Casey Stoner a an amazing talent, that's without question. Riders like him don't come around very often, and he will only get better. The problem last year was that there wasn't anyone to challenge him. Much like the years when Rossi dominated the sport, it was relatively a one man show.
A few years ago they really tried to promote the Biaggi-Rossi rivalry, but to have a rivalry you need to have two competitive combatants. Biaggi turned out to be more punching bag then rival.
Now, as much as we all love this sport and will continue to love this sport, there is a growing number of people like the user who started this thread with that dreadful headline. I'm sure all the Rossi fans have been in heaven for much of this decade, and that's great. However, interest in the sport has reached a plateau, and MotoGP knows that it needs to have a more competitive field this year. Another 'Rossi like' year from Stoner will only hurt the sport.
The fact is, the new viewer isn't interested in watching a race where the clear favorite almost always wins and the world title is wrapped up with still three races left on the calendar. Given all the new fans that came aboard during and after the exciting 2006 title chase, this was an especially bad time to have a year like 2007.
The pressure is on and MotoGP have been promoting the newcomers and the new engines like gangbusters. One only needs to watch the english feed of the first race in Qatar for evidence of this. From the first few corners, Toby Moody, the MotoGP lead commentator is raving about the tremendous start we had. Well, what was so 'tremendous' about it? How about Casey Stoner coming out of the corner in 6th? That would be the only thing I can see that would be seen as 'tremendous' in the eyes of MotoGP.
In the end, we got more of what we had last year. Casey Stoner had it in the bag from half distance. It doesn't look good for the rest of the field either. Michelins clearly had the advantage in the night race with cooler track temperatures, but back under the sun it looks like Bridgestones are the way to go.
The sport needs someone to step up and challenge Stoner, and who better than Valentino Rossi? The man who, for years, needed a challenger of his own. The next race in Jerez will tell us a lot. If Rossi and his Bridgestones are not up to the challenge, it could be a long season in MotoGP.
What excitement we would have if the Rossi of old battled the Stoner of today.
So long have we waited for a challenger to the Mighty Valentino. Sadly, it looks as though Mr. Stoner has come along just a little too late.
