havnt got MCN here at mo for exact quotes ( hubby took it to work)but he realy enjoyed it and was doing competetive lap times he is making noises to return but bosses want him to test more and for longer so they can get a better gauge of his fitness and form. Bring it on i say!!

would he replace who?

sadly poss Marco but if its got to be anyone..........

i hate that, i like marco....dont care for sete too much

Just saw an interview where Livio Suppo ruled it out... like, completely... which, as I maintain... means it's a total possiblity. But I don't think ducati would sign him... they're after another KC... can't see them going backwards in time with someone who has a gummy shoulder...

They might be eyeing off Marco Simoncelli for all we know!

i havent seen much of him, is he capable of controlling the duke though?

I have no idea! And that brings up my current rant of what does it take exactly to ride the ducati? It's the world's best kept secret at this point... oh, except we're all to believe that KC is really talented... vomit.

Thinking about this.... ok, not tonnes of thought, more like a flash behind the eyes... that Jorge has managed to ride a gp bike quite well with hardly any use of his legs/ankles/feet. Now, one would think that legs for steering etc would be paramount. I'm wondering if the euro riders learn to use their upper bodies more in racing and controlling the bike, and this is where those with a dirtbiker background learn to use their hips and legs more.

Hicky, with that background, struggles on the same bike wee little Dani doesn't. Marco and Loris struggle on a bike that wee KC (who comes from a dirtbiking beginning) doesn't.

So I'm wondering if the ducati just requires a lot more use of the rider's legs... that it's lack of handling on corners (unless they've fixed that massively or something in recent times) means the rider has to use more of his whole body to steer the bike... this could be where Marco (from road racing background) struggles.

This argument means that unless Simoncelli went and grew up with Hicky in the OWB, or on KC's farm in wherever it was... NSW somewhere?, he will face similar probs as Marco.

Again, though, being young and not having established a successful career on the 125s and 250s, perhaps he's more open to adapting his riding style. (Like KC seems to have been.)

Other thing to back this up is the way KC has been sliding his rear tyre in recent races... hardly saw any of that last year... I think they may have geared the bike to do that in order to increase it's cornering speed. Classic dirtbiker move! That Hicky seems to be joining that bandwagon lately (nice work, Hicky!), again, dirtbiking move!

Catty, can i say something? Where the hell do you get all this, you are like a freaking living breathing wikipedia, I'm in awe, seriously.

F**ked if I know!

I think it's just my compulsive streak... I treat everything like a puzzle that must be solved... it is kind of weird... possibly a bit draining... god help a GP rider if he ever got stuck in a lift with me... or any member of a crew... they'd jump for freedom.

lol, or push you out!