I won't go into the incident or subsequent circus since then as I've said my piece on it all, but.............I don't think this is over yet as regards the championship. Rossi is more than capable of getting a long way up the field. I expect him to dispatch a few riders by the 1st corner and a few more by the end of the 1st lap. I think the key will be how quickly he can get past the tail end of the field and get stuck into the midfield runners. I think Pedrosa will win I really don't know how Marquez will play it, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him behind Lorenzo at the end. He's not going to want to do Rossi any favours at all now. If Rossi's allegations in Australia weren't true, they will be now. I've a feeling in my water that Lorenzo could bin it, don't ask me why. 2nd should be enough for him, can he do it????
There goes the finale then. Glad I never booked tickets what an anti climax Hope Jlo swallows for that...!
that's the way it works on here E - always has - always will do - you played right into my hands :smileys:
I think rossi is on a win win, if he looses the title it was taken away from him, if he wins it he will be a superhero
it's going to be like Senna at Donington!! Although... VR will make up a big handful of places off the grid and in the first few laps but then he will probably get caught up amongst the fast midfielders and end up bogged down behind the likes of Crutchlow, Smith, Petrucci Espargaro et al, all of whom have their own private fights going on for championship position, team pecking order and professional pride. That's where he may come unstuck. I'm a big VR fan, but not blind to the fact that even if the Philip Island accusations against MM were true, he massively screwed up by airing those suspicions and then compounded the problem when he apparently cracked up at Sepang by almost running MM of the track. For a racer who was the master of mind games and withstanding psychological pressure, it's odd that he is the one who has buckled. I'm glad the penalty wasn't stayed, because if he won the championship it would be of questionable legitimacy. I really hope he pulls it off on Sunday though as it would rehabilitate his legendary status after what has been a fairly unsavoury week or two where none of the 3 riders have covered themselves in glory.
i also hope he wins to gain back some cred as whether his claims and actions where legit or not he's not come across too clever at all. if he does win it may be a platform to preach from and provide us with something to argue over during the off season!
I agree about the bad decision etc. The FIM and Dorna look like amateurish incompetent bunglers who are in over their heads. Remains to be seen what the consequences will be for them.
I am not aware of any evidence that Rossi "screwed up", "cracked up", or "buckled" at all at any stage. He may well have retained full possession of his faculties and rationality throughout.
Think Rossi will be in the top ten before the end of lap one...... hopefully the Hondas will feck off into the distance and we will have Lorenzo looking over his shoulder..... Shark!! What shark, tables turned.
It pains me to say it, but I think VR was riding irresponsibly. 1. He rode with the explicit and admitted aim of running MM out wide to the edge of the track. As anyone who watches racing or who has taken part in a trackday knows, grip is severely reduced in that area and crashes are a real possibility. 2. He rode in a manner intended to provoke a confrontation with MM. That in itself is irresponsible, perhaps bordering on dangerous, because a racetrack packed with 250bhp 200mph bikes is no place for confrontation. There were also 22 other riders on track at the time and it's simply untenable to be having two riders dicking around playing dodgems on the edge of the circuit. That VR was provoked by MM's agressive riding is mitigation, not a defence, which is probably why he only got 3 points and not a disqualification. 3. Although "irresponsibility" isn't a term used in UK road traffic offences, it is probably something akin to the offence of "careless or inconsiderate driving", where the test is "has the driving fallen below the standard of a reasonably competent driver?". I think there certainly is scope for finding that VR's riding fell below that standard. If you watch the whole sequence, in an echo of what he did to Max Biaggi early in his career, he had already given MM the finger whilst exiting a bend, so his behaviour in the build up to the incident was confrontational and agressive (as was MM's in my view, albeit just about within the rules) 4. To find that he wasn't riding irresponsibly would have set an awful precedent and would have condoned his behaviour. As THE rider who is the face and personality of MotoGP and a hero to millions, including children, that simply couldn't be allowed.
I think the fact that VR clearly misjudged how MM would react to his Phillip Island accusations thus provoking MM into further disruptive riding which then led to the Sepang incident, has earned him the criticism of many riders on the grid, the majority of pundits and probably millions of fans, has severely tarnished his reputation as a good sport, has ended up spending the week leading up to the title decider engaged in distracting litigation and will be starting from position number 24 on Sunday speaks for itself. :
On this, I'm curious to see people's thinking on it. I read the article on the MCN Sport magazine love in with Valentino Rossi. Based on the amount of times he appears on the cover compared to other riders and the fact they basically think that Rossi is MotoGP. So...... Does Iannone try to help Itallian pride, having another Motogp world champion by aiding Rossi? Or are the other riders busting their hump week in, week out with very little recognition because of Rossi. Iannone didn't help Rossi in Australia by passing him with 2 corners to go. There were a few earlier posts about how Rossi should be allowed to ride through the field by the other riders. He may be popular with the fans, but could the other riders be a bit tired of the VR46 circus? Who's be inclined to help him and see Lorenzo suffer? Surely their professional pride means they ride as hard as they can, but obviously don't ruin anyone's championship by taking them out. How will the Italian riders in the field react to Rossi if he catches them. Iannone & Dovi would come in for some stick at home if they were seen to be impeding Rossi. Can they handle that?, Do they care? This isn't anti VR, I'm just curious.
