[Shan2nu]

Oh man!! What a dream race it was for Hayden and Repsol Honda.

I mean cmon, what were the odds of Rossi not finishing within the first 13???

I dunno what went wrong with the Yam but that fall did shock everyone including the Repsol team.

After Haydens unlucky crash last time, he really deserved to win this year after having entered almost all the races as the championship leader.

Like they say, they sometimes leave the best for the last.

Congrats Hayden and Repsol Honda!!

And lets give a big hand to Rossi for being such a sport.

Shan2nu

[turbo_v12]

Rossi leaned in a li'l more with a heavy fuel load in the turn, which is where he lost the front end.

Anyway, a big applause to Nicky Hayden and I'm happy he won the title, or else all the investment on T-shirts and flags for Nicky would have gone waste (just kidding).

Hayden has ridden a very mature ride this year, and has had a good bike too, apart from clutch iusses. Rossi has been more brilliant, but has been plagued by ill-luck a lot more.

Congrats Nicky. Hold on to these moments as LE DOCTOR will come back in SPECTACOLLO style next year to take back what belongs to him....

But for now, let's Hayden bask in the glory he deserves this year.

[danlalan]

wasnt rossi's year...but would have loved to see him pick up his 6th c'ship.

[Kinetik]

two italians going down shumi and rossi , italians must be felling the same like we indians do like losing a cricket match which was oh-so close to winning

[devsus]

Originally Posted by Kinetik

two italians going down shumi and rossi , italians must be felling the same like we indians do like losing a cricket match which was oh-so close to winning

hello kine,
first of all schumi is german, not italian....u are comparing indian cricket with most brialliant racer of all time...c'mon that's not fair......india has not won world chamionship since '83.......so, what's the base for ur comparison..........

[Rtech]

Yes, Hayden did win the Championship, but it was more of a "wait, watch and be there to collect the points" rather than a proper fight for the championship. No doubt he is a good rider, but lets be honest, he did not win this Championship. Rossi and Yamaha lost it in the opening races.

I would always have more respect for a World Champion that goes out to win races rather than just collect points. His measly 2 wins this year are testament to that fact.

But, if there is a silver lining to this, its that Rossi has found a new reason to stick with MotoGP. They said he was getting bored last year. Well, he sure has something to achieve in 2007.

[Shan2nu]

Yes, Hayden did win the Championship, but it was more of a "wait, watch and be there to collect the points" rather than a proper fight for the championship. No doubt he is a good rider, but lets be honest, he did not win this Championship. Rossi and Yamaha lost it in the opening races.

Dude, this championship wasn't about Hayden and Rossi, there were other runners like Capirossi, Dani and Melandri who could have benefited from Rossi's lack of success in the opening races.

A championship requires a rider/team to be consistant throught out the season. Remember the Edward-Baylis battle in SBK? Baylis won most of the races that year but Edward eventually won the tittle.

If you wanna be honest about something, lets be honest about the fact that Rossi and Yamaha weren't upto the mark this year. Rossi losing the championship and the fact that the championship wasn't decided until the last race (for the first time since Rossi started winning) makes it ever so obvious. And what about the last race? All Rossi had to do was stay close to Hayden and he failed.

If Haydens performance is considered average, then i guess one would have to be worse to lose to him.

What you say, makes sense if you're talking about one race, but a championship is spread over so many races, on various tracks and under different riding conditions.

Anyway, i'm sure Rossi and Yam will enter the 07 season with full force. I wish them the best of luck.

PS: There's no doubt that Rossi is still the best rider out there but as a team, they weren't good enuf.

Shan2nu

[Rtech]

Aarey Sahn2nu....!

Dude, this championship wasn't about Hayden and Rossi, there were other runners like Capirossi, Dani and Melandri who could have benefited from Rossi's lack of success in the opening races.

It was clear after the first few races, and once the Yamaha began to use its tyres better, that it was a two way title fight. Sure there were outside chances fromt he others, but Honda team orders (both official and unofficial if you know what I mean) are real strong. Honda made no bones about the fact that they had every Honda rider out there, regardless of whether they had a factory ride or not, helping in some way towards that Championship. As soon as it was clear who was ahed in the points standings, the rest had to back up that rider.

If you wanna be honest about something, lets be honest about the fact that Rossi and Yamaha weren't upto the mark this year.

Didn't I mention that in my opening paragraph??

If Haydens performance is considered average, then i guess one would have to be worse to lose to him.

C'mon bro, those sort of comments are made by third grade kids! We all know that it takes more than just the rider or driver in today's vehicles. The fact is that the Yamaha was just not performing in the opening races. Similar to the Ferrari of Schumi. However, the fact that Rossi could claw back a 50 point deficit speaks volumes of his riding skills. And he is the only Yamaha rider up there!

Again, I personally feel that the way Hayden won this Championship was not how any racer would like to win it. But, at the end of the day, he did win it, and the history books will not record how he won it, but simply that he DID win it.

