Should Ducati replace Marco now, and if so, with who? [merged]

[maxu05]

^^seems like a longshot^^

ducati are committed to helping marco, not replacing him. besides, what would it cost him to leave?

Committed to helping Melandri my butt. Ducati are committed to helping Ducati. Look back at Bayliss, then Loris. Ducati are only trying to help Marco at present, as they know they have problems with the bike. If Marco, or any of the other Ducati riders don't start to get results, they will drop them like a stone IMO.

[tha_jackal]

Racesport.nl is reporting that Melandri could replace West at Kawasaki after the conclusion of the Shanghai round.. There's also reports of a straight swap between Tamada and West from WSBK to MotoGP ... Be interesting to see how things develop after Shanghai, methinks some **** will go down, sadly for Ant..

[Corny]

Racesport.nl also says that Biaggi could replace Marco... Just imagine how cool that'd be!
But I'm afraid that's just a bit of a dream for me

[NinjaMaster]

I'd be astounded if Marco left Ducati for Kawasaki after 4 rounds. The West/Tamada thing I can kinda see but round 4 is so early. Has Tamada tested the bike to know if he would be any faster?

[maxu05]

I have 2 theories if this was true. Firstly, perhaps Kawasaki feel that Ant would be quicker than Tamada on the SBK, and Tamada would be quicker than Ant on the GP bike. Secondly, it could be just a motivational ploy to get Ant firing, as he usually comes out swinging when things get tough.

[NinjaMaster]

Secondly, it could be just a motivational ploy to get Ant firing, as he usually comes out swinging when things get tough.

Whilst this is normally true, things have been tough for a while for him this year and he appears to be swinging with both arms tied behind his back. Hopfully this is the weekend it turns around.

[ChrisS]

Racesport.nl also says that Biaggi could replace Marco... Just imagine how cool that'd be!
But I'm afraid that's just a bit of a dream for me

if Biaggi was 100% then maybe there was a small chance but by his performance at Assen he is clearly not fit and why would Ducati want to bring in an injured rider?

[ChrisS]

Does Tamada to MotoGP West to SBK has anything to do with the Kawasaki MotoGP engineers being at Assen last weekend? I thought they were there to help PSG-1 sort the bike

[maxu05]

Does Tamada to MotoGP West to SBK has anything to do with the Kawasaki MotoGP engineers being at Assen last weekend? I thought they were there to help PSG-1 sort the bike

It certainly makes you wonder. The commentators mentioned the Motogp engineers in the Kawasaki pit many times, supposedly there to get the WSBK up to speed, but, you never know. There vis something going on for sure IMO.

[T-D]

tamada/west swap makes sense in the same vein as a marco/west swap: people putting 2 and 2 together and coming up with 5. such is the internet that i bet kropotkin and racesport.nl are probably quoting each other as sources.

tamada left motogp with a terrible reputation within the paddock as lazy and a quitter--two things you have never heard about west.

furthermore the contracts would have to be renegotiated. they do not race for the same team.

as for ducati--they screwed bayliss, but they put in a tremendous amount of effort to help loris last year. stoner remarked at last season's end, that he and loris's development had gone in such different directions that they couldn't even use the same data on tire tests.