What a group of self-righteous virgins. Admirable. I would have loved racing in your gentlemen clubs.
Want to be reminded of reality? I'll oblige one last time.
Yes, Marquez intentionally raced against Rossi out of resentment and personal rivalry, and of course the Spaniards avoided racing Lorenzo hard in the final race to make sure a Spaniard won the title (not that Lorenzo really needed it, but then he didn't have to worry about them either, which helps).
Nothing new under the sun actually. Some Italians did the same with Dutch racer Spaan at PI in 1990, to help young Capirossi secure his first title (Spaan's angry ... at Gresini's helmet was recorded and is now on YouTube -
).
Note that the one playing .... was Gresini there; the punch was just an exasperated Spaan running out of patience. But of course it was Spaan who "broke" the rules...
Those who are just a little older here and have seen enough racing know very well that targeting other riders in a personal way has always been happening, for a variety of reasons. When entire parts of the tracks were not even covered by any camera, one could see riders elbowing and pushing each other around without restraint during close racing.
Now it is more delicate, because at the top level there are cameras everywhere, even (literally) on riders' ..... and noses, so everything gets recorded. But one can still do a lot without formally breaking any rules. The devil is always in the details.
Rossi himself, although he's not a dangerous rider, has a bag full of tricks and hard tactics; that's why he should have kept quiet and focused on being fast, while keeping his own nerves under check.
That's reality.
Amen.
