man, first of all i have to say i am a fan of valentino and most italian riders in general.
most people think that every fan of valentino is the sheep you re talking about, and all the rest are true fans of the sport knowing everything etc. and that is not so true imo, and not so nice to say also
now, this is a sport, watched by millions, its a business, there are a lot of money involved, you dont expect that everyone will get the same fair treatment, do you?
if the top teams everywhere are spanish, its normal for them to prefer spanish riders. obviously there is a greater interest, a bigger audience in spain than elsewhere. if you want more english or italian or french that is not spain's problem.
still, the best riders will always come out on top, sooner or later, spanish or not
an example is casey
dovi, he has been fast with the tech3 bike. but, he has also shown what he can do on a factory bike. one victory, in the wet, with stoner-rossi-lorenzo out. and nothing impressive in general, like poles or fastest laps. mostly 3rd and 4th place finishes, more or less. i loved dovi in 250s, i thought he was as fast as lorenzo, but i cant say the same now.
valentino won a lot with yamaha, that counts too. also, bringing valentino back to yamaha, and let him finish his carreer there, is good for the future of the brand in terms of marketing, sales etc
plus, its like a guarantee for 1-2 finishes, riders and constructor championships, cause valentino has not forgotten how to ride a bike, i guess
yamaha has more to gain signing valentino, than dovi.
if you were lin jarvis, i think you would do the same thing
about nicky, its the same, yamaha (or honda) has no reason to sign nicky. you cant say he is a lot faster than rossi, and definetely not as popular as rossi. i didnt say anything bad about him, i like him a lot, but its normal not to be the first choice for these bikes. he is doing well on the duc, but not enough to think he would deserve a factory honda or yamaha more than those guys who get them.
randy, i didnt say he isnt fast, i said he crashes a lot. he has a reputation you know. not many teams would be willing to sign him especially satellite teams that dont want extra costs of crashes. he had his chance, he was a sattelite rider for many years already
stoner has the skills, has the speed, still quits racing to go live a quiet life.... thats his choice, we cant say anything, but, if he stayed he could become one of the most successful riders ever, actually he already is, but quits at 26 years....... for me, he should be more relaxed, he just shouldnt care so much, about what anyone says, just keep doing what he loves, and all these guys love to race. its a pity, really, i think he will miss racing
as for valentino again, he does whatever he can, to be able to win. but isnt that also normal, for any rider? if he can do whatever you say he can do, why shouldnt he? what would you do in his place?
2nd-3rd tier bike.. you can see how his career would be in a bike like that this year and the previous. but it doesnt matter, cause he wasnt. today he is not an alien, he is in 7th somewhere.
greatest of all time, of course not, you simply cant compare, greatest of the 990 you can say though.
if he wins again, wouldnt you also say, he is "back" ? actually, he would be, no matter what we say.
valentino has been there a long time. you cant forget what he has done because of two bad seasons.
the next generation is always better than the previous, in my opinion of course. stoner, lorenzo, are the best right now. rossi is not as fast as them.. i assume after some time there will be someone faster than lorenzo too
for next year, i think he can challenge for the podium. you cant expect a rider to win all his career, you cant demand rossi to be able to win against lorenzo. he is not as fast anymore