[Shan2nu]

It was clear after the first few races, and once the Yamaha began to use its tyres better, that it was a two way title fight. Sure there were outside chances fromt he others, but Honda team orders (both official and unofficial if you know what I mean) are real strong. Honda made no bones about the fact that they had every Honda rider out there, regardless of whether they had a factory ride or not, helping in some way towards that Championship. As soon as it was clear who was ahed in the points standings, the rest had to back up that rider.

In the last race, i guess you could say that. It was very clear that Honda had made up it's mind to gather all their riders and make sure Rossi was kept at bay but Rossi fell on his own and wasn't nudged or pushed by a Honda rider, so i don't see anything wrong with that.

Didn't I mention that in my opening paragraph??

Then why take it away from Hayden? Like i said, Rossi is the best out there, but Hayden had everything going for him. It's all about making the best of what you have and it was the Repsol team that came out tops this season.

Remember, Rossi had the lead going into the last race. Hayden did what was expected from him. He did take the championship away from Rossi. Rossi's crash was unfortunate but hayden had nothing to do with it and it wasn't like Rossi was leading the race when he crahsed. He was most definately struggling to keep up with the pace.

C'mon bro, those sort of comments are made by third grade kids! We all know that it takes more than just the rider or driver in today's vehicles. The fact is that the Yamaha was just not performing in the opening races. Similar to the Ferrari of Schumi. However, the fact that Rossi could claw back a 50 point deficit speaks volumes of his riding skills. And he is the only Yamaha rider up there!

What do you think i've been saying all this while. But the fact still remains that when he could claw back 50 points, why couldn't he defend the 8 point lead he had going into the last round?

He didn't have to win the race, he needn't have even overtaken Hayden. It was all so easy for him. It doesn't make sense to say Hayden didn't ride like a champ just bcos somebody, somewhere down the pack...screwed up!!

Again, I personally feel that the way Hayden won this Championship was not how any racer would like to win it. But, at the end of the day, he did win it, and the history books will not record how he won it, but simply that he DID win it.

Everyone has a personal view so lets just leave it at that.

Shan2nu

[Rtech]

whew. I see Shan is back at his best again!

But you still don't get the point I am making. Ok, Let me break it down again. Take Rossi and all the other riders out of the picture. I still will not respect the way Hayden won this Championship. Its not about Rossi falling, its not about anything else...its just about Hayden's ride this year. I'm not asking you to agree with me, I am simply stating my view.

[Jay]

Well nothing much was to be seen in the race except for the Rossi incident, hayden played it safe and who would have thought at the race start that he would win...
Anyways congrats to Hayden, bad luck Rossi...

[Shan2nu]

whew. I see Shan is back at his best again!

LOL, and guess what, it's prob gonna stay like this for a month.

But you still don't get the point I am making. Ok, Let me break it down again. Take Rossi and all the other riders out of the picture. I still will not respect the way Hayden won this Championship. Its not about Rossi falling, its not about anything else...its just about Hayden's ride this year. I'm not asking you to agree with me, I am simply stating my view.

I uderstand what you're saying, but thats just your personal view. There will be many who will or will not agree with you.

But all said and done, Hayden maynot be considered the best rider, but he is the 2006 MotoGP Champion.

Shan2nu

[megazoid]

Pretty sad state of affairs really. A man who could repeatedly do wonders even when sixth or seventh on the grid just made a mistake and lost it all. I must say I agree with Rtech that Hayden just did not ride or feel like a champ at all. I was actually looking forward to a fight between Rossi and Bayliss rather than Hayden doing anything at all. But in the end it just wasn't his day. Lets hope this ignites the hunger to prove a point in 2007.

[kph]

Originally Posted by turbo_v12

Congrats Nicky. Hold on to these moments as LE DOCTOR will come back in SPECTACOLLO style next year to take back what belongs to him....
But for now, let's Hayden bask in the glory he deserves this year.

I believe Rossi would've been untouchable with a Honda. Performance vice Honda is far ahead of Yama. Surely it's his talent that brought him where he is now. (Who can forget last years Rossi Gib encounters)

Originally Posted by danlalan

wasnt rossi's year...but would have loved to see him pick up his 6th c'ship.

Me too.

[devsus]

Originally Posted by Rtech

Yes, Hayden did win the Championship, but it was more of a "wait, watch and be there to collect the points" rather than a proper fight for the championship. No doubt he is a good rider, but lets be honest, he did not win this Championship. Rossi and Yamaha lost it in the opening races.

I would always have more respect for a World Champion that goes out to win races rather than just collect points. His measly 2 wins this year are testament to that fact.

But, if there is a silver lining to this, its that Rossi has found a new reason to stick with MotoGP. They said he was getting bored last year. Well, he sure has something to achieve in 2007.

wow rtech,
congrats for ur accurate explanation?