Iannone leads Ducati one-two in test

[Blade]

Genuinely pleased to see Ducati up the front and also great to see Marquez being challenged.

[kiwikrasher]

Just hope the rules haven't tipped to far in Ducatis favour. The fact that both Ducatis are up the front kind of points to this, but it's still early days. In saying that I'm not diminishing the talent of the Ducati riders at all.

[Blade]

I don't see how the rules have been tipped in Ducatis favour ? Have I missed something ?

[Monty]

I don't see how the rules have been tipped in Ducatis favour ? Have I missed something ?

No I think Paul thinks Ducati are still in the open class, as did I until I checked.

[Blade]

But even that is playing to the rules.

[kiwikrasher]

I don't see how the rules have been tipped in Ducatis favour ? Have I missed something ?

No I think Paul thinks Ducati are still in the open class, as did I until I checked.

I did, mainly because of this in the crash.net article

"Ducati, Suzuki and Aprilia have the softer Open-class rear tyre allocation, although it is not yet clear which tyres were being used today. "

And not disputing they were playing to the rules Blade, but more if those rules where tipping in their favour. I must admit to not really having a handle on the current state of the play, so I should save flippant comments till I do.

[duke63]

The rules have been in Honda's favour for too long, IMHO. Their ability to spend money like no others leaves them with a big advantage.

There are a lot of rumours about that if the Ducati GP15 isn't a bike that can win races, then Ducati will quit Motogp as they can no longer justify the expense.

[Blade]

Teams with the most money and resources will always win Duke, just the way it is unfortunately.

I think on certain circuits the soft tyre is a disadvantage and the preference would be hard. The main area the softer tyre option helps open class teams is in qualifying.

[Blade]

The rules have been in Honda's favour for too long, IMHO. Their ability to spend money like no others leaves them with a big advantage.

There are a lot of rumours about that if the Ducati GP15 isn't a bike that can win races, then Ducati will quit Motogp as they can no longer justify the expense.

I for one will be praying the gp15 is competitive then as motogp needs Ducati and I think they would be very sorely missed if they departed.

Always rate Dovi as a talent as well, very much an underrated rider IMO.

[Blade]

Very interesting read

I'm a big Honda Fan, but I also love Ducati too and I would love for the little Italian firm to give Honda a knock out blow this season as they did in 2007.

"The GP15 left Malaysia with the fourth fastest lap time, then went on to dominate the final test in Qatar. Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso each led one night of testing at Losail, venue for the opening round of the championship at the end of this month.

Most worrying for its rivals, Iannone and Dovizioso did not use the soft rear tyre available to the Open class plus Ducati, Suzuki and Aprilia factory entries. Instead the Ducatis set their time on the harder rear tyre, which is what they will use in the race.

With Honda's world champion Marc Marquez the only rider within half-a-second of the Ducatis at Losail - the Spaniard set the second fastest lap time - the prospect of a Ducati pole position (using the extra performance of the soft tyre) is very real. "

[Blade]

Just been reading this weeks MCN and apparently Ducati, especially Dovi on the GP15 are very good over race distance, with consistently fast times.

I would love to see someone challenging Marquez's domination and if that someone is on a Ducati its the cherry on top of the cake IMO.