I will take your descent into passing insults as having no real counter argument. When this seasons over I will do an analysis of Rossis points totals up to 2006 and compare to 2007 on . Data doesn't lie. One last thing, in firing Burgess, using the phrase "new direction", Rossi is pretty much saying that he got his set up wrong at every circuit bar 1 this season
No offence taken. You wouldn't be the first here to resort to name-calling though, so apologies for thinking the worst of you.
Course it was a typo Derek. As for stats you will probably wheel out the ones you always did before which normally disproved any argument you put forward...... I always love seeing your replies as you must just copy and paste from a word doc you have set up as its always the same rubbish.....
Oh so racing is that simple, the stats tell the truth, I think it's too complex to quote stats, unless you can include "bad luck" in those stats, luck does have a role to play in racing. Rossi is a racing legend, I'd put money down he could win another championship if given the tools! Even JL is struggling this year, what if JL and Rossi were on RCVs and even better an Orange one! Rossi hate is what fuels most peoples doubt in his ability to win. That's why someone who loves a brand like Ducati are unable to support Stoner or Rossi as riders, they just have brim with hate for no reason.
It's quite simple really, some people decide to support one rider, others another rider, and each will back their guy to the hilt. For me, it's the close racing and entertainment value that keeps me watching, for others it's the stats that count at the expense of any show. Me and 749er will never agree on motogp because he looks at it in a totally different way to me. I pick my riders based on personality as much as track record.
Racing is all ifs, buts and maybes. If Hopper had made a better last corner at Brands in 2011 he would have been BSB champion, Rossi falling in Valencia 2006, if Stoner had not been off injured last year would he have won another championship? Same with Lorenzo and Pedrosa this year - if they had not injured themselves would Marquez be leading now? Interesting stat on Eurosport, Lorenzo has crashed 3 times this year but 2 were bad, Marquez 15 times but nothing major!
Whoever wins, the other camp will start badmouthing him, that's just the way it is. I'm happy to play this game cos I always pick the right rider...
But Rossi knows he's got the tools, that's not the problem, the bike's good enough to take Jorge to the last round in the title fight....that's why Burgess had to go..
Rossi is not as good as he was no question. Since he broke his leg and then Simoncelli died I think he has had a different mindset. In the interview about Burgess going he is talking about deciding early next season whether to carry on so he knows it is coming to an end.... Having said that he must also be thinking how he has seen Biaggi, Melandri, Checa move over to WSB and some of them older than he is and still win so its pretty certain 2015 will see him there I reckon. I saw that Yamaha were bringing out a new R1 for that year aswell so that would coincide.....
What's going on with Rossi is all mental. I'm not sure he has the right bike (I think Lorenzo's making it look better than it is) but it's certainly capable of putting a multiple world champ on the podium more regularly than is currently happening. So he has to address that mental issue. Trouble is, anyone at that level in any sport has so much belief in themselves they find it hard to understand that they are the ones who are underperforming. And someone has to bite the bullet for that self-belief - in this case, Burgess. What Yamaha need to do is find a chief who can get into Rossi's head. I don't know why, but I reckon Davide Tardozzi would be the right man for the job.
Comment from qually today. "They all say, Rossi, Cal and other before, they cannt ride how Jorge does, braking in the same place of carrying the same lean angle as Jorge, they crash" seems even the others recognised JL ability to override it...same as Stoner on the Ducati maybe?!
if rossi an get the confidence in the front end he will be there abouts again. he simply hasnt become that slow overnight
Guys, Interesting as this all is, isn't it just more likely that the younger, newer riders are simply quicker? That the bar has been raised again and Rossi cannot quite lift it up high enough to compete? This happens in every sport, all the time, and Rossi has been amazing in that he has kept being able to also lift his bar every year to compete with the new, higher level. Until now. When JL and MM have lifted it beyond his reach. Age won't help, but at the end of the day, Stoner upped the bar first (but not consistently), and now JL and MM have done it again. It's just out of reach. Rossi has been an amazing talent, and still is. He just isn't the quickest any more, and that was always going to happen one day....
I agree with you on one point which is the stats, racing is as you say far too complex to base everything on stats without bad luck involved. However on the flipside of that you must include good luck, special treatment, better equipment, tyres....the list goes on and on. I don't however agree on your theory that Ducati brand lovers can't like a rider like stoner as I for one think he's one of the very very best to ever grace a GP (I even have his book on pre order....sad I know) I don't even dislike Rossi, I just don't personally get involved in the whole GOAT thing. That's my choice. 'Rossi hate' as you put it doesn't exist from non rossi supporters, just because they don't support him the 'Rossi loyalists' then start throwing around accusations that it's all based on hate or jealousy, for some that may be the case but not from me or many others. People have different riders they support, mine was Stoner, now I have a new found appreciation of JL simply because he's over ridden an inferior package and truly shown his metal. anyway, we're digressing off the subject of JB and Rossi finding new motivation. whatever works for him is his business, equally it's not been lost on the paddock in the manner the whole thing was handled, some say a 'leak' forced rossis hand as JB found out through whispers beforehand. It all got very messy and things were rushed forward. rossi may very well win another race or so, but IMO unless the bike is entirely redesigned so it works for him and not for JL then I'm still quite confident that JL would win more at this stage of both of their careers, JL would need to be handicapped by a massive bike change in rossis favour..... But again that's my view. i guess we'll all find out next year, so much can change. Marquez may very well be unlucky and have his first huge crash, something many of the top flight have already been through, it'll change everything. I personally hope Redding picks up JB, I think it'd be good for both of them.
Couldnt agree more, it's just life, its nothing new and as you say it happens all the time, if it didn't no new records would ever be broken. the new guard are moving in and it's been happening for the last 4 years or more. The field is now more skilled than ever and as such Rossi isn't head and shoulders better like he once was. It's not rubbishing the guys achievements to say this either, it's just being realistic, much of which a certain hardcore following of VR just simply refuse to accept. anyway, JB to redding.... That's my hope, failing that perhaps Aprilia will pick him up.
As JB himself said, it's not uncommon for riders at the end of their careers to do exactly as Rossi has done, and it's benefitted none of them. But you'll not hear Burgess moaning about it, he knows it's part of the game, he'll either retire or start with another rider and team - he won't be short of offers, that's for sure. I can't help feeling there's something in Rossi's game plan, though. Maybe he feels that the team has gone stale and he needs fresh impetus - I can see how it would be easy to hate him for throwing out one of the keys of his success, but it's just something that racers do, accept it with the same grace Burgess has. Somehow I do think that Rossi has a bit more to give, a few more race wins in him. But realistically he's never going to trouble the MM/JL show.
Oh no doubt he's got a plan, definitely. i guess though until he knows who's staying and who's going he can't really move forward with it. A lot of the guys in that team have worked together for over a decade, he may very well lose a few more yet but again that depends if JB joins somebody else and there's room for them. Some will be loyal to Rossi, but I'd guess a fair few loyal to JB. Let's face it, for any team outside of Yamaha or Hrc they'd be a great investment if only for a couple of years to help move projects forward.
