Yamaha extends Rossi contract to 2018

yamfan said:

Since Lorenzo has been in MotoGP he's won 3 titles to Rossi's 1. Stoner and Marquez have a 2-1 lead, the goat does look so great with those stats matey.

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Rossi has 2 titles since Lorenzo came to GP. 08-09
Stoner and Rossi had 2 each head to head and Marquez has 2 to Rossi's 0 head to head.

povol said:

Rossi has 2 titles since Lorenzo came to GP. 08-09
Stoner and Rossi had 2 each head to head and Marquez has 2 to Rossi's 0 head to head.

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It would be more impressive if they had been one person.

Sorry buddy I messed up there, I should've remembered stoner was earlier than Lorenzo. Stoner did retire earlier though or maybe he'd have had more.
My point though head to head, Rossi's stats aren't half as impressive as his earlier years, suggesting his early opposition wasn't as strong. I know Rossi was younger then, but age isn't that critical on a motorcycle, experience can be just as telling.
I'm not decrying Rossi has massive talent, just that I think his goat status is questionable. Agostini is the true goat and a charming pleasant man too, Rossi has blotted his copybook if he had designs on taking over the great man's mantle. His popularity is unquestionable but his temperament is very much in doubt nowadays.

MdubSTYLIE said:

It would be more impressive if they had been one person.

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Just shows how much tougher the sport is when there is 3-4 elite riders than 1. If you replace Rossi in his first 6 years with any of those riders , they all have as good or probably better numbers. Looking back, I'm surprised Rossi's numbers were not better than they are.

povol said:

Just shows how much tougher the sport is when there is 3-4 elite riders than 1. If you replace Rossi in his first 6 years with any of those riders , they all have as good or probably better numbers. Looking back, I'm surprised Rossi's numbers were not better than they are.

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The thing is that most people, even including me and possibly you, would have rated him the GOAT after the 7th championship in 2009 had he retired then, which I still think he was considering. I think most would have rated him ahead of Agostini,who was before my time, because of similar caveats about the quality of his opposition, particularly their equipment, over much of Ago's career, although the 8th title for Yamaha which gives him the most premier class titles would seem to have been particularly meritorious.

Everything Rossi has done, since 2010 anyway, has detracted imo from a status Rossi already had then ahead of Agostini, even last year when a close second at this stage of his career was very meritorious but the end of season shenanigans ultimately became the story for some of us. I do see irony in this.

povol said:

Just shows how much tougher the sport is when there is 3-4 elite riders than 1. If you replace Rossi in his first 6 years with any of those riders , they all have as good or probably better numbers. Looking back, I'm surprised Rossi's numbers were not better than they are.

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Completely agree provol. Any of the three could have been that dominate against Sete and Max. Year after year he was dominate, none of them have shown that much consistency. I'm not talking about winning titles. They have all had off years, Casey every year after a title last year for Marc and Jorge has struggled. But during that stretch Rossi was consistently on top.

MdubSTYLIE said:

Completely agree provol. Any of the three could have been that dominate against Sete and Max. Year after year he was dominate, none of them have shown that much consistency. I'm not talking about winning titles. They have all had off years, Casey every year after a title last year for Marc and Jorge has struggled. But during that stretch Rossi was consistently on top.

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In 2013 Lorenzo had his big crash which definitely cost him his title that year, without that he was looking certain for it. Recovering from operations definitely affected him in 2014 but Marquez would in all likelihood won anyway as his form was devastating.
Facts are facts though as the boppers are fond of saying, you're right Michael, nobody has been consistent yet.

povol said:

Just shows how much tougher the sport is when there is 3-4 elite riders than 1. If you replace Rossi in his first 6 years with any of those riders , they all have as good or probably better numbers. Looking back, I'm surprised Rossi's numbers were not better than they are.

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They probabaly should have been.
Ive posted this before but Rossi was drinking his balls off the evening of the inagural Indy GP. The following day he had a mental error which put him in the marbles and ended his race.
Its my belief that this lackadaisical attitude derived from all the advantages he had over the years.
There was no need to focus when all you had to do was show up, turn the key and win

povol said:

Just shows how much tougher the sport is when there is 3-4 elite riders than 1. If you replace Rossi in his first 6 years with any of those riders , they all have as good or probably better numbers. Looking back, I'm surprised Rossi's numbers were not better than they are.

