He's a super popular, very wealthy fuckwit....

That he is. But doesn't make him a good bloke...

More like one of those playing with the Head... games. It was more in a competitive spirit. Roberts/Sheen. Rainy/Schwantz. Even though Rossi is out of the game sorta speak, let him keep his illusion going. Whatever works for him.

I find it laughable that any of us mortals think we can pronounce someone like Rossi, or Lorenzo, or Marquez washed up or "let him keep his illusion going." None of us beat them if they were riding bicycles and we were on H2s.
I'll leave it up to them to decide when it's time to hang it up. Oh and by the way, Rossi is STILL 2nd in the World Championship.

Mad

I find it laughable that any of us mortals think we can pronounce someone like Rossi, or Lorenzo, or Marquez washed up or "let him keep his illusion going." None of us beat them if they were riding bicycles and we were on H2s.
I'll leave it up to them to decide when it's time to hang it up. Oh and by the way, Rossi is STILL 2nd in the World Championship.

Come on Mad.
Who said Rossi or any other rider should hang them up?
Only they can decide that.
The comment was Rossi is no longer the fastest out there and is a dick for some of his comments and actions like the latest handshake saga.

Plus Rossi is second in the championship by luck and default from other riders making mistakes. He is the most consistent rider out there and still shows brilliance but he is no longer the fastest as he once was in the past and that will limit him.
If every rider in the field finishes every race without incident Rossi will not win another MotoGP race...

Simple fact.
Rossi is no longer fast enough to beat Marquez except maybe once in a blue moon.
Not sure why people are arguing this?

1. Jorge Lorenzo 1:31.629
6 bikes in between...
7. Valentino Rossi 1:32.028 - rounded off to .400th off the pace. That's 6 younger riders ahead of him. Jorge is in his prime so he's about to lose the edge in a few years. Next year you have a fresh round transferring to motogp from the farm classes. That's going to drop Rossi farther down the list. Miller is what, 23 or so? Mav is .300th off. So half a second is how far back? Maybe 5 bike lengths or less? You don't win that far back. You win with .004hundredths back with meters to go.

MM put on a long kneebodyleg save, but once the law sets in... 'that in motion tends to stay in motion... in a straight line.' Win some lose some.

https://www.cyclenews.com/2018/09/article/2018-san-marino-motogp-friday-news/

Rossi now 3rd in the championship. Dovi second, Jorge coming on strong. Say Rossi finishes 4th or 5th in points. Came in 7th today. 19 seconds off the pace. It's not the bike if his co-rider qualified 3rd on the grid.

Ok, so everyone behind Rossi should immediately retire. Including Lorenzo who , because he is washed up, crashed. So, Zarco, Miller, Petrucci all should hit the bricks....this is silly. Vinales AND Rossi weren't anywhere in this race. Maverick was the top Yamaha in 5th, something like 20 seconds behind the winner. So either all the Yamaha riders have completely lost their skills or maybe there is a problem with the current bike.
On a related note: After getting canned from the SKY Moto3 team for bad behavior, I thought Fenati was working at rehabilitating his image....guess not. His chance at a MotoGP ride is gone.

Mad

Look at Zarco at the beginning of the year. He head gamed himself right out of being a front runner. He out rode the bike's faults. Had the mindset to hang with the more experienced, so what happened? And here is where the backmarkers are in a learning curve. Who brings to the table consistency? I'll use Rins for example as the next big thing. MM is a given, Jorge is next. You are looking at a small elite group. Rossi WAS the elite, but his era is over.

Loyal wishthinkers in the bleachers/on the couches unit!

And then again... Crutch is more or less a backdoor factory supported rider. And if you think about it, no mention of the owner-principal (Ponch?), who btw, was with yam for say 12 years give or take? In the beginning, Zarco was receiving support until the press release of the ktm deal. So you assume the owner/Zarco is a carbon copy of backdoor help. Once Ponch jumped ship, the support was cut off just like that. So jmo, but 50% goes to support, 50% is the head game. How far off is that bike compared to Zarco and his riding skill? And to hear a different note of Zarco's engine than the others, that note was quite impressive.

One this is for sure.
Valentino is struggling.

Both poor qualifying results, poor race results and dropping World Championship positions are showing that he is being taught tough lessons from the new young guns who are the future of the sport.

Some champions are so use to winning that they can have their character shown up in a big way when they don't.
Welcome to the club Venus Williams!
Poor poor effort.
Her "blame it on someone else" effort is virtually identical to Rossi in 2015!

