People such as yourself obviously have zero ability to apply context within a debate such as this.....
As an example Kevin Schwantz had to compete on a Suzuki against riders of the calibre of Doohan and Rainey both of whom had arguably the best rides during his tenure at Suzuki and he regularly beat them. He may not have more than one world championship to show for it but just using that single statistical criteria with which to judge "legend status" shows a distinct lack of understanding about what it takes to be a great rider. The way Schwantz won races, his flamboyant style and his win it or bin attitude endeared him to millions of race fans worldwide....me included! Vision of him riding around the Macau street circuit pulling one handed monos whilst waving at photographers cowering behind the armco alone qualifies him for legend status IMHO.....They have only ever retired one racing number in the sports history and Revin Kevin has that honour with his famous number 34 - surely that must say something about his abilities that RAW statistical data does not alone suggest?
Similarly with Stoner he has only a single world championship thus far.....but lets not forget he is only 25 years old yet has been consistently faster than that other rider with multiple world championships that many insist on calling "THE GOAT"......What is more he beat said GOAT on a bike that is now apparent to everyone is a complete POS. THE GOAT is now riding said POS and is consistently nearer the middle of the field than at the front which is where Stoner was riding more often than not. More race wins, fastest laps and poles than any other rider currently on the grid and the majority of these stats on a Factory DUC POS and a satellite Honda...oh yeah but I guess you are going to tell me the GP07/08/09 was by far the best bike on the grid right?
He is closing fast on Eddie Lawsons race win tally (a four times world champ) at a much younger age....even if he doesnt win another title he will still be considered a legend due to his outstanding achievements on second rate equipment....as I said context is everything and the ability to spindoctor statistics means very little.
LMFAO at how clueless some people are