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I don't buy the competition was subpar during Rossi's reign. However, allow me to make my point this way: give Lorenzo or Marquez ONLY tires designed based on their feedback for the next 5 years. Lets see how the titles pan out.

povol said:

Just shows how much tougher the sport is when there is 3-4 elite riders than 1. If you replace Rossi in his first 6 years with any of those riders , they all have as good or probably better numbers. Looking back, I'm surprised Rossi's numbers were not better than they are.

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I humbly disagree. Regardless of his actions and statements in the twilight of his career, the ...... .... could ride a mother ....... motorcycle like a stud during his heyday.. Can not take that from him no matter how much he wants to show his vag this or last season.

WVMotoGP99 said:

I humbly disagree. Regardless of his actions and statements in the twilight of his career, the ...... .... could ride a mother ....... motorcycle like a stud during his heyday.. Can not take that from him no matter how much he wants to show his vag this or last season.

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Hear hear! Cheers to the ....... goat!

WVMotoGP99 said:

I humbly disagree. Regardless of his actions and statements in the twilight of his career, the ...... .... could ride a mother ....... motorcycle like a stud during his heyday.. Can not take that from him no matter how much he wants to show his vag this or last season.

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Well brother, allow me to chime in my perspective, i agree he could certainly ride, still can, but there is one very important detail you may be glossing over when it comes to Rossi's record, that for the life of me I've not understood why it gets so readily overlooked, worse, accepted as legitimate, and that is this: superior tires against rivals that had inferior tires. This point has led some to erroneously believe his rivals were inferior. What in effect we are saying is this, yeah we know that guy competed with enhanced aids (similar to say steroids) but hey, he really could ride that bike...with better tires than everyone else. It's as if we also might say, hey see that home run hitter like Mark Maguire, Barry Bonds, Jose Canseco, they could really hit that mother ....... ball!

So every time this comes up a big debate ensues, like yeah but still that bike didn't ride itself. SNS are absolute fact, Michelin's tire tier system is absolute fact. If today Michelin says, ok since Lorenzo won the title last year we are going to develop the tires for him, or, we will let him pick which compound Michelin will provide all the riders for 2016, so Marquez, Rossi, Pedrosa, and Lorenzo will still have to ride their bike, right? Those bikes won't ride themselves. Are you comfortable saying, well Lorenzo deserves getting to pick everyone's tires, he's the champ (or on Rossi's case makes the sport money, popular, etc. And if Lorenzo wins the title, well, he earned it fair and square under the rules. Just for a moment, consider how Rossi might feel about that? Oh, we had riders complain in the past, Casey Stoner is on record saying his tier of tires were ..... Of course he got labeled a moaner and a crasher because...well his tires were .....

You may feel comfortable saying, yeah but Rossi, that mother ...... could ride. Yup, I agree. On the juiced version of tires. I for one do not recognize any title "won" on Saturday Night Special tires. If you do, then consider also records like Nori Haga who missed a title by 5 points because they found some ........ performance enhancing drug. Or all the juiced baseball home run hitters, put them in the Hall of Fame. Etc. Etc. Ya see what I'm saying brother? Frankly I don't see any way around trying to legitimize Rossi’s record. Look no further than the last two years and how tires won or lost races. ...., look no further than the race just last weekend. Compare Rossi's and Lorenzo's comments about tires. Lorenzo said his choice of tires won him the race. Rossi said they cost him the race. Now invision 5 years of Rossi picking his tires and everyone else gets 2nd tier tires. Qatar would have seen Rossi win. Then everybody goes goo goo ga ga, hey, that mother ...... can ride.

The more I read on this thread the more I ask myself how would the current and recent top riders fair on the last version of the 500 two strokes. Meaning take away seamless gearbox, the heavy reliance on electronics, and the relative smoothness of the 4 strokes. Get it down to the right wrist and racing tactics, and not just peg it open and let the bike take you round the track.

Rossi - We know how he did...Crashed a good number of times, yet won the title and was second in his rookie year.

