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Thread: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

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    Senior Member JustSomeDude's Avatar
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    (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    No one is certain, as the test had Secret Service levels of security. But speculation is rife around Europe - complete with media reports from "spies" near the circuit - insisting that Ducati Corse used an aluminum chassis built by FTR on Thursday.

    If Ducati is using an aluminum frame, it's learning the secrets of alloy speed quickly. The Italian media reported Rossi turned a top lap of 1:48.05 Thursday, just seven-tenths behind the top lap turned by Casey Stoner on Honda's 2012 bike during a test in July in the Tuscan hills.


    http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2011/Sep/110912mu.htm
    Interesting if true.

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    Princess of Prius Sean's Avatar
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Looks like we'll find out on the 18th if he's running up front?

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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    ^^ They were testing the GP12 bike, not the 11.1 or whatever they're calling it.
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    Princess of Prius Sean's Avatar
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Got it.

    It's to bad they couldn't try something for this year. There's still like five races left. He's not going to win, but he might be able to bump up a few notches.

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    Senior Member The Black Knight's Avatar
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean View Post
    Got it.

    It's to bad they couldn't try something for this year. There's still like five races left. He's not going to win, but he might be able to bump up a few notches.
    Here's just me thinking, but what I think will happen is Rossi will continue to ride like he's doing for the rest of the year. He'll be laughed at and the jokes will fly that he's over the hill. It's classic Rossi with his mind screw tactics. He loves playing head games and now that he's finally got a weapon in his arsenal for next year, he may just let this season ride out on a low note and wait for next season.

    Next year, he'll come out and probably crush the opposition because now he finally got a bike that he's wanted from Ducati. If he's only seven tenth's off of lap time from Stoner's 2012 bike, that tells me, they have found what they were looking for and now just have to perfect it. And even if they can't perfect it, knowing Rossi he'll make up for what they can't find, as long as they can get him close to the front guys.

    I don't know, this just oozes typical Rossi head games. I'm sure he's getting to the end of his career and I bet if he can have a great chance next year it will be his last. But it would be just amazing to see the Doctor win it(championship) one last time and spank all of these youngsters properly. In fact if he does win it, I'd bet he'd retire anyways, might as well go out on top.

    Another thing, Rossi is one of the few left that had success on the big bikes. Stoner has only produced results on the 800cc and his time on the 990cc didn't go well for him(he only had one year on the 990). Rossi, Hayden, Pedrosa and Edwards are the only ones left from the 990 era(and Rossi from the 500's). All the newbies(Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Bautista, Simocelli) are only experienced with smaller bikes. I think Spies will do well because he's been on big bikes before and knows how they ride. Though I'm sure a 1000cc MotoGP bike v. a 1000cc WSBK/AMA are classes apart. I think he'll take to the bigger bikes easier.

    Either way, I can't wait for the 2012 Season of MotoGP. For me this year has been a disaster not seeing #46 up front or at least in contention.
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    ^nicely stated^
    never put Rossi down, like you said, he is a head game guy
    this year he is on a machine that doesnt work with him, next year he will be on the bike he helped create
    also, HE AINT TO OLD!

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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    In Racing Age he's pretty ancient.

    I'd love to see this work out and have him take the championship again, especially on the big bike like in the glory days of ballsy GP.

    I loved the 500s, loved the early/big four strokes, I'm hoping this brings real racing excitement back, with 46 on top again...
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    Senior Member The Black Knight's Avatar
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Quote Originally Posted by Ghost View Post
    In Racing Age he's pretty ancient.

    I'd love to see this work out and have him take the championship again, especially on the big bike like in the glory days of ballsy GP.

    I loved the 500s, loved the early/big four strokes, I'm hoping this brings real racing excitement back, with 46 on top again...
    I agree, love to see them ride more physical bikes like in the old days, where the rider had to have a very kind throttle hand or he'd end up on his head. Seemed like riders back then knew a little about finessing a bike.

    Also, I agree in Racing Age he is getting long in the tooth. But where I think he's got his peers(guys he grew up with, Melandri, Capirossi, Gibernau) beat is he still can produce results. Obviously other than this 2011 season, Rossi has been a contender for a very long time. He doesn't have 9 total championships for nothing and I think his riding reflects that.

