Anybody Follow MotoGP Racing? *Spoilers*

[mabrungard]

I don't know that MM was trying to impede VR. I think MM was trying to place well and he clearly had the pace. I think that VR's ending maneuver was provocative and unsportsmanlike. I don't care if VR thought that MM was trying to impede him, VR still has to race to the finish. Running someone off the track is not sporting.

 

[max384]

How do you make the distinction between blocking a pass and running someone off of the track? Marquez had more options when Rossi went wide than staying wide with him.

 

[grrickar]

Well, Rossi did sit up and looked long and hard at Marquez *twice*, which is exactly why race direction deemed it was not a racing incident. I don't think any of the commentators thought for one minute he was going to get off clean with that move. Even look at the faces in the Movistar Yamaha garage. Lots of winces when that happened. Watch the Honda garage when it happened. Marc's father looked like his head was about to explode!

Looks like JLo's comments that the penalty was too light may have landed him in hot water, although with his talent I think any team would snap him up in a heartbeat: http://www.autoevolution.com/news/y...of-his-attitude-in-the-rossi-case-101409.html

The whole 'bump' earlier in the season when Rossi cut the corner and won the race did not sit well with MM. As MM was unable to finish on the podium this year as he had in the past, I think he became more frustrated. Then for Rossi to accuse him of blocking at Phillip Island to help Lorenzo - that was likely the boilover point. Could MM have been just screwing with Rossi to cause him grief? Maybe, but he was riding hard enough to slide that 93 bike in the corners pretty consistently. Perhaps he did not have the pace to catch the front? /dunno

The Rossi/Marquez honeymoon is officially over guys....

 

[grrickar]

Anyone following the pre-season testing? Qatar is not that far away guys...

Would love to see Stoner back on a Ducati mixing it up with the Hondas and Yamahas.

Hoping for a good season of clean racing - without all the drama of last season....

 

[max384]

I actually completely lost interest after all the BS drama last season. It was a championship decided by race direction...

I just can't get into yet it after that season.

 

[grrickar]

After Qatar's result, rumor is that Ducati made JLo a significant offer. I know he originally said he wanted to finish his career with Yamaha, here are some reasons I think he shouldn't:

1)Rossi and he are teammates, but clearly are not (and have never been IMO) fond of one another. After last season's drama, you'd almost think they will *never* work together as a team. Yamaha just gets by that they have two of the top riders, and odds are very high of one if not both of them being on the podium.

2)Ducati is a very fast bike, but Stoner was the last to win a championship on one. Iannone and Dovisioso are showing great promise and will likely get some podiums this season, but neither are as a consistent as JLo.

3)Jlo has lived in Rossi's shadow the whole of his MotoGP career at Yamaha. I think the ugliness began when JLo started besting his teammate. I'm sure having a 'teammate' who was his strongest competition is one of the reasons Rossi went to Ducati....

4)If JLo goes to Ducati and continues to win championships, it will be out from under Rossi's shadow. He will have done something the Doctor could not do (win a championship on a Ducati). I have heard so many fans say 'JLo is winning on a bike Rossi developed'. Going to Ducati will squelch that talk...

Honestly MotoGP has a lot of talented riders, many of whom do not get the credit they deserve.

Stoner felt disrepected by the fans of the sport and left. I'd love to see him come back. I think JLo is in the same camp - I'm not sure he gets the credit he is due. Same with Pedrosa; just because they are not the darling of MotoGP doesn't mean they should be written off by fans. Sure they may not have the personality or showmanship, but they can put points up with the best of them.

I can recall a time when JLo either finished on the podium, or with a nasty highside. The kid paid his dues, and has come out the other side as a formidable racer.

I'd love to see Stoner and JLo at Ducati! Stoner needs to come back...

 

[mabrungard]

One of your points is not that true. The improvements of the Duc are a direct result of VR's inputs. He knew that the previous configuration was unworkable. It just took more Euros and time than VR wanted to endure.

Dovi has never been consistently capable of getting on the podium, but Crazy Joe shows promise. If he would just not crash so much.

Its interesting that the Honda engineers have put their bikes in the hole. That could help keep MarkyMarq from pulling away from all races.

