Gloves are off at Repsol Honda

[Mach24]

Well Dani has announced his intention to be back testing on Feb 16 and then went on to say:

that he is "a little worried" at leaving team-mate Nicky Hayden to develop the new RC212V since "he has not been very beneficial when he has had that responsibility in the past."

Let the games begin!

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/news/159090-0/pedrosa_sets_return_date,_doubts_hayden.html

[Roby44]

They haven't ever gotten on very well have they??

[leopard]

Pick up more rubber gloves ;)

[Corny]

Nicky developed the 2006 RCV, right?

[jim mcglinchey]

Dani " the champ doesnt have much of an idea about how to develop a motorbike and the engineers are crazy, one says one thing and the other says the opposite"

Nicky "I didnt reply because its not my style. In any case he's criticised everyone in the world...except his mom"

Recently reported in the Spanish press.

[maxu05]

Is this going to be like F1's Alonso and Hamilton saga ? Maybe one of them will have a real dummy spit and want to leave the team in 2009.

[MrJan]

Hopefully it'll be done properly unlike Lewis and Fernando. No one wants a kind of hush hush argument that is covered over (ish) Let's have a punch up, my money's on Nicky (probably the only thing he'll win this year :p :

[ChrisS]

To be honest I can't see how a rider can't help develop a modern bike

The main thing the engineers will use is telemetry data collected from the bike. To an expert engineer the data can reveal much more than the rider can. All the rider needs to do is go out and run consistent laps.

[ShiftingGears]

I wonder if this will boil over ;)
Should be an interesting rivalry to watch!

[Ranger]

that he is "a little worried" at leaving team-mate Nicky Hayden to develop the new RC212V since "he has not been very beneficial when he has had that responsibility in the past."


But then again Dani wasn't very beneficial when he had a pretty simple responsibility in the past. *coughcough*Estoril2006*cough* :D

[NinjaMaster]

Nicky probably isn't too beneficial for Dani as he's trying to develop a bike that isn't particularly designed for him (at least in the past). Dani would win a fight though because his uppercut would be straight to Nicky's groin! :laugh:

[JETFX...]

Maybe an early prediction but...... I reckon "IF" Fiat Yamaha/Rossi do not win the title back this year Rossi will take his bat and ball (JB) and do a deal to move back to HRC!!! then I can quite easily see Little Nicky replace Rossi at Yamaha, providing of course Nicky performs ok in 08. That would solve the Dani/Nicky friction and also leave an out for Rossi as he aint looking to dominent so far on the Yamaha, mind you it could open a bigger can of worms with Dani and Rossi on the same team.... hmmmmm sounding more like a soap opera already anyway in 08 and the first race is still to be run, should be an entertaining season regardless :D

P.S. Funny thing is everytime I think of Danni now is of his verticle practice start at P.I. 07

[jim mcglinchey]

Link please. Hoppers body language was sooo funny, the way he just turned head in disbelief.

[leopard]

The problem their gloves were off, they only need to put them on.

[The Phantom]

Link please. Hoppers body language was sooo funny, the way he just turned head in disbelief.

It sure was :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2Rcrqy0dzs

He sits back and thinks, 'maaan, who else saw that???' :D

[tha_jackal]

And he did post that very video on his myspace under the 'heroes' section :D

[leopard]

He sits back and thinks, 'maaan, who else saw that???' :D
Obviously those who took the picture. :)

He's probably thinking like, 'maaan, I've been thinking that banning TC may endanger the riders'

[MrJan]

Dani would win a fight though because his uppercut would be straight to Nicky's groin! :laugh:

I didn't realise he'd be able to use a step ladder ;) :D

[leopard]

The taller ones I think should easily win in a fight over the smaller, if only they're smart enough to use the longer reach. Unluckily the smaller ones are usually smarter ;) :)

[maxu05]

I thought Nicky Haydens comments were a bit of a dig at Dani this week. When asked about the engine Nicky will use for the first race, he said that they may have to use the conventional spring valve engine. He stated that the new spring valve engine was not as good as last years engine, as it was set up for Dani.

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/news/159391-1/hondas

[Mach24]

Nicky Hayden has shrugged off comments by Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa, who criticised the American rider saying he was unable to develop the bike.

Pedrosa's comments came after he injured his hand in a crash at Sepang which meant he was unable to ride for a few weeks.

"When he has had this responsibility before he didn't do much good, but at the moment I can't do anything other than try to heal quickly in order to make up for the lost time," Pedrosa was quoted as saying by Motosprint at the time.

Hayden, MotoGP world champion in 2006, said he was unfazed by Pedrosa's remarks.

"I know that Dani talks badly about me, but I don't care," Hayden told the Italian magazine. "I'm not worried about what he may say or think about me. I do my job and the team have faith in me, even though Dani says otherwise.

"I read that somewhere and I laughed. I think people should look most of all at what they do, at their problems, and not always looking at and passing judgement on others.

"What happens is normal, because the world of motorbikes is full of hypocrisy. That's why I behave differently: here, in this environment, I only talk about racing, and that's it."

