2017 Predictions

[Cobie Fair]

Let's start with MotoGP, who do you think is going to do what?

 

Will Lorenzo figure out how to make Duc work?

 

Can anyone really give Marquez a consistent run for it?

 

I of course want Rossi to win his 10th, and can't ever count him out, but can he top Marquez?

 

If you are man (or woman) enough, say what you think.

 

CF

[Jaybird180]

A lot of people are looking at Vinales. I think the rivalry between Marquez and Rossi and Lorenzo and Rossi will be intense. I will watch intently.

WSBK, It's going to be Rea and Davies duking it out til the end but I think Davies has the Duc tuned and ready for the Kwakers. Unfortunately the ZX-10RR appears to be just a warmed over 2016 model taking advantage of homologation rules to sneak in some illegal parts (Like Yoshimura Suzuki did, but legal). I'd love to see Nicky up there but Honda has let him and all their loyal customers down; the 2017 Fireblade is laughable.

I think I heard that Beaubier is going to stay in MotoAmerica (AMA) one more year then he has an option to goto WSBK. I have him for a repeat title, though Josh Hayes is my man.

I have my pick for AMA super sport, JD Beach. I think he's got it figured out now and will dominate though it will be a scrap.

I might get into Moto2/3 this year as I've seen the clips of those boys going at it.

[4erramses]

My Opinions:

 

Marquez will fight for the World Chmapionship and in my opinion will do it again this year.

 

Lorenzo will make the Duc work and fight for the World Championship title. He also have Stoner and Biaggi as partners helping him to do so. Lorenzo is a good rain rider we have seen in previous years before the michelin tire time. So if he can figure out how to race with the michelin tires in the rain, he will be ahead of the game, because we have seen the ducati s do extremely well in the rain. In the tests he was already pretty close to the top times.

 

Iaonne will be bad ass competitor on his suzuki and fight for wins, but I am not sure if he can produce it consistently, he is a guy who is racing, winning and crushing his bike….

 

Rossi will fight for the World Championship title, but I think he won't catch the title this year. Competition Level is extremely High and Consistent.

 

Vinales will fight for the top as well, but won't have the consistency.

 

Cheers

[DamienC]

My first pick is Rossi...because he is just a little younger than I am...go old man ! Go !

 

My second pick is Vinales...because everybody expects one of the top three guy to do it again. He is fast on a few laps...just needs to stay fast over the entire race.

 

My third pick is Cal Crutchlow...of course he won't win, but I hope he will manage to win a race this year. He is on a satellite team, and the guy is actually very funny. And also because then, someone who is neither from Spain or from Italy wins !

 

My last pick is Loris Baz...now way on earth he would win, but because he is a tall rider, just a little taller than I am...I want the end of the domination of the gnomes !!!

 

And I cannot stand Lorenzo. He is an amazing rider, but the guy is so arrogant. Funny the comment of the Yamaha mechanics on the Motogp site the other day. It was something like Vinales can be as fast as Lorenzo, but with a better character. Wondering whether Yamaha is that sad to see Lorenzo leave...

[Cobie Fair]

Vinales eh...I would like to see another up front, but I'll be surprised if he does it regularly (pleasantly so).

 

Rossi didn't figure out how to make the Duc work, it will be good if Lorenzo can, with some help?

 

WSB...it's been hard to see the races this year, I confess I'm a little out of touch on this series.

[Jaybird180]

I've been watching racing on BeIN. Set the DVR and watch at leisure. For me it usually means several weeks late, and I have to avoid media outlets for race spoilers. But also by the time I watch, spoilers don't matter.

Just to catch you up: Jonny Rea is 2X champion and the race media is making a big deal about him being the first WSBK consecutive champion.

[Jaybird180]

Just realized that I didn't put in my MotoGP bid. I think it will be:

1- Marquez

2- Lorenzo

I think it will go the distance

3- Rossi

4- Vinales, possibly dethroning Rossi starting another Yamaha teammate rivalry

 

(Rossi doesn't seem to get along with team mates)

 

 

Also- did you guys hear that Melandri is now in WSBK? He gets into the series on a good team, then gets himself hurt, needing surgery. What a disappointment as a Melandri fan. I remember him taking it to the "aliens" when he was on a satellite Honda at Phillip Island in the mid 2000's (I'd have to lookup the year). Rossi said, "Melandri rode like Devil", which is quite a compliment from Rossi.

[Cobie Fair]

Melandri put in some good rides, didn't know he'd been hurt, too bad.

[Jaybird180]

Melandri put in some good rides, didn't know he'd been hurt, too bad.

http://www.sportrider.com/world-superbike-marco-melandri-adds-his-name-to-off-season-injury-list

 

And it didn't dawn on me until I read this that he's teamed up with Chaz Davies. Marco knows (I hope) how to play TEAM. I don't think Sykes can handle the psychological issues that will come with playing second fiddle to Jonathan Rea.

 

With Van Der Mark leaving Honda, Nicky Hayden finally has a real chance to have a bike developed around him. I just hope that Ten Kate/ Honda/ HRC don't play the silly games they did with him and Pedrosa in 2006. Unfortunately Honda's racing support is not what it used to be.

[BikeSpeedman]

VR just finished 3rd straight season at #2.

 

2014 his consistency put him in front of JL but he was pretty far from winning

2015 he was much closer, still consistent results, but rarely had the pace of JL and MM

2016 always there with a chance but too many mistakes especially early in the season

2017 as long as he doesn't repeat the crash-fest of 2016, I think he has enough pace for the first time since coming back to Yamaha. I think MM is fastest rider around at this moment in time but I'm concerned that JL on a bike with a huge top end advantage will mix things up and he'll finish in front of MM. MV is my prepreseason pick for 2018.

