This was probably a little harsh on wee Danee as I was happy to see cal come back last season (albeit in a slightly different role) and he’s not exactly known for his youth and staying on motorbikes either . I will however say he’s one of my least favourite riders of all time, dour faced and persevered with at hrc/repsol for far too long because of his passport. Good luck to him though. He’ll likely do the job ktm need him to
No one really remembers the 250 champions as the ‘greats’ though, so you can see why the progression into the Blue Ribbon class.
Phil read and max have four each (and yes I googled it), dani could have had double that and for me that would elevate him above his current status of “most successful rider never to have won the world title”. I loved 250s though (and lately moto 2) so I’m probably showing my huge bias again.
Have you seen the only people ever with more world championship race wins than Dani ? He hardly failed, his real challenge was he was fragile and came up at the same time as VR46 before the like of JL99 and Casey turned up .... Of his 54 31 were in the premier class, plus he finished 3 MGP seasons in the top 3, Cal isn't fit to lick his boots let alone be cheered ahead of him, I hope he has a cracking wild card. They are all fantastic talents but belittling Dani to me just displays ignorance to his abilities and the whole 'passport' comment just smacks of a typical chip on the shoulder Brit ....
Those broken ankles in 250's did it all in for Dani. Without them, I'd wager he'd have been as strong as MM. Hugely talented lad.
No one said he failed and i also said i was probably a little harsh to begin with but theres no getting away from what a fragile rider he was. He even admitted it himself.
Dani stands shoulder to shoulder with Vale, Jorge, Casey, Marc etc. Sure, he never won a championship but his talent was equal as far as I am concerned. Like anything, you need a bit of luck and fortune now and again. Talent alone doesnt always cover it. Dani on the 250 wouldve beaten anyone and everyone.
I can’t remember a time when you didn’t see him hobbling or limping somewhere. Probably explains the dour look I wasn’t keen on lol Anyway, first test this weekend in Sepang should give us some idea of who’s bringing what to the table this year. I suspect 93 will do quite well.
I was lucky to meet him back in 2006 in Doha, he was real nice guy and obviously a world class rider.
Hopefully he’ll be more competitive than was the case last season, but not all dominant. 93 obvs not Dani
I meant specifically at the test as he loves Sepang and thee onda goes quite well round there I’d be quite happy to watch them have another shit season though
