Very good write up. The fairest I've read so far. Actually thee only fair one I've read so far in a sea of gutless journalists, I have to give props to Kropo for having the balls here.
My two issues with it: (Unless I've read these wrong, which he can correct me if I did)
1. While debunking baseless allegations he makes two himself: "If he had not been suckered into battling with Márquez – clearly Márquez' plan, as revenge for Rossi's humiliation of him in the press conference..."
So according to the logic, Sepang was Marquez toying with Rossi as "revenge" to be fact. Well in that case, if Marc is guilty (just on his assessment) why try to even argue whether or not Marc had integrity thereafter? (Confused)
2. The attempt at debunking the rigged nature of GP. (While telling us Jlo is unlikable?): "If Dorna had their way, they would not choose to have Jorge Lorenzo – clearly the fastest man this year, and arguably one of the fastest riders ever to walk the earth, but not a lovable or even likable character in the slightest – win the championship."
So Lorenzo is not lovable or even likable? (Not sure if I'm reading this correct). Btw he said in his post Sepang write up too, something about Jlo being the oddest of the top 4. First of all, Lorenzo is both lovable and likable, and in fact the guy I respect and admire the most ONLY second to Nicky Hayden.
Second, the individual race results are not fixed (rigged) per se, the series is played on an absolute rigged playing field! Its as level as the sides of Mt Everest. Trying to advance the point that the series is authentic, by reasoning; if Dorna were rigging it, then Valentino would win every title, which they almost managed to do for a long time, EXCEPT they can't control everything ONLY give him exclusive advantages and HOPE that is enough. That is RIGGING! Not to mention the extraordinary lack of parity, something of a glaring reality when in just the last race a factory rider was able to reach 4th from last in just 6 laps of a 32 lap race. This the same guy who barely manage a top 10 while at Ducati. Rigged doesn't mean a particular result is fixed, it means the deck is stacked in such a way that a result is highly probable and overwhelmingly likely by design.
Other than that it was very good, especially compared to everything else on the subject, which to date I've seen only Rossi worship by supposed journalists. When I watched the post Valencia press conference, where Rossi goes full JFK/Area 51/ McCarthyist meltdown, the scariest part was the lack of journalists having the balls to call ........ on VR. I'm not sure if that was Krops voice, the first guy to ask him a question, but it was the only guy who attempted to get Rossi to reflect on his accusations. Except it buzzed over Rossi's head.
For me the best part of the article was Kropo bringing focus to the implications for the sport (something I've said for years) in reference to the astonishing exchange caught on tape where Rossi voices his paranoia to a sympathetic Ezpeleta and summons him to his private motorhome.
Well done Kropo.
Edit to add:
https://www.change.org/p/dorna-spor...pionship?source_location=petitions_share_skip
