Tricky ,in riding ability I think MM is unmatched but for passion and personality Vale has that in spades . Ive watched MotoGP all over Europe across the years and you see a sea of yellow everywhere at every track ,MM cant match that despite his abilty
Doohan or Marquez? A bit harsh I think. They interview very well but are / were greatly driven. You could say the same of Fogarty, Rainey and many great champions. Rossi plays the popularity card better than them all it has to be said. The GOAT of popularity, no contest, Rossi all the way and he has done wonders for the sport. He was even the 1st male to have an Eddie Stobart truck named after him after all, high praise indeed.
I was talking about doohan, but I think his was natural, whereas Marquez is manufactured. I cant imagine having a beer and pisstake with doohan: I can with Marquez
MM may eventually surpass Rossi in results but he'll never get close to being the all round personality that's Rossi is He'll always be an annoying twat Jaylo will always be an annoying winging twat
MotoGP is massive over there (Italy as well) - most of the bars and cafes show the races and the atmosphere is not dissimilar to when there's a big Premier League football match or the FA Cup on over here. So, you can understand why the marketing departments of the bike manufacturers and the sponsors probably prefer if they hire riders from those countries and why (unfortunately) Crutchlow is unlikely to get the factory Honda ride which IMHO he clearly deserves. Thanks for the compliment btw. I am actually considering taking a sabbatical in order to write a book, but it won't be about bike racing.
I don't know if Doohan is correct in saying MM is the best there has ever been, but I would take his words with a largish pinch of salt because he is a Honda brand ambassador and therefore is paid to say nice things about them and their riders. Also, given that Rossi left Honda in not quite acrimonious circumstances, but not exactly as friends either, I'm sure Honda relish the opportunity for the dissemination of little digs like that.
Ah, ok. I thought you were quoting MD as saying MM is the best there has ever been and/or he (MM) is better than VR.
And Doohan probably referred to himself in the third person too, like a boxer or a rapper. My view is that as supremely talented as MM is, through no fault of his own he never had the opportunity to show his mettle on the 500 strokers, and, in addition to that, he has only won on a Honda. As such, he doesn't quite match up to Rossi who won championships on what these days would be deemed virtually unrideable and dangerous machinery and he also won a title in his first season on an unfamiliar Yammy after switching from Honda. He also bridged the gap between the smokers and the almost as brutal but different 990s and then continued to adapt in order to succeed in the era of electronics. If he had won another title in 2015 I think that would have confirmed his primacy but unfortunately I am sorry to say that his temper tantrum during the tangle with MM left him looking more chump than champ.
You are right that MM never raced in the 500cc championship or has of yet ridden a different marque in the top class. The 1st is through no fault of his own and I for one think the 2nd will happen at some point. However, if you've seen something about MM that makes you think he wouldn't be the best out there on a 500, then please feel free to share it as I haven't. His natural talent would make me inclined to think he'd fair better than most on those old school machines. Also, nothing about MM makes me think he wouldn't win on a Honda, Ducati or Yamaha right now, more so than any other rider.
His style would fundamentally have to change for the Yamaha or Suzuki, but reckon ducati would be up his street He’d have tamed a 500, no problem. I’d love to know how much traction control he runs compared to most others.
I don’t recall ever indicating that I don’t think MM could have handled a 500. I merely said that through no fault of his own he never had the opportunity to prove it. It’s similar to the Rossi v Ago debate, as Ago was racing in an era when riders competed across multiple classes but Rossi isn’t. However, I don’t think many people would disagree that the bikes towards the end of the 90s and early 2000s (ie: the beginning of the Rossi era) were possibly the most difficult to master, whereas today’s machines are like a PS4 MotoGP game on easy mode in comparison and then add the constant rule changes and tech developments into the mix and VR starts to look like the GOAT. But then there’s the argument that having to ride several different bikes of different classes over a race weekend/championship on circuits which claimed multiple lives each year showed a different sort of greatness and the whole debate opens up again.
MM apparently due onto the Hawksbee & Jacob’s show on talkSPORT later this afternoon. Err Maybe I dreamt that as the show just finished
As humans continue to evolve, they will run faster ,jump higher, lift heaver weights ect.. Motorcycle riders are no different and I'm sure all of the new crop of talent could master the bikes of times gone by... The motox bikes most of em train on ( and are fucken good on) are probably nearly as mental as the old school gp bikes.. I would say definitely mm would have been a champ back in the day if he possessed the skills he has now. He will be the greatest of all time, untill someone else is!!! ( Does that make sense?)
Not that I'm a fan of his, but I think Marquez has more feel than the other riders. Look at the amount of saves he has closer to the limit. You feel he's on the edge of everything the whole time. And he always looks like he's got something additional when he's up against it. I'll go and wash my mouth out with soap now... I hate facing reality.
I totally agree. Much as I hate to admit it (as a Rossi fan but never a fanboy), I love watching Marquez, not just because of his undoubted brilliance, but more that his on the ragged edge riding style and his general sense of exuberance on and off the bike makes him hugely entertaining to watch. I can’t stand racers like Lorenzo and (even worse) Stoner* who make it look like work, whereas MM and VR (Simoncelli was another) bring a sense of joy and even artistic/aesthetic flair to the sport. I’m not a fan of MM as such, in that if Rossi can’t win, then I want either Dovi or Cal to take the top step, but I am big admirer of his. * to be fair, Stoner also had a very entertaining balls out, riding style but he was such a boring whinger off the bike that his dour personality kind of overshadowed it a little.
