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Has Rossi accepted his place in the pecking order

povol said:
http://www.crash.net...m_possible.html



He says he feels he can compete with Spies and Pedro, who are on the same bikes as Stoner and Lorenzo.



“I agree [third is up for grabs]. For me, now, Lorenzo and Stoner ride also better than me, but maybe with Pedrosa and Spies it is not impossible you know?” said Rossi.
Click to expand...

Sounds like the lead-up to laguna seca 2008.



I think stoner and lorenzo will run their own races, regardless of what valentino is doing or saying. If the ducati is good enough, of course he will be competitive with them. That is a fairly big if, imo, but you never know.
 
I think he's trying to fluff his self-belief into fighting shape. Unsurprisingly, the Boppers on Crash are eagerly lapping it up.



OTOH, to make such a claim after one test seems mighty presumptuous, and a massive logical leap. Perhaps he still believes the VR+JB=GODS hype? So much for last year's hard lesson in humility, huh? If that's the case, the nasty part of me hopes they 'enjoy' another year of Karmic backlash, served ice cold.
 
Geo, I think Rossi has had quite a meal of humble pie over the last year. In this article, he is still eating it by admitting that he doesn't feel he can fight with the two leaders. As for third, he didn't say he was there, he said it wasn't impossible.



I had always understood that once Rossi accepted that he could no longer fight for the win, he would retire. I think he still believes there is plenty of improvement to be made to get closer to the front. We'll see how he goes.
 
I think Vale realises how quick Stoner and Crazy George are, also to he realises his Ducati situation. I dont think Rossi is that far behind Stoner and George yet and hey we get a couple of Wet traces this year anything can happen.
 
Consistency wins world championships, just ask Nicky Hayden. As long as he keeps it upright every week, he will be up there in the points.
 
Lets see how the GPbm actually goes first.



For all we know it could be even worse ....... though I personally doubt it.



There's been one test on it so far, and even they say there is a lot more work yet. And that was in a field depleted by economics.



ie. to be honest RdP and CE would likely have placed higher than Rossi had they been on last years teams and not CRT'd.

But then again they will be on CRT's in the race.



Also, I think Spies is going to be a lot stronger than the test implies ....... And Pedro. And something tells me Spies willbe very similar to Stoner if placed in a "battle" with Rossi, and Rossi could thence create a new Mega-foe.



In the meantime I think Rossi has actually given up on being the next Stoner:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo4tsDIDsUQ&feature=player_embedded[/media]

as I've said before the guy is no slider
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hats off to him for at least giving it a go ..... And to think Stoner could probably have out-ridden those two guys there at age 10 .........

He should really have given it more of a go, cornering with no brakes is a great education. After about 6 minutes you can even see him playing with the grip balance of the bike, albiet at a somewhat slowed pace, and not very dramatic. Still doesn't seem a natural at it. He's getting there though.



I'd agree with Geo ...... the "talk" is for his own benefit, You shouldn't wave a red rag in front of any of these guys he is up against, they'll get motivated by it, not deterred,
 
Interesting thoughts from Rossi, I can't help agree with Mickm here in that it sounds very much like similar talk from pre LS 08, very similar talk (in the media anyway) pre 2001-04. Rossi has always been good at foxing, certainly better than anyone in his current opposition-so you never know. No doubt his age is playing a big part, as it would. The post 09 title win celebrations were all about the 'old' chook which still lays a decent egg, we are now entering 3 years past that.



Over inflating your competitions ego's can be a great benefit, I believe that he is honestly inferring that the Stoner and Jorge are better riders than him at present, both are currently better gelled with their machines and are at the peak of their ability, and both have had the unique motivation of being brought through the ranks with the primary goal of beating one man- the realization of this goal certainly hasn't had the desired result at least for one of them anyway. Does this make them better riders than Rossi at present? Yes it certainly does. Does this make them better riders than Rossi Period? Most certainly not IMO.



These dirt tracking videos are certainly very interesting, and very purposefully badly put together from what I can gather, and his technique looks alright to me Baz, especially for someone who is in training for Motogp- I'm no expert but he seems to be focused on finding the slide, then adjusting for max grip. Nevertheless I've certainly not seen Rossi release so much evidence of his training to the public, and as we know with Rossi-nothing like this is done without some sort of battle plan and he is setting the stage with these types of comments......we'll see if he can deliver once again, no doubt all of this is highly encouraged by Dorna.......
 
Simple, this is a fluff piece and in no way whatsoever reflects the mindset of Rossi or his team as there is no way a rider of this level will admit that their opponent is stronger.



No, I see it more (and this is just hyperbole theory) as a mind game played and aimed at Spies/Pedrosa as by his statement Rossi is saying to both of those guys that they are not better than Lorenzo/Stoner, something I am sure Pedrosa in particular will take complete umbrage with (Spies will not like it, but has said similar). No, it is a great little attempt at the famous mindgames of Team VR, but this time aimed at new subjects.



