AntG

If he wants to keep riding for pleasure then there's plenty of other series around the world for him to do that, ones that he'd be more competitive in as well.

p4p1

The difference between motor racing and other sports is that there is only so many places available in motor racing. Federer for instance isn't competing at anyone's expense. When the younger guys are good enough to beat him, they will and do. If he is not good enough to qualify for opens then he won't, though I suspect he would be given wildcards as often as required. In Rossi's case the young guys either don't have the opportunity to beat him due to lack of rides or the equipment to beat him. It's not just Rossi who is in that position, I'm sure there is other guys in the premier class who realistically aren't in the top 20-25 fastest riders on the planet.

The one mark against motorsport for me is it isn't always a sport of merit, but often who you know, who you are, how much money you can bring to the table etc. I'm a Marquez fan as most on here know but if he comes back from his arm and can't consistently be in the top 5 then he doesn't deserve his ride but because of the contract he signed he will be on a factory bike for another 3 years regardless of next years outcome. That's not fair for the sport, not that injuries are necessarily fair either.

michaelm

I may be wrong, but I can't see MM hanging around for years with no chance of winning. It would be reasonable imo to give it at least a year after such an injury saga though, Mick Doohan required a recovery season before winning 5 on the bounce.

misfit

I see what you're saying, but you describe a situation that has existed, and that will continue to exist within the sport and in any competitive aspect of life actually. Rossi does not unilaterally decide where, and if, he continues to rides in MotoGP. His pedigree and achievements do provide him undeniable leverage, but his achievements, are his and they count for something. It's for him to use and he deserves this. His relative performance in race conditions hasn't been that bad either and he is clearly keeping an eye on this, hence his single year contracts.

The younger riders aren't there to beat Rossi. They have their own careers to build, now that they've made it to the premiere class. They have an entire grid of excellent riders to take on. Finally, the VR46 team, owned by Ross as far as I'm aware, has joined the premiere class and will field two young riders. His contribution to a viable grid and the sport continues.

Here we have a 9 times World Champion still riding at age 42, in a rigorous and highly competitive sport. He will be continuing to do so while fielding his own race team. Quite the spectacle from where I sit and makes for a great story.... for some, and I know.... oh how I know, that some cannot stand it, but OK... I know.. it's not for everyone.

michaelm

I have to say it is hard to argue now he was holding up Vinales after Vinales was reputedly given the keys to the factory team last year, or that the other younger Yamaha riders are consistent enough to be world beaters/clearly much better than him either. From the interview excerpts I saw it didn't appear that Petronas Yamaha necessarily had him in their plans all along/were entirely pleased with him joining their team for the coming season though.

I am that rare phenomenon, a fan of Jorge Lorenzo (a 5 times world champion himself) however, and consider him to have been screwed over, probably to Yamaha's overall detriment.

birdman

Madonna, when she was young, had a really nice rack. Great to see att, even though she couldn’t really sing for shit, who cared? Not me.

Now though? What’s that Homer Simpson thing where he shudders ewww. Time to move on maybe. I’m sure she still has her fans though.

Sorry, what were you saying?

Keshav

Let him get a lawnmower.

michaelm

Perhaps a little harsh. However as opposed to Roger Federer getting a wild card which is extremely unlikely to displace an actual contender, in motogp with the number of slots available Valentino just might. Casey Stoner really pretty much fluked that ride for Ducati on a bike which was perhaps uniquely suited to him and competitive in his hands. Imo he could have languished as “Crashy” Stoner over riding satellite bikes and had a Bautista-like career without that opportunity.

Keshav

So fine. Let Rossi have some wildcards. Stoner's move I suspect was a relatively pragmatic decision on the part of Ducati who weren't having huge success at the time. There weren't a whole lot of other unsigned riders, and Stoner had achieved quite a lot in the lower classes prior to his rookie year. Has to have been more than a few people in MotoGP scouting new talent capable of discerning Stoner's potential. And as has been pointed out ad nauseum, it wasn't so much the bike as custom engineered Bridgestones that gave him his edge.

Hollywood

Did Rossi decline, or or has the rest of the field caught up and with him?
I think age has a little something to do with it, also after so much initial success his focus has broaden to a wider range of endeavors. a 20 year old rider only has to focus on riding, while a 30 year old usually has family, business investments, and other things to focus on.

MotoGP racing is also very different then it was 10-15 years ago... It was a two team race between factory Honda and factory Yamaha, the rest of the field was in a different universe.