Joined Aug 2007
11K Posts | 3K+
Pomona NY
Joined Apr 2008
7K Posts | 3K+
Out of Nowhere
One or two things you overlooked there...fromage, museums, pastries, philosophy, polemics, protest, literature (15 noble prizes - more than any other nation), gastronomy and gourmet food, fashion & haute couture, architecture, language, dining, mustard, railways, romance, asparagus, fêtes, escargot, art, champagne, cafés, infrastructure, culture, history and heritage, tourism, education, animation, music, aerospace, perfumes, skiing, agriculture, geographical diversity...
...oh - and they're not too bad at football.
They also have the most rousing national anthem on the planet and Johann Zarco.
Joined Oct 2007
4K Posts | 744+
Tuscany, Italy
I don't know what Rossi you are listening to these days. The one I heard was pretty clear, for example:
https://www.gpone.com/en/2017/06/11/motogp/rossi-the-limits-of-the-m1-i-realised-in-november.html
Joined Apr 2011
477 Posts | 195+
Romania
Joined Jul 2007
5K Posts | 1K+
unda cheese
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
I tend to disagree a little here JPS as I do think that Vinales knows just what he walked into and can expect, as afterall we have seen it time and again where Rossi is concerned.
I say this as there have been very very few team mates of Rossi who have ever gone against the Rossi statements, never mind gone opposite of those same statements in your first year which we do see from Vinales (tyres, chassis, faults etc).
For me, I wonder if this approach from Vinales is a bit of a FU or 'boundary setting' as he does not come across as awed of Rossi as so many have over the years
As for the bust up in the garage ................. the writing is well on the wall
Could it be more that Rossi is out of ideas?
He has to change the tact from use of the media hordes to pressure the opposition as we have seen for years, and now he is simply not that superior in terms of riding or equipment so he is looking for excuses rather than looking for improvement?
I genuinely do not know but throwing it out there a little that could we be seeing meltdown II of a lesser variety as he simply does not have the answers at this time?
Couldn't see all of team yellow going to Marquez but for 2017 I sure could see a lot of them cheering for Dovi.
I say this as Marquez will be seen as a long term challenger to title 10, and of course were he to get another than he has 6 which is creeping up on the 9 of Rossi, where Dovi would be title 2 (title 1 in MotoGP) and leaves him a long way back. Essentially, Dovi will not be thought of as a genuine threat to the total and thus many could 'allow' him the title where Marquez will be a little to close for comfort.
Dorna I suspect could also handle a Ducati title better right now as well
Devils advocate ........... but what is to say that the problems aren't from listening to Rossi in the first place, just that they got it a little wrong (for Rossi) and were then smitten by the early season results of their new wonderboy and with Vinales as the future they thought that they were/are on a good thing?
On the plus side, I haven't seen the issues shifted to somebody blaming Lorenzo as yet in that he sabotaged prior to leaving
I love to watch it, when it plays out that way. However, are the current tires up to that stress these days?
I always remember Doohan, even if he wS on pole, he would let the pretenders run off their tires on the full tank, then begin picking them off one by one. Could it be that that technique returns?
Joined Jul 2011
1K Posts | 872+
Dont Know
I would say up until 2007 Rossi knew exactly what he wanted and how to get it. From that point on the level of his competition increased making things less clear. Since then he has made a number of poor decisions. In 2010 he made the first of his big mistakes running off to Ducati. He compounded that with the soft tire vote of 2012 which came back to bite him. Then it was the conspiracy theory and thinking he could run Marquez off track with no consequences.
No, his decision making process is complicated nowdays. Its like he is constantly second guessing both himself and the competition. What he's up to now only he knows. He's been saying all year the problem is the front tire. He gets #070, and straight away its forgotten and now the bike is flawed. And the 2017 Yamaha was developed around who exactly? My recollection is Lorenzo was not allowed to test it. Rossi performed the development duties alone. He talks about the weaknesses of the 2016 Yamaha. So he obviously wanted something changed, and the 2017 bike is based on his feedback, its not Vinales bike. Vinales was instantly faster on it. Rossi now mentions 'Yamaha management' not listening to him. I'm pretty sure they listened to him plenty once Lorenzo signed with Ducati, who else were they listening to?
My bet is after finally seeing off Lorenzo he was thinking it was his time at last, that it would take the Yamaha rookie Vinales at least half a season to get up to speed and until that point he could be relied upon to perform the donkey work just like he did throughout 2016 when he was accused by Suzuki of giving Rossi the tow in qualifying. hasn't turned out that way though, Vinales imo played the game very well.
Joined Jun 2016
642 Posts | 244+
Santa Cruz, Cal
Football?
"Are you totally de-ranged." - [A Fish Called Wanda]
Bridget Bardot made France. Everything else is icing on the Parisian Croissant. Without her and Sophia Loren there would be no botox for your girlfriend's (or boyfriend's) face.
Joined Jun 2016
642 Posts | 244+
Santa Cruz, Cal
I don't know if Lorenzo has the talent Doohan had of running on destroyed tires at leader pace. Rossi is probably better at that than Lorenzo. But, Lorenzo is no slouch. And I do think he will be back as a full fledged contender.
-------
Not trying to be a ...., but I am going to ask this again, so I don't have to hunt to try and figure it out: Has factory Yamaha run different frames for their riders, like Honda has done? This seems like the perfect occasion to do such a thing.
Joined Apr 2015
6K Posts | 5K+
NJ
I think hearing about what you can expect from Rossi is a lot different from experiencing it firsthand as it comes with a media apparatus.
I don't think it's out of ideas, after all he was how close to victory at Le Mans? There's only so much you can do if there is an issue with the chassis. Don't forget, he's already gone through this once before in 2006 where the chassis didn't work with the Michelins as I mentioned earlier. Vinales doesn't know what it is like to race at that level with a bad chassis and it's further compounded by his difficulty to adapting to a less than ideal circumstance. His teammate has made the most out of the situation because again, he's been here before.
Joined Mar 2016
2K Posts | 2K+
FNQ
True, but he has been in and around that paddock for some time so whilst it is fair to say that he would have heard things, it is also fair to say that he would have noticed things for himself and formed prior opinions (not just of VR here but the whole VR entourage and Yamaha).
MV is driven to succeed so he would have entered the hornets nest having a strong opinion of what to expect, and for mine, he is meeting the challenges head on and loudly
Out of ideas being more 'how to challenge and build the pressure on the upstart' whilst maintaining a level of competitiveness that allows him to build the extra pressure for that same upstart but also to Yamaha to say 'I am still the top dog, dont forget that'.
Point is, and this is genuine. Who says that the chassis is bad?
Do you believe VR who has experience or do you believe MV?
If you always follow experience sometimes you end up in a whole or rut that leads to oblivion as often new and fresh ideas are what is needed.
So, for mine I am very open as to the issues at hand at Yamaha and do not feel that the chassis is the only answer as I do feel that the tyres are the larger issue due to lack of consistency and until that consistency comes in then one cannot know the true issue.
Basically, I guess what I am getting at is that VR may well be losing his lustre of knowing the answers to all that befalls, and thus to me, he may not have an answer for the current woes or how to address them.
Telling is that he has gone public and criticised Yamaha which is a standard power play he has used successfully in the past, whereas MV has gone the polar opposite and said nothing wrong with the bike as the issue is tyres, the very tyres you wanted.
Joined Feb 2016
208 Posts | 107+
Mongolia
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