Oh, and one from the race before, 2018 Malaysia.
Couldn't resist...

* Last updated by: yannih on 11/19/2018 @ 10:51 PM *

HA! Between sleeping thru the races to having my buddy tell me to 'hand in my motorcycle card' for not keeping up with the racing/industry, Rins and Mir are team mates on the suz, the maniac is on an ape and is now midpacking. MM is the fastest, Zarco almost threw the ktm away, and here I am trying to make your teeth grind... LOL.

Let me just make comment on the handshaking decline. It's more a spirit of competition. You want to keep the enemy at bay, play with their head, show no mercy, and believe in yourself. Even though I could not beat the front runners on bikes like Pop's prepped, everyone was the enemy to me. It made me push harder to try and beat them. So I don't fault Rossi keeping the spirit going.

I hear Ago was a dick when he became a manager with all that marlboro money going around. Kenny Roberts was another jerk. I'm sure Rossi is no better. MM has his skeletons too. They are just human. But when the wrist connects with the brain, there are only a few out there that fill the history books. The garbage they bring with them... oh well??

Just turned on live testing. Rossi is 3rd fastest. (hee-hee)

2019, if not Marquez, then who?

This is one of those eras where it seems like the dominator can't be beat.

Zarco doesn’t have the best equipment (yet) with KTM. I look for Vinales to be right in there with Whorehouse, Dovi and the crasher. Rossi may be past the point of competing for the championship. The rest don’t quite have the necessary consistency, unless one of them magically develops it.

2019, if not Marquez, then who?

I believe the 2018 dominance of Marquez will not be anywhere near the same levels in 2019.
Dovi is right on the money and his Ducati is now developed to a stage where he will be a huge contender.
Vinales continues to show the talent and improvement levels to be a real threat.
Petrucci on the factory Ducati could really throw a spanner into the works.
Rins is starting to show plenty of promise.
Crutchlow can be dangerous on his day.
And a huge change is Marquez's old subservient team mate who provided no challenge for limelight or team resource is now gone. Lorenzo steps in and will change that garage dynamic completely.
Plus once Lorenzo comes to terms with his new new factory Honda he will give no quarter and challenge Marquez every step of the way unlike Pedrosa's meek efforts regarding his team mate for years.
I have not mentioned Rossi because again I believe if the main contenders are upright at the end of a race VR46 will not win again in 2019. He may however get a podium or two and with his signature consistency (except for his last two 2018 races) and some luck he may even be around the mix.
Lastly the new rookies have no fear of existing reputations and will do what ever they have to do to finish at the sharper end of race results.

So I'm not saying Marquez can't or won't win. I'm just saying the luxury of the last few years is no longer.

The 2019 MotoGP season will answer all this and more.
See the new 2019 MotoGP thread now started...

* Last updated by: yannih on 11/27/2018 @ 10:46 AM *