The stupid SNS argument that supposedly makes his titles worthless yadayada .
Daniboy, Dani, Dan, DB....actually, as I recall, isn't your online moniker derived from your decision to christen your German Shepherd after Pedro? Slightly questionable, but fair play to you.
DB, I find you entirely harmless, well meaning and although you have a propensity to post before you think sometimes, I generally greatly enjoy your contributions to this forum. Anyway, who am I to decree who should and shouldn't post on here? I do however fell that on occasions you need some schooling and I don't mean that in any condescending or demeaning way. But first, a correction. Earlier I said this...
Further, it doesn't come close to Lawson's switch to a privateer Honda to perhaps the most ferocious and fearsome NSR ever where he also won back to back races with a different Marque and the title that year. Although again, delve deeper into the championship that year and you'll see that the defending champion, Gardner, crashed and broke his leg.
Thinking about it, Lawson, like Rossi changed manufactures and not only won back to back races with different factories but but also titles. Ergo, Gardner was not the defending champion having won in 1987 - a championship I remember very well. Lawson was defending his own title on a different bike - a savage iteration of the NSR tempered by the transcendent talent of steady Eddie and the technical genius of Erv Kanamoto.
Apologies, I type as fast as you post, and seldom 'BJ.C'.
Anyway, back to this...
The stupid SNS argument that supposedly makes his titles worthless yadayada .
You claim to have watched this sport for the last four decades. Not too closely it seems. This isn't some deranged fabrication or contorted product of the imaginations of Jum or JPS, this is established history. Although I for one wouldn't advance any argument that Rossi's titles are 'worthless' because of this - I'm not sure anyone does? - the availability of the SNS were certainly instrumental in his success - and in 2007 his empire and hegemonic advantage crumbled. The following quote comes directly from Martin Raines:
'Riders were now restricted to 31 tyres per weekend, split 14/17 front/rear to be selected on Thursday evening. This rule obviously favoured the manufacturer that could produce tyres which worked over a broad spectrum of conditions - and that happened to be Bridgestone. The Japanese company had already worked that way,
whereas Michelin, in particular thanks to the proximity of their Clement Ferrand factory to most European tracks, were known to manufacture new tyres overnight and thus could make them work superbly in a narrow temperature or humidity range".
Who for many years had been the chief beneficiary of these tyres Dani?...newsflash, it certainly hadn't been say Neil Hodgson or Ruben Xaus at D'antin Ducati. That the development and characteristics of this rubber was lead by Rossi was no secret. Why would it not be, given his extraordinary ability to feedback data to technicians? He was the 'go to' rider; no conspiracy - and perhaps justifiably so. A familiar sight at circuits was the arrival early Sunday morning of a Michelin container in the paddock. Of course the top riders were recipients - Pedro, Sete, Max, Barros...but the nature, the specification of the tyre was dictated by Rossi and accommodated his style. Again, not tin foil hats here, why wouldn't it?
On the subject of 2007, just to dispel a few more myths - the new 800cc Ducati was in complete harmony with the 'stones which worked well pretty much everywhere. However, the remarkable engineering of Preziosi (who was eventually shamefully abandoned by Ducati as a scapegoat for Rossi's failure) had produced a technological miracle in the GP7. However, the trade off for the fuel efficiency given the reduction to 21 litres, was a horrendous peaky motor. I encourage you to do your research and understand some of the unorthodox techniques that Stoner was employing to tame this beast. In fact wile you're at it, research his approach to the LCR Honda the year before - if you like, we can discuss that too. The ........ narrative perpetrated and predicated by Rossi worshippers that the 2007 Ducati 'rode itself' astounds me. Almost as ridiculous as the criticisms levelled at Marquez regarding the 2013 and 2014 RCV when you could visibly see a nascent emergent and unique riding style and Marc wringing the .... out of it. Very simply, due to a lack of will and a desultory attitude in Bologna combined with a complacency due to Stoners unearthly ability to ride and adapt to anything, the bike got progressively worse. The fact that Casey could still park it in Parc Ferme and Rossi could not was very revealing and confirmed much.
So the telling Ducati disaster aside, with the exception of 2000 and 2004, tell me, when has Valentino been on inferior equipment? I fully accept that no gP bike is easy to ride, but throughout his career, has he had to risk his balls and through sheer courage and defiance battled with a practically unrideable monster such as the 1988 NSR - generally regarded as the most savage unforgiving GP bike in history. When Vale moved to Yamaha he had a raft of new parts and a wealth of concessions that previous riders did not benefit from. When Lawson moved to Honda he had to modify his style to master and subdue a vicious monster which was completely alien to the smooth Yamaha. None of these factory bikes came easy...in fact the higher power and the lightswitch power bands made them a lethal proposition. The power band of the 2001 Nastro Azurro NSR was as broad as the Grand Canyon in comparison. Not to diminish Rossi's adaptation to a very tricky class, but remember when his best mate Loris inherited Rossi's bikes in 2002 he simply opined, 'now it is easy to see why Rossi won so much' In fact the chassis even accommodated one grade softer tyre and the engine had three maps which was unheard of. Remember Doohan's comment that the advent of the Big Bang configuration 'took the fun out of it'?
Valentino has almost invariably benefitted from appreciable comparative advantage...and when he doesn't have things his way, he struggles. ...., Hailwood, like Stoner would have ridden that 2011 Ducati to a rostrum on a regular basis blindfolded.
Perhaps, while I'm on one, there is a common misconception about King Kenny's first title - wrongly attributed to the superiority of the full factory Yamaha YZR. Although Sheene had been rocked by a mysterious virus - (had he have been in competition with Valentino this would of course have been written off as a fabrication), Kenny was contrary to popular belief was not on a full factory effort. His championship on his debut year was secured on what was by today's standards, a satellite team, and received parts and upgrades long after his full works team mates. Further , Sheene was running the vastly improved X22 stepped cylinder version of the RGV. Roberts 1978 title, on largely unproven Good Year tyres is to me, one of the more extraordinary feats in the great history of this sport and certainly surpasses any of Rossi's titles against largely sterile opposition.
One of the things I used to love about Valentino was the fact that he was a genuine scholar and devotee of the sport. It's a great shame that his largely ....... following were unable to follow his lead. I do believe that during his ascendancy, he was allowed to become bigger than the sport itself, and that this hagiography, this mythology has been perpetuated by the owners of the series, (has there ever been such a lucrative and popular rider in the history of this sport?), his fan base and the press at the expense of the history of the sport. To me, it is often mythology as opposed to the stuff of legends, where minus the hype, his predecessors simply did their talking on the track. Does he truly believe that he is the greatest of all time? Perhaps, and fittingly as a homage to Ali, to an extent you have to, but to the truly and objectively informed there are feats and accomplishments in this sport that Valentino could only dream of. I firmly believe, had he have raced in the late eighties he would have been about as significant as Graziano in the 70s - such was the god like talent back then.
However, as I am always keen to point out, this is a wholly different era. I watched Catalunya and marvelled as I always have at Valentino on the brakes. From the aerial camera you are afforded with a full appreciation of his true talent. It is simply astounding, beautiful to behold, astonishing. When you avail such a formidable gifted rider with the best bespoke equipment, there is only one outcome..and frankly I'm surprised that he hasn't racked up more titles given the enormous advantage that has benefitted his career. On Sunday, however, no conspiracy, factory equipment aside, he was out and out the best and all things equal, (which they are not), I don't believe that any rider on the grid could have duplicated his performance. Truly magnificent and a joy to behold.
