Breathless Jules from Soup: I thought it was a joke at first. Valentino Rossi saying that Marc Marquez had been trying to help Jorge Lorenzo during the Phillip Island race. Was this a joke, maybe one that lost something in translation? Apparently not. Both Vale and Andrea Iannone were sure that Marc had been 'playing with them' during the race. It is certainly true, and Marc has said it all along, that he overheated his front tyre and had to give it a rest before charging hard at the end. I am not sure how that is 'favouring' Lorenzo. "Of course he helped me," said Jorge. "Especially on the last lap." To avoid doubt, that was sarcasm. Marquez overtook Lorenzo on the last lap of the Aussie GP to take the win. Marc was not amused. He gave a long explanation of his race without a hint of his flashing smile. Definitely not amused. Valentino then did the rounds of TV crews spelling out his grievance in detail and several languages. He was sure to emphasise that Marc had done nothing illegal—he is too clever for that. But what's his motivation, Vale? The answer is simple: Argentina and Assen. Now here Valentino has a point. Marquez certainly blames Rossi for the Argentine crash and resents hugely what happened in Assen. Marc was asked in Australia if he had any reservations about affecting the championship outcome. He said that he would ride to win races but if it came down to a last corner pass, he would only go for it if he could make it with no problems. Now my idea of 'no problems' and Marc's might be quite different, but his Australia last-lap pass looked perfect—he'd made up all the ground with a massive braking effort at Turn 4 but made the pass at Turn 10. So Valentino was effectively accusing Marquez of—at best—unsportsmanlike conduct. Or worse. Why? What does he want Marc to do? He'll be annoyed; he won't want those accusations brought up. He'll probably clear off and win so the points difference between the two Yamaha riders is minimised thus limiting the potential damage to Rossi's points lead. Too labyrinthine? Try this. Valentino is feeling the pressure. Twice in the last three races he's lost out in last-lap duels, something that used to happen to him approximately once every five years. If he had the seven points he gave up in those two fights things would look a lot rosier from his point of view. Don't forget, the championships he won were won with big points leads. When it went down to Valencia in 2006, Nicky Hayden came out on top despite starting with an eight-point deficit. Valentino must surely know that the stars have aligned for him this year. This is in all likelihood Valentino's last chance to seal his legacy as the greatest. There have been times this year when the strain has made him look his age and more. The strain of maintaining his fitness and motivation has sometimes shown. Mostly, he's kept those pressures well hidden. Not today.
What is it with sport these days you have to play nice and polite Go Rossi knock them all off on your way round one by one Go Rossi
Very good point from Rossi on the whole helping hand thing. Marquez is very good and young enough to match/overtake rossi's 9 titles. If Rossi makes 10, that's one more he has to win to be top dog.
The difference between the top 5 in any sport is mainly psychological. Believing that you can win and convincing the others that you will win is all part of the game. Rossi has used that to his advantage many times during his career. What he is doing now is convincing everyone that Marquez is the best and that he will win the next two races because he knows that he won't and he doesn't want Lorenzo to win either. Rossi has never been great under pressure. I don't mean pressure during a race when jostling for positions, but championship pressure. He knows that he needs to go to Valencia with as big a margin as he can because Jorge is quite likely to win there and Marquez and possibly Pedrosa will do well as well as a few others. It's not a track that Rossi has a great history at. He could lose 15 points to Lorenzo if he has a bad race. So for Sepang he wants Marquez to win and as many people as possible to get infront of Jorge. His objective is to finish in front of Jorge and go to Valencia with a 15 point lead, but that puts him under pressure and he never seems to ride well when under that sort of pressure.
thanks,, top man,,,,,,,,oh, btw, i am not !! i will be trotting off for a 12 hour shift after that,, same on sunday,, :Banghead: , ( all to help pay for the Harley nxt week :Happy: )
has rossi gone mad? clearly if MM wanted loz to win the championship he wouldnt have passed him on the last lap.. at first i was thinking, if this is the true rossi (behaving like a spoiled brat who even though he got a good result, is playing the blame game as he cant see himself winning the championship) then as much as i like him he dont deserve to win... but i think there is definitely a method to his madness.. MM will win at all costs now i would say.. no more mr nice guy.. rossi cant influence loz too much any more as he has got wise (still not as wise as the dr) but MM is still young and although i have always thought him immune to rossi's mind games as he dont care about anything other than the race, it appears (judging but the smile being firmly wiped from his face) he is now a lil confused and i bet determined to win and let the others sort out their places... or maybe im wrong and rossi is a cunt.... its certainly messed with my head as i really wanted to see rossi win, now im not sure. or maybe rossi is right and MM is being a dick? ... arrrghhhhhhhh!!!!! one thing i know for sure is this season just keeps getting better!!!!!
Rossi will have help from Dani this weekend. Dani has the pace to win on Sunday and there is no way MM is going to let his team mate beat him. If Dani clears off MM will have to go with him.
am struggling to get past rossi's comments.. if he does win the season it has been soured some what i think.. unless he is right in what he is saying.. still, i thought him above such shit which is one of the reasons ive always been a fan.
Have to agree. I thought at first he was joking when I saw the pre race press conference. But then when there was the other interview I wondered what the hell was going on. Have been a fan since the start but think he has possibly made a dick move which may backfire and make him look a complete twat......
yea its all sorta come outta left field a bit.. MM hero worships him.. pretty scathing remarks towards some one who has shown a lot of respect.. rossi even went back to laguna seca 2013 to say that MM could have passed him long before the cork screw...wtf???
As a Rossi fan I'm also trying to get my head round this. Have things just been to friendly for him, does he need some bitter rivalry with someone to get the best out of himself? Or is he just trying to deflect the pressure from the title race? I don't know but I still want him to get this championship.
Wha??? REALLY!!?? OF COURSE MM meant to do a Stoner/Rossi in the Corkscrew at Laguna - he was even practicing it in the earlier session. Just the same as he meant to barge Jorge out at Jerez last corner last lap. He's a cheeky fucker alright... make no mistake!
im on me nd hmmmm... if he is right why did MM take the win? kinda flys in the face of rossi's theory dont it? as for luguna seca , If MM is good enough to recreate great moments in racing history just for shits and giggles what was he trying to recreate in the first half of this season? cal crutchlow on the duke? (or any bike for that matter)... stoner, the early days?
On a totally seperate topic. I hope this livery stays with us. It's become my favourite overnight and hopefully Cal won't go gravel surfing in the 1st few laps so we can see a bit of it.
