Yamaha still being pissed about 2015 is probably less being pissed and more hedging their bets on trying to get the VR46 squad to switch to Yamaha in the near future.
So in other words, they are still beholden to Rossi on some level which is astounding.
Jorge became a 5 times world champion and they pretty much .... on his accomplishments to close that season out. It was an absolute embarrassment.
I've long said that Yamaha are now a marketing company that sells Motorcycles and VR46 .....
They have shown for nearly a decade that they only care about VR46 fans and merchandise, not winning races or titles. The bike has been having similar complaints since about 2015 from world champions like Lorenzo, Rossi, right through to Quartararo and all they seem to do each test is try some new bodywork.Think about it, when was the last time you saw a radical change for Yamaha? Although it's ...., Honda developed a brand new frame & concept for the 2022 season, KTM and Aprilia have experimented with CF chassis and Ducati, well Ducati do crazy .... all the time.
Their behaviour at the close of 2015 to their now triple and reigning world champ was disgusting, and was absolutely the catalyst which sent him to Ducati and likely ended his career earlier than it should have. I have never liked Yamaha for that reason, but now dislike them even more.
Rossi lost that title because he turned into a raving lunatic over Phillip Island, the final result of which did not help his main title rival Jorge Lorenzo in any meaningful way. I've always maintained that deep down he knew he couldn't carry the pace necessary to challenge for the title down the final stretch and resorted to his unsavory media tactics. Only he did it to the one rider immune from it all. Even if Marc hadn't had that battle with Valentino at Sepang, there was simply no way he had the pace to keep up with Lorenzo and Pedrosa. That was a race that he needed to be with the front group and he was unable to find the pace to do it.
Exactly, he knew he didnt have the speed which Lorenzo did so tried to resort to mind games. The problem was twofold. Firstly, he wasn't getting Michelin SNS tyres anymore to 'find something' on Sunday. Secondly, Jorge and Marc were no Max & Sete and were impervious to his mind games.
Lin Jarvis is a sniveling little .... in my opinion.
How he is still in the team primicpal role amazes me. People are calling for Puig to be sacked over at Honda yet everyone thinks Lin is doing a good job? I still believe 2021 was a title Fabio won rather than Yamaha, so with that in mind, they haven't won a title in nearly a decade and seem to haveno interest in doing so either. Remember when Tech 3 asked for more factory support to have more data to share after testing limitations? Lin was quoted as saying 'If they want better biokes, they can pay for them' which proves they are only interested in money and not winning.
Ducati did the opposite, and look where they are now. They are undoubtedly the powerhouse of MotoGP. To the point that even Yamaha's golden child chose Ducati's for his own team.
The thing that will be interesting with Marco Bezzechi is what is Marc going to do to him during a race? Marco has what I consider to be an extremely irrational dislike/hatred for Marc that I'm sure was fueled by Rossi and Uccio in no small way. I think if he has the opportunity, Marc is going to try and .... with Bezzechi. If Marc rides the Ducati as well as he did with arm pump during the post-season test, Bezzechi is going to be in for a rude awakening as they have not faced a 100% MM that is motivated beyond belief.
Marco has for sure drunk the Koolaid that Ucchio and Rossi have fed him. I wonder if that's the reason Luca wanted out? From what I'm hearing, he was increasingly distancing himself from the clan, possibly because he's sick of their clique and constant Marquez bashing. Though Bez has denied it, I have lost any respect I had for him over his behaviour at Valencia.
I agree with you. If Marc fulfils his potential on the Gresini, Bez is going to be blown away in 2024. It's actually an interesting concept. Purely hypothetical here, but if Marc is significantly faster than all the satellite Ducati riders (i'm including Morbidelli in this), their street value will surely plummet?
It subsequently emerged that it was the astute Ucchio’s post race analysis which picked up MM’s perfidy at PI 2015. It would imo have been bad enough if it had been Rossi’s own judgement in race, the concept of a rider having tanked a race he actually won being a difficult one for me ( I have been accused of being overly wedded to Aristotlean logic), particularly given that last lap charge deprived Lorenzo of 5 points rather than benefiting him, but he was the great rider who was actually out on the track. However Rossi’s view of the race springing from whatever passes for Ucchio’s thought processes demonstrated for me that Rossi like many of his ilk inhabits a bubble.
Ucchio is a cancer of the sport IMO. A true example of what the Italians call
nato con la camicia (to be born into the shirt)
.
Sepang 2015 likely actually gained Rossi 3 points if Rossi was correct that MM was deliberately riding slowly, at no stage did Rossi demonstrate he had the pace to challenge Pedrosa and Lorenzo, and similarly at Valencia he never demonstrated he had pace to match the top 3 riders. If MM has been able to win the title by beating Lorenzo I am sure he would have tried an ambitious pass fraught with risk, but why would he after PI and Sepang and having been specifically admonished by race control against interfering with a contender ?.
Bottom line for me was that Rossi wanted to arrive at Valencia, a bogey track for him, with a points buffer that wouldn’t allow Jorge to take the title just by winning the race or beating him, which he did. I would have liked to see Rossi start the race with no penalty, he still would have finished 4th imo.
It was never necessary for him to win the precious 10th title, pretty much everyone including me rated him above Ago anyway. I will however also continue to rate MM ahead of Rossi whether or not he wins further titles.
Indeed, he was the 4th fastest rider for much of the second half of that season. In fact, he was gifted a 3rd place by his contact with Marquez when the reality is he would have likely finished 4th. The same for Valencia..without the penalty he would have likely qualified and finished 4th imo.
