Is Lorenzo the next Rossi?

What I mean by the question is:

Is Lorenzo the next goldenboy of MotoGP? It certainly seems like his popularity is on the rise (God knows I've seen 4 of my Hayden fan go bandwagon on me) coupled with this article LINK made me think...has Dorna found their next promotional wet dream?

Lets face it, Dorna love a goldenboy brand symbol, and it’s a recipe that has served them well with Rossi. And God knows they wish that man would be a Spaniard. Lorenzo seems to have what it takes to be this figure: he’s talented, has personality, has a brand logo that everybody is in love with, and is from Spain.

Pedrosa had been given this status as the heir apparent, but he turned out to be a PR nightmare with a monkey sideshow, and though they had some of the trappings (talented rider, sideshow, from Spain, etc) the duo turned out to be the comic relief of a circus clown, except not funny.

I for one think it has already begun. Seeing Rossi a bit disgruntled lately was perhaps his reaction to this already starting to happen behind the scenes. Honda declaring Dovi “equal” status seems the signal that Peders is no longer to be considered royal status. Rossi won’t be around forever, so somebody has to be next. Spies will be a rookie next year, and we know how much the Spanish love Americans (not). Until the Brits field a capable rider (perhaps Crutchlow if he replaces Spies) then they will have to wait for their place at the Dorna table. The Aussies, well they had their chance, turned out having a devastatingly dominant rider didn’t impress anybody, seems poor Casey needed a dog and pony show to raise any eyebrows.


So is Lorenzo the new heir apparent? Is he Dorna’s new golden boy?


Your thoughts?

Great responses guys. Its obvious that Lorenzo will not be elevated to the same level as Rossi, again the idea in my inquiry is: who will be the next most popular, therefore who will be the poster child of MotoGP's marketing campaign. I did my best to qualify the question, as I think some of you have pickeed up on it while others may have had a knee-jerk reaction to say, no Rossi will never be replaced (which is not my point). And of course, I understand that, I get that he will not have the same level of success and popularity as Rossi, who by virtue of being label the GAOT undoubtedly nobody can fill those shoes . BUT who will be the one to replace Dorna's modern era model of marketing one great rider? (assuming they stick to that model)

Another point that has crept up in some of the responses, has been this idea that Rossi's developmental prowess has made Lorenzo look better than he 'really' is (as some put it 'Lorenzo would be nothing without it'). I beg to differ. I think Lorenzo is good enough in his own right. Many have been Rossi's teammate and have (as some say here) 'benefited' from Rossi/Burgess development, yet have not challenged Rossi to the point of him feeling the need to protest. Personally, I think this idea is an apology for Rossi to explain away how somebody can actually challenge him on the track. Its always been something or other, either the opponent had something better, or Rossi had something worse, and now, 'he’s only good because the other benefits from equal machinery'. As you guy know, I'm not king on all the apologies and explanations, which have a tendency to dismiss away other's success, those who might dare to challenge the great Rossi. I for one think there are riders on the grid today that can and have beaten the man straight up.

As to the topic question, I think Lorenzo, above any other rider has the right combination for the largest fan base. He's first of all in the elite class of riders, the best on the grid. His ego, for all his antics still speaks and conducts himself professionally and prudently (I even dare say humble) during interviews and post race media blitz. Every time Rossi has beaten him, Lorenzo has given the man his props and has admitted being beat himself, no blame on some equipment issue. He's got a great logo, that anybody can recognize (only one other rider can be recognized by a logo, everybody else falls way behind this great marketing facet of promotion).

BTW, side note, Spies doesn't strike me as having the personality or charisma to be the next marketing poster boy. Even if he has moderate success, people like the antics. But then again, with the eventual exit of Rossi happens, perhaps the cult of personality may exit with him ad we will experience a change; perhaps a more moderate temperament with quiet professionalism being the order of the day. It’s been my experience that most debates since I joined in 06 have been of a nature: Rossi vs. X. So as I thought about this question: who will be the next marketing poster child; I wanted to answer the question who would fill the void. But as I think about it more, and reading some of these responses, perhaps, as some of you have said above, we will go back to the previous model of a ‘group’ of riders being the marketing focus of the sport rather than a single charismatic figure. I hope so. It seems the other riders have suffered through the rubbishing of their accomplishments because they “didn’t match up to Rossi.” Unfortunately, this has caused the division of fans of the sport into two camps: 1. Rossi mindless worshippers and 2. genuine haters. (There is a third group, those who neither worshiped or hated him, but by virtue of not being Rossi fanboys have been dismissed as part of the “hater” camp.) I hope (perhaps naively) we don't have for years to come a continuation of this idea along the lines of comparing the new crop to: Rossi would have beaten him in his day, etc. etc. I for one am eager to usher in a new way for the fan experience, simply—the MotoGP fan.