VR is the sport to be honest, perhaps not as much as in his heyday but I suspect a large part of his wages are helped unofficially by dorma to keep his input. Weird to tie Rossi and Crutchlow, but Crutchlow is a bit like Foggy, definately a marmite character but there is no doubt interest in wsb went into the toilet when foggy left and has never fully recovered. I suspect the same will happen with moto gp when Rossi leaves
I don't think Rossi has a championship in him now MM or not personally. Whilst I agree a bit of argy bargy is part of racing and they have all done it Rossi included, I have never witnessed so much over 1 weekend by the same rider. Heat of battle is one thing but there were complaints of him barging in free practice as well from Vinales. I thought the collision with Rossi was the least dangerous of the clashes albeit with the worst outcome but still a bit OTT considering how much faster MM was. There was no need. I suspect the reason Rossi is more vocal is because he can afford to be. He will end his career at Yamaha, contract signed and has nothing to lose. Espagaro etc will not being seeing their future at Aprilia so won't want to burn any bridges by calling MM out or making a big fuss like Rossi has. Both Rossi and MM are a bit like british banks, too big to fail as far as Dorna are concerned because they sell most of the tickets. Hence they will never seriously sanction either.
It wasn't just MM tho' was it, there was many clashes by several riders, so my belief is that it had something to do with the circuit/surface. Espargaro says as much in an interview I had read on line, can't remember where tho'.
Agree, I don't feel personally that he has had for the last couple of seasons which is why I feel he is being paid the big bucks to keep the interest and they worry about when he does leave, how much interest in the sport will go with him
MM reminds me of Senna, a desire to win at all costs, so much much talent. Did I like Senna? of course I did, who didn't. MotoGP would be worse without MM, on the other hand I certainly wouldn't miss Crutchlow.
Completely agree with this although I do think Marquez took his war face a step too far unnecessarily. The corner where all the drama happened caused loads of similar incidents all weekend. Marquez was just faster than everyone else so caused more trouble. I'd love to see Rossi win a tenth championship to seal the legend but give me Marquez any day for epic entertainment. The stuff he does is unbelievable and the way he constantly puts everything on the line even when a championship is in the bag is mind blowing. I can't think of anyone in any sport that puts so much on the line everytime they go out?
Whatever the opinion of whether MM overstepped the line, ,the danger now is that the war with Rossi and MM will overshadow everything else. Look what happened last time they had a war of words. Will Rossi ram up the inside of MM and say "racing incident" or will MM block or ram Rossi some more in the hope of retaliation. The race officials and team managers have a big role to play in the coming rounds or it could get very ugly. Whilst it might be entertaining viewing, one or both riders getting a serious sanction will only diminish the championship as a spectacle. The Senna > prost type first corner incident to decide a championship is not how I would like to see it end or worse. Re Cal, the jury is out for me. Can't decide if I like him or not. The "I had it in the bag" and knew I would win before the race, comes across as bullshit from what I could see though. It looked anything but a certainty to me.
When you have a set of young guys hungry to win, hyped on adrenaline with red mist descending, it is understandable and inevitable that often someone will overcook it, attack too hard, barge another rider, cut corners, and behave unreasonably. So this is why there are well-defined rules and race officials (like stewards) to apply them. All these sorts of circumstances (weather changing from wet to dry; engine stalling on the grid; rider going wrong way on the circuit; dangerously aggressive riding) are covered by the rules, and the race officials are supposed to keep calm, act rationally, follow the procedures, and where necessary impose fair and balanced penalties. Unfortunately they don't. Officials seem unfamiliar with their own rules, make ill-considered judgements, and treat competitors inconsistently. All this makes for interesting news, increases coverage, and excites debate on social media. Unfortunately it also debases the reputation of the sport in the wider world. Much more of this and MotoGP will descend to the level of boxing, or even (god forbid) wrestling.
Not unique to Motogp of course. The so called officials are quite happy prancing about loving the limelight but when things get difficult can’t cut it. Look at the Jules Bianchi incident in F1, they allowed a bloody fork lift truck trackside when the session was still in progress probably just to adhere to the tv schedule. Competitors are pumped full of adrenaline and will push the envelope as far as they can. Officials are there to understand this and step in to prevent incidents happening. Everything is easy with hindsight but they are paid to anticipate the unpredictable scenarios not mince about looking cool.
Marquez is easily the best rider at present. Rossi is the undisputed GOAT,but his fans kiss his arse too much.
MM isn't a bad guy by any means. I watched the Moto GP documentary film about him and thought "what a nice guy". People tend to dislike him simply because he keeps bettering Rossi. The lad is ultra keen and has talent to match. He is the Jonathon Rea of Moto GP.
MM has six championships age 25, who knows how many more he’s going to win but looking at those stats he’s going to pass Rossi at some point and Rossi knows it.
I think MM has to change marques at some point to really establish himself as the best. I don't doubt he will be fast on pretty much anything but to be a legend i think you have to show your more than the bike or manufacturer. JL has proven that isn't always the case.
Why would he want to leave hrc? Nothing bigger anywhere, he can be a 'legend' if that's important to him if he stays at Honda and keeps cleaning up....legendary status will soon follow.
Indeed. Officials are often former racers, even world champions in their day. But that does not necessarily mean they are good at adjudicating on difficult issues in real time, or even familiar with the rules.
Because being the best rider doesn't just equate to championships in numbers. JL and Rossi's time at Ducati proves that the Yamaha maybe flattered them at times and in JL case maybe he is much less adaptable which to me is a large part of being a great rider. Say Zarco wins 8 titles across 3 marques and MM 10 on Honda, I would see Zarco as the better achievement personally.
Totally agree with Pete1950 Who was officiating as FIM steward in Argentina.? None other than Loris Capirossi.. Exponent of one of the worst travesties to befall any rider let alone a team mat when he took out Tetsuya Harada to become champion. Totally rammed Harada off the track. Stopped being a fan after that. I couldn't think of anyone worse, to make a decision on bad riding, than Capirossi.
Yamaha hadn't done anything, rossi ons first season. He developed and won on it. Jlo benefitted. One of VR skills, and his longevity, is his ability to adapt. IMHO MM has the same qualities, and once he switches makes he will show it too. If he carries on as is, he will be GOAT, no doubt
If MM and Rossi playing silly buggers allows Dovi to win the Championship thus year then bring it on.
