Ben Spies Leaves Yamaha For Ducati- MotoGP News

---

A blast from the past by Mat Oxley as he talks about the rivalry of 1993 between Schwantz and Rainey-

An unforgettable duel - Motorbikes - Motor Sport Magazine

Valentino Rossi is welcomed back by Yamaha in style -




An interesting interview with the new Paul Bird Motorsport rider Michael Laverty, brother of Aprilia WSBK rider Eugene Laverty.

These early statements before testing the Ducati will not work ... Everything about Spies progress can be judged only after the sepang test this February ...
He is a good rider lets see how he progresses with Ducati....

These early statements before testing the Ducati will not work ... Everything about Spies progress can be judged only after the sepang test this February ...
He is a good rider lets see how he progresses with Ducati....

Why Price Caps Are The Best Way of Cutting Costs in MotoGP and WSBK | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Is he going to be the "Ayrton Senna of MotoGP"? I think so.

Vale special: Valentino Rossi Era | Heirs Apparent - Sport Rider Magazine.

46 on 4 fire!

Changes are to be made at Ducati Corse to improve the Ducati Factory effort in Motogp. Audi is serious in intent about improving its position in motogp.

Soup :: More Changes At Ducati Corse For 2013 :: 01-07-2013

Paul Bird Motorsport building a chassis with GPMS for an Aprilia RSV4 engine for its CRT rider Michael Laverty.

MotoGP: PBM’s New Aprilia Chassis by GPMS


Yamaha gets sponsor in the form of Monster Energy drinks -

^^ lot of changes happening at ducati, i wonder it should not be the case of too many changes too soon...

Andrea Iannone of Pramac Racing will get a new sponsor for the 2013 season -



Team mates Pedrosa and Marquez to unveil new livery for the Honda on January 24th. -



Dorna's grip gets tighter on motorcycling racing the world over -

Soup :: Advantage Dorna: One Ring To Rule Them All :: 01-08-2013

Go & Fun Gresini gets new sponsor -

More Sponsorship News: Gresini Add Palladio Doors, Pramac Gain Energy TI | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

A study of the Monster takeover of both sides of the Yamaha garage -

Soup :: All For One, Monster For All :: 01-09-2013

Agostini believes that Rossi won't be able to challenge for the title -

Agostini doubts tenth title for Valentino Rossi | MotoGP News | Jan 2013 | Crash.Net

Spec ECUs are expected to be better than that of Ducati and Yamaha? -

Soup :: Four Teams Already On Spec CRT Train :: 01-09-2013

A look at the dark horses in the 2013 championship -

Under The Radar Part 1: Riders Who Could Surprise You In 2013 | MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

Of late, it had been just posts full of news updates and videos here. Boring.

Well, a few days ago, Ben Spies said that Honda or Duc suits his riding style. How true is it? Yes, of course, he shows a lot of big movement when on the bike, brakes hard enough to pop the rear wheel up, flares up the discs. Anybody who has watched him on the 2009 WSBK R1 would agree. But, lets not forget that in 2010, he won the Rookie of the Year on a Tech3 Monster Yamaha collecting more than just decent 176 points! For sure, he knew how to ride an M1. And, in 2011, even with a full factory support, he scored the same 176. Its a bit of shame that he couldn't improve. I guess, there were other reasons beyond our level of understanding. A mixture of bad luck and low in confidence blew his career at Yamaha Factory Team this year.

To master an M1, one needs to ride as smooth as Rossi or Lorenzo; clinical approach. Not everyone has it. Or may be, it would have been fair to see how Stoner or Pedrosa fared on the M1, who are known to be fast and aggressive riders, wild to be more specific. However, we would never know of it.

Moving on, earlier Rossi had complained that Duc taught him nothing. I often wonder why he couldn't ride the Duc half as good as he rode a Yamaha or even for that matter, a Honda. We all know he is the only bloke in the current paddock to have been in the GP 500 and he has won the championship too. He has also won 125 and 250 classes. Then, why a man who has mastered the furious 2-stroke prototypes complained about Desmo? Had 7 years on the M1 completely changed his riding style beyond making any changes?!

Just a few thoughts sparking here and there inside a MotoGP fan. That's all.

Without testing Ducati Ben Spies cannot say his riding style will suite Ducati. Accepted that Yamaha will suit smooth riders like Lorenzo and Rossi but what we say about Cal Crutchlow he is not a smooth rider and how Dovi adopted to the machinery easily and got so many podiums in his first outing with Yamaha. When you see Ben Spies in a tight battle he will often loose the ground by taking wider lines or missing the braking point. This is an error which can happen with any bike...

Handling Yamaha and Honda is the same because of Japnese DNA. Okay let's take another victim who mastered 2 strokes and graduated to 4 strokes Loris Capirossi who did better with Ducati when compared to Rossi but never mastered the bike.
But let's take Troy Bayliss who came straight from WSBK and won few races for Ducati? so mastering a two stroke GP bike is never a criteria to master Ducati.

So next season we can get answers for:

Is Rossi still competitive?
Will Marquez be a title contender from 2014?
Did Tech 3 boss Herve made a right choice by signing Bradley smith?
Will Ben Spies climb up the ladder in ducati?
Where will Nicky Hayden go after 2013?
Can Cal challenge for a win and deserve a factory seat?
Who will be the top Satellite Honda ride Bradley Smith/ Alvaro Bautista?
Can Dani win his first premier class title or will be pushed as a second rider in the factory Honda Team
Will Dovi be the next victim of Ducati?
Who will challenge for the second best Rookie of the season smith/Innoane (as first will be Marquez)
Will Lorenzo's butter smooth riding and consistency fetch him his third title in premier class?