Marquez: Sepang in past, focus on Valencia

Gaz said:

If we are realistic about it, there will be no issues given that Rossi has both the bike and the skill that will leave 15 or so of the bikes behind very quickly.

I do expect some to let him through (and ask the hordes if that is not also 'race fixing') whilst I expect others to fight as they would any other rider before they succumb to the speed of the factory bike.

The further reality is that he does not have to win the race and nor does he (more will he) need to finish second as I simply cannot see JL taking the risks for first, no matter how much I would like to see him do so.

Rossi will ride based on his pit board information which will be all about JL, there will not be laptimes or gaps but rather JL #4 etc

After all, Rossi enters the final round in front in the title (one woudl think given posts he is way behind) but in essence he is starting 30 or so metres back, no more.

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On one hand 30 meters doesn't sound like much

and on the other - given how many races have been won by a few thousandths of a second - it's going to be a nail-biter regardless.

We know Dani will be going for the win. And I reckon HRC has told MM in no uncertain terms to ride for the win and not to screw with Rossi again. Lorenzo I expect will be in fine fettle. He just really never crashes in races so I'm guessing he'll be taking a 3rd unless Dani goes to pieces.

Mr Squiggle said:

The crowd reaction to Rossi will for me will be a point of interest....will Rossi get booed in the same way JLo got treated in Sepang last weekend?

Being that the race is in Spain it could get ugly....

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Marc is Spanish and Valencia is in Spain. Your bet is as good as mine. If Rossi get good reception, Marc better quit the sport.

Keshav said:

On one hand 30 meters doesn't sound like much

and on the other - given how many races have been won by a few thousandths of a second - it's going to be a nail-biter regardless.

We know Dani will be going for the win. And I reckon HRC has told MM in no uncertain terms to ride for the win and not to screw with Rossi again. Lorenzo I expect will be in fine fettle. He just really never crashes in races so I'm guessing he'll be taking a 3rd unless Dani goes to pieces.

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What makes you so convinced of HRC's attitude?
Sepang was a ....... treat until someone decided they couldn't hack it any more.
All these ..... saying that Marquez shouldn't have been racing that hard in the opening laps are forgetting that Vale pulled a last lap desperado move in the same portion of the race.
Unless I've missed something, Vale didn't even get faster after getting rid of the guy who was supposedly messing with his "rhythm". It was awesome (in the proper aense) until someone decided to end it.
"That's racing"
.... that.

Dr No said:

What makes you so convinced of HRC's attitude?
Sepang was a ....... treat until someone decided they couldn't hack it any more.
All these ..... saying that Marquez shouldn't have been racing that hard in the opening laps are forgetting that Vale pulled a last lap desperado move in the same portion of the race.
Unless I've missed something, Vale didn't even get faster after getting rid of the guy who was supposedly messing with his "rhythm". It was awesome (in the proper aense) until someone decided to end it.
"That's racing"
.... that.

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The Japanese are very pragmatic. If you know the culture and the corporate culture in particular, you know that HRC don't give a .... about whether MM puts on a show for guys like us. They pay MM to to win, and if not to win, to collect points towards the constructors championship.

I could see HRC approving of MM's antics if the championship were between Rossi and Pedrosa; but to showboat like that just to .... with the most popular guy in MGP (and eventually cause a lot of ill-will towards HRC from millions of fans) is just bad Bushido and and embarrassing from the standpoint of a very conservative minded corporate body.

Whether Rossi got any faster after MM crashed is immaterial to HRC.

BTW that's the first post from you I ever seen with a misspelling.

Nah, I've made heaps of spelling/grammar errors recently. Pecking away on a phone with ...... connections makes corrections painful.

The thing is, you have to believe this new narrative of MM stalking poor old Vale to say MM needs to pull his head in.
He's needed to pull it in during his crashfest.

Keshav said:

The Japanese are very pragmatic. If you know the culture and the corporate culture in particular, you know that HRC don't give a .... about whether MM puts on a show for guys like us. They pay MM to to win, and if not to win, to collect points towards the constructors championship.

I could see HRC approving of MM's antics if the championship were between Rossi and Pedrosa; but to showboat like that just to .... with the most popular guy in MGP (and eventually cause a lot of ill-will towards HRC from millions of fans) is just bad Bushido and and embarrassing from the standpoint of a very conservative minded corporate body.

Whether Rossi got any faster after MM crashed is immaterial to HRC.

BTW that the first post from you I ever seen with a misspelling.

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I disagree. Honda had a very bitter parting with Rossi, and seemed to decide at the time that they would bear the consequences of that parting being bitter.

They wouldn't be happy with MM scoring no points in the race. Other than that, I doubt any backlash due to Rossi's popularity would worry them, and nor should it.

Dr No said:

Nah, I've made heaps of spelling/grammar errors recently. Pecking away on a phone with ...... connections makes corrections painful.

The thing is, you have to believe this new narrative of MM stalking poor old Vale to say MM needs to pull his head in.
He's needed to pull it in during his crashfest.

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No argument there.

michaelm said:

I disagree. Honda had a very bitter parting with Rossi, and seemed to decide at the time that they would bear the consequences of that parting being bitter.

They wouldn't be happy with MM scoring no points in the race. Other than that, I doubt any backlash due to Rossi's popularity would worry them, and nor should it.