    Which is why I have taken the stance that his biggest problem this year was the "bike". Last I saw he was either 5th or 6th in points and was holding on to 3rd and 4th earlier in the year. I believe that speaks volumes as to what he can still do and what he can still achieve. He's still managed to keep this season from being an utter failure by riding the biggest POS(at the moment) on the grid like he always has, with tons of heart and character.

    But he's managed to push that bike to it's limits. Which in motorcycling we don't to often get to say, usually it's the other way around. In this case the rider has exploited the bike to it's limitations, he's pushed it as far as it can go and it's got nothing more. Is the Ducati GP11.1 still one of the baddest bikes on the planet?? Yep, and I'd gladly have one for a toy to play with. But is it competitive in a MotoGP setting?? Nope, it's suckin hind tit for sure compared to the Yamaha's and Honda's.

    If Rossi gets the bike he wants/needs, next year is going to be great..
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    ^Don't get me wrong, I'm not counting him out due to age, just saying that I think his number of championship seasons ahead of him are far fewer than those behind him. Even the best have to retire eventually, and I'm not sure how far off his expiration date is.

    I'd rather see him go out on a win than dick around like Michael Jordan did in basketball.

    I'd love to see bikes go back to being a test of skill and finesse and balls, like the 500s or the 990s--so I'm hoping the GP12 bike and the 2012 season take us back to something like 2006, which was one of my (semi) recent favorites.
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    Senior Member The Black Knight's Avatar
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Quote Originally Posted by Ghost View Post
    ^Don't get me wrong, I'm not counting him out due to age, just saying that I think his number of championship seasons ahead of him are far fewer than those behind him. Even the best have to retire eventually, and I'm not sure how far off his expiration date is.

    I'd rather see him go out on a win than dick around like Michael Jordan did in basketball.

    I'd love to see bikes go back to being a test of skill and finesse and balls, like the 500s or the 990s--so I'm hoping the GP12 bike and the 2012 season take us back to something like 2006, which was one of my (semi) recent favorites.
    I agree, go out on top and retirement is just that much more sweeter. I agree also, he's on borrowed time as far as earning more championships go. Hell even in my perfect world, I can only see him getting two more championships at best before he hangs it up. But that's my dream and not reality. I'd like to see him just take one more with the new 1000cc's and then call it a day. Retire to greener pastures, knowing that for a time in motorcycle racing history you conquered and dominated all, were the main force to be reckoned with and probably go down as the greatest of all time.

    I think we'll have better racing with the 1000cc's, just depends on how much of the electronics are on them. If it's the same stuff found on the 800cc's, then I'm sure the new bikes will be more powerful like a 990cc but tamer like the 800cc's.

    2006 wasn't a bad year, lots of ups and downs in that year. My favorite Rossi years were 2004, 2005 and 2008. 2004 probably being the best, because it was a new era for him. New team, new bike and new challenge. And Gibernau was still around, and to me those were some of the greatest battles ever between him and Rossi.

    It's always been my opinion(and that's all it is, an opinion) that Gibernau was probably the only rider to really challenge Rossi and be able to keep up with him. I mean everyone were expecting Rossi and Pedrosa to have epic battles(nope, never happened really), same with Lorenzo and Stoner. The newbies were all forecast to challenge and be on the same level. But as before, if all of them were on equal performing bikes and equal tires, I dare say Rossi usually won the battles a majority of the time. With Gibernau, it was always down to the last lap and they scraped the entire time. I really enjoyed watching those two just check out from the rest of the field and fight til the end. Hated to see Gibernau go out the way he did, the guy was a hell of a rider.
    Last edited by The Black Knight; Mon Sep 12th, 2011 at 10:31 PM. Reason: TYPOS!!!
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    In the "If I ran MotoGP" dream world, I'd get rid of the electronics, make it akin to the 500cc days, when it was (mechanical) setup, and rider skill that won the day.

    The overuse of electronics in GP is the same problem that made F1 boring to watch. Yes, safety, I get it, but still, racing is racing, and it needs to be exciting. For a while WSB was way more fun to watch since it was more bike/rider/skill than electro-neutered nannying...

    And, as you suggest, I think if you took today's crop of riders and threw them all on retro 500s or 990s then Rossi would walk away from nearly all of them (Hayden, I think, could do quite well as he always seemed to prefer bikes he could slide and slip more than he can now).