Here is how I see the rest doing on them...
JLo - I figure he would do as well as Biaggi did....crash a bit more....yet still win a title...maybe even on the Yamaha....
MM - Would crash more than anyone else today.....I dont think he can ride nearly as well without the electronics of today....he'd hate the 500s
Casey - Would ride them all day long and still win.....he'd be as good as Doohan but much much younger...so long as he was on the Honda....not sure he'd win on Yamahas or Suzukis....and definitely not on the Cagiva....
Maverick - Not sure about him not being good due to technology of today vs that era....
Iannone - He'd be as good as MM would be.....
Dovi - Good but not great...pretty much like today....
Hayden - He'd go well but not as well JLo would have....
Dani - Very very fast, and would do as well as Criville....but with more injuries.....
Esparagus' - Lots of crashes and careers would be done by year 2....P. would in the hedge more than he'd finish at the back of grid...I don't think P. can ride at GP level without todays scooter tech.....

Do any of you think that of today's crop that any of them would be as successful on the 500s?

Stoner would have been supreme, 500's suited dirt trackers. I think Hayden would have been more successful on one as well.

MigsAngel said:

The more I read on this thread the more I ask myself how would the current and recent top riders fair on the last version of the 500 two strokes. Meaning take away seamless gearbox, the heavy reliance on electronics, and the relative smoothness of the 4 strokes. Get it down to the right wrist and racing tactics, and not just peg it open and let the bike take you round the track.

Rossi - We know how he did...Crashed a good number of times, yet won the title and was second in his rookie year.

Here is how I see the rest doing on them...
JLo - I figure he would do as well as Biaggi did....crash a bit more....yet still win a title...maybe even on the Yamaha....
MM - Would crash more than anyone else today.....I dont think he can ride nearly as well without the electronics of today....he'd hate the 500s
Casey - Would ride them all day long and still win.....he'd be as good as Doohan but much much younger...so long as he was on the Honda....not sure he'd win on Yamahas or Suzukis....and definitely not on the Cagiva....
Maverick - Not sure about him not being good due to technology of today vs that era....
Iannone - He'd be as good as MM would be.....
Dovi - Good but not great...pretty much like today....
Hayden - He'd go well but not as well JLo would have....
Dani - Very very fast, and would do as well as Criville....but with more injuries.....
Esparagus' - Lots of crashes and careers would be done by year 2....P. would in the hedge more than he'd finish at the back of grid...I don't think P. can ride at GP level without todays scooter tech.....

Do any of you think that of today's crop that any of them would be as successful on the 500s?

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Good talking point Miguel, but again the entire notion, which is completely conjectural, is again subject to the innate inequities of the sport. Many of those riders mentioned weaned on the 125s and 250s, but despite such two stroke prototype pedigree, the 500s were a different proposition altogether. We know that the likes of O.J. Nakano and Kato for example were all superb 250 riders but lacked the full factory support in the top class. Kato, although a Honda rider, initially ran the 2001 NSR 500 run by Gresini in 2002. Rossi on the other hand inherited Doohan's crew and although it was a quasi-satellite team, was very quickly availed with full support form HRC and during his second year was running unquestionably the best machine on the grid and already affording priority treatment from Michelin. How would he have faired on a D'antin YZR500 and last in line for the top Michelin's?

Aside from Stoner, which is a no brainer, the rider I would really liked to have seen on a 500 was Pedrosa. Take Vale out of the equation -I honestly think that had he have been five years older, hypothetically, imagine it's 2001 and he's given the same team and machinery that Valentino benefitted from, he would also have been WC in 2002. Saying that, the competition was arguably stronger in the lower classes in the late nineties, which may have inhibited his rise.

MigsAngel said:

The more I read on this thread the more I ask myself how would the current and recent top riders fair on the last version of the 500 two strokes. Meaning take away seamless gearbox, the heavy reliance on electronics, and the relative smoothness of the 4 strokes. Get it down to the right wrist and racing tactics, and not just peg it open and let the bike take you round the track.

Rossi - We know how he did...Crashed a good number of times, yet won the title and was second in his rookie year.

Here is how I see the rest doing on them...
JLo - I figure he would do as well as Biaggi did....crash a bit more....yet still win a title...maybe even on the Yamaha....
MM - Would crash more than anyone else today.....I dont think he can ride nearly as well without the electronics of today....he'd hate the 500s
Casey - Would ride them all day long and still win.....he'd be as good as Doohan but much much younger...so long as he was on the Honda....not sure he'd win on Yamahas or Suzukis....and definitely not on the Cagiva....
Maverick - Not sure about him not being good due to technology of today vs that era....
Iannone - He'd be as good as MM would be.....
Dovi - Good but not great...pretty much like today....
Hayden - He'd go well but not as well JLo would have....
Dani - Very very fast, and would do as well as Criville....but with more injuries.....
Esparagus' - Lots of crashes and careers would be done by year 2....P. would in the hedge more than he'd finish at the back of grid...I don't think P. can ride at GP level without todays scooter tech.....

