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Old 29th October 2014, 23:59   #31
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

In no particular order, my list of favorite riders :

1. Casey Stoner : his style is different, confidently man-handling his bike to the point that he's sliding into corners. He could ride and win on the Ducatis, when not crashing, something the Doctor couldn't. Surprising then that he has only 2 championships to his name, he's got immense talent.

2. Michael Doohan : 5 championships, back to back. After severe injuries than left his right ankle stiff, inoperable. Say no more. That's 2 Aussies on my list.

3. Valentino Rossi : 7 500/MotoGP championships, he's the god for many. Although now not in best form possibly a sign of age showing up, he's still got enough talent to make younger upstarts bow.

4. Jorge Lorenzo : He's the Iceman. Smooth, fluid movement, he's learnt a lot watching Rossi, but more of a gentleman than Rossi. Has whooped Rossi as often as Rossi has done to him.

5. Marc Marquez : He seems like Casey Stoner in terms of riding style, but less abrupt/man-handling. Team-mate Dani Pedrosa is a fast guy, so being faster than featherweight Dani is no mean achievement, it's not all Honda glory.


Honorable mentions :
1. Alvaro Bautista : this Johnny Bravo caricature is often right in the front-runners, very fast at times but crashes out too often.

2. Andrea Dovizioso : once the 3rd in the HRC team, but always in the shadow of bigger stars like Rossi, Stoner and Dani meant being 4th best wasn't going to be very popular.

3. Stefan Bradl and 4. Andrea Iannone : watch out for this guy, on a factory bike he could give Dani and Jorge a harder time.
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Old 30th October 2014, 17:11   #32
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

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Originally Posted by Ricci View Post
3. Stefan Bradl and 4. Andrea Iannone : watch out for this guy, on a factory bike he could give Dani and Jorge a harder time.
Is Stefan Bradl Helmut Bradl's son? If so, serious genes there. Helmut Bradl could be scary fast when he wanted. I remember him fighting back to third from a disastrous start in a 250cc race and closing the gap to the first two (Cadalora and Carlos Cardus) lap on lap until the end. Just incredible pace with no real explanation except balls out riding ability.
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Old 30th October 2014, 18:16   #33
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

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Originally Posted by Ricci View Post
Has whooped Rossi as often as Rossi has done to him.
Can you please pinpoint the race & the year where J Lo has beaten Rossi on 1-1?
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Old 31st October 2014, 12:24   #34
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

Valentino Rossi. He is the sole reason that I watch MotoGP, and the reason I still ride bikes.

Marc Marquez is fine too. Less because he is the most immaculate rider I have seen so far, and more because he had posters of Valentino Rossi on his walls while growing up.
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Old 31st October 2014, 22:24   #35
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverflash View Post
Is Stefan Bradl Helmut Bradl's son?
Yes, he is. I didn't know his lineage actually ! He's a fast rider, but performance varies quite a bit.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheel View Post
Can you please pinpoint the race & the year where J Lo has beaten Rossi on 1-1?
Fanboy detected !

No offence/disrespect to Rossi or any other rider, but I have been watching MotoGP fairly regularly since late 2010, and a little earlier , so I have watched most if not all races from 2010 and have seen the VR-JL results where JL outshone VR often.

OK, so let's tally up VR and JL races in the period they've both been in Moto GP. Lorenzo began his first Moto GP season in 2008 and crashed all too often. 2009 was better, but still crashing quite bit.

Even if you ignore the Ducati era, VR's results haven't been like his former self until 2009. And he was with the same factory Yamaha in 2008-10 , and 2013-14 seasons, so in a 7 year side-by-side tally, Rossi has been at Ducati only 2 years.

And lest you say Rossi's performance has dropped as a result of severe crashes, the same is true of Lorenzo (and Dani and Stoner, et al). Lorenzo's 2008 season was one crash-fest ; and he's has several bone-breakers, even lost a fingertip as a result of a crash.

So here goes :
MT - Makoto Tamada pre-2012
MB - Max Biaggi
CV - Chris Vermulen
MM - Marco Melandri
LC - Loris Capirossi
SG - Sete Gibernau
NH - Nicky Hayden
VR - Valentino Rossi
CS - Casey Stoner
DP - Dani Pedrosa
JL - Jorge Lorenzo
MM - Marc Marquez


Dani Pedrosa : 2006-14 HRC
Vale Rossi : 2004-2010 Yamaha , 2011-12 Ducati , 2013-14 Yamaha
Casey Stoner : 2007-2010 Ducati , 2011-12 HRC
Jorge Lorenzo : 2008-2014 Yamaha


