Cal getting his first taste

Can he tame the beast? Is he the next Stoner?

possibly, but I doubt it and Not a chance in hell

Prince Albert said:

possibly and Not a chance in hell

Click to expand...

+1 - I predict consistent 9th and 10th place finishes.

Capt CF said:

+1 - I predict consistent 9th and 10th place finishes.

Click to expand...

agreed. next stoner what to say but NO

mark419ny said:

agreed. next stoner what to say but NO

Click to expand...

IMHO, if Stoner comes back he'll finish no better than Rossi. It's nothing with Cal, but I don't think anybody will be successful on that bike.

Capt CF said:

IMHO, if Stoner comes back he'll finish no better than Rossi. It's nothing with Cal, but I don't think anybody will be successful on that bike.

Click to expand...

Cal is a better rider than Hayden...imo..way more aggressive.. so lets see what happens....

Stw said:

Cal is a better rider than Hayden...imo..way more aggressive.. so lets see what happens....

Click to expand...

How much better is he than Rossi, who couldn't do well. When Dovi was on the Yamaha, he is fighting up frontish. I don't understand why these guys can do what stoner did. How much different is the current bike to the old one?

And I think stoner will do way better than Rossi if he comes back. Rossi is done.

Phil said:

Click to expand...

That's day 1. Everyone is slow day 1.

Fbto said:

That's day 1. Everyone is slow day 1.

Click to expand...

except the fast guys

Fbto said:

How much better is he than Rossi, who couldn't do well. When Dovi was on the Yamaha, he is fighting up frontish. I don't understand why these guys can do what stoner did. How much different is the current bike to the old one?

And I think stoner will do way better than Rossi if he comes back. Rossi is done.

Click to expand...

Stoner is done too, IMO. He wouldn't threaten the front row (Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Marquez) if he came back.

ESP is the only guy faster than Cal. For all the riders on new bikes.

Capt CF said:

Stoner is done too, IMO. He wouldn't threaten the front row (Pedrosa, Lorenzo and Marquez) if he came back.

Click to expand...

I guess we will never know.

Or maybe we can guess if stoner does some testing at tracks the aliens use.

Fbto said:

I guess we will never know.

Or maybe we can guess if stoner does some testing at tracks the aliens use.

Click to expand...

True..no point in arguing over it.

At least with Cal we'll know soon enough how he is running. Like you pointed out earlier, Dovi was a contender every now and then and the GP13 slammed him to the mid-pack with Hayden. Now they are 1-2 finishers almost every time in 9th and 10th. It might be cheaper for Ducati to buy a Tomahawk and just launch that at MM effectively taking out the top 8. Then we might see a Ducati 1-2 finish.

From what I understand, Ducati is not implementing any type of enhancement or modification of the bike into the equation during this testing period; rather, they are using this time to provide Cal an opportunity to become familiar with the current bike and provide feedback to GiGi on certain aspects of the bike's performance. We really won't have any idea how competitive Ducati will be with the modified bike until Qatar 2014. Based on some of Cal's early observations, it seems the current bike is very good on braking and accelerating, but struggles when accelerating out of left hand corners.

1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m30.536s
2. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP) Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 1m30.768s
3. Dani Pedrosa (ESP) Repsol Honda Team (RC213V) 1m30.948s
4. Stefan Bradl (GER) LCR Honda MotoGP (RC213V) 1m30.990s
5. Alvaro Bautista (ESP) Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RC213V) 1m31.208s
6. Bradley Smith (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m31.397s
7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha Factory Racing (YZR-M1) 1m31.414s
8. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Ducati Team (GP13) 1m31.661s
9. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (YZR-M1) 1m31.836s
10. Andrea Iannone (ITA) Energy T.I. Pramac Racing (GP13) 1m31.844s
11. Cal Crutchlow (GBR) Ducati Team (GP13) 1m32.114s
12. Michele Pirro (ITA) Ducati Test Team (GP13) 1m32.473s
13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Power Electronics Aspar (RCV1000R) 1m32.576s
14. Yonny Hernandez (COL) Ignite Pramac Racing (GP13) 1m32.800s
15. Aleix Espargaro (ESP) NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Yamaha M1)1m32.847s
16. Colin Edwards (USA) NGM Forward Racing (FTR-Yamaha M1) 1m33.149s
17. Michael Laverty(GBR) Paul Bird Motorsport (PBM-ART) 1m33.672s
18. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Paul Bird Motorsport (ART) 1m33.833s
19. Scott Redding (GBR) Go&Fun Honda Gresini (RCV1000R) 1m34.541s
20. Mike di Meglio (FRA) Avintia Racing (FTR-Kawasaki) 1m34.618s

^ see post #5 http://ducati1199.com/racing/16225-cal-getting-his-first-taste.html#post132883

Phil said:

^ see post #5 http://ducati1199.com/racing/16225-cal-getting-his-first-taste.html#post132883

Click to expand...

Yup..right down there where I thought he'd be. He might get a place or two higher as he gets more familiar with the bike.

Gigi has gone on record today to ask for more of a direct connection between the track and the factory. In this way changes demanded or requested are echoed immediately back to the Corse department in Bologna, so development time is significantly reduced. Audi are expecting a lot more bang for their buck and another season with three riders languishing mid-pack, does nothing for brand promotion, which they are acutely aware is boosted by results on the track.

Poor ........ Shoulda stayed at Tech 3.