It sure would.I think stoner would still equal marquez today.Marquez is much better value for a sponsor tho and i think as soon as his honda contract runs out he'll be off to another manufacturer like a shot.He wants the same type of challenge valentino wanted when he went to yamaha.The chance to prove yourself as a racer on a different bike,you know,like it's more me doing it.That can backfire.Remember when stoner went to ducati and crashed a bit but blitzed them over the season,then other highly regarded pilots jump on board and nothing has happened since,it's been doctor dismal not desmo. Three or four entertaining laps at the start and a little bit of dicing further back when they showed it! is'nt good enough.This is the main game and it's not that entertaining bar a few exceptions.I don't care what ago or doohan were doin back then this is now so lets get on with the show.From a technical point of view i understand the interest in electronic aids and what they can do for a rider...or is it the bike?? by that i mean 'they' say that part of the problem for ducati is that the bike does not handle well...what if you took 20% of honda's electronic software package off them to even things up a bit? i know they have signed up for the control ecu and supposedly will be sharing that software thru dorna come 2016? i've got a case of bushmills on offer if that happens.
I would still like to see Casy back on the Honda , its not going to happen ....but i wish . Looking at the options im not to sure how many there are for JL . Vale is probably unsackable as he is a 1 man PR machine , a year ago Honda would have taken JL but now ? There is no pont in MM and JL knocking each other off to win the title , i am sure though that JL could adapt to the Honda though . Espargro to Honda ?
I don't think you can compare retired riders to current riders, too many variables on track as well as in life. Probably, fair to say it would be more entertaining with CS back, whether he is dicing with MM or VR. I don't think many would be surprised to hear CS and VR were affected by the MS death. It is no secret Stoner felt what happened after Marco's death was quite callous, then you have his disillusionment with the regs and becoming a father. For VR, he lost a great mate. Either way, I totally disagree with Bradders comment about Stoner not having bottle. The fact he could win on the Desmo with hardly any TC proves he was the guy with the most bottle. End of! And that's before you look at some of his races and passes. Laguna Seca pass on JL, pretty much most of the Laguna Sec race with VR. You can't win as many races as he has in his entire career, mostly on poor equipment, without having the bottle to race hard.
He has plenty of bottle, no doubt, and talent to match. Just VR and now MM have more. I searched for examples before and there were a couple but not many, of him bossing others. It tended to be others coming out on top at the sharp end of MGP. Stoner would get out and disappear, thats was his style, much like JL
At the end of the day he turned his back on the sport that made him rich. I sincerely hope he didn't do the same to the people who gave him a leg-up along the way...
Another way of looking at it is that he quit while he was ahead. He'd proven his point, he'd made plenty of money. I suspect that the upside of money and the racing he liked didn't counterbalance a crappy personal life and the risk of injury. Bike racing is incredibly dangerous with multiple hospital visits and operations part of the equation. Doohan may have won everything, but it wasn't good for his health. Many others can say the same, some have even died. I can't understand how armchair pundits can possibly criticise top-flight racers for a lack of bottle. Trying to outbrake your opponent at well over 200 mph doesn't seem to me to show lack of bottle, nor does squeezing into tiny gaps of track space surrounded by a hoard of angry competitors at speed. It might look all so simple from the comfort of your sofa thanks to hugely field compressing telephoto video lenses, but I don't think it is. When I have had track tuition from top racers, the speed they travel at is unbelievable. And these are people who would be also-rans in Moto GP.
I am no fan of Casey. But I would not blame the guy one iota for quitting whilst he was ahead. Especially with a family started. Its very easy for us to say stuff but only he can make the decisions about his career and his life. He knows more about racing that any of us ever will. Good luck to the guy.
To paraphrase Doohans, was he supposed to slow down? You don't know what's in his contract. Honda may pay him to blitz the field as best he can to show how much better their bike is. If he did hang back, they would see it in the data.
The point was when he didnt get out and disappear his cohort would get to him. That doesn't happen with MM.
Stoner didn't have the cojones in a fight, simple as that. That doesn't detract from his riding skill - when he got away he was astounding to watch (but it made for a boring race) - but he used to back off as soon as the fairings touched. Even Pedrosa is getting involved these days.
I think pedrosa has left his run a bit late if there was ever going to be one.It's refreshing to see the enthusiastic mm who stands out just as much by looking like he wants to be there.
