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Have to be fair as I have not watched the full year live but rather in dribs and drabs when possible but .......
Marquez for me is the biggest surprise packet - not because I doubted his ability (they guy is a freak) but for the way in which he has managed races but also managed the season. His maturity has been awesome to witness both in the way he now settles for position rather than pushes above or over the limit and ends up in the gravel, but also for the way in which he handled all of the off track distractions over the last 9 or so months. The guy is still young but is showing an extremely cool, calm and collected mindset but special mention also to his team who seem to be working well with him and reminding him that finishes are better than fuckups (I really dwell on the comment post Assen where he said 'the team told me 40 times not to crash')
Whilst some are saying that JL has disappointed, for me Pedrosa takes that mantle and I came into this year with decent hopes for the guy. No doubt his issues are the bike or at least tyre related but this guy is talented and yet has been riding around in positions that we are criticising Lorenzo for doing.
JL I am not sure. In some ways I believe that he has done reasonably well given the off track distractions and his treatment by Yamaha and the fans as after all he is still second in the chase and has victories. Couple with the loss of his preferred or seeming preferred tyre he seems to have suffered a fair bit of bad luck or bad management, but still he is in the chase so it cannot be all bad. But, the last three or more like two races have been very disappointing as there is no doubt he has the capability to do better but whatever the issue may be (tyres/confidence etc) it needs to be rectified and quick else it will look like a dummy spit and toys from the pram response.
Rossi has for me been Rossi. It is difficult to mark high or low as he is always there or thereabouts but he has not done crap, but nor really excelled (sorry to the yellow masses) as he is still a few points behind in the title despite having shown glimpses, but glimpses are not enough. In terms of DNF and more so race crashes this has been a very un-Rossi like year and as such one could ask is he pushing further than he has before or are we seeing a combination of bad luck. Rossi will still finish top 3 unless something major goes on and next year will be the #1 within his team from the get go plus have a year additional on the Michelin so will do better.
Of the rest, well Vinales has both pleased and disappointed as he like many of the 'next' brigade show glimpses but then all to often those glimpses end in the gravel or way down the order. Plus it is difficult to judge many of these guys as the level of equipment is debatable and many are clearly still somewhat finding their feet with the generic electronics and new tyres.
Yes a bit of a sit on the fence effort but it has to also be said that the wet weather has allowed some of the lesser knowns to get their 15 minutes of fame and personally I have greatly enjoyed seeing the likes of Petrucci, Hernandez, Redding and Miller getting their names amongst the leading 4 and giving us a small chance to barrack for the underdog.
Marquez for me is the biggest surprise packet - not because I doubted his ability (they guy is a freak) but for the way in which he has managed races but also managed the season. His maturity has been awesome to witness both in the way he now settles for position rather than pushes above or over the limit and ends up in the gravel, but also for the way in which he handled all of the off track distractions over the last 9 or so months. The guy is still young but is showing an extremely cool, calm and collected mindset but special mention also to his team who seem to be working well with him and reminding him that finishes are better than fuckups (I really dwell on the comment post Assen where he said 'the team told me 40 times not to crash')
Whilst some are saying that JL has disappointed, for me Pedrosa takes that mantle and I came into this year with decent hopes for the guy. No doubt his issues are the bike or at least tyre related but this guy is talented and yet has been riding around in positions that we are criticising Lorenzo for doing.
JL I am not sure. In some ways I believe that he has done reasonably well given the off track distractions and his treatment by Yamaha and the fans as after all he is still second in the chase and has victories. Couple with the loss of his preferred or seeming preferred tyre he seems to have suffered a fair bit of bad luck or bad management, but still he is in the chase so it cannot be all bad. But, the last three or more like two races have been very disappointing as there is no doubt he has the capability to do better but whatever the issue may be (tyres/confidence etc) it needs to be rectified and quick else it will look like a dummy spit and toys from the pram response.
Rossi has for me been Rossi. It is difficult to mark high or low as he is always there or thereabouts but he has not done crap, but nor really excelled (sorry to the yellow masses) as he is still a few points behind in the title despite having shown glimpses, but glimpses are not enough. In terms of DNF and more so race crashes this has been a very un-Rossi like year and as such one could ask is he pushing further than he has before or are we seeing a combination of bad luck. Rossi will still finish top 3 unless something major goes on and next year will be the #1 within his team from the get go plus have a year additional on the Michelin so will do better.
Of the rest, well Vinales has both pleased and disappointed as he like many of the 'next' brigade show glimpses but then all to often those glimpses end in the gravel or way down the order. Plus it is difficult to judge many of these guys as the level of equipment is debatable and many are clearly still somewhat finding their feet with the generic electronics and new tyres.
Yes a bit of a sit on the fence effort but it has to also be said that the wet weather has allowed some of the lesser knowns to get their 15 minutes of fame and personally I have greatly enjoyed seeing the likes of Petrucci, Hernandez, Redding and Miller getting their names amongst the leading 4 and giving us a small chance to barrack for the underdog.
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