MotoGP

[p6x]

I was reading a Nicolo Bulega statement made after a visit to the doctor, following his crash at the World Ducati Week race of the champions.

He clearly said that he did not release any comment to any media following the unfortunate incident that took place during the race, that saw Nicolo the only casualty of what was meant to be a good nature event.

I am certain Ducati PR made certain there was not going to be any public blaming of their top-notch star rider for 2025. That goes without saying.

Marc Marquez said that he did not even feel any contact, but he would/did? give his helmet to Nicolo as a consolation prize.

Lucky Nicolo Bulega!

In the videos shot by spectators and shown on various YT channels, you can clearly see there is contact. Obviously, Marc did not feel anything... possibly because it was too mild to be noticed. Usually, he strikes a lot stronger than that.

[GuzziMoto]

Well, Ducati better get used to that. I don't think that will be the last guy on a Ducati Marc makes contact with.

[p6x]

This is actually the consensus among all those watching!

Marc will take no prisoner, this is expected. VR46 issued a white paper on the subject, backed by his own experience when he was sharing the garage with Jorge Lorenzo. Ducati keeps telling everyone who listens that it will not happen like what we think. They are going to make sure about it.

Good luck Ducati!

How do they say in English? keep your ducks in a row?

[LowRyter]

got this on another forum... the guy was responding to me because I was critical of MM riding so aggressively for an exhibition.  If I was Facebooker, I'd copied it there rather on the forum.

 

From Matt Mladden’s Facebook page:

“In the accompanying pic, Marc is already ahead of old mate, who has already sat up. The fact he crashed after this is his problem and his problem alone. Ianone still far from the apex. It wasn't even close. A soft pass at best.

I'm getting tired of handing out cuddles to grown men but here's a few more 🤗🤗🤗

Bulega and Ianone were slowing, and in the last two laps Marc pulled them back in. Door was wide open early and Marc took it. Marc never ran wide. For anyone to say his pass was anything but an everyday race pass, is dreaming.

Ducati's best on equal machinery. Not one of them blokes on that track even saw the "exhibition" part. Ok, maybe Jorge Martin did, because he got his arse handed to him. Days like that help Ducati to realise that they definitely chose the strongest rider for 25. The mental strength of Pecco and Marc is to be admired. I love watching them. Having cut a few fast laps back in the day, it's not easy to impress me but Pecco and Marc are next level right now.

Bulega just got taught a good lesson. Marc is as true a racer as I have seen since the Doohan, Rainey and Schwantz days. Those blokes would have eaten your kids to get a race win. Until the checkers drop, it is on! I haven't forgotten the old days. They were good! And the three legends of the sport I mentioned above, taught me so much.

The poster's opinion directed toward me:
I'm also impressed with the comments on the last post. I haven't had to block anyone for straight out vile crap. We all have our opinions and if we can have some good banter that doesn't include name calling and just down right rubbish then I'm happy to have it on my page. I also agree with some things that the anti Marc brigade say about him but it's racing. It's a tough game. Surviving in this game for so long is hard.”

Edited July 30 by LowRyter

[LowRyter]

@p6x

 

For some reason I thought Brembo was a spin-off from Lockheed disc brake co.

[LowRyter]

On 7/22/2024 at 6:17 PM, Lucky Phil said:

When Kenny Roberts was in a battle for the world title back in 80 or 81, can't remember which with Randy Mamola he said that when he saw Randy showing up at the track with his girlfriend at the time he knew he had the title won, lol. Good old "take no prisoners" Kenny R. Riders these days are racing from 3 years old esp in Italy and Spain. I don't think it makes that much difference anymore. Plenty of GP and WSB winners these days have a wife and kids during their racing careers (Johnny Rea, Alvaro Bautista, Maverick Vinales, Troy Bayliss to name a few) Getting married didn't slow down Casey Stoner either. The racing world has changed. A lot perform better with a partner/wife as the sport is now a pressure cooker and they need the emotional support. back in the 80, 90s and before that after the racing it was party time in the paddock and everyone get smashed together. Now it's whisked away with your family and PA.

