Crutchlow

..... I think this guy owes Ducati a refund................

he is a talented racer....perhaps ducati should have auditioned him on their peculiar bike ¿ ¿ ¿ i doubt cal is sucking on purpose....some bikes just dont gel with some riders....and lets not forget how many times the bike malfunctioned during actual races...

No I actually think Cal is throwing the races a bit. He doesn't want to kill himself for 5th place, and to be fit for LCR.

I'm glad he's leaving Ducati...he was never worth a factory ride with anyone.

Thamer said:

No I actually think Cal is throwing the races a bit. He doesn't want to kill himself for 5th place, and to be fit for LCR.

I'm glad he's leaving Ducati...he was never worth a factory ride with anyone.

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Huge disappointment to me.... Way too many DNF's... Iannone and Dovi are at least kinda competitive within the obvious limitations of the GP14....

Yeah, as they said, iannone is a much more worthy rider on the duc than cal. Iannone pushes himself to make the bike work for him, while cal expects the bike to be adjusted to suit him.

Phl said:

Yeah, as they said, iannone is a much more worthy rider on the duc than cal. Iannone pushes himself to make the bike work for him, while cal expects the bike to be adjusted to suit him.

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Sounds like another (recent) previous Ducati MotoGp rider....

Wow, you guys are tough. The Desmo is crap. Always has been. If you try too hard, it'll try to kill you. Only one has mastered it. Only one ever will...

Notec said:

Wow, you guys are tough. The Desmo is crap. Always has been. If you try too hard, it'll try to kill you. Only one has mastered it. Only one ever will...

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At least the 2 Andreas can get it too the finish line..... Consistently...

LMFAO, funny Steve. I didn't really like Crutchlow for a long time, but I saw a video recently where he was self-deprecating and said he doesn't know how to find the limit like other MotoGP riders, which is why he crashes a bunch. He said he wishes he could do that but the way he rides is the only way he knows how. That made me respect him a bunch more.

It definitely takes a special rider to adapt from one bike to another, and sadly for him he is not one of them. This is his livelihood, which will only last another 5 or so years if he's lucky to stay healthy and play the politics correctly, so I can't begrudge him from jumping ship and doing what is right for him.

In all honesty, Ben Spies had an even shorter career and was even more of a disappointment, based on what was expected of him when he blew in from dominating WSBK on the R1 in 2009.

I am a fan of Crutchlow, but there's no denying this has been a disastrous season for him and Ducati. Parting ways at season's end will likely be in the best interest of all involved.

Hmm... I think there is more to the story than Cal just being a .......

He's always been honest and frank, and spoken freely about both bikes and other riders, and I kind of like that about him. Other riders just blurb out standard, politically correct, and almost robotic answers to every question. Always being extremely careful not to insult or offend anyone that might have anything to do with their career (or future career), and always with a manager watching over their shoulder and giving them constant media coaching... If Cal thinks that something sucks, he's honest about it...

And to be honest, his season so far on the Ducati is looking more and more like Ben Spies season at factory Yamaha. There is one mechanical (or electrical) failure after another, and there is always something happening to the bike... Bad luck, poor engineering, bad setup, or rider error... Something is really wrong here. Cal has had a lot of DNF's this season, but how many has been crashes and rider errors really? (Although he's been throwing it in the kitty-litter a lot in FP's and QP's) Seems like the Duc has been letting him down on more than one occasion... And if I were him, I would be pretty upset too... Especially since Dovi and Iannones's bikes seems to be holding up pretty OK.

That being said... Constantly moaning about the bike to the media isn't a good think, no matter how honest it is... Both Andrea's are showing good pace on the Ducati, and making the best of the "qualifying tires", putting the bike up there in the QP's, and I think that Cal's getting really frustrated that he can't seem to figure this bike out...


I think that both parties are pretty pleased with the early break up.... Cal's squeezed a stack of "factory-euros" out of this season, and heading of to what seems to be one of the best bikes on the grid, and Ducati has secured two hard working, loyal, politically correct, and Italian riders for next season...

Easy to put all the bad things on the bike... This guy sucks!!!!
Yes he should give ducati money back!
Nobody die riding this bike... They are doing really good in races now... Step by step...
Positive!!! Next year will be a ducati year all the negative can ... You know.

My problem with Crutchlow is that he whines and complains to get what he wants, then when he can't make it work, he whines and complains. Remember the factory tank deal from last year on the Yamaha? He needed the factory tank so that he could be faster at the beginning of the race. That was the problem, he was sure of it. He whined, he got it, he couldn't make it work, then he whined that was the problem. Same thing with Ducati. He had no reason to expect the Ducati to work differently for him than the world champions before him that couldn't get it to work (save Stoner, but even he had his problems as his Ducati tenure progressed) but he HAD to have a factory ride, so he talked his way into that, and now he can't make it work. To the surprise of exactly no one, except, apparently, Cal. Now that it's time to man up and do what he said he could do, he can't do it. No harm in that, like I said, world champs have tried and failed on this bike. But really, if you've found out that you can't do what you said, then it's time to STFU and do the best you can. He's not doing either of those things, mechanicals not withstanding.

Stw said:

At least the 2 Andreas can get it too the finish line..... Consistently...

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I don't know how to say this nicely so I'll just say it. The 2 Andreas will never win a championship, Ducati will never win a championship with the 2 Andreas... So they can pretty much finish all they want. Wanna do something impressive, WIN a race on an inferior machine...

Notec said:

I don't know how to say this nicely so I'll just say it. The 2 Andreas will never win a championship, Ducati will never win a championship with the 2 Andreas... So they can pretty much finish all they want. Wanna do something impressive, WIN a race on an inferior machine...

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Hey..I am not saying these guys are the panacea for Ducati...But they make Crutchlow look pretty poor in my opinion....

Stw said:

Hey..I am not saying these guys are the panacea for Ducati...But they make Crutchlow look pretty poor in my opinion....

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Cal on another bike will beat the ducks a la Rossi (like Cal on his previous satellite ride)....100%...

When Cal was named as going to Ducati there were all kinds of people on here jizzin in their pants ready to have his child practically. Now its all Cal's fault lol.

If the comfort level is not there then no way I would push it and risk a serious injury. His injury at COTA could have been much worse.

The problem at Ducati - MotoGP - Motor Sport Magazine

I agree 100%

Ducati in MotoGP

2003: 1 win, 2nd in MC
2004: 0 wins, 3rd in MC
2005: 2 wins, 3rd in MC
2006: 4 wins, 3rd in MC
2007: 11 wins, 1st in MC
2008: 6 wins, 2nd in MC
2009: 4 wins, 3rd in MC
2010: 3 wins, 3rd in MC
2011: 0 wins, 3rd in MC
2012: 0 wins, 3rd in MC
2013: 0 Wins, 3rd in MC

lets just don't talk about WSBK

I like this part.

it seems like it isn’t so much that Ducati Corse has forgotten how to design a racing motorcycle as the company is suffering from some kind of ego problem: an unwillingness to believe that it’s doing anything wrong, despite the might of evidence against them, and an unwillingness to listen to the wisdom of people who’ve achieved much more MotoGP success than they have.