What do you think Nicky will have to accomplish in order to secure his spot on the Repsol Honda team for 2009? Top 5 overall? Win 2/3/4 races?

As its looking right now, he'll be on a customer RCV or a Fireblade next season!

In my opinion, he'll have to win at least one race and be consistently pushing for wins when it comes contract time.

For honda not to replcae him with Dovi he sould perferably outperform Pedrosa, in witch case Dove will have to wait another year.
But a top 4 in the chapionship will give him a chance, again it depends on how well Pedro does it and how well Dovi does it. A 4th is not worth much with Dovi on 5th....

A new passport

But seriously, he needs to be a front runner every weekend. He should be getting multiple podiums and wins in the situation hes in. Obviously though it will depend on how well the teams other options perform between now and then.

Given the number of other riders out there this year who can win a GP .... 3 have already .... I think Hayden would have to get more wins than he has in the past to impress Honda more than they must be by some others out there.

And worse still the way the rookies have gone makes hiring rookies look better than using some of the "old timer" riders out there.

is his contract with HRC up at the end of this season then ?

Yes it is

i think it is...it was a 2 year deal when he won the champ in 06..

Well Phorest, Hayden did have the pace in two out of the last three races, and this last one had lap times to get a potential podium. The difference between his shit performance in race 1 compared to races 2 & 3, were what? Oh yeah, updated bike. He threw away a good ride while pushing and making ground on Rossi in race 3. My point is, he's in the top five in pace at the moment. So had he not crashed, would you be asking this question? (Keeping in mind that the other guy some are proposing to replace him, did the same.)

Dovi is very impressive, and I think he also has the pace to be within the top 5. I don't know much about him, but so far he is very good. He was running similar and pushing it when he dumped his bike too.

To answer your question, I think if Hayden finishes ahead of Dovi at the end of the season, barring any mechanical failures, then he deserves to stay on (assuming he wants to). If not, and Dovi finishes ahead (barring circumstances out of rider control) then he may deserve the factory ride (assuming they offer it to him).

But he did crash .... indeed crashing is a sign that he is pushing too hard for himself ....

By your reasoning perhaps Stoner deserved the WC in 06 as well his pace was good ... however ....

End of the day, or WC, its actual performance that counts not what may have been.

What will it take?...hmmmmm

he could beat Pedro retarded...

Only beating Pedrosa will make his 2009 Repsol contract safe....but that would assume he would allowed to take point away from Dani...and Repsol Puig and Co will not let Nicky endanger Dani championship title shot......he could help Dani win the title, and that would at least win honda respect but not a new Repsol contract....

Dovi is just as good if not better than Nicky right now....Nicky's only greater talent is qualifying, and once Dovi has the sorted then Nicky's stock will lower and lower...

At Monday's test Dovi was 3rd on the timesheet behind Dani and Vale...
http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2008/Upbeat+...p+despite+crash

Why should Repsol keep Nicky? That is the more important question for me.

Why would Nicky want to stay with HRC other than being loyal to Honda which in my opinion has been his biggest downfall. Dovi will be in the same situation as Nicky if he gets the job, in other words, as long as Dani is with HRC, the other team member won't get a fair deal.

Post race test: Dovi on a qualifier, Nicky on race rubber.

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/motogp/new...s_-_monday.html

I think Nicky should part company with Honda either way. I think he could/should line himself up with another ride next year and have another go at it.

Fuck HRC!...i hope he gets the hell out...they don't deserve a hard worker like him...let them have that lazy crybitch Pedrosa

i've a question, i'm new to this forum and i've noticed Pedrosa gets a lot of bashing here. whats the reason for this?

I think it is very likely this is going to be his last year at Repsol (factory Honda). Last year was a real struggle for him, this year things are looking more promising, but he is no where near the level that Pedrosa is currently at. He has shown lots of loyalty towards Honda for many years, as much as I would like to see him try it on a Ducati (replace Melandri) or Yamaha (replace Edwards) I think its going to be likely he will get a chance on a satellite Honda team. Perhaps replace Nakano or De Crashiet. Personally I would like to see him race in WSBK and bring Honda back to the championship in that series.

Its almost not even fun anymore, exposing your mental aptitude equivalent to that of an arthropod. Who the hell is talking about World Championship here? The topic is about what the man has to do to keep his contract. My answer was to point that he has a much improved pace, and like the guy that people are proposing replace him, crashed as well.

I realize your a bit dense, but do you really have that much trouble figuring out what people are asking and talking about, or do all roads lead to Stoner for you? Perhaps you may want to easy up on Stoner's jock for a moment and actually read, drop that little thing in your other hand and pick up a dictionary. Really, I know I'm wasting my time, but your post is not even in the same ballpark related to the topic. Get a clue man.

Done for you.

On topic:

He HAS to win races, or prove that he is Dani's equal, or at least considerably faster than Dovi.

I don't get why people think Nicky would suit the Duke. Casey has a very front orientated riding style, whilst Nicky loves the rear.

But then again, I could be completely wrong!

I doubt it. Honda have never been the type to dish out team orders and if Nicky has the pace to beat Dani he will be expected to do so.



Because HRC is his best shot at being world champ. He can ride alongside Lorenzo and Rossi, take the lottery that is Ducati, move to a bike that can't win races or continue to ride for the best team in the world for as long as they'll have him. Its not a hard choice

How does that sand taste?