Phil 

I had complete different take on it.  Racing in the '70's was a much more dangerous game.  I agree they partied like they might not be around for the next race.  No need to carry the burden of wife and loved ones.  I think there might've been a little more pressure then as well, considering the teams were smaller and many more technical details the riders and mechanic had to do, from driving the van to tuning the bike. Certainly not the entourages and support systems to take care of family and kids.   

Just a thought.  Having never been close to it first hand, that was my take on it as a fan.   Same opinion that I've carried about all types of racing from the '60's until now whether Indy, NASCAR, AMA, F1, etc.

[GuzziMoto]

2 hours ago, LowRyter said:

got this on another forum... the guy was responding to me because I was critical of MM riding so aggressively for an exhibition.  If I was Facebooker, I'd copied it there rather on the forum.

 

From Matt Mladden’s Facebook page:

“In the accompanying pic, Marc is already ahead of old mate, who has already sat up. The fact he crashed after this is his problem and his problem alone. Ianone still far from the apex. It wasn't even close. A soft pass at best.

I'm getting tired of handing out cuddles to grown men but here's a few more 🤗🤗🤗

Bulega and Ianone were slowing, and in the last two laps Marc pulled them back in. Door was wide open early and Marc took it. Marc never ran wide. For anyone to say his pass was anything but an everyday race pass, is dreaming.

Ducati's best on equal machinery. Not one of them blokes on that track even saw the "exhibition" part. Ok, maybe Jorge Martin did, because he got his arse handed to him. Days like that help Ducati to realise that they definitely chose the strongest rider for 25. The mental strength of Pecco and Marc is to be admired. I love watching them. Having cut a few fast laps back in the day, it's not easy to impress me but Pecco and Marc are next level right now.

Bulega just got taught a good lesson. Marc is as true a racer as I have seen since the Doohan, Rainey and Schwantz days. Those blokes would have eaten your kids to get a race win. Until the checkers drop, it is on! I haven't forgotten the old days. They were good! And the three legends of the sport I mentioned above, taught me so much.

The poster's opinion directed toward me:
I'm also impressed with the comments on the last post. I haven't had to block anyone for straight out vile crap. We all have our opinions and if we can have some good banter that doesn't include name calling and just down right rubbish then I'm happy to have it on my page. I also agree with some things that the anti Marc brigade say about him but it's racing. It's a tough game. Surviving in this game for so long is hard.”

I am not sure I follow the jist of this. The move Marc pulled was uncalled for in a demonstration race, but completely expected from Marc. He would wreck his mother. I would agree that Marc is a hard and determined racer who has already experienced a lot of success due to that. But he has always been the number 1 guy at the team, and never was one to share that status. That may lead to some issues at a team where he is not the number 1 guy, and the other guy on the Italian team is an Italian guy who is the current world champion. I don't think anyone doubts Marcs ability, but many of us see a potential for the team to implode the way Yamaha did with VR and JLo. That may open the door for another team to beat them. Also, that may lead to a high repair bill as they will likely go through more parts then they are used to and it may even lead to injuries that could end their championship hopes.

But Ducati made their bed. I will happily watch it pan out. It seems like many people see what is coming, but Ducati seem oblivious. Not sure if it is by choice or they really don't see what could go wrong.

Oh, I once spectated at a race next to Mladdin. We were both there racing, and we were both watching other classes run. I was stunned at what a @#$$#! he was, literally laughing at the racers on track in the HD 883 class. I know many people have good things to say about him, but I don't. My other take-away about Mladdin was that many said he called it like it was. But my experience was he called it like he thought it was. That and he was a cheater.

Edited July 30 by GuzziMoto

[LowRyter]

Wait, @GuzziMoto, Mladdin a cheater?  C'mon, spill it.