1. Rossi
2. Lorenzo
3. Marquez
4. Vinales

[Jaybird180]

 

VR just finished 3rd straight season at #2.

 

2014 his consistency put him in front of JL but he was pretty far from winning

2015 he was much closer, still consistent results, but rarely had the pace of JL and MM

2016 always there with a chance but too many mistakes especially early in the season

2017 as long as he doesn't repeat the crash-fest of 2016, I think he has enough pace for the first time since coming back to Yamaha. I think MM is fastest rider around at this moment in time but I'm concerned that JL on a bike with a huge top end advantage will mix things up and he'll finish in front of MM. MV is my prepreseason pick for 2018.

1. Rossi
2. Lorenzo
3. Marquez
4. Vinales

 

At least we agree on who's on 4th (and 2nd for that matter)

 

So we don't have to discuss who's on first

https://youtu.be/kTcRRaXV-fg

[Cobie Fair]

Speedman, like your list and reasoning.

[BikeSpeedman]

Thanks, Cobie.

 

Wanted to hit Like to Jaybird too but for some reason, my quota appears to be 0 bc it always tells me my first attempt is over the limit.

[Jaybird180]

Thanks, Cobie.

 

Wanted to hit Like to Jaybird too but for some reason, my quota appears to be 0 bc it always tells me my first attempt is over the limit.

 

I think mine was set to 1/day and then 0. I gave up on liking things.

[Cobie Fair]

Thanks for the heads up on this guys, I just tried it and it's not working (the "like this" tab).

 

We are in process on getting a new webmaster, not sure how soon I can get this addressed but I will.

 

CF

[Willsportbike]

I too hope Rossi wins his 10th and then he'll probably be ready to retire high on the podium. I think all three ...ahhh well four with be battling out for podium wins and of course those important championship points. I'd mentioned 4 because Vinales is going to try and prove he has what it takes to be with factory Yamaha. No question he along with Lorenzo has some serious work to do at the office. Lorenzo will definitely try and bring home the crown for Ducati since they haven't held the crown since Stoner. Well I'm super excited to see what the results look like in the coming months. Back to Rossi, well you guys know my take...Vale bring home the final crown !!!!

[Cobie Fair]

Has there been any word on pre-season testing, especially for Lorenzo?

[khp]

Vinales eh...I would like to see another up front, but I'll be surprised if he does it regularly (pleasantly so).

 

Rossi didn't figure out how to make the Duc work, it will be good if Lorenzo can, with some help?

 

WSB...it's been hard to see the races this year, I confess I'm a little out of touch on this series.

 

Merry Christmas everyone.

 

Cobie, it pretty well established that it wasn't as much Rossi & JB "didn't figure out how to make the Duc work" - VR & JB knew exactly what it took to make it work, it was Ducati's race management that had their heads buried far up their own behinds to actually do what they were asked to do.

 

In a sense, it took Rossi's failure to shake Ducati up, fire their top brass and hire Gigi to make a racing-winning MotoGP bike.

Here's a short but interesting interview with Michele Pirro (the Ducati test rider) at GPone, where he says:

Jorge has come to Ducati at the right time, three years ago it would have been different

 

Lorenzo is contractually forbidden to comment on the Ducati until the expiry of his Yamaha contract (ie, he can talk freely from Jan 1st), he was smiling after returning to the pits at the end of his first stint on the GP17.

 

As much as I want Rossi to win that elusive 10th championship, I don't think it's going to happen. His best chance was 2015, on sheer consistency on the podium.

 

Marquez is just way too fast & talented, and this year he has learned to bide his time and take the money, oops, points on the table.

Viñales was wickedly fast during the Valencia test. He made a very interesting comment: "my target is to beat Marquez, not Rossi".

There's little doubt that Lorenzo is faster than Dovizioso, but the question is whether Gigi and Ducati can improve the bike in the mid-corner (which is where all the riders complain about it).

 

So, to go out on a limb, I'd say:

1) Marquez (having a better bike than 2016 and matured)

2) Viñales (being young, agressive and having a seriously competitive package)

3) Rossi (getting sour, but not going into a full rage because Viñales targets Marquez and not himself)

4) Lorenzo (because it took Ducati longer to sort out the bike)

 

What about the rookies and the changes? In order of 'winning' teammate and teams standing at they end of the year:

Iannone & Rins on the Suzuki

Zarco & Folger on Tech 3 Yamaha

Aleix & Sam Lowes on the Aprilia

Pol & Smith on the KTM

Who'll be the best non-factory Ducati? - I'm cheering for Petrucci, but Barbera beat him this year.

[shakabeemer]

Having started Catholic Racing Group on Facebook...

 

<This post has been MOVED to a new thread in the Cornering section called "Beliefs and Riding">

[Jaybird180]

Looks like Vinales is the man to beat. Anyone want to reconsider....?

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2017/02/16/dominion-for-vinales-on-day-2/219476

[Cobie Fair]

Any news to change everyone's thinking on their predictions, any news one way or the other?

[khp]

I'm still gonna stick with Marquez, Viñales, Rossi.

Lorenzo appears to be struggling a lot with the GP17, though.

 

The unknown quality about Viñales is how he'll handle the fighting at the sharp end. He was too agressive at one of the Spanish GPs last year, and just ended up slowing down himself and Pedrosa. Marquez put it very well at the Philip Island test (link): "Yes, Viñales is faster than Rossi over a single lap, but Rossi's going to be there on Sunday." (paraphrased)

[Jaybird180]

Everyone see the WSBK season opener at Phillip Island? I'm not going to give any spoilers just in case.

 

The race #2 re-grid is interesting and I think it gives better entertainment. I might like it, even if it seems a bit unfair to the guys who qualify well.