Certainly is :up: My one question would be if he could put in a similar performance in race conditions. It seems to me that he lost confidence once Rossi put his 'curse' on him and then put him in the gravel.Quote:
Originally Posted by neninja
He was always quick but once a rider starts worrying about falling off then they will struggle, IMO.
There weren't any better choice for Sete but fighting head to head against Rossi. There were not too much riders who rode at the front but them two, Biaggi has had the time since he was no longer riding two stroke of Yamaha. Generally climate of competitions weren't as tight as now. We can easily now find some riders alternately to get in the mix at the front, Rossi, Stoner, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, or Edwards. I'd rather to put a bit aside his performance of last two seasons as he wasn't mentally on perfect form, besides technical problem of his bike.
The situation is probably different now, fighting head to head is just anyhow harder and it put more pressure to the riders, Rossi is probably an exception. I think Sete could be easier to ride in the group of race leader, unless if he has mentally destroyed and Rossi is a nightmare something at any rate he should avoid of.
Sete is an asset, no regret to give him another try.
I think if Sete took over from Marco he would do well. He had a lot of pressure on him to beat a dominant Rossi, but, the scenario has changed somewhat. Rossi is under pressure from Heehaw, Pedrosa, Stoner and Edwards every race these days. I think Sete would find it more enjoyable to race against some of these riders, and not always against Rossi.
Indeed, impressive times from Sete but as Jan Yeo alludes, how would this translate to a race?
I fully expect that Sete could return and be fully race fit within a few race meetings after which if he can repeat the performances under race conditions he would be the perfect foil for CS and Ducati. It must be recognised that he will not be hired to beat or takes points from CS but to get between CS and the chasing pack and take points that way.
As for the 'alleged curse' placed upon Sete by VR, I for one remain unconvinced as I felt that SG just lost the most crucial ingredient for a racer ............... the hunger to win. It also has to be remembered that his shoulder was severely injured in the coming together with VR and that for a while, every time he fell it was onto that shoulder further damaging it.
Should Sete return I am sure that he will perform well and complete much of the unfinished business.
Garry
Was Marco as close to Stoner in pre-race testing as Gibba's been recently?
If not, we have our #1 candidate for the Duc if Marco bails before the season's out.
Pre-season Marco was nowhere near. Of the four Dooks riders , Marco was nearly always slowest.
That voodo stuff don't mean nothing to me :D However it is certainly interesting that once Rossi said SG wouldn't win another race, he didn't. Even when Sete got a break and was leading something happened to ruin it (I'm think Estoril here). He had some shocking luck and as you say just kept injuring himself (Ducati had a real year of it with him and Loris, especially that nasty accident in Catalunya).Quote:
Originally Posted by gco0307
I think that he was still hungry for a win, just not confident enough (which seems to be George's problem at the minute. I certainly think that he'd do better that MArco on the Ducati and would probably be running with the second group behind the top three. As for winning a race, there is only one way to find out :D
No Voodoo involved IMO. Rossi just played mind games on the dude and broke his confidence. I think Marco could do a lot better, but he is convinced that he cannot ride the bike. Ducati don't want him, and He doesn't want to be with Ducati, but, they don't want to let him run off to Kawasaki and beat their bike, so they are making him stay.
The more I think about it, the more this makes sense to me which really is a shame after all the potential the Melandri - Ducati relationship promised after his signing. However, after half the season, things appear to somehow be getting worse than the rock bottom we thought they'd reached. Given Marco's regression of the last few races, I finally given in to the conclusion that his continuation is counter-productive for both parties. I think for the benefit of both parties that now is probably a good time to separate and let Sete one last hurrah. Even if Gibernau is only midpack, it is still a vast improvement on where they are at currently and is far more deserving for the people and sponsors behind the team. Who knows, maybe Marco would get some early 'pre-season' testing via wildcard/replacement rides with either Kawasaki or Suzuki. It really can't get any worse.
Maybe a Hayden/Melandri mid season swap?