2 Strokes Down Under

"Speaking in Valencia, Ducati Sporting Director Paolo Ciabatti confirmed to the media that there had been contact with the Australian, but pointed out he remains under contract with Honda until the end of the year."

Seems legit .

If he has a deep rekindled desire to WIN!!!! and the 'all clear' from home (husband credits ) I would love to see him race. Its a Big Call - could end up with egg on face.

"Stoner then competed in the Suzuka 8 Hours race for the Japanese marque in July, but crashed out due to a stuck throttle, leaving him with multiple injuries.

Honda, however, was slow to admit that it was a mechanical problem responsible for the accident, initially blaming rider error before later issuing a statement confirming otherwise."

If you wanted to piss off Casey that would work.

Fingers crossed. He's been sorely missed. Next time he tells the Dorna idiots he's going to walk, they might actually listen.

Not bad for an old fella....

https://motomatters.com/results/2017/01 ... l#comments

17th 99 Jorge Lorenzo Ducati GP17 2:01.350 1.669

Lorenzo needs a bit of a hurry up/inspiration/burr under his saddle.

Just sayn

It would be a a bit of a learning curve getting off arguably the best handling bike in the paddock to a bike you have grab by the sack and twist into doing what you want. It really sorts out the men from the boys doesn't it?

Here's a pic of Lorenzo and Stoner practising for the Qatar season opener

Hahaha

Bloody hilarious! Jump back on after 2 years and whoop all their asses!

Poor ol George. Might be a bit of a tough year.

Nah, Casey has been hired to make George a winner, not a whiner...
Seriously doubt Honda will allow Dorna to let C.S. actually race though..

Stoner will still enjoy watching Lozenger rub ol' man Rossi's nose in it, though..

( I wonder what aero-tricks the Audi racing-tech team have provided for Ducati,
- to replace the 'winglets' - which are now banned).

As for that 'Bi-posto' G.P. Ducati, ol' joker Randy Mamola has been doing uber-duty on it for years...
I 'd like to see him take a run at Mt Panorama/Bathurst, to show what a Moto GP machine can do against the Mt...

If they gave him one of last year's bikes (with the aero-devices) to fang around there, it could be interesting..

& since they are both past their 'best-by-date', its no big deal if they crap out, trying for a real fast one either, eh.

Shit, if it came to it, I'd buy a raffle ticket to win a pillion ride with 'im round there, ( might need to pop some acid 1st, though)..

James W. wrote:Nah, Casey has been hired to make George a winner, not a whiner...
Seriously doubt Honda will allow Dorna to let C.S. actually race though..

Stoner will still enjoy watching Lozenger rub ol' man Rossi's nose in it, though..

( I wonder what aero-tricks the Audi racing-tech team have provided for Ducati,
- to replace the 'winglets' - which are now banned).

The protruding wings have been replaced by the cheaper to develop internal ducting. There is currently a much-to-do about Ducati's carbon fibre 'lunch box' on the tail. My bet it is simply a relocation of items like the Engine Management Units etc that use to be mounted around the engine and side of the fairing to give room and freedom of design for the new ducting.

Yeah I saw a shot of the Yamaha "double skin" fairing where they had just hidden the wings inside an air duct.

The Yamaha seems to have the outer fairing skin 'bulged' around longitudinal internal strakes,
on the flanks of the machine - but that's quite a change from the 'mustache' type nose fins they were running.

I'd heard that the Ducati was now using 'active' exhaust pulse control...
for power/fuel use ( an update on Yamaha's PV/EXUP types) efficiency,
& for energetically 'blown' aero-downforce assistance..

They don't want to give away 'secrets', so it may be a bogus bluff, yet - results will be proof..