    Meh. Guess we'll have to wait until this dismal chapter ends and 2012 kicks off...and I hate waiting...
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    I disagree with Rossi dominating next year....I'd bet that won't happen...not anything close. IF he is 7 tenths off of Stoner...he's doing that on a 1000cc bike to Stoner's time on an 800. I love Ducatis and I'd like to see them do well, I just don't think its going to happen. I predict Honda will dominate again next year. For me, its an easy prediction to make.
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    I'm with you guys about the 500s. I know some people say 2 stroke technology is dead but I would love to see them back again. 2 strokes - maybe with direct injection technology...but I would allow traction control, oh and most important not have a spec tire. The teams should be able to use whatever tire they want.
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Man I told you guys he wouldn't win shit this year
    #703

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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Quote Originally Posted by ian22 View Post
    I disagree with Rossi dominating next year....I'd bet that won't happen...not anything close. IF he is 7 tenths off of Stoner...he's doing that on a 1000cc bike to Stoner's time on an 800. I love Ducatis and I'd like to see them do well, I just don't think its going to happen. I predict Honda will dominate again next year. For me, its an easy prediction to make.
    The Stoner time was for the 2012 test bike too.

    I would never count Valentino out. Between him and Jeremy there is a potency that has never been matched in the paddock.

    They got nearly unlimited resources to work with when they moved to Yamaha, and proved that they could take a loser to a winner in one race. While the transition to the ducati has been harder, there is no question in my mind that 2012 is going to be a very different year.

    Any time there is a rule transition it brings the field closer to level ground, as EVERYONE has to figure out what to do, what works and what doesn't. Interesting evidence to this point is that just putting the 800cc motor in the "better" 1000cc chassis didn't do ANYTHING for ducati and the GP 11.1

    Next year is a whole new ball game for all of the teams, and while you certainly can't count Honda out, you can't count Rossi out either.

    s

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    Princess of Prius Sean's Avatar
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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Quote Originally Posted by rybo View Post
    Next year is a whole new ball game for all of the teams, and while you certainly can't count Honda out, you can't count Rossi out either.
    This.

    I think Rossi/Burgess are just focusing on next year. They're doing what they can to keep up this year, but next season is where their heads are at. I'm not counting Rossi out, but he's got a lot of work to do. No matter how far he is off of the pace, he's still not setting the pace. And Stoner, Loranzo, Pedrosa and Dovi are riding their ass' off. Honda made huge improvements in the bike this year and if next season is anything like this season, Ducati has a ways to go!

    btw: anybody know where Dovi is going next year? I know the factory team sin't keeping him and I'm not sure he has a ride yet. Maybe Tech 3 to take over Colin's spot?

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    Re: (Unverified) Reports Claim Rossi Improving on Aluminum Frame

    Quote Originally Posted by rybo View Post
    The Stoner time was for the 2012 test bike too.

    I would never count Valentino out. Between him and Jeremy there is a potency that has never been matched in the paddock.

    They got nearly unlimited resources to work with when they moved to Yamaha, and proved that they could take a loser to a winner in one race. While the transition to the ducati has been harder, there is no question in my mind that 2012 is going to be a very different year.

    Any time there is a rule transition it brings the field closer to level ground, as EVERYONE has to figure out what to do, what works and what doesn't. Interesting evidence to this point is that just putting the 800cc motor in the "better" 1000cc chassis didn't do ANYTHING for ducati and the GP 11.1

    Next year is a whole new ball game for all of the teams, and while you certainly can't count Honda out, you can't count Rossi out either.

    s
    Actually, I'd 100% disagree with this. From what I've seen in F1 and even in MotoGP, when there's a rules change the teams with the most $$ to do testing and to change parts quickly usually come out on top, except in rare cases such as an "interpretation" of the rules (the Red Bull double-diffuser or Ducati's FI mapping the year Stoner won) give certain clever teams the advantage. The red Bull car was vastly superior, and to a point still is, and Ducati won that year with Stoner mostly because the clever FI strategy allowed them to save fuel (needed due to the mandated smaller tanks) under closed-throttle allowed them to use more fuel under full-throttle, hence making vastly more power while using the same overall amount of fuel. That year, the Ducati was untouchable in a straight line, and Stoner used that to win the title.

    Want good close racing? Make reasonable rules, and keep them the same for years, a la NASCRAP.
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