Do any of you think that of today's crop that any of them would be as successful on the 500s?

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Ahhhh another prediction thread by Nostradumigs. Shall we call this the retro prediction thread.
Tell me, how do you think the current riders would fare in a medeival jousting tourney?

I see people Marquez benefits/relies too much from electronics etc but he still kicked ... in 125 and moto2, even now he is and has been wiping the floor with other Honda riders. He's a great rider and would adapt easily without electronics and would haves still been great without them.

I agree Casey would be god, Pedro would be interesting, I think Lorenzo would do just fine on the 500s as well. I believe all 4 of those guys on the same equipment or equipment tailored to them like it was Rossi would wipe the floor with him, Pedro is the only guy I'm not 100% confident on.

.... it while we are talking hypotheticals, if Stoner didn't walk away in 2012 I believe he would've won the 2013 championship given how everyone else but Marquez effectively ruled themselves out, and the same thing in 2015. Hell maybe he even competes with MM in '14

JohnnyKnockdown said:

Ahhhh another prediction thread by Nostradumigs. Shall we call this the retro prediction thread.
Tell me, how do you think the current riders would fare in a medeival jousting tourney?

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I thought we saw something similar in Sepang?

At least Valentino could legally knock someone off...oh, hold on.

Anyway, Rossi would benefit from a higher grade of armour/mail, the finest steed in the realm, a longer but lighter pole and preferential treatment from the kings stables and farriers. If however anyone was audacious enough to challenge his supremacy a secret meeting in his tent with the King would immediately eliminate any threat and alter the rules in his favour. Oblivious and blind to all this, the commoners would still be hail him as the people's champion.

Hector would ride pillion, Pedrosa would get knocked off a lot and Cal would fall off a lot. Casey would be riding the meanest, baddest stallion in the Kingdom and not to be outdone Rossi would demand a go and get kicked in the bollocks as a consequence.

JohnnyKnockdown said:

Ahhhh another prediction thread by Nostradumigs. Shall we call this the retro prediction thread.
Tell me, how do you think the current riders would fare in a medeival jousting tourney?

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Brilliant.

Does Rossi get a longer pole?

Arrabbiata1 said:

I thought we saw something similar in Sepang?

At least Valentino could legally knock someone off...oh, hold on.

Anyway, Rossi would benefit from a higher grade of armour/mail, the finest steed in the realm, a longer but lighter pole and preferential treatment from the kings stables and farriers. If however anyone was audacious enough to challenge his supremacy a secret meeting in his tent with the King would immediately eliminate any threat and alter the rules in his favour. Oblivious and blind to all this, the commoners would still be hail him as the people's champion.

Hector would ride pillion, Pedrosa would get knocked off a lot and Cal would fall off a lot. Casey would be riding the meanest, baddest stallion in the Kingdom and not to be outdone Rossi would demand a go and get kicked in the bollocks as a consequence.

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To quote you: "I'm ruined!"

It's what makes me so addicted to Powerslide. I'm like that lab rat, getting intermittent rewards between seas of ..... But I keep plugging away in hopes of that next bit of coke (to be clear, it's just a metaphor).

I know you loathe but...LOL.

Arrabbiata1 said:

I thought we saw something similar in Sepang?

At least Valentino could legally knock someone off...oh, hold on.

Anyway, Rossi would benefit from a higher grade of armour/mail, the finest steed in the realm, a longer but lighter pole and preferential treatment from the kings stables and farriers. If however anyone was audacious enough to challenge his supremacy a secret meeting in his tent with the King would immediately eliminate any threat and alter the rules in his favour. Oblivious and blind to all this, the commoners would still be hail him as the people's champion.

Hector would ride pillion, Pedrosa would get knocked off a lot and Cal would fall off a lot. Casey would be riding the meanest, baddest stallion in the Kingdom and not to be outdone Rossi would demand a go and get kicked in the bollocks as a consequence.

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Jumkie would still complain that Rossi's horse had sns horseshoes.