How long before we can slate Rossi?

Jumkie

3616291379828940

Mladin often reminded us that he didnt remain in GP because there was no point in competing on machines u simply were not going to win on. He didnt want to risk people making conclusions about his abilities and talent as often naive stupid people do when riders dont win. I thought he was too chicken .... to put his .... on the line and try to earn a good seat in GP, he obviously didnt think it was realistic at the begining of his AMA career. We got to see Mladin up close and often here in the States, and I can tell u he is easily one of the truly best riders to never significantly compete on the world stage. For many years I didnt understand or buy his reasons, perhaps myself clouded by my dislike for the man. But he was absolutely right. Btw, he also predicted Spiez would mop up Wsbk.

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When I think of Mladin, this often springs to mind. Although much slower could have so easily been another Nakano incident similarly given the proximity of the wall. 


 


http://youtu.be/uiXYA9n1Bmw


 


Matt spoke his mind, didn't give two ..... who he upset and as irritating as he could be I was ultimately quite glad he was there to rail against DMG. Didn't he see off Shane Warne at one stage to top Australia's richest sportsmen list?


 


14731:Mladin_93_05.jpg]


 


It looked the business and was quite revolutionary in may ways and I always thought that it was testament to how good 'Lil John actually was that he, like Lawson actually managed to win races on the thing. Certainly had Mladin remained in GP he would have permanently damaged his career. I would have loved to have seen him in WSB which he remained very scornful of. I often wonder what he could have achieved if he too had followed the Kocinski root. 

Dr No

3616301379831157

I don't pay much attention to AMA... What was the deal with Matt and the engine irregularity disqualification?


Oh and not putting his .... on the line for a GP seat? Ha! What, like those successful RedBull rookies that ...... off back to the safety of the US domestic scene?

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Him and Spies were teammates and his bike was picked for a post race inspection, the crankshaft was illegal just like it was all the team's bikes. He was being himself and mouthing off to and criticizing the AMA/DMG when his bike was picked for the random inspection.  

Thanks, hawkdriver.


 


So...does that mean there's golden children/favouritism/politics in the AMA, too? shocked.

Jumkie

3616291379828940

Mladin often reminded us that he didnt remain in GP because there was no point in competing on machines u simply were not going to win on. He didnt want to risk people making conclusions about his abilities and talent as often naive stupid people do when riders dont win. I thought he was too chicken .... to put his .... on the line and try to earn a good seat in GP, he obviously didnt think it was realistic at the begining of his AMA career. We got to see Mladin up close and often here in the States, and I can tell u he is easily one of the truly best riders to never significantly compete on the world stage. For many years I didnt understand or buy his reasons, perhaps myself clouded by my dislike for the man. But he was absolutely right. Btw, he also predicted Spiez would mop up Wsbk.

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Mladin was riding around collecting massive amounts of money from Suzuki and all his other sponsors, of course he was going to down play competing on the world stage, especially after he tried it and didn't do to well. In his defense he was young when he went to GP. His next excuse and a better one than not being able to get a good ride was that GP is for midgets and he has a point there, he's huge by GP standards and SBK is better for bigger riders. He's said so himself that to ride a GP bike requires much less size and strength than an AMA SBK because the bikes are bigger and the tracks are all short, slow, and tight.


 


You say Spies had two good years in GP, but he was not anywhere near being an alien, sorry but  6 podiums and one race win when JLo had a crash is not alien material.  Mladin did predict that Spies would win the WSBK championship, didn't dare say he would in a GP championship, but he did rate Spies after Rossi as far as being best in the world. He must of forgot about Jlo, Casey, and Pedro. 

Dr No

3616551379907418

Thanks, hawkdriver.


 


So...does that mean there's golden children/favouritism/politics in the AMA, too? shocked.

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Yes, but the best riders always end up on the best bikes, that's the way it is, and the people who pull the strings are the ones with the telemetry that tells them who to keep and who to punt. The creme always rises to the top.

hawkdriver

3616571379909615

Yes, but the best riders always end up on the best bikes, that's the way it is, and the people who pull the strings are the ones with the telemetry that tells them who to keep and who to punt. The creme always rises to the top.

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Agreed, hawk. It was a sideways dig at Jum.

Mladin was always pretty clear about why he didn't go to WSBK - he could (and did) earn a lot more money in AMA. Motorcycle racing was a job for him and he took financial advantage of how much better he and his team was.


 


He always had .... to say, most of which I didn't like, but I had to laugh when he talked in an interview about the paddock being full of riders/teams who would spend an entire weekend making infinite changes to the setup of their bikes trying to find extra time when you could clearly see out on track that they were riding nowhere near the limits of their bike. The old "we just need to find more grip" when you can't even use what you've already got.


 


Maybe he didn't have the guts to go proper GP racing, but now he is one of Australia's richest sportspeople (yet fortunately would go completly unrecognised here), owns a mansion and flys helicopters and .... for fun. So I doubt he lives with too many regrets.