I wonder why Rossi kept riding the bike for so long after the malfunction. It was almost as if he wanted oil to spill or something to happen. Or is this a little bit paranoid thinking?
Rossi knew and understood the gravity of the moment and appears to have used it for an intended purpose, lucky for the riders on track no oil was spilled and their lives were not put at risk...again.
Mike Scott, a motogp journalists who has been around several decades said of Rossi; people don't understand how ruthless and calculating is this man (paraphrasing). He was speaking of Rossi orchestrating the accusations and subsequent media blitz against Marquez and Lorenzo as a deflection of Rossi's own incompetence to compete on the track. This ploy has gone far beyond it's original intention, one of many affects has been to emboldened his brazen tactics. Once only a public arena of "mind games" a media created euphemism for Rossi being an ......., but now the tactics have become a real hazard for fellow competitors.
What you saw by Rossi mulling and loitering around the track with a blown engine was of the similar vein as Sepang last year, a MENTAL BREAKDOWN! The same type of mental breakdown that drove him to PHYSICALLY attack Marquez for crimes of clean racing; i suspect the pressure of Mugello also drove him to meander on the track hoping to lay down oil and cause a crash, perhaps of Lorenzo and Marquez, perhaps of some other innocent victim of his ruthless devices. Riding around not bothering to look back at the smoke, which I'm sure he was aware, afforded him that margin of culpability, which if you read around you can already see his fans taking up the 'you can't blame him for not seeing the smoke' apology.
The rules state that if a rider 'causes' a red flag then 'that" rider is prohibited to restart. That sounds clear enough, but us it? As you have seen from Sepang 15, the interpretation of rules can run the gambit, influenced by factors such as championship standings, popularity, and gravity of the situation. Consider the peculiar Mugello environment that everyone was privy to, making even "journalists" acutely aware, bodyguards for Marc and Lorenzo, where in that same press room these "journalists" avoided the Yellow Elephant, illustrated by asking the two Spaniards if they felt safe wilst not asking Rossi about his culpability in the situation. Really, how do these men consider themselves "journalists"?
It's Rossi's GP world, Mugello being his Yellow House, you think Race Direction would be influenced here? Given Race Direction were so easily willing to 'interpret' the rules so out of step with safety and common sense at Sepang?
Consider the cluster .... that is the "new" Race Direction this year, mishandling the jump start in Moto2 earlier this season, and look what happened just moments before the MotoGP Mugello race, the incompetence of the "new" Race Direction was on full display. Riders take note of this, no doubt Rossi noticed it. Consider if a rider or two crashes in the race after Rossi's engine blew, I could see Race Direction calling a red flag and 'interpreting' the 'crashed rider' "caused" the red flag, not Rossi. I have no faith in Race Direction, and frankly Rossi is aware of his massive influence, especially at Mugello.
I have no doubt Rossi was trying to cause a red flag, rolling the dice, forcing the incompetent hand of Race Direction. God know Rossi doesn't give a .... about rider safety.
