has a power advantage but now he doesn't hold a Tire and Power advantage. Rossi is easily the better rider on equal equipment. Vale can pass you anywhere. DP and casey can mostly only get you on the straight.

Well, if Casey had actuyally spent hte first few laps battling with Dani, rather than making mistakes, I doubt Dani would have gotten away. If he is fighting, he cant get into his rythm and the smooth style that gives him the most speed.

In terms of the bike bucking and weaving today and it being a problem. It bucked and weaved its way to last years MotoGP championship with Stoner sitting on it, and that never seemed to be a problem.

I think CSs main problem was the way that DP went off, Stoner was trying to match laptimes he couldn't do the whole weekend and I think early on this is what lead to the mistakes.
Dani is so smooth..

Note to yamaha-- must fit launch control like duke and honda...wow

Hats off to the guy. You can say whatever you like about how Stoner won the championship last year but it was emphatic in the same way as so many of Valentino's championship's. I'm no expert but even if the Ducati was that much better than evey other manufacturer, how is it possible that he was so much stronger than Capirossi last year and Melandri this year? Both these guys are obviously great riders but they havent been able to make the thing work at the same level.
Its plain to see that Melandri is struggling. Its been a great season so far as i'm sure it will continue to be.

Yes there is something to prove but it is not CS's ability but rather Ducati's ability to produce a 2008 bike that is predictable and can be ridden competitively by all Ducati riders. In the early laps CS seem to skate around everywhere causing him to loose position. Even when the bike came on in the last 6-7 laps watching the VR Yamaha and the CS Ducati lap after lap we saw a predictable bike that looked easy to ride and had good turn in compared to a bike that jumped,bucked and generally looked out of control.
Preziosi's comments are correct and the ball is in Ducati's court to provide a bike that is competitive without having to be ridden at 110%. That may mean a non steel frame.

CS just whacks open the throttle and let the bike do the rest.More than ride it like a 250GP bike,he rides it like a 125GP bike. Stoner uses more electronics than anybody, since he rides it like a 125GP. The b-stone front tires is GREAT and has loads of grip. Any 125 or 250 rider could do well on the duc. Problem is that none of the riders are. Capi and marco have not ridden one in a long time. If lorenzo were on the duc, stoner would be toast.

Weaving? Anybody notice Pedrosa? He even jumped on the grass at the end of the curbing.

I'm no expert but even if the Ducati was that much better than evey other manufacturer, how is it possible that he was so much stronger than Capirossi last year and Melandri this year?
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Loris didnt have a great year, but certainly not too far off what he normally would do '07=7th '06=3rd '05=6th, 04=9th) If Sete didnt take him out, he might have won a champ, but that means little.

He definately did not adapt to the 250cc style, rather than the old school 500/990 style, of racing. Casey did (but then Casey didnt spend a whole lotta time in the 990s) and he was quite happy to nail the throttle (like it needs) and ride around the bucking.
melandri certainly cant handle that

The bucking and weaving (for casey) appears fine, especially when the ducati is out in the front, but when in the middle of a fight, it doesnt help.

Look at Casey's 10 wins last year, average winning margin of 5seconds. He rode fantastically to best use the bikes major advantage to his advantage. He won one, a really close win, which you would call a fight - Catalunya.

the power advantage allowed casey to avoid the major weak point of the ducati, stability when fighting.

melandri just cant adapt to 'that' bike, and its being reflected with Caseys riding as well.

kenlucky kid if lorenzo rode the ducati they would have a
permanent booking for him at the local hospitals. the yamaha looks like the best handling bike out there and he still manages to bin 2or3 times a weekend.

kj..The bucking and weaving on exit is not the problem. It is the initial unpredictable turn in to mid corner(off to mid throttle)that is issue with Ducati especially on uneven surfaces. The chassis setup window for the Ducati seems to be so narrow that a slight variation in track conditions appears to see them well out of that optimum window.

The bike performs better as the temperature rises and if there is a billiard smooth track surface.

Yes the GP7 did well last year but remember some races have been run 30 seconds plus faster than last year with this years race time here being 14 seconds faster.

What worked at that 2007 pace appears not to work at the 2008 pace.

Clear demostration (Yamaha)being a superior bike to the (Ducati).I would of love to see stoners rear tire at the end compared to the Yamaha's,Ducati must realise that a screamer type engine looks good but does nothing for tyres and power finess...time to change and start doing the right thing.

Nick..It was VR's rear tyre that looked a little second hand at the end. CS's corner exit speed was as good if not better than VR's during those last 7 laps but turn in to mid corner still suspect.
The lack of rear end grip with the CS Ducati was in the earlier laps and early to mid corner and mainly on left hand corners indicating a cooler part of the rear tyre. Forget the BS you read about engine configuration as the current Ducati problem seems to be before power is fully applied.
Ducati's problem is with tracks that have anything other than a billiard smooth surface.
If the GP9 appears in post race testing let's see if it still has the the traditional Ducati frame/chassis.

CA, I doubt Ducati will go away from the traditional steel frame, but who knows, even Bianchi went from titanium to carbon fiber on the road bikes (bicycle).

Thanks Guy..I believe the current traditional steel frame of the Ducati MotoGP racer is the root cause of their problems with inconsistant handling and problems over uneven and cold surfaces but it can still be fast in the wet in the right hands with the right tyres. The steel frame would also do little to dampen engine vibration/harmonics. Re titanium it is certainly lighter but less flexible,a greater chance of cracking and in my opinion would be worse than steel however I know you are not suggesting that.

The question is,will the GP9 have a alloy or CF mono?

CA, the bucking and weaving is related to the mid-corner issues. THey all tie back the nature of the electronic engine management, and how it saves fuels into the corner, and allows application of the throttle out of the corner.

but the bike appears to be no different to last years in terms of the way it behaves into and out of the corners.

of course stoney has nothing to prove...it has proven that vale is much better than stoney...once vale got a good machinery and good tyre (even still less power than ducati), vale can "play around" with stoney and finally stoney can not do anything about it...

it's proven in the catalan race, watch the race carefully...do you really think that vale really fighting with stoney?? not in this world! vale just want to give us a good race to watch, show to all of us that he can just play around with stoney on the track and prove that he is still at least 1 step level above stoney...

anyone want to argue with this??? think about it !!!!

kj..The problem before mid corner started at Jerez where the front end just let go unusually before mid corner. If this was a purely electronic issue it could have been reprogrammed for all or part of a practice or race. Electronic issues are quick and easy to fix or work around but inherit mechanical problems are not. Fuel savings into corners would be little compared to a bike that could hook up around corners and be consistent with it's handling(ie:quicker with less wasted fuel). Did you notice how Stoner went off three times over the same bump under braking in Portugal?
The bucking and weaving on exit is not the issue here unless it is followed by a change of direction corner.