I have never supported any of the Brits in Moto GP or WSBK. And I loathed stoner with a passion because like the majority of Australian sportsmen (Bayliss apart) he is a thoroughly unlikeable whining twat.
agreed on the australian whining twat thing, but i do like the brits to do well. (except foggy, he was the whiniest twat of them all).
maybe its just me as im a difficult c*nt too lol. but I liked stoners demeanor it was a breath of fresh air for someone to not kiss arse and be a media bitch
Well being Welsh I don't want to support anyone who stands on the podium to the English anthem. I actually got into a debate with Chaz Davies about this via email before he won his first supersport race. He wouldn't commit to insisting on his own anthem so I won't support him. It's the same with the Scottish riders who've been at the top. If they're not using their countries anthems I won't support them. And don't give me any of that old pony about it being a British anthem, because its the same as the English one so how can it be the one for the union as well?
the 'ambition outweighing your talent' made him look like a proper cock...amazing rider in every respect, but i just couldnt get past the fact that he looked like Plug from the Bash St Kids.. View attachment 15917 View attachment 15918 (i couldnt find one of stoner smiling).
How can you support the bike before the rider? Without a rider what would the bike win? Fuck all is the answer, it'd just sit there... The riders make the show, not the bikes.
I'm in a small minority then. I'm with Mr. R. For me it is all about the marque. Being a Ducati rider since the mid 80s, it was magnificent when Ducati started winning in WSBK with Raymond Roche. Finally a modern water-cooled Ducati that could rip up the Japanese opposition. Their insignificant size versus their rivals made their victories heroic. And the Cagiva 500 - I was a big fan of that. Also have a soft spot for Aprilia - more Italian vs Japanese heroics. In Moto GP, for me it is all about how well the Ducati does. In WSBK the same. When there is no Ducati present, I really don't care who wins. I do have a soft spot for British riders and want them to do well, so I am really thrilled to see Cal's exploits and egg him on, or Redding's. But BSB? Most of the riders are British, none of them are on a Ducati challenging at the pointy end, so I just don't care. And WSBK loses most of its lustre for me when Carlos isn't in the fray.
Another way to look at it would be to take the Marque/Bike out of the race equation and just judge it on its own individual merits. Oh, er, I'm struggling with examples from Ducati. They've never made anything truly groundbreaking, unique, individual, or even drop-dead fuckin gorgeous, have they? Certainly nothing aspirational enough to want one on its own merit. I mean without Hailwood/Foggy/Byrne/Stoner who would want a MHR/916/999/Desmosedici anyway? YEAH RIGHT :wink:
I don't see anyone racing a Manx Norton in motogp...So the same could be said of the bikes. They are inanimate objects, albeit beautiful in some cases, until you add a rider.
Rider all the way for me. I've been riding Ducati's for years, but can't say it makes me want a Ducati rider to win more than any other rider. I'd much prefer to see Crutchlow win then Hayden or Dovizioso. If Crutchlow won on a Ducati then that may be the icing on the cake. I'm happy to see Pedrosa win but dislike Marquez. Same bike, sponsors, both Spanish etc. So again, it's a rider thing. I think it's good for racing if there are a few manufacturers doing well. I was dissapointed when Suzuki left MotoGP and hope that Ducati pull it together. At least at the moment, both Honda and Yamaha have a chance of winning races. It' been worse in the past, where you had to be on a certain bike to stand any chance of winning.
Rider first and foremost for me. Support the Brits: Crutchlow, Redding, Sykes, Haslam. Sometimes find it difficult to understand why they move to Moto GP eg Laverty onto a CRT bike. It does get more interesting when the rider you support rides for the marque: Hodgson and Toseland winning on the Ducati, however I'm not sure it would be a good move for Crutchlow to sign for Ducati in Moto GP.
Why can't you support both? Like you i have my favourite rider/s, but will always support Ducati. It's nice when then both come together but if not, who cares. Gives me more chance of being happy with a result when my chosen rider isn't on Ducati.
but so do manufacturers..ducati, MV, Cagiva, Kawasaki et al, all conspicuous by the absence from motogp for many a long year..ditto wsbk/supersport..where were Aprilia, MV etc for all those years?
