<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Jul 9 2007, 08:32 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>i dont know to what extent you speak but racing is a young mans game.Age is a huge factor in performance weather it be reflexes or just desire.Unless you are superhuman,at a certain point your skills start to erode,like it or not.The best years of an Athlete's life are between 24-30 and then the skills will slowly start to decline along with the desire,especially in a dangerous sport such as GP.You get to a point in life where there is to much to lose by pushing the razors edge so you dont and the difference in the razors edge and not might be only 1/10 of a second a lap.Somebody can go look it up but im going to guess that there hasnt been to many MotoGp Champs over 35 years old.So yes,age plays a huge roll in performance.
age has nothing to do with performance,well not the ages where talking about anyway,
troy bayliss 30.3.1969
troy corser 27.11.1971
mat mladin 10.3.72
miguel duhamel 26.5.1968
ben bostrom 7.5.74
loris capirossi 4.4.74, lets not for get he came 3rd last year in the championship.
and then just to rubbish this anybody over 30 needs a walking stick,pipe and slippers.
lance armstrong 18.9.71. won le tour for the last time in 2005 at 34 years old.
i bet there are loads of older athletes who wre still performing, infact i could pick a list a mile long of young sportsman who are not performing, whats there excuse ??
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Jul 10 2007, 02:17 AM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I went back 30 years and here are the numbers,you can comprehend them any way you like but i believe i am vindicated.To start with i said i dont remember any champions over 35 and that is true,at least for the last 30 years.
77 Sheene [27]
78,79,80 Roberts [27,28,29]
81 Luchinelli [27]
82 Uncini [27]
83 Spencer [23]
84 Lawson [26]
85 Spencer [25]
86 Lawson [28]
87 Gardner [28]
88 Lawson [30]
89Lawson [31]
90,91,92 Rainey [30,31,32]
93 Schwantz [29]
94,95,96,97,98 Doohan [29,30,31,32,33]
99 Criville [29]
2000 Roberts Jr [27]
01,02,03,04,05,Rossi [22,23,24,25,26]
06 Hayden [26]
I also quoted that 24-30 are the best years of an athletes life,that also appears to be true with 26-29 being the zenith.In the last 30 years only only six titles have been won by riders over 30 and those six were by 3 riders.If anyone would like to go back further maybe it would prove out different but in the time frame since i started following GP the numbers speak for themselves
so according to this rossi is in his prime, and im sure you will agree, there are many factors in getting a motogp world championship ,like team bike tyres ect, i think age is not one of them.