Race wins from 2008 ( with a + n for 2007 added)
------------------------------------
2004 : VR 9 , SG 4 , MT 2
2005 : VR 10, LC 2 , MM 2 , NH 1
2006 : VR 5 , LC 3 , MM 3 , DP 2 --- no CS or JL
2007 : VR 4 , CV 1 , CS 10 , DP 2 --- no JL yet
2008 : VR 9 , JL 1 , CS 6 , DP 2
2009 : VR 6 , JL 4 , CS 4 , DP 2
2010 : VR 2 , JL 9 , CS 3 , DP 4
2011 : VR 0 , JL 3 , CS 10 , DP 3
2012 : VR 0 , JL 6 , CS 5 , DP 7
2013 : VR 1 , JL 8 , MM 6 , DP 3
2014 : VR 2 , JL 2 , MM 12 , DP 1
----------------------------------------
VR 20+4, JL 33 , CS 28+10 ,DP 22+4 , MM 18



Fastest laps from 2008
----------------------
2004 : VR 3 , SG 3 , MB 3 , MT 3
2005 : VR 6 , LC 1 , MM 3 , NH 2
2006 : VR 4 , LC 5 , DP 4 , NH 2
2007 : VR 3 , ---- , DP 3 , CS 6
2008 : VR 5 , JL 1 , DP 2 , CS 9
2009 : VR 6 , JL 4 , DP 5 , CS 2
2010 : VR 2 , JL 4 , DP 8 , CS 3
2011 : VR 1 , JL 2 , DP 4 , CS 7
2012 : VR 1 , JL 5 , DP 5 , CS 2
2013 : VR 1 , JL 2 , DP 4 , MM 11
2014 : VR 1 , JL 2 , DP 2 , MM 11
----------------------------------------
VR 17, JL 20, DP 30, CS 23 , MM 22


Poles from 2008
---------------
2004 : VR 5 , SG 5 , MT 3 , MB 1
2005 : VR 5 , SG 5 , LC 3 , NH 3
2006 : VR 5 , LC 2 , DP 4 , CV 2
2007 : VR 4 , ---- , DP 5 , CS 5
2008 : VR 2 , JL 4 , DP 2 , CS 9
2009 : VR 7 , JL 5 , DP 2 , CS 3
2010 : VR 1 , JL 7 , DP 4 , CS 4
2011 : VR 0 , JL 2 , DP 2 , CS 12
2012 : VR 0 , JL 7 , DP 5 , CS 5
2013 : VR 0 , JL 4 , DP 2 , MM 9
2014 : VR 0 , JL 1 , DP 1 , MM 13
----------------------------------------
VR 10, JL 30, DP 18, CS 33, MM 22

Based on the race wins, fastest laps and poles (indicates outright ability on that bike) , I'd say Lorenzo is easily an equal of Rossi in the form he's been at since 2009. JL has gotten better and more consistent over time, and though Rossi's form has improved since 2013, it's yet to be seen if he can keep at it.

I feel, there's a personal stake in many of us to see Rossi win - the old guy, who we identify with being is about the same age , so it's living vicariously through watching Rossi win against younger rivals, as a vindication of our own 30-something selves that we've still got it in us , our mojo ?

And once you tally the figures, what Marquez has achieved in 2 years, is astonishing. Personally, before the Marquez era , I'd put Stoner as the most talented rider but not consistent.
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Old 1st November 2014, 06:25   #36
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

All your data didn't get me the answer I was asking for...1 on 1, like Catalunya, Sepang.
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Old 1st November 2014, 11:02   #37
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

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Originally Posted by PratikPatel View Post
Personally, I don't like the guy. No offense, but the guy has been treated as a prima dona. Honda got the 'rookie' rule changed for him. If he deserved a factory ride on debut then so did a handful of riders with WSBK Champion Ben Spies at the forefront.
Well Sir, Neither am I fan of the guy, I just put up his stats to indicate how he is set to re-write the records book. Once you are at the top of records you etch your name in history and it doesn't matter how you achieved it what matters is that you did.

Had Rossi been in his prime or had Marc been racing in the years dominated by rossi he wouldn't have even come close to Rossi

I Just pray and hope that the record for most wins in 500CC/MOTOGP of 82 held by Rossi is broken by some worthy guy rather than Marc Marc Marquez. Period.
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Old 1st November 2014, 11:29   #38
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

Yeah Ricci, Sheel stole the words from my mouth bro. Lets not drown ourselves in statistics gleaned from MotoGP.com (?). Lets talk specifics, race victories, the two of them duking it out one on one, mano a mano. And what's with the "gentleman" dig bro? These are bike racers we idolize. Not potential suitors for our sisters or daughters! We WANT them to be BAD boys. We want them to have a thousand women (shades of your living vicariously theory resonating vigorously here ....). This is MOTO GP! Not a corporate boardroom or a satsang.

Last edited by ebonho : 1st November 2014 at 11:39.
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Old 1st November 2014, 19:57   #39
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

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And what's with the "gentleman" dig bro? These are bike racers we idolize. Not potential suitors for our sisters or daughters! We WANT them to be BAD boys.
I'll drink to that. One of the things that I love about bike racers so much is that they seem less sanitized than the F1 mob. If I want prim and proper, I'll find it elsewhere. I like me bike racers raw, real and uncensored.