[GuzziMoto]

17 minutes ago, LowRyter said:

Wait, @GuzziMoto, Mladdin a cheater?  C'mon, spill it.

Established history. When Mladdin rode for Yoshimura they were cheating and finally got caught. Even after getting caught with an illegal crank he and his team showed up the next race weekend with an illegal crank. They were that arrogant about it. Interestingly, Mladdins team mate, Ben Spies, was never caught with an illegal crank as I recall, and his bike was also torn down. But I could be wrong about that. What I know for sure is Mladdin was caught cheating, twice.

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/updated-ama-pro-racings-edmondson-the-fact-is-they-got-caught-cheating/

[Lucky Phil]

2 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

Established history. When Mladdin rode for Yoshimura they were cheating and finally got caught. Even after getting caught with an illegal crank he and his team showed up the next race weekend with an illegal crank. They were that arrogant about it. Interestingly, Mladdins team mate, Ben Spies, was never caught with an illegal crank as I recall, and his bike was also torn down. But I could be wrong about that. What I know for sure is Mladdin was caught cheating, twice.

https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/updated-ama-pro-racings-edmondson-the-fact-is-they-got-caught-cheating/

You can hardly call the rider a cheat for what's installed inside the engine! I'm no big Mladdin fan either and have actually spent time with him at the track in his Kawasaki Australia superbike days.

Phil 

[GuzziMoto]

The first time getting caught cheating you could blame on the team alone and not the rider. But showing up for the second race with the same illegal part, that is now on the rider as well as the team. In the end, it is the rider where the buck stops. Key in all this is his team mate was never caught with illegal parts. But you are free to have your own opinion on the matter.

[Lucky Phil]

10 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

The first time getting caught cheating you could blame on the team alone and not the rider. But showing up for the second race with the same illegal part, that is now on the rider as well as the team. In the end, it is the rider where the buck stops. Key in all this is his team mate was never caught with illegal parts. But you are free to have your own opinion on the matter.

I don't know the fine details of what you are alleging so I'm not in a position to comment in detail either but often the devil is actually in the detail. Why would his team mate not have an issue with a rule like that? Well because different riders require different characteristics from an engine. Some like a heavy crank and some a light crank, hence Ducatis MotoGP bike having and external flywheel so rider preference can be accommodated. Ben Spies might like a heavy crank so it's never going to be an issue for him. Without knowing the fine details of why the crank was deemed illegal I can't comment but it's pretty obvious you've lost some perspective in this due to personal feelings about an individual. Gigi Dall'igna is a classic for pushing the rule book to the limit and operating in grey areas but no one is calling him a "cheat" Add to that the parochial state of competition administration in the US at times and well, who knows where the truth lies.

Phil   

Edited July 31 by Lucky Phil

[gstallons]

This may sound unfair . Anyone involved in the assembly of the powerplant , fuel system , whatever system that is not a legal component , the staff is banned for life . I think that might promote a NEW level of honesty . You don't mess with the factory , the rider or anyone else. Just replaceable employees. I don't think people are going to put their careers on the line for others .

[Lucky Phil]

2 hours ago, gstallons said:

This may sound unfair . Anyone involved in the assembly of the powerplant , fuel system , whatever system that is not a legal component , the staff is banned for life . I think that might promote a NEW level of honesty . You don't mess with the factory , the rider or anyone else. Just replaceable employees. I don't think people are going to put their careers on the line for others .

Who was the old Nascar tuner that used to run the legal maximum fuel tank capacity but then ran 2 inch fuel pipe to the engine. There was no actual rule for fuel pipe diameter. Was he a cheater that should have been banned for life or a smart tuner/builder following the letter of the rules not the intent?

Not always a simple as it seems. 

Edited August 1 by Lucky Phil

[gstallons]

That is completely different . No rule was broken in that "design".