[mayankk]

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...ry-brdc-member

[Sheel]

An important race. Despite being on equal points, J Lo is ahead. 7 races to go.

The championship got interesting with the most boring race of the season.

[badri]

"Hitting the apex" an upcoming motogp documentary slated for release on 2nd Sep.. features Marco Simoncelli too!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLnN...ature=youtu.be

[badri]

A very elaborate article (and this is just part one of three) on fandom for one rider and how it is going to affect Motogp's future. Die hard fans of Rossi are not going to like it though..

http://trunkman.co.uk/blog/doctored-...lentino-rossi/

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by badri

A very elaborate article (and this is just part one of three) on fandom for one rider and how it is going to affect Motogp's future. Die hard fans of Rossi are not going to like it though..

http://trunkman.co.uk/blog/doctored-...lentino-rossi/

When you have such a long career, you're bound to end up with all types of fans, and the effect of such fans cannot be gauged.
He will retire at some point. Schumacher did too, and while I'm not a fan at all, and hated his time and his antics, he had an effect while he was around. And that fan base is nowhere as vehement for his medical condition as it was for his podium finish.


This article, though, and the many many others like these. What is the point of these, though? Does this gent think that a 46er will read this and think, "oh no. I must not support the guy anymore! ".
Isn't he just using the polarity regarding Rossi to ensure his post gets the maximum eyeballs?
Seriously, what has he set out to achieve, that the authorities will pass some legislation against supporting him, or he will be thrown out, or.... What?

[badri]

Originally Posted by mayankk

This article, though, and the many many others like these. What is the point of these, though? Does this gent think that a 46er will read this and think, "oh no. I must not support the guy anymore! ".

Seriously, what has he set out to achieve, that the authorities will pass some legislation against supporting him, or he will be thrown out, or.... What?

Maybe we need to read the full three part series to see where he is getting at.

However, an undeniable fact is that Rossi plays bigger role than any other force in Motogp viewership. Question is, what happens after him? The show will definitely go on but will it be as effective? Will Marquez step up and fill the void? I don't think anyone can fill Rossi's shoes. Dorna has some serious work to do..

[badri]

Nice video here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zP0x0Tm0Cs

I wish we could buy supermoto bikes in India.

[JayKis]

Originally Posted by badri

A very elaborate article (and this is just part one of three) on fandom for one rider and how it is going to affect Motogp's future. Die hard fans of Rossi are not going to like it though..

http://trunkman.co.uk/blog/doctored-...lentino-rossi/

Completely agree to the article thou albeit a bit long.The above article is going to set the cat amongst the pigeons to those who view motogp with yellow glasses.

For motogp to be a sport rather than a circus it needs to stop favoring one rider. It was Rossi all through 2001 to current. The other rider Dorna has favored is Marq Marquez for whom the rookie rule in motogp was changed. Dorna needs to stop doing this to create a level playing field. Motogp also needs to stop focussing on Spain and Italy and grow the same in other geographic regions. It should also bring down the barriers to entry for other teams.

One thing is for sure, the noose it tightening on the golden goose!

Once upon a time there was a game called motogp. The players were mostly Europeans. Majority of the viewers of the game were in Europe and predominantly in Spain and Italy. The game used to be a European bastion till a certain Kenny Roberts arrived with his game from the USA in 1978.

The gang of Americans included Roberts, Spencer, Lawson, Rainey and Schwantz. The Aussie Wayne Gardener chipped one in during the pinnacle of motogp and then Mick Doohan made it a complete Aussie Bastion. Europe was looking skywards for their Messiah and Alex Criville managed one before Roberts Jr wrestled one back.

Then came Valentino Rossi. The cheeky wonder kid from the small town of Tavullia set the bike racing world ablaze. But there can be no good without evil and the game needed a villain and they created one out of Max Biaggi and sold stories, newspapers and tickets. They made villains out of Capirossi and Gibernau as well. The wonder kid managed five on the trot with those legendary Saturday night specials. The poster boy was made untouchable. Then a lucky Nicky managed to wrestle it back again. The European establishment was aghast; they had a lot of money riding on the wonder kid. The game had now become a circus with a clown as the King

Then came the Aussie Casey with a potent mouth and usurped the King with a new style of riding on an Italian Machine which never had won a motogp title. This time Europe was stunned. No one could beat Rossi and they made sure no one would beat Rossi. They gave him all they could include the Bridgestone’s and made a villain again, this time out of Casey Stoner. Then they gave him the control tires. Rossi wrestled a couple back till his team mate Lorenzo (with a style similar to Max Biaggi) got close to him in his second season and finally usurped him from the throne even though they had built a wall to keep him from snooping.

