Joined Oct 2006
3K Posts | 197+
Living the dream in Scotland
I thought I would write down a few of my thoughts on the current state of affairs with a certain Mr Rossi.
Where do we go from here? For a guy blessed with a phenominal ability to ride a motorcycle, and an incredidible career behind him, it's a bit of a sorry state of affairs. For me, Rossi could have retired at the end of 2009, he had fought back from loosing to Hayden and Stoner, and taken another consecutive title. But in 2010, the fly in the ointment had just got a lot bigger. It wasn't rocket science to predict that Lorenzo was going to be the next big thing in Motogp when he moved up in 2008. After a couple of years he was ready to take the title. Broken leg, or no broken leg, I and countless others agree that he was not going to take the title that year. It was Jorge's time, and Vale spat the dummy.
The move to Ducati was foolhardy at least. The only person who could win on the new Duke was a young guy whose name escapes me, but with dirt track experience, and the enthousiasm of youth, he could make it work. Or it would spit him off at the first excuse. But as his time on the red pile of ..... went on, the crashes were outwieghing the wins. (see what I did there?) The bike was going from bad to worse. Those of us who had been fans of Rossi since his days as an excitable 125 rider were sitting going what the .... have you done?
The first year was hard to watch, the second almost unbearable. I believe a young Rossi could have made it work, but in the later stage of his career, with his first serious injury behind him, it was soon obvious he had ...... up. Big time.
The return to Yamaha was not really unexpected. He still carries a lot of clout (and dosh) in the paddock, but 2 years on the pig, and the game had moved on. Gone were the days where to win you had to beat Rossi. Just as he had moved the game on, the younger guys had got faster too. One win, and a few podiums was hardly earth shattering. He spent most of the season racing with riders who you would not expect to be anywhere near him. He was beaten by a satellite Yam on the factory machine.
Sunday's race was not much of a show either, when Jorge was backing up the pack, his factory team mate should have been in the mix, showing Dani and Marc a wheel at the slightest excuse. Pressuring Marc to make the mistake that would keep the title with Yamaha. But he got passed by Alvaro ....... Bautista, then, when he got back on the pace, he was nowhere near the Hondas, so was going to have no impact on the race.
He has shown a few flashes of his former brilliance this year, this would have been the race to put it all on the line, mix it with the Hondas and be Jorge's wingman. Maybe his ego would not allow this, or maybe he is just to far over the hill.
Cal, bless him, binned his Yam giving it everything in his last race for the team. I would have more respect for Vale today if he had done the same.
So, what's this all about?
.... knows, is he still racing for the love of it? Sacking the guy who has been with him from day one of 500s is a funny way of showing it.
The ball is in your court now Vale.
Where do we go from here? For a guy blessed with a phenominal ability to ride a motorcycle, and an incredidible career behind him, it's a bit of a sorry state of affairs. For me, Rossi could have retired at the end of 2009, he had fought back from loosing to Hayden and Stoner, and taken another consecutive title. But in 2010, the fly in the ointment had just got a lot bigger. It wasn't rocket science to predict that Lorenzo was going to be the next big thing in Motogp when he moved up in 2008. After a couple of years he was ready to take the title. Broken leg, or no broken leg, I and countless others agree that he was not going to take the title that year. It was Jorge's time, and Vale spat the dummy.
The move to Ducati was foolhardy at least. The only person who could win on the new Duke was a young guy whose name escapes me, but with dirt track experience, and the enthousiasm of youth, he could make it work. Or it would spit him off at the first excuse. But as his time on the red pile of ..... went on, the crashes were outwieghing the wins. (see what I did there?) The bike was going from bad to worse. Those of us who had been fans of Rossi since his days as an excitable 125 rider were sitting going what the .... have you done?
The first year was hard to watch, the second almost unbearable. I believe a young Rossi could have made it work, but in the later stage of his career, with his first serious injury behind him, it was soon obvious he had ...... up. Big time.
The return to Yamaha was not really unexpected. He still carries a lot of clout (and dosh) in the paddock, but 2 years on the pig, and the game had moved on. Gone were the days where to win you had to beat Rossi. Just as he had moved the game on, the younger guys had got faster too. One win, and a few podiums was hardly earth shattering. He spent most of the season racing with riders who you would not expect to be anywhere near him. He was beaten by a satellite Yam on the factory machine.
Sunday's race was not much of a show either, when Jorge was backing up the pack, his factory team mate should have been in the mix, showing Dani and Marc a wheel at the slightest excuse. Pressuring Marc to make the mistake that would keep the title with Yamaha. But he got passed by Alvaro ....... Bautista, then, when he got back on the pace, he was nowhere near the Hondas, so was going to have no impact on the race.
He has shown a few flashes of his former brilliance this year, this would have been the race to put it all on the line, mix it with the Hondas and be Jorge's wingman. Maybe his ego would not allow this, or maybe he is just to far over the hill.
Cal, bless him, binned his Yam giving it everything in his last race for the team. I would have more respect for Vale today if he had done the same.
So, what's this all about?
.... knows, is he still racing for the love of it? Sacking the guy who has been with him from day one of 500s is a funny way of showing it.
The ball is in your court now Vale.