To further my theory I suspect he has aimed the 'barb' at Spies/Pedrosa as he sees that both Lorenzo/Stoner seem relatively untouched by past distractions and so he (Rossi) is trying a different tact.



The end result could be to provide major motivation fpr Spies/Pedrosa to beat Lorenzo/Stoner (and this take championship points) in order to prove that Rossi does not know what he is speaking about (as as to speak)



Either way, Rossi does not think that he is not as good as the JL/CS of this world, and dare I say it but he likely feels (and should in order to compete) that he is vastly their superior











Gaz
 
I honestly don't know what Rossi is trying to acheive with this admission & the training video.



It could be read 2 ways. On one hand he seems to be saying thet he can't compete with Stoner & Lorenzo. Hardly a Rossi trait, conceding to his openents before even one competative lap has been completed. I don't think he would truely concede this early on, especially with so much development left in the Ducati.



The video is a strange one. It's like he's saying to Stoner, I know your secret & i'm going to learn it & come after you, so look out. I think it shows he'e determination to improve & learn a new skill which he thinks will benefit him at Ducati. Whether he can master this skill which is alien to most Euro's will be interesting to see.
 
Was that dirt track at Jerez?????



I say good on Rossi for trying to learn new skills. The guy loves anything with a motor so I am sure he bloody loved it. He didn't look at all comfortable but I doubt that dirt tracking is anything like any other type of riding so even with his motorcycle skills it would be trying to learn to walk again.
 
Hats of to Rossi for trying though wouldnt it be funny if Stoner rocked up there on a Honda CR500 2 stroke, and showed Papa Rossi Valentino, and Mattia Over-Rated Passini how to really ride Dirt Track.

Hell Nicky would probably be quicker...
 
Talpa said:
and both have had the unique motivation of being brought through the ranks with the primary goal of beating one man- the realization of this goal certainly hasn't had the desired result at least for one of them anyway.
Click to expand...

I don't think jorge or stoner had an inherent hatred of rossi from before they entered the premier class or anything. Sure they wanted to beat him, as that was fairly integral to winning races and titles other than when he was injured in 2010 and on an unrideable bike in 2011. Both seem to have personal animosity now, stoner more than lorenzo, due to various contretemps starting with laguna seca 2008 with stoner , proceeding to the "not pushing hard enough" and "fix in 80 seconds" comments, then the jerez torpedo and its aftermath.



I also don't think either was dissatisfied with winning their championships, or expected the championships to make them as loved or as popular as valentino. Pretty clearly what rankles stoner is the detraction from his championships by claims of marked bike superiority; it is even possible that this is because the claims are untrue in the first place particularly in the case of the 2007 championship
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, and definitely because this is not applied to the championships of others.



Imo if rossi is as I for one suspect playing mindgames they won't work on lorenzo or stoner, but are perhaps a hopeful sign that he has more confidence in this year's bike. As I said if the bike is good enough obviously he will be competitive, as he would have been all along had he stayed with yamaha.



Stoner will be stoner; if the bike is good he will make few mistakes and be hard to beat, if not whether or not he is to blame for that state of affairs he will likely crash over-riding it, although as carlo pernat has recently said (agreeing with what I have been saying for years btw
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) apparent errors when he was on the ducati were probably often attributable to the bike. The difficulty I see for others is that there would not appear to be much prospect of the honda being a bad bike, for a while anyway.
 
povol said:
http://www.crash.net...m_possible.html



He says he feels he can compete with Spies and Pedro, who are on the same bikes as Stoner and Lorenzo.



“I agree [third is up for grabs]. For me, now, Lorenzo and Stoner ride also better than me, but maybe with Pedrosa and Spies it is not impossible you know?” said Rossi.
Click to expand...



Is anybody really going to argue this at this point? I think Rossi is taking a fairly realistic apreasial of the situation. No, he probably won't be fighting for wins week in and week out, but as it stands are podiums possible? Yes it appears that way.



Based on a very small sample size (Sepang) being the 5th fastet guy on the track in a non-race situation isn't the end of the world. It's not too often Rossi finishes a race in the same or lower posistion he qualifies in, even on the Duke. If hypotheticly he qualied in 5th at Qatar I would think he would be good for 3rd or at least fighting for it, if he qualied in 10th probably 5-6th, he's never been the best at qualifying but he does have his racecraft.



My thoughts for what they are worth
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The question as posed is bogus. It's not a matter of Rossi's place in the pecking order.

He simply isn't over confident about Ducati's prospects for improvements in the first

year with a redesigned engine and for what is for them, a frame of unknown properties.

Rossi I'm sure is as confident of his own abilities as ever.
 
Keshav said:
The question as posed is bogus. It's not a matter of Rossi's place in the pecking order.

He simply isn't over confident about Ducati's prospects for improvements in the first

year with a redesigned engine and for what is for them, a frame of unknown properties.

Rossi I'm sure is as confident of his own abilities as ever.
Click to expand...



+1
 

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