Rossi was aghast. He left Yamaha and went to Ducati in 2011 with a we will fix it in 80 seconds attitude. He ate his words. Two years he spend in the wilderness fighting the midpack. Meanwhile, Ben Spies had the worst ever season on a bike in 2012 that it was unmitigated disaster. Someone at Yamaha had told him that they no more needed him. It seemed to be a convenient pedestal to bring Rossi back to the Yamaha.

Rossi returned back to Yamaha in 2013 but then there was Marq Marquez on the Honda who was a bat out of hell for the next two years. Yamaha turned up with their seamless gear box in 2015 and the old clown returned back to top.

2015 seems to be the last roll of dice in the court of King Valentino with the noose tightening on the goose!

[badri]

Originally Posted by JayKis

The other rider Dorna has favored is Marq Marquez for whom the rookie rule in motogp was changed. Dorna needs to stop doing this to create a level playing field. Motogp also needs to stop focussing on Spain and Italy and grow the same in other geographic regions. It should also bring down the barriers to entry for other teams.
[/i]

Dorna keeps doing this time and again.. this year they have done with Fabio Quartararo to bring him into Moto3 a few months shy of 16 yrs.

Agree with you completely on the new Geographic regions. Indonesia is a huge market and they should try to include a race there as well as one in India. However, as F1 organizers have seen in India, there is quite a lot of bureaucracy related hassles in some Asian countries and that makes it uninteresting for motorsport organizers.

Originally Posted by JayKis

But there can be no good without evil and the game needed a villain and they created one out of Max Biaggi and sold stories, newspapers and tickets. They made villains out of Capirossi and Gibernau as well. The wonder kid managed five on the trot with those legendary Saturday night specials.

Then came the Aussie Casey with a potent mouth and usurped the King with a new style of riding on an Italian Machine which never had won a motogp title. This time Europe was stunned. No one could beat Rossi and they made sure no one would beat Rossi. They gave him all they could include the Bridgestone’s and made a villain again, this time out of Casey Stoner. Then they gave him the control tires. Rossi wrestled a couple back till his team mate Lorenzo (with a style similar to Max Biaggi) got close to him in his second season and finally usurped him from the throne even though they had built a wall to keep him from snooping.

In my opinion Rossi clearly outgunned Biaggi, Gibernau, Capirossi in the early 2000's and he fully deserves the credit for it. In fact he beat Biaggi (on a arguably superior Honda) in 2004 after moving to Yamaha which had just a couple of podiums in 2003.

I think that the real competition for him came only after the arrival of Casey Stoner and then Lorenzo. To me, the low point for Rossi was when he insisted for a wall between him and Lorenzo. As a multiple world champion and still the preferred rider in the team, he should have been more open to the challenges thrown by the young pretender. The final straw was when he threw the toys out of pram and gave an ultimatum to Yamaha to chose between him and Lorenzo. Yamaha chose the later and the rest is history.

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by badri

I think that the real competition for him came only after the arrival of Casey Stoner and then Lorenzo. To me, the low point for Rossi was when he insisted for a wall between him and Lorenzo. As a multiple world champion and still the preferred rider in the team, he should have been more open to the challenges thrown by the young pretender. The final straw was when he threw the toys out of pram and gave an ultimatum to Yamaha to chose between him and Lorenzo. Yamaha chose the later and the rest is history.

An eye opener for me at least. It was Rossi who insisted for a wall to be put up? I always thought it was JL

What about other camps? Is there (for example) a wall between Dani and Marc as well? Is it (wall) more of a norm than the exception?

[Sheel]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

Is it (wall) more of a norm than the exception?

I think, an exception. Haven't heard of such things in Moto GP for the past a decade & a half. At least, has not been documented IIRC.

[badri]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

An eye opener for me at least. It was Rossi who insisted for a wall to be put up? I always thought it was JL

What about other camps? Is there (for example) a wall between Dani and Marc as well? Is it (wall) more of a norm than the exception?