Also wanted to give a shout out to Norifumi Abe. What a brilliant rider, complete nutter to boot. Spectacular all the time, win lose or crash. We all lost too much when he died.
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Old 1st November 2014, 20:13   #40
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

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Also wanted to give a shout out to Norifumi Abe. What a brilliant rider, complete nutter to boot. Spectacular all the time, win lose or crash. We all lost too much when he died.
He had already given up on racing when that unfortunate incident happened in his home country IIRC.

But a rider's demise is always a sad (& introspective) thing for us riders.
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Old 1st November 2014, 20:57   #41
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

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He had already given up on racing when that unfortunate incident happened in his home country IIRC.

But a rider's demise is always a sad (& introspective) thing for us riders.
Yeah, he never got along with the 4 strokes and was testing in Japan. He died on the road on a 500cc scooter when a truck made an illegal U-turn. Shows that even for the very best of us, disaster is an ever present reality when on a bike.

But even though his best seemed behind him, you'd never have put it past Norick to stun everybody one last time. I remember his debut - wild card ride in Suzuka, astonished everybody by challenging for the win till the very end before, in true Norick style, he fell off. The sort of rider who, on his day, could make a mockery of the machine and the conditions.
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Old 2nd November 2014, 06:24   #42
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

Here is my list of GP riders, in no particular order:
  1. King Kenny - He had retired by the time most of us started following GPs, but after watching a recent video of his on the Yamaha 750cc 2-stroke flat tracker just blew me away. No wonder people call him "King" Kenny.
  2. Kim Newcombe - he was one of those natural talents from New Zealand who beat seasoned rivals on "factory" equipment like Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read on his outboard motor powered home built motorcycle. A brilliant combination of engineer & rider. Watch "Love, Speed and Loss" documentary to know more about him.
  3. Wayne Rainey - 3 back to back championships on the underpowered and underdeveloped Yamaha. He was so consistent and focussed, I sometimes wish what if that fatal accident did not happen..
  4. Mighty Mick Doohan - to win 5 back to back championships after almost losing his leg speaks of his determination and grit. '92 is when I started watching GPs and was blown away by his unique style of riding and the way he was able to carry far more lean angle than his competitors. His feedback made the Big bang motor a more appealing solution to tame the vicious 500s. Surprisingly, when everyone else switched to the big bang motor, he switched back to the screamer motor and won! Insane guy.
  5. Valentino Rossi - 9 world championships, only rider to have won on both the 500s and the newer 4 strokes. Enough said.
  6. Casey Stoner - It was awesome to watch him drift both the wheels The only person to have tamed the crazy Ducati and the only other person to have won championships on two different makes. How I wish he was still riding in the GPs..
  7. Marc Marquez - He just makes the RCV feel like a little toy under him. He can brake much later than anybody and still manage to get the bike turned without losing the front. If things go well for him, he might do what Rossi did for the next decade or so. Amazing natural talent.

My list of TT riders, again in no particular order:
  1. Joey Dunlop - I had only come across his name while reading magazines in the past, but after watching "No Ordinary Joe" it was really humbling.
  2. John McGuiness - one of the most successful TT riders, and the guy to break the 130mph barrier. Watching his interviews, no one can make out that he's the same guy out on the roads notching up one record after another.
  3. Ian Hutchison - the first guy to have won all the 5 TT races over the week. Pure determination and grit. He also went through a bad leg injury and had to go through similar kind of re-construction like Doohan. He will be a force to reckon with in the TT races.
  4. Bruce Anstey - breaking the 130mph barrier at 42yrs old, thats him
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Old 2nd November 2014, 18:22   #43
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

That's a top quality list, vigneshcv!

I wish I could have seen more of King Kenny. Doohan switching back to the screamer will be one of those legends that will be shared over drinks for years to come. We're lucky to be witnessing the entirety of Rossi's remarkable career, with Marquez seeming poised to take the baton.

All told, we've been blessed to see some magnificent men and their (almost) flying machines. Long may it last.
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Old 3rd November 2014, 00:58   #44
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

V. Rossi
Haga
Garry Macoy
Norick Abe
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Old 3rd November 2014, 09:49   #45
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Re: Your favourite GP & TT riders

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That's a top quality list, vigneshcv!

I wish I could have seen more of King Kenny. Doohan switching back to the screamer will be one of those legends that will be shared over drinks for years to come. We're lucky to be witnessing the entirety of Rossi's remarkable career, with Marquez seeming poised to take the baton.

All told, we've been blessed to see some magnificent men and their (almost) flying machines. Long may it last.
Thanks Silverflash. One another person I missed out in that list was Garry McCoy, he could have won a 500cc championship if not for his string of injuries during that season.

Yes indeed, we're lucky to be witnessing these magnificent men on their equally magnificent machines
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