The two Andreas came out swinging, and Ducati nearly took the win in the opening round of the MotoGP series this year. With its recent dismal history, fans weren’t necessarily ready to accept that Ducati was the real deal, until after the first three races. The Desmosedici GP15 and the two Andreas (Dovizioso and Ianonne) are the real deal.
Nevertheless, after Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) reeled off four straight wins, the focus seemed to shift to the Yamaha battle with Honda’s defending champion Marc Marquez. Just as the first half of the series ended, Marquez seemed to get his Honda sorted, and so the focus remains on Yamaha and Honda, for the most part.
But Ducati completed testing at Misano, recently, and from the beginning of the year, it seemed to have the bike with the most potential. Furthermore, this is definitely a two man team. Everyone knew Dovizioso was fast, but Iannone, who currently sits third in the points, is a potential race winner, as well. Keep an eye on Ducati as the second half of the series gets underway at Indianapolis this weekend.
Indianapolis in the wet. Haydon near the pole, Ducati low side crashes, Rossi leading from the begining to top podium, the new aprilia guy hot on his ass as aprilia unplug their bike for the second half.
(jmo)
Dovi has had some problems in the last few races. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Iannone on the top of the podium first. The bike is hugely improved. I wonder what Cal Crutchlow is thinking?
I am very excited about the races this weekend in Indianapolis, it is a great event!! and I will be cheering for the Doctor, he still has a lot to give to the fans and the competition…see you there!!
Maybe the prudent management decision and direction could be to abandon MotoGP and concentrate totally on World Superbike
Hummmmmm: Prudent …MotoGP Racing….Aprilia and Ducati …..!!!!
How about some suggestion posted here as to the marketing and customer support/dedication value to finishing off the podium….. or….. way off the podium …..and few wins…….race after race……..year after year
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Offset: One reason to stick with MotoGP….. in America we have the additional consideration of paying hundreds for our TV/communication bundles and then having to pony up even more to see World Superbike in low resolution.
If either of these guys can pull off some actual wins instead of just podiums it would be earthshaking and would make them saints. If they don’t, I don’t think it will be the San Andreas’ Fault. They seem to be giving it they’re all even with various injuries.
Bring back Stoner!
He’ll need to do some more mending before that could/would happen.
I’m with VR46.
The bike will be better after the break, no doubt (well, with Ducati’s history of regression I suppose there’s still some doubt) but it’ll mostly come down how their kit perform against whatever mid-season updates Honda and Yamaha bring out. If you consider logistical challenges and the calendar (Czech GP is just a week later) and possibly track layout as well, Indianapolis seems a bit inconvenient to test out big updates, so Brno – traditionally the track that teams bring big post-holiday upgrades to – will likely give us a better idea, provided everyone manages to get their setups working with the new parts in time for race day.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence but it seems since Ducati lost their advantage of being allowed to use softer tires & carry more fuel, their bikes don’t seem to be as competitive now.
Aren’t they still allowed the use of softer tires and extra fuel?
Their fuel advantage was reduced to 22L from 24L but, that’s still 2L more than Honda/Yamaha are allowed.
And they’ve been racing with 22L of fuel from the begining of the season so, the fuel reduction had no effect at all.
The reason for their loss of speed must lie elsewhere.
Could be wrong but since they have done better this season early now their advantages have been cut in the 2nd half of the season.
Another factor may be that their software was frozen effective June 15th, they now have to use the official Magnetti Marelli software. They still get 12 engines instead of 5 for the factory teams and also unlimited engine development. I’m surprised that they actually are not doing better given their advantages.
Two words. VR46.
That’s one word. 🙂
Ha, yeah I lifted that from MST3k. “Two words – Enjoy.”