Joined Jun 2008
1K Posts | 365+
USA
Cant argue on any of that. It is the facts of the situation within that company and team. Dumb of of him to leave Suzuki and even more dumb, to renew his contract so early. It's insane for any rider outside of the vr46 academy, to ride any yamaha bike while rossi is still active there.
Joined Mar 2015
2K Posts | 337+
Chertsey, Surrey, UK
3rd is an also ran. its a wooden spoon in achievement terms, but then if it puts Rossi in front of his team mate then its not his fault, I'm fed up with Rossi's ........, he needs to .... off out of racing.
Joined Mar 2015
2K Posts | 337+
Chertsey, Surrey, UK
I believe that when he either 1 gets the sack or 2 hangs up his boots, he will be even more of a menace as a team principal than he is now. those cocksuckers in Dorna will be falling over themselves to change everything to suit him.
Previous rancour aside, and in no way any reflection on how good Rossi was when he was actually Vinales’ age, but it is hard not to see today’s race as anything but evidence in regard to which of their current factory riders is Yamaha’s future, as far as winning races as a rider goes anyway.
Admittedly while Vinales is certainly fast enough on his day it is still unproven whether he can have his day more consistently, but I don’t see much alternative to fully backing him in the short to intermediate term.
Joined Mar 2015
2K Posts | 337+
Chertsey, Surrey, UK
I don't think so after today, they need to get rid of the monkey who came in 6th.
Joined Jun 2008
1K Posts | 365+
USA
Joined Jun 2008
1K Posts | 365+
USA
They have two choices, Race mode or Comfort mode. They choose to use Comfort mode during a Race.
they are.Vinales rose an amazing race today, but Rossi has been outperforming him quite comfortably all year on a bike they both called a shitpile.
Joined Mar 2016
2K Posts | 2K+
FNQ
A bike developed towards Rossi's preference for a solid front end despite the fact that the current Michelins have a stronger rear end than the Bridgestones. Yamaha are flogging a dead horse currently, by chasing that front end feels desired, and required by Vale.
Joined Feb 2017
584 Posts | 370+
Acadiana
15 points ahead as it stands with 2 races to go on a bike developed around Rossi’s preferences as has been said. 5 race wins against 1 in the last 2 seasons. They might give Vinales free rein once the bike is built, but Yamaha don’t even replace the chassis they start the season with when it is substandard, let alone build 2 different chassis for their factory riders. They also didn’t fight at all for Vinales to keep the tyre he started the season with and wished to continue on in 2017; the injustice of that change has been acknowledged by a subsequent rule change.
Most tellingly Rossi is 39 and Vinales is 23. He will never be anything like as good as Rossi when he was 23 imo, but he has potential race winning pace which Rossi no longer has, again imo. There comes a time for everyone.
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I don't call him that myself, but it has become pretty much shorthand for his name. Some among his fans do seem to consider him a personal friend btw, but I am fairly sure BWB doesn't purport to be so himself.
Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
Fans and non-fans and media people have referred to him by that nickname since he was in the feeder classes.
Joined Mar 2016
2K Posts | 2K+
FNQ
I disagree.
Both Rossi and Vinales have stated in multiple interviews that the lack of rear end traction is the problem with the bike. They both like the chassis. They both think the engine is too aggressive. They both think they electronics need improvement.
The key difference between their opinions is that Rossi thinks that the current bike can’t be improved until major electronic updates and a new engine (next year) comes while Vinales thinks that moving more weight to the rear helps.
Yesterday, it looks like Vinales’ approach was correct. Maybe it does not work for Rossi as he is much heavier.
But as we know by now about the M1, what works on one track doesn’t always work on another. They simply do not have a versatile base set up that’s “Fast enough” on every track like Honda, Ducati and even Suzuki. And that’s not a question of which rider to follow and listen to. Dovi, George and Petrucci all have very different riding styles, yet the Ducati is quite fast out of the box on almost every track. I believe this is what Yamaha will chase during the winter, if they are serious about improving their results.
As mentioned in the previous post, Vinales has acknowledged (As recent as yesterday) that their chassis is fantastic. So has Rossi, previously.
The tyre vote was open only to the riders, not the manufacturers. And 2 votes against it, rest for. It’s done and dusted. Note that Vinales’s own opinions (as did Zarco’s) on what’s wrong with the bike got closer and closer to Rossi’s opinion, the more he got familiar with it. Hanging on to what he said quite early in his career with Yamaha is just basing opinions on outdated info.
I will never expect Rossi and Vinales to agree on everything about the bike. No two factory riders ever do. But they agree on more things than they disagree on now and that’s a good base any factory can build upon.
I never had any problem with the new tire becoming available, just with the old one which had previously been chosen by majority vote not continuing for the rest of the season, which as I said has now been recognised as unjust by a rule change such that a midseason tire removal is not allowed in future.
Both mid season rider votes in the last decade have resulted in the removal of the tire preferred by the rider leading the championship at the time, and even if riders think the tire is neutral for them if it disadvantages the leading rider that is motivation to vote for a change, as iirc Valentino actually said in regard to the 2012 vote. I think it was 3 riders who dissented btw, not that it matters, but given the powers that be have gone on to rule that such a tire removal should not occur in the future anyway I can’t help but think a little agitation by Yamaha might have helped Vinales keep “his” tire.
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