Gibernau piles on more Ducati miles.

If Sete's the only rider other than Casey that can go quick on the Duke then give the man a ride!
He can only get faster....

With that timing he would have been 7th on the grid. I have a feeling that all testing works are setting up the same for Casey Stoners bike. Ducati seems to be piling behind one rider for the championship and neglecting the other 3 ducati riders. It cant be that all 3 riders are that bad. Suddenly Bignergau can do 7th fastest time coming out of retirement. Thats a big surprise. So Casey Stoner is getting the goodies only. Great awesome. way to go Ducati

As exptected: not exactly on the top after three tests...but quite close to it. If Ducati would have exchanged Melandri before Sachsenring (as was guessed before), by now Giber would be competitive for maybe even podium finishes.
Ducati! What the hell are you waiting for??? I feel sorry for Melandri but he will never be a WC on the Duke, he will go back to Honda asap. No to mention that at the moment he is unable to support Stoner by taking points from the opponents.

Ducati...if you do not replace Melandri, please provide sete gibernau with the 3rd factory ducati on the grid and lets see how well he does. This testing is getting annoying, let the man race!!!

It puzzles me why Ducati won't give Gibbernut a bike to race - he might even take some points of Mr Rossi, doubtful I know but at least he'll be nearer the sharper end than Marco.

My guess is Ducati are trying to tempt Gibbernut into riding a satellite bike next year...

1.48 is like 7th on the grid . And if Bigernau is testing at that speedsthan he must be testing Casy Stoner's settings and goodies. Because the other 3 Ducati rider are in the 49 and 50's. It cannot be good news than. Seems Ducati is focussing on one rider for the Championship. Last year they took all the resources from Capirossi and concentrated on CS. How does a retired rider go faster than the current riders. Ducati is holding back something from the other 3 riders for sure.

saran Dorairaj WHY??? You made no sense. Even more so if you consider last year (when Stoner was No 2). Why would they give everything to the foreigner who they are paying less. I remember reading an article somewhere last year that said something about stoner getting something like $1.5 while Melandri is getting $3. I think that was base salary with podium/winning bonuses. It also may have changed now.

Marco needs confidence.

Put three bikes out there for the factory, Give Sete one. I want three rider teams anyway.

Can't they make a new rule that established factory teams must have 3 riders (new manufacturers can have two riders so it's not a hindrance for KTM, Aprillia,

In my perfect world there are over 25 riders 4 across when lined up and all those manufacturers as well as good old Triumph are competing

It could be that Gibernau is playing a game with Ducati, not yet committing to anything, bringing up some good times on the track and maybe waiting for Ducati to make a proper offer and not just providing him with a stand in ride until the end of the year. It would certainly be interesting to see him in the mix, as many have said on this forum, he was Rossi's only rival for a few years there. The time off the bike hasn't slowed him down. Maybe he will be a better rider, more calm and let's face it, he has something to prove, which is to win at least one more MotoGP race and remove the Valcurse.

Ducati will keep Gibernau until to-wards the end of the season if Rossi and Stoner are close in the WC Ducati will use Sete as a storm trooper to take Rossi out,from what I remember Sete owes Rossi from a few years back and will only be toooooo happy with the assignment

Saran, OK we understand, you're obviously not a Stoner fan. Maybe, just maybe, although he is/was a bit fickle when it comes to mind games, Gibernuts has a bit of talent and it wasn't luck that got him the results he had in his heyday. And face it, maybe also the young Mr Stoner might have what it takes.
Your bias is pathetic. Personally I don't think you'd have a clue.

Testing times are only an indication, but you need other riders on the track at the same time for comparison. Get Melandri and the Alice crew out there with Gobbernau to see if he's quicker.

The other thing is how's Giblets race craft? 7th on the grid means nowt if you haven't got the balls to hold a position or move up the field!

Saran is onto something here.

Saran am I right in thinking that the whole Ducati re-entry into MotoGP was only done for Stoner? Troy, Loris and Sete were test mules, who were hired, just to get the bike, oh so perfect for Stoner?

Stoner was never the 4 -5 th choice back in 2006 for the Ducati ride.

He was the Golden child at Birth and all Ducati's efforts have been for the 2007 season with the chosen one.

Is this all correct Saran??????????

@ Ducati will use Sete as a storm trooper

Tooooooo optimistic theory If they use him like that, Italians (read as fans) wouldn't forgive Ducati. Maybe even slump in Ducati sales and unpopular in Italy

Its been proven that with the mental weakness of Gibernau, he cannot ever beat Valentino.
Giber can be a good test rider but Ducati should go for Nicky, not old retired horse.

Basta with this Gibernau talks he is a fragile old racing horse that never had that little bit extra to really close the deal!!!
he was really good in some races but somehow he didn't really succeed when it really counted. and that was on the 990 Honda the easy est bike to ride.
on the 990 Ducati Gibernau was average and not more, exactly like the times he is doing in these Ducati tests.
so if you look from Ducati's point of view Gibernau is better then Melandri but i think that Ducati are looking for someone abit more promising then the old Spanish stallion,
unless all they are looking for is a second grade rider that will score team points every race.

Yeah, but seventh on the grid is much better than 18th. Not to mention that Gibernau´s race pace was around 1´50.5...which was exactly Melandri´s qualification time. Not to mention that with continously around 1´50.5 Giber could have been fighting even for podium! For sure since then the Duke improved a lot and we do not know how Giber would act in a real race (he was not to lucky in 2006 as well) but these times are more then impressing. I am not sure Hayden gets the ride for 2009 if he will be sitting on the Ducati´s offer any longer...
Gibernau is more then just a test mule as Edwards at Yamaha...he seems to be still capable of winning.

trr
the only thing Gibernau collected from his 2006 season with Ducati was injuries and metal plates!!!!
if he crashed in the test a sterile environment with no pressure what do you think will happen when faster bikes will pass him on track???

Bringing old rider that can almost as fast as Stoner is a good way to prove Ducati bike is rideable....
I think whatever the bike, as it is Duc, Honda, Yamaha, sete will get very good time....

So he must have finally dispelled the curse already. Can't wait to see him torment the clown with the red thing.