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Agree to disagree Doc. I don't claim any Mensa credentials to bolster my argument - but I did spend about 15 years deeply immersed in the Asian political culture and during that period I lived and breathed Japanese culture. Both my two roommates and drinking buddies for ten years were foreign born Japanese (and most of my girlfriends too) and while I don't possess any college degrees on Japanese culture - I can say with all due modesty that I have I have a better than average understanding of the ins and outs of the Japanese corporate mentality. Even if HRC still held a grudge - they wouldn't dignify said grudge by acknowledging it - certainly not in such a public manner. They'd much prefer to pretend they're above it all. They'd much prefer to save face by making the best possible showing in the constructors championship - which is far more relative to their bottom line, which is what counts to the board of directors and the shareholders.

They wouldn't be happy with MM scoring no points in the race. Other than that, I doubt any backlash due to Rossi's popularity would worry them, and nor should it.[/QUOTE]

I think they should Michael as the issue for them is that a lot of people who are bikers but not necessary GP fans or fans of a particular rider like most of us will associate themselves with Rossi as he is most well known, they wont know or care about the gory details. This mess will create so much bad feeling towards Honda & Repsol that it could be very damaging, especially when it comes to selling cars & bikes on Monday.

They are not going to exactly be rolling in cash at the moment either with a 2016 RCV that is needing major improvement, an F1 project that needs drastic increases in performance & reliability & also may be doubling in size if they do end up supplying Red Bull. Thats on top of the fact they have now launched the NSX which i have a feeling although it is a great car & one i will most probably druel over if could ever close enough to one but i dont think it is going to fly out of the showrooms.

To be honest it would not surprised if it was the F1 project that took some of the attention & cash away from the GP project that led to 2015 RCV not being up to par, at least at the start of the season anyway.

johnnyvvc said:

They wouldn't be happy with MM scoring no points in the race. Other than that, I doubt any backlash due to Rossi's popularity would worry them, and nor should it.

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I think they should Michael as the issue for them is that a lot of people who are bikers but not necessary GP fans or fans of a particular rider like most of us will associate themselves with Rossi as he is most well known, they wont know or care about the gory details. This mess will create so much bad feeling towards Honda & Repsol that it could be very damaging, especially when it comes to selling cars & bikes on Monday.

They are not going to exactly be rolling in cash at the moment either with a 2016 RCV that is needing major improvement, an F1 project that needs drastic increases in performance & reliability & also may be doubling in size if they do end up supplying Red Bull. Thats on top of the fact they have now launched the NSX which i have a feeling although it is a great car & one i will most probably druel over if could ever close enough to one but i dont think it is going to fly out of the showrooms.

To be honest it would not surprised if it was the F1 project that took some of the attention & cash away from the GP project that led to 2015 RCV not being up to par, at least at the start of the season anyway.[/QUOTE]

I don't think there's any worry of a public backlash against HRC - but MM's behavior was petty, and undignified by Japanese adult standards and embarrassing to HRC and doubtless hasn't reduced the strained relationship between them and Yamaha.

Keshav said:

Agree to disagree Doc. I don't claim any Mensa credentials to bolster my argument - but I did spend about 15 years deeply immersed in the Asian political culture and during that period I lived and breathed Japanese culture. Both my two roommates and drinking buddies for ten years were foreign born Japanese (and most of my girlfriends too) and while I don't possess any college degrees on Japanese culture - I can say with all due modesty that I have I have a better than average understanding of the ins and outs of the Japanese corporate mentality. Even if HRC still held a grudge - they wouldn't dignify said grudge by acknowledging it - certainly not in such a public manner. They'd much prefer to pretend they're above it all. They'd much prefer to save face by making the best possible showing in the constructors championship - which is far more relative to their bottom line, which is what counts to the board of directors and the shareholders.

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as I have said , there are many people on here who know more about bike racing than I do, And I am sure the same applies to eastern culture, and being good at doing exams 35 years ago doesn't have much in the way of implications for me being correct about anything now in any case.

It would make commercial sense for Honda to be worried about keeping Rossi's fans on side obviously, although I am not sure about how many of them buy bikes, my point was that they don't seem to have been too concerned about this or being popular in general in the past. They loved Casey Stoner as a more recent example of their attitude. They can be justly criticised for many things, but one thing I do find admirable is their refusal to buy into the popularity contest the sport seems to have become.

Keshav said:

I don't think there's any worry of a public backlash against HRC - but MM's behavior was petty, and undignified by Japanese adult standards and embarrassing to HRC and doubtless hasn't reduced the strained relationship between them and Yamaha.

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And Yamaha for Rossi?

I do realise that Rossi is 'above the sport' if the forums are to be believed (yes, the usual 'when Rossi leaves the sport will die' comments are everywhere ........ heck, one place even said that WSB died when Fogarty left, and they were serious)

But the petulance and childishness is not a one way street and whilst I do tend to agree that HRC would rather try to stay seemingly above it all, we still have Yamaha who have their own petulant child (to use a phrase)

michaelm said:

as I have said , there are many people on here who know more about bike racing than I do, And I am sure the same applies to eastern culture, and being good at doing exams 35 years ago doesn't have much in the way of implications for me being correct about anything now in any case.

It would make commercial sense for Honda to be worried about keeping Rossi's fans on side obviously, although I am not sure about how many of them buy bikes, my point was that they don't seem to have been too concerned about this or being popular in general in the past. They loved Casey Stoner as a more recent example of their attitude. They can be justly criticised for many things, but one thing I do find admirable is their refusal to buy into the popularity contest the sport seems to have become.

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Mike, totally agree.

Whilst it may not be a popular view I actually admire Honda in so many ways in the manner in which they conduct themselves within the business that MotoGP has become. First things first, they treat it as a business, albeit a sports oriented business and as such the business needs drive their focus.

Yes people will say that they want X done or else, but show me a business, especially a large and powerful business that does not do the same within their business field and you will generally see a business striving to be the best, not a business that is the best