Joined Mar 2015
2K Posts | 337+
Chertsey, Surrey, UK
Joined Jun 2016
642 Posts | 244+
Santa Cruz, Cal
Okay, well pristine if you ignore him taking out Hayden, when his teammate was fighting for the championship. And you ignore that he took himself out in P.I. when he was fighting for the championship. Otherwise, I will only give him a one/half "pristine" since he had all of HRC on his side and couldn't ever get the job done. As far as other "legends" go, he is as good as some already there. So if you are grading on some fan curve then, yep he belongs. Pretty soon that section will be bigger than the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Joined Feb 2018
681 Posts | 535+
Italy
He did not take out Hayden on purpose. He was a rookie that year and made a mistake, which is a common thing for rookies.
Never in his racing life was he "hard" on a rider and IMHO a single incident does not influence a 15+ year racing career. And believe me I was (probably the only person in Italy
) really rooting for Hayden in '06 and vividly remember how pissed I was when it happened...However. Every year except 2018 (so we are talking from 2001 to 2017) Dani has won at least one race per season. That alone makes a career pretty ....... pristine in my opinion
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While obviously not deliberate (it pretty much kiboshed his slim mathematical chance for the title apart from anything else) it was an absolutely ridiculous attempted move though. Back in the day I blamed Puig for charging him up pre-race.He did not take out Hayden on purpose. He was a rookie that year and made a mistake, which is a common thing for rookies.
Never in his racing life was he "hard" on a rider and IMHO a single incident does not influence a 15+ year racing career. And believe me I was (probably the only person in Italy
However. Every year except 2018 (so we are talking from 2001 to 2017) Dani has won at least one race per season. That alone makes a career pretty ....... pristine in my opinion
Joined Feb 2018
681 Posts | 535+
Italy
Of course, but again: is it enough to stain his career? Cmon guys
I agree, he was one of the more honorable guys out there over his career as a whole. Stoner was the cause of a crash that took out several riders the same year, crashing in a corner which took out following riders, but was pretty much a paragon for respecting fellow riders during races anyway after that, so I can’t really condemn one and exonerate the other.
Jumkie, a great and prolific poster who sadly no longer engages in the forum was the ultimate Hayden tragic, and took a long time to recover from that Pedrosa torpedo on Hayden, but even he softened towards Pedrosa in recent years.
An accident, a racing accident, that's all there was to it, I wouldn't give a damn if my teammate was fighting for the title, a racer wants to win. That's where I lost respect for Colin Edwards, he was a ferocious racer when racing with guys like Foggy and Bayliss, then got a top ride in GP and was happy just to kiss ... and roll out funny quotes for the journos.
Pedro's a great racer, 125cc 2x250cc champion, one of the best riders never to win the big bike class who maybe in a weaker era may well have won several.
Pedro's a great racer, 125cc 2x250cc champion, one of the best riders never to win the big bike class who maybe in a weaker era may well have won several.
Joined Mar 2016
2K Posts | 2K+
FNQ
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
It's all handbags at dawn to me. Gutless of Pugh to bad-mouth Dani after he's left. The whole, who is a legend and who isn't is so absurdly subjective. A lot of people consider Mamola to be a legend and I agree. He as they say, "captured the imagination" of the public. Moreover, he was just naturally likable, especially in light of his work with "Two Wheels For Life". . I saw him last summer at Assen and I was so psyched. Seeing Edwards or any number of other riders just wouldn't have that impact, but then again, there you have it: all very subjective. Ron Haslam is another guy for whom I have huge regard. Very talented, and altogether modest. For me it's a question of skills, conquests and a hard to define admixture of elements that add up to a kind of, for lack of a better word, nobility.
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I agree with this, Graeme Crosby is another man who I regard as a motorcycle racing legend. I think versatility over a number of disciplines is more impressive than being a master of one.
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