A little bit of history here. In 2007 Casey Stoner and the Bridgestone shod Ducati dominated motogp to an extent that Rossi decided that he should be on Bridgestones too for 2008. Problem was, Bridgestone was not ready to oblige him and decided not to supply. Rossi managed to get Dorna involved and arm twist Bridgestone to supply him the tyres. However, they agreed to supply only Rossi and not Lorenzo.

Now, this is a strange scenario where two riders in same team were using different tyres. Up came the wall and the pit boxes were separated. All is acceptable till this point.

In 2009, the entire grid shifted to Bridgestone. Now, everyone expected the wall to go..it didn't. While Rossi emphatically defended it, Lorenzo was not so happy.

Their statements at start of 2009 were

Rossi: “Speaking with Yamaha I think Jorge, especially last year and already in 2008, demonstrated great speed and a good attitude to fix and set the bike,” said the Champion. “Now he has been in the team for two years, so everyone agrees that it’s possible for everyone to make their own way. Also, Jorge wants to work more on the development, so I think it’s right that everyone does his job alone. But at the end it doesn’t change a lot because all the comments between me and Jorge are quite similar, so it’s not a big change.”

Lorenzo: “I have great respect for Valentino. He has an incredible talent and is an intelligent person. Last year I was close to beating him and with a step forward I can have the chance to succeed. I do not care what he says, I’m not interested in listening to that I copy his bike’s settings to win. I think about myself. In 2009, we compared data and there were races where we did well, in others both Valentino and I did worse. I don’t know why Yamaha made this choice, I believe that this will slow down development on the bike. However I’m not worried, I’m self sufficient.”

Fast forward 2012, when Rossi announced his return to Yamaha, he and Lorenzo were full of respect for each other and announced that there will be no wall

Rossi said: "Now the situation change a lot compared to the past, compared to 2008 when Jorge arrive to Yamaha. Now he's the No. 1 in the team, and our relationship are good. I have respect for him, and he have respect for me. So I think we can stay together. I am sure that together we can form a great team for Yamaha, for try to achieve good result in the next seasons.

Rossi then added, with a wry smile: "We will be very close with Jorge if he agrees."

Lorenzo said: "For me it is a pleasure to be again with Valentino, two more years with the same bike. So for me, everything is positive. I always say the wall is a stupid thing. It doesn't make sense for anything. No wall is OK for me and I think for Vale this time."

Sources:

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/raci...motogp-garage/
http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-...#ixzz3jwJ6ejQK

[Urban_Nomad]

Originally Posted by badri

Rossi then added, with a wry smile: "We will be very close with Jorge if he agrees."

Lorenzo said: "For me it is a pleasure to be again with Valentino, two more years with the same bike. So for me, everything is positive. I always say the wall is a stupid thing. It doesn't make sense for anything. No wall is OK for me and I think for Vale this time."

Sources:

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/raci...motogp-garage/
http://www.visordown.com/motorcycle-...#ixzz3jwJ6ejQK

Then actually, this is a rather sad and 2 faced attitude on display by Rossi. Not befitting a champ and heralded by many as the GOAT

Not that it matters to anyone but his stock took a deep tumble in my books

PS -

@Badri - Forgot to ask you earlier, when you commented on Jorge being the new "pretender"; did you mean contender? If not, am just curious as to why you would refer to him as that. Thanks!

[Mashblue]

Excerpt from a recent Lorenzo interview with CycleWorld:
CW:*How has your relationship with Valentino changed throughout the years?
JL:*We are two champions. We have strong personalities. We both want to win and to beat each other. When I joined Yamaha in 2008, Valentino was the King, in the garage and in the paddock. He tried to save and mark his territory and of course this didn't help to create a good atmosphere. You know the story. After three years, he joined Ducati and I got two world titles with Yamaha. When he returned in 2013, the situation was different. We cannot say that we are friends, but there is a lot of respect. There is no friendship in the paddock; we are here to fight for the title. Yamaha is here to win.
Read the full interview: http://www.cycleworld.com/2015/07/10...ez-and-titles/

[badri]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

@Badri - Forgot to ask you earlier, when you commented on Jorge being the new "pretender"; did you mean contender? If not, am just curious as to why you would refer to him as that. Thanks!

Pretender is sometimes used in context of a person who is claiming for the title / looking to take the title..