So sad when a Champion can't be gracious in defeat...

* Last updated by: yannih on 9/17/2018 @ 2:34 AM *

Well, Rossi can now join the "Head Fucked" club!

Starting from 18th position in the Aragon GP.

But it's not so much that he is starting from this position.
It was his effort, or lack of, by cruising around the track in the later stages of Qualifying 1 without spinning a wheel in anger that is completely mystifying.

I look forward to his interview to find out exactly what happened, but no doubt it will somehow be Marquez's fault even though he wasn't even out there as he was waiting for qualifying 2...

* Last updated by: yannih on 9/22/2018 @ 2:59 PM *

Just watched the Rossi post qualifying interview.

"Q2 not possible, Q2 not possible, Q2 not possible, problems, problems, problems".
And a throw away line about his non effort in the later stages on Q1.

Well Vinales made it into Q2 on the same machinery!

Yes, Valentino is definitely now afflicted with the Head Fuck disease...

* Last updated by: yannih on 9/22/2018 @ 3:03 PM *

Hey, when it comes to Rossi I'm starting to sound like Kofla and Trump...

its the Yammi's fault

I think I'll sit with Rossi for the race... I prefer Rossi's lines because he's a late apex'r. Reminds me of someone. Jorge is machine smooth, where Rossi... oh, never mind. If they have Rossi as one of the 4 players to choose from, that is. If not, I'll ride with MM or Jorge. I expect Rossi to pass a lot of riders just by skill alone. One thing about Rossi, he gives it his best effort in the race. Jorge thru it away last race. If MM goes down, that closes the points some, but I think MM might not take chances and keep the buffer padded with 3rd. Unless he just wants to throwaway the championship, be my guest.

The Living Legend Midpacker Lives On....

Great race to watch. I kept wondering how MM would do on the Ducaccie vs the Honda. While VR moving moving from 17 to 8 was an accomplishment of a superstar - I could care less.

But on a more serious note, El Tigre' has a 3 shot lead into the final round of the PGA Tour championship - what could go wrong?

Hmmm,Rossi the best Yamaha in 8th!!! But I guess all the Yamaha riders can't ride anymore.
Marquez is continuing to improve his race strategy and patience. The guy is going to break all kinds of records if he masters his track thinking combined with his natural aggression. Lorenzo was funny. Was all Macho man after qualifying then does a moon shot in the first corner.
At least with Dovi hanging in there the races aren't boring.

Mad

Yet another Marquez win (about time he bettered Dovi on the last few corners) and another non podium for Rossi after leading the race.
Plus VR46 would not be overjoyed that his team mate Vinales overtook and bettered him gaining a great last spot on the podium!
At least Yamaha showed something this race but their winless record continues to grow.

Without wanting to speak too soon it would be a fairly safe bet for this Championship to be wrapped up next race (if not the one after)...

* Last updated by: yannih on 10/21/2018 @ 3:54 PM *

2018 MotoGP Motegi qualifying.

Zarco 2nd
Rossi 9th

But hey, it's not Rossi's fault. It's definitely the Yamaha.
No wait...

* Last updated by: yannih on 10/21/2018 @ 1:25 AM *

Job done.
World Championship number 7.
Congratulations #93...

Ago has 9. MM should beat that no problem. He's (cough) young enough to get there.

Hey Hub, no mention on your boy Rossi?

Yeah I know I know.
It's the Yammie...

Phillip Island qualifying.
1. Marquez Honda (5th Pole in a row at the Island)
2. Vinales Yamaha (Welcome back Maverick)
3. Zarco Yamaha (Welcome back Johann)
7. Rossi Yamaha (How come they always seem to give Rossi the crap Yamaha?)

It was amazing to hear Zarco describe how he was actually really scared in those unpredictable conditions on such a fast circuit.
Really refreshing to hear someone talk completely honestly without all the associated rubbish...

* Last updated by: yannih on 10/27/2018 @ 3:09 AM *

Congratulations Yamaha.
The drought has been broken and with great style.

However,
Marquez out.
Zarco out.
Crutchlow out.
And still Rossi could do no better than position 6.
They obviously just keep giving him the worst Yamaha of the bunch.
What else could it be?

Come on all you Rossi lovers.
Where are you?
Are you not going to come to your hero's defence?
The silence has been deafening?

Hub?

just my worthless observation from the recliner

VR looked like he was out for a ride on a track day, others looked like they were racing and hard. Seemed to me VR gave up before he started