Stoner might have been faster and who knows, overall even a stronger rider than Rossi, but if you're really strong in a sport you don't run away from your field, from your mission. You stay there no matter what, you fight and you proove your points, taking victories and accepting defeats, race after race, year after year. Rossi has done that. Yeah, it's true he has the traits of the unemphatic selfish thuggish ......., of the spoiled-kid-grown-old on his throne who's not wise enough to leave in proper time and build a solid foundation for himself and his heirs. He's the Putin of MotoGP, he has flaws and I wouldn't be surprised at all if somebody demonstrated he's done bad stuff in the backstage with Dorna, taking advantage of the commercial value of his status and his public image.
Still, if he'll win his tenth this year - personally I think he will - it'll probably be the last time on this sport where, within a winning combo bike + man, the rider - and the man, the mind - is truthfully as important as the bike.
Although there's something fascinating in it, I don't like Lorenzo's half-zen/half-feminine attitude on his bike like "I race like a god for myself, the others don't exist"... It can help you win some races, but it hides a huge amount of inner weakness and it's normal it can't help you win championships. To really win, you gotta face the dirt, expose yourself to the muds, metaphorically speaking, of challenging other people and external events. Rossi does that, whining, moaning, punching, sweating, being lucky, being tactical, being brave, being patient according to the single event.
If Lorenzo is an Aphrodite, and Stoner an Achilles of sorts, Rossi, especially in this latest old version, is like Ulysses. Sometimes the legit one, sometimes the joycian one.
