you certainly don't HAVE to win on another bike to be considered great, but to some people it certainly helps solidify greatness. To them it says, it was not just great equipment, but great riding.
you certainly don't HAVE to win on another bike to be considered great, but to some people it certainly helps solidify greatness. To them it says, it was not just great equipment, but great riding.
Absolutely. I hope Jorge is doing this with appropriate forethought and a realistic chance of winning rather than repeating Rossi's error and embarking on a Ducati adventure because of pique (however justified) and ego.
I hope he wins the title this year on the yam and next on the duc just to rub salt in rossi's wounds even more.
Never mind hope, I think he can. Can't do any worse than the supposed goat when he was on the red machine
Never mind hope, I think he can. Can't do any worse than the supposed goat when he was on the red machine
Joined Jun 2007
10K Posts | 1K+
Norah Head
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
You just summarized (though subtly, perhaps unintentionally) the narrative Rossi provided his fans to echo, which they have been. However, let us be clear, Rossi did NOT switch manufacturers because he wanted to take on some 'heroic risky challenge'. He did NOT do it for some honorable reason, quite the contrary, it was over a lack of character!
Rossi left in a fit of ego because he demanded all the control, credit, and preferential treatment. Honda wanted to point out they were responsible for engineering a great machine (how mean of them) Yamaha at the time wanted to offer Lorenzo equal support (a crime, i know). Rossi saying "it takes balls to switch" is ........, he didn’t switch for that reason himself and was clearly trying to goad Lorenzo. I don't believe Lorenzo left Yamaha over goading. I don't believe he was too affected by Rossi's ongoing petulant behavior, the problem was his employer not only allowed Rossi to foment dissonance but worse Yamaha contributed to the debacle by publicly backing up VR for an indefensible act. I don't believe Jorge left over money, a new challenge, or to prove something he had already proved at Yamaha (like Julian Ryder hypothesized on a whim in coach, and I'm sure the message will be echoed by his colleagues); I think Jorge left Yamaha because he places human relationships who conduct themselves with principles for life, such as honor, respect, honesty, and fairness above other tangibles.
Joined Jul 2015
812 Posts | 336+
Hurricane, WV
Joined Jul 2015
812 Posts | 336+
Hurricane, WV
Okay.. Can't argue that. But he did own up to it not being a wish move and wish he hadn't done it. Still not his greatest moment, but owned it like a man. More than most do.
But, that is it? Far, far from scoundrel-ness if you ask me.
Joined Jan 2016
801 Posts | 401+
Uk
Joined Oct 2006
25K Posts | 4K+
Your Mom's House
Lorenzo is a human with flaws, certainly. The crowd got to him when he reacted with the thumbs down to a group booing him for his efforts wilst moments after seeing a video replay of the man undeservingly on the podium next to him, knowing this man had just used his machine as a deliberate weapon to stand on that podium. Race Direction had just given the thumbs up to deliberately eliminating competitors by any means to stand on that podium. Perhaps all this brazen injustice got to Lorenzo and he acted out on his emotions. He later openly and publicly apologized for it.
It's a good thing Rossi has apologized publicly for making baseless accusations, called both Marc's integrity into question and shitting all over the legitimacy of Lorenzo's championship. Not to mention deriding the Spanish organizers for being part of the "Spanish conspiracy" to cheat him out of a title. Otherwise, you'd call Rossi a scoundrel, right?
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I love how it's ok for you Lorenzoboppers to make excuses for him, but when a Rossi fan does the same, they are "sucking Rossi's nuts".
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
Lorenzo has never engaged in the numerous malicious incidents that Valentino Rossi has for most of his career.
The worst thing Lorenzo ever did was the torpedo in 250cc back in 2005, and that changed his perspective completely about safe and dangerous riding. He's been a pretty consistent guy over the years, and has something Rossi has never exhibited once in 15+ seasons in the premier class - decency.
As you may recall, Lorenzo took Simoncelli to task over his riding in 2011, and Simoncelli thought the whole thing was a joke. Rossi also certainly thought the entire thing was a joke. Unfortunately it turned out to be anything but a joke at Sepang 2011.
Rossi has spent his entire career engaging in character assassination, dangerous riding, and the encouraging of his fanbase to express their vitriol towards riders that he deemed unworthy simply because they had the temerity to challenge him on the circuit. See the incidents with Messieurs Biaggi, Gibernau, Stoner, Lorenzo, and Marquez. Frankly, there is no redeeming quality to be had with Rossi because as Michael Scott once observed many years ago, Rossi is a ruthless competitor who stops at nothing to get his way, and one should not be so dense to think his clown antics are who he really is.
