Marquez didn't even TRY to pass in a track where Rossi passed 20 riders in a few laps.
If you do nothing else on this forum, (which is quite frankly a genuine recommendation as much as it is a hypothetical scenario) - I challenge you to stand by the validity of this statement. Unbelievable. You do appreciate that such irrationality not only damages your cause but the overall tenuous credibility of your ilk. Seriously, we've encountered some ........ on this forum over the past decade, but this statement alone soars to new levels of stratospheric stupidity.
Lorenzo had a tyre problem and dropped his pace a lot in the last 4-5 laps.
'Lorenzo had a tyre problem and dropped his pace a lot' - He dropped his pace 'a lot'. Very precise...Strange that you have resisted the temptation to create another graph in Excel to illustrate that. Perhaps you should.
Marquez was all over him and clearly avoiding to pass at the same time he protected him from closing in Dani.
Marquez was all over him, and clearly avoiding to pass but simultaneously protected him from Dani? You neglected to add his post race plate spinning party trick in the Repsol Honda hospitality tent.
Rossi had no reason to push too hard as he had nothing to gain.
How about a tenth World Title? Rossi ran the race times that he was capable of and his pace had been way off the front three all weekend. Doesn't mean he wasn't pushing. He's a racer, he ran as close to the edge as he could afford. Anything could have happened up front...particularly if Marquez had made a desperate lunge on Lorenzo - which you maintain, purely based upon your subjective skewed supposition and flawed perspective/spatial awareness, he never intended to do. How long have you been watching this sport? You seem to be utterly impervious to the unpredictable and chaotic nature of the game. I was about to say it's not deterministic, (but at the risk of tempting out the tin foil brigade, several of Rossi's titles himself may well provide evidence to the contrary). Anything can happen. To suggest Rossi's lap times were lower than they could have been because he backed off is disrespectful to him as a racer. Though not in contention, he rode as hard as he could - because you may or may not have noticed from Argentina alone, it's not unusual in this sport to pick up the pieces.
It is possible he didn't have the pace to stay with the top 3, but we'll never know that and it's not in conflict with the fact that Lorenzo would have been 3rd if Marc had actually raced.
Interesting that this time, anything that indicts Marc or Lorenzo is 'fact' whereas when it comes to Rossi's potential - 'we'll never know'. I think the word you were looking for was factoid - you seem to struggle to differentiate between the two.
'If Marc had actually raced' Let's examine that, although you seem to think that you already have albeit from the relative comfort of your armchair perspective.
Jorge Lorenzo confirmed Valentino's fears by disappearing at the front. Track temperatures (why not make a graph for that too?) were similar to the previous day - sufficiently high to cause problems for the hardest option front tire as the race progressed which was particularly detrimental to the Hondas. Márquez insists that was right on the limit simply trying to remain with Lorenzo, far less pass him, and cites the gap between the two which fluctuated throughout. Márquez pushed hard to close up on Lorenzo, but only really faster than the Spaniard in the second sector, Turn 6 being the only viable option for a pass. It is also noteworthy that the race was eleven seconds faster than the previous GP in dry conditions which was two years before. As I mentioned, the superior mechanical grip of the M1 and the drive out of the turn meant that Márquez following the same strategy he had employed at both Indianapolis and Assen. By stalking the rider in front without challenging for most of the race, he sprung his attack in the final laps, in the case of Assen, through Gert Timmer chicane the final corner of the race. You seem to have no conception of the relative characteristics of the bikes and the circuit. Throughout the season, Márquez attacked where the Honda is stronger, the Yamaha hit back in the area where the M1 was similarly able to exploit its strength.
By Valencia, Marquez had been duly admonished by Race Direction. Racing against racing the title protagonist, he was never primed to pass cleanly and at the ludicrous pace that Lorenzo setting without a major risk of crashing or taking them both out. The 'Stones held out well, but lap times tailed off for Jorge, Marc and Dani - the latter having to slow due to an overheating front. Revisit my posts from last year, during which time I spent much of the season debating with Jum the relative strengths of the RCV and the M1. I always maintained that the mechanical grip of the Yam made it the preferred weapon of choice over the savage, ruthless uncompromising power delivery of the Honda. Perhaps nowhere was this more graphically evident than Valencia - unless your view was tainted by yellow smoke and similarly tinted spectacles. Lorenzo drove out of the final corner to launch down the straight with enough advantage to easily ward off the Hondas in the braking zone into Turn 1. Turn 6 was the only place where Márquez had the pace to pass Lorenzo, but he could never accomplish that cleanly in previous laps, and was frustrated by a resurgent Pedrosa in the closing stages of the race.
Perhaps most significantly you assume that conveniently overlooking the ailing grip of the Hondas, had Marquez have passed Lorenzo, Dani could have done so too with ease and Jorge would have had no answer to either of them. But then, let's remind ourselves.. 'Lorenzo had a tyre problem and dropped his pace a lot in the last 4-5 laps'. Genius. You bizarrely maintain, that like Philip Island and Sepang, Marquez somehow single handedly orchestrated the main players and events of each race.
I genuinely struggle to understand why you inflict this upon yourself and humiliate you and your ilk with such utter drivel. Honestly, haven't you got some graphs you can be getting on with instead? It's not as though you don't need the practice.