I like seeing Vinales succeed on the Suzuki. More brands and ideas is better. Now if KTM and Aprilia can bring it together without bankrupting their operations! It would also be great to see Kowsucker back in there, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[grrickar]

I disagree. He had inputs, but if the bike was so great (or so close to greatness, presuming it was) why did he go back to Yamaha?

He even lost Jeremy Burgess in the process - a man that had been with him for ages, and IMO had a lot of do more to do with both the development at Ducati and Yamaha than Rossi ever did.

Rossi was *never* competitive on the Duc, yet 3 seasons after his departure we find younger racers like Iannone and Dovisioso pushing for podium finishes?

Sorry - Rossi has been gone for too long for me to make the stretch that he had anything to do with the *recent* advances that allow for these younger riders to be so strong.

Case rode the Duc unquestionably well before Rossi thought of straddling it, and he did not benefit from the Rossi 'development', and I think it is a stretch to say Rossi's inputs of over 2 years ago have much to do with the current bike today. After all, they changed the ECU, tires, and so much more on every bike on the grid. I'm sure in some respects the factories had to make major tweaks to their bikes to adjust, and Ducati seems to be on the right track with that.

The fact remains that if Lorenzo were to become a World Champion on a Ducati, he did something Rossi could not do. A feat only Stoner was capable of (and before anything VR had any say on the bike).

I suspect Rossi wanted a Ducati that handled like a Yamaha, and in the end left because Ducati had a vision for the bike and it wasn't his. If it were good enough for Stoner, why wasn't it good enough for Rossi, etc? I'm sure when asked to pour more money in the Duc there were corporate bean counters asking the same thing. Why spend a couple million changing the bike? Hell, with that money bribe Stoner into coming back...

You do know VR has been back with Yamaha for going on three years right? Dovi and Iannone are not riding a 2012 nor a 2013 vintage Ducati. A lot of water under the bridge since Rossi. If JLo went to Ducati that is another year passed that Rossi had zero input.

Would you say Pedrosa and MM are also benefiting from Rossi being a one time Honda rider? Seems more than a stretch to me in either case...

Oh, and I too like that Suzuki has made such a strong showing with Vinales. I would like to see a fight to the end for the Championship, with more than just the familiar faces in the running.

 

[grrickar]

Slightly off topic. If you have Netflix, take tomorrow off and watch 'Road' about the Dunlop family and Irish Road racing. :rockin:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3546370/

You can tell it is Spring, I am getting itchy to get back on the bike and log some miles.

 

[mabrungard]

The major changes in the Duc came the year after VR left. Then there was a glimmer of hope in the performance. He never got to experience the improvements before he decided he was done there.

There was a string of destroyed careers passing through the Duc seats. One could say that it was Stoner that "destroyed" the bike by his incredible ability to ride around problems in the chassis. NOBODY else could do what Stoner did...not even close. A rider of VR's knowledge and expertise was what it took for Duc's engineers and management to finally concede that fundamental changes to the frame and engine had to be completed. All those things happened. I'm curious why you believe that VR's influence had nothing to do with them?

 

[grrickar]

I think that the bikes must improve year to year to remain competitive, and with the changes Dorna forces down to the teams the bikes really evolve a *lot* year over year, so my thinking is the improvements VR may have assisted with were likely done in the years he was with Duc, and maybe the season after - but that is about it.

My thinking is that with new riders, their inputs would be the driving force in the changes made, well that and those imposed by Dorna, like the spec-ECU.

I'm not saying he didn't have an influence, I just think with the time gone by the bikes are so different now that little of his influence would still be in place.

I'm just saying I don't think fans could assert that JLo (presuming he goes to Ducati and is successful) is winning on a bike Rossi setup for him. You *could* say that about Yamaha today and every previous year, since they are both on the same team.

If I were JLo I would go to Ducati just to prove myself. There was a lot of smack talk last year. Go to another team and prove yourself to those fans (not that it will matter, I think Rossi's die-hard fans despise him).

That said, I have to roll my eyes when a die-hard Rossi fan says that. Seeing that they are both on a bike Rossi had heavy influence on, and seeing that JLo has bested Rossi more times in the last 4 seasons than not, the advantage should go to Rossi - correct? I think JLo's consistency is what has put him on the podium more often than not.

Don't get me wrong, I like Rossi - I also like to see him get beat. I like JLo too - but I don't want him half a lap ahead of the pack chasing him every race either...I have my favorites, but I watch to see a race, not to see a certain guy win...