Valentino surely has to be the GOAT. Stoner, is very very talented as is Lorenzo. But will either of the two of them surpass Rossi's win total or better his records? Time will tell. I met casey and spoke to him at Silverstone whilst he was still at Ducati. And I must both him & his mrs were friendly and polite. He also signed my sons t-shirt. So Im a fan for sure.
Well of course if win totals and records are your criteria then Agostini is indisputably the GOAT. If the criteria are not statistical but subjective then it's always a pretty sterile debate. And as I always point out, Rossi has never called himself the GOAT - it was Edwards' invention.
I was talking about having the most wins in the 500/motogp class. Rossi has 79. Then ago 68, doohan 54, hailwood 37, stoner 33, lawson 31 & so forth.
Well, the fact that I, and a few others on here, like him renders that argument null and void. The fastest rider on the planet might not have your support, but he has the support of many others and I'm grateful he won the title for my beloved marque - Ducati. even if others aren't... :biggrin:
Yes. 122 GP wins, 15 world titles, 10 TT wins - by any objective measure there's no debate. VR ticked Doohan off last year for saying he had 7 world titles, pointing out that he had 9. So if his non-500/MotoGP wins/titles count, so do Ago's. Part of VR's charm is that he's never pushed his claims in this regard. I saw him once asked where he thought he ranked alongside Agostini and Hailwood. He sensibly, and rightly, and graciously replied: "It's impossible to know. I think I am on the podium of history." It's a melancholy measure of how much things have changed for VR that early in the 2010 season Ago's GP total looked gettable.
For me I prefer Stoner to Rossi. But like them both very much. Sadly for Ducati I feel he is past his prime. But ultimately he should develop a good bike. I wish stoner had stayed but hey that's life. We can only hope this GP season is better than last year for Ducati.
Doohans 5 titles are very empty, He had to wait for Kevin S, Wayne R and Co to retire or quit, He then only had to beat His team mate :wink:
Gets em everytime that one, bloody short memory brigade, laughin my ass off :biggrin: One Don't think much of his leathers, getting a bit of a porker ain't he in his old age :smile:
Morning! I've been out for a cycle, a quick 70k ride before breaky.. So Cal and jorge stuck a soft race tyre in to knock Stoner off the top of the timesheet and Casey got held up on his lap. Fair enough, well played Cal and Jorge. They'll all go quicker still in QP and then they have this called a race.. :tongue: when the flag drops the BS stops ... then we'll see how it all shapes up. You're pretty confident that Casey is going to chew his tyres up and fade so what do you make of this: So that's on the hard tyres ... still so confident he's gonna eat them up? If so, fancy a $10 wager to go to Riders for Health? Casey to win or not. I'll have $500 on Rossi not winning too if you like? :biggrin:
You should read the comments sections on crash.net or motomatters, you'll find quite a few. You need to get out a bit more! :biggrin:
David Emmett of Motomatters: "For me, this is difficult," Rossi explained, "Because I always ride with the front. Maybe this is why this bike is better for some riders and not for others." At least the bike provides feedback from the front and allows the setup to be changed. The power delivery was still too aggressive, Rossi said - "We have a lion in the cowling" - and needed to be made softer and smoother, to reduce wheelies and be gentler with the tires. But the understeer remained, in part because of the need to use the rear to get the bike to turn, without spinning up the rear and losing drive and still running wide. But is it really a question of fixing the bike so that Rossi can ride it? Judging by the insane rumors emerging from the less reliable sections of the Italian press, they, at least appear to have lost faith. One Italian newspaper was reporting that Coca Cola had stepped up to put Valentino Rossi on a privately-run factory-spec Yamaha M1 for 2013. Such a move is improbable at just about every level: Coca Cola is such a huge sponsor that they tend to back events rather than individual sportspeople; and Yamaha has neither the resources nor the inclination to provide an M1 for Rossi, having firmly placed their faith in Jorge Lorenzo. As Luca Bologna, the Italian journalist who runs the excellent Infomoto2 and Infomoto3 sites joked, this rumor was about as reliable as reports that Rossi was to pilot the Millenium Falcon. But after years of winning, the strain of struggling to fight with the second group - somewhere between 4th and 6th - must be starting to tell. After years of domination, failing to master a bike that he thought just needed some minor adjustments must be starting to make Rossi doubt his own abilities. Even if he were to be placed on a factory Honda or factory Yamaha, it might still take Rossi a while to find his confidence and get up to speed. Even then, he faces the generation of riders who grew up knowing that he was the man to beat, and training and learning to be able to achieve that goal. Jorge Lorenzo is one of the smoothest, most precise riders the world has ever seen, and Casey Stoner may well be the rider with the most raw talent ever to throw his leg over a motorcycle. Both men have a ferocious intelligence and the assistance of brilliant crew chiefs, which helped them to get the better of Rossi. Put all three on the same machinery, and Rossi could well find himself still getting beaten more often than not. Valentino Rossi is the most significant figure in motorcycle racing for a couple of generations, and possibly the most important rider in the history of the sport. His mixture of unfettered talent, innate charm and natural showmanship made him a global superstar, and attracted hordes of new fans to the sport. Securing nine world championships and a total of 105 victories in three classes speaks of the stature and talent of the Italian. But the problem with being the best in the world is that the generation behind you has placed a target on your back, and are doing whatever it takes to surpass your achievements. Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo have first matched, and have now perhaps surpassed the Italian. There is an old paddock adage that you should never right Valentino Rossi off too soon. Maybe too soon as passed. But then again, it is only day 2 of the 2012 MotoGP season. There is a long road ahead, but it is neither easy nor certain. It should, however, be fascinating." So to summarise, Rossi is still talking about a style change a year on from the last time he was talking about a style change (maybe realising its simply never gonna be an M1?) also with due respect to the man he's still currently widely regarded as the most important motorcyclist in history for what he's done for the sport. BUT - Casey Stoner may well have the most raw talent ever of any man to to throw a leg over a motorcycle? Even Rossi will currently struggle with Casey & JL if he were to ride the same bikes? Not my words gents, although it does show one thing, there's a lot more Stoner fans out there than you think. I'm 1, perhaps there may just be about 10 of us come the end of the season......again