Shinichi Kokubu, project leader of the RC212V at HRC, added that Pedrosa was wrong about Hayden.

"Pedrosa is wrong when he says that Nicky doesn't know how to develop a bike," he said.

"In fact, Nicky's comments are the the same as Dani's. The problem is that they have completely different riding styles, so each of them wants a different thing. But on the basic indications they are very similar."

Kokubu also denied Pedrosa's crash at Sepang had been caused by a problem with the bike, as suggested by the Spaniard.

"Pedrosa is wrong in this case too, because his crash was not caused by a technical problem. At that moment we had the new chassis and new tyres, the bike wasn't yet set-up in a way suitable to make certain checks, so it was not ready to be pushed hard."

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/65267

[NinjaMaster]

So who is fire and who is fairy floss?

[Mach24]

So who is fire and who is fairy floss?

Dani = Fire

[NinjaMaster]

So you think Dani is hot too Mach? :laugh:

I don't think Nicky was soft in his response, just couldn't care what Pedrosa said. However, I would love to see a real attacking response for a real fierce battle between teammates who don't like each other. Teammate in name only. :up:

[maxu05]

Time will tell. It will be interesting who will be the best between them this year. Perhaps this is orchestrated by Dorna to create F1 style controversy, leading to more interest in the sport. Nothing like a good conspiracy theory :D

[NinjaMaster]

I don't think there's any doubt that Pedrosa is the better of the two but I really hope Nicky has a good year and makes Dani earn everything he gets. Also, it would be good just to see Hayden shut up a lot of the armchair critics who sit back and take pot shots at him.

[maxu05]

I thought you would side with Dani, Clint, the signature says it all :p :

[Roby44]

I thought you would side with Dani, Clint, the signature says it all :p :


Yes!!! That signature is a bit of a worry isn't it :eek:

[jim mcglinchey]

What are Honda doing sticking with the coil spring valve closers? Is it pure stubborness. Honda dont copy others, they innovate, is that it?

[maxu05]

Valve springs are no innovation. Yamaha have always been masters of configuring/building cylinder heads. The funny thing is that Kawasaki and Suzuki beat them to the punch with the pneumatic operated valves. I am surprised that Honda is behind with this technology.

[jim mcglinchey]

I see now that Honda want a rev limit imposed on all bikes, so maybe they dont have something up their sleeves as I suspected. I wouldn't bet on Honda winning the championship this year.

[maxu05]

I hope that Honda don't get what they want this time. It seems as though Honda throws their weight,(and money) around to influence the rule makers into changing rules to suit their agenda. I hope Honda gets it's ass well and truely spanked this year. They wanted 800cc, they got it. Now they have had their butts kicked, they want the rules to change again, just because they can't make the pneumatic valve engine work as well as the opposition. Bugger off Honda IMO :down:

[neninja]

Hayden has shown himself to be a total professional each time Dani has knocked him. Hopefully Honda will recognise that childish rants like Dani's are not good Honda PR.

When Nicky almost lost the championship due to a crazy move by him team-mate 'Dani' he also showed a similar level of professionalism.

I'd be willing to bet that Pedrosa never wins a MotoGP championship plus he's got no class.

[MrJan]

Pedrosa is obviously a better rider than Hayden and the only reason I can see that would get in the way of Dani getting a championship is Australian and possibly not human (unless of course he just finishes second a lot and hopes the other guys have a few problems ;) )

[maxu05]

I think Nicky is being smart about all this, after all, he doesn't want Dani to give him black eyes on the knee caps.

[Ranger]

Nicky developed the 2006 RCV, right?

Yes.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, awards this argument to Nicky Hayden.








(...although Dani is actually the better rider...)

[maxu05]

I honestly believe that Dani will lose the plot this year. I think Nicky will be on top of him for sure. There are so many of Dani's old rivals that are out to prove they have the measure of him. There is Heehor, Dovi, de Angelis as well as Toseland, and all the regulars to put pressure on him, poor oompa loompa :D

[The Phantom]

So Dani is the next Sete? :)

[MrJan]

I don't think so. Dani is an arse but doesn't seem to me to be the kind of confidence rider that Sete was, far more likely, in my opinion, that Nicky would suffer that kind of set back, seems to me like the kind of bloke that is great on his day but doesn't cope so well when things aren't going his way.

[Mach24]

[quote="Mach24"]Well Dani has announced his intention to be back testing on Feb 16 and then went on to say:

that he is "a little worried" at leaving team-mate Nicky Hayden to develop the new RC212V since "he has not been very beneficial when he has had that responsibility in the past."

Let the games begin!
QUOTE]

Dani uses 2008 bike, Hayden stays 2007 coz the 08' is not good enough!

Dani stands on podium, Hayden stands alone.

[F1boat]

Well, Dani owned Nicky again yesterday.

[NinjaMaster]

Early days yet. Nicky will get much stronger. Dani is better though but Nicky not that far behind.

[maxu05]

Why can't they just kiss and make up :love: :laugh: