© Bruce Allen June 21, 2018
I found myself quoting a statistic I hadn’t researched myself, one which, in a court of law, would be thrown out as hearsay. The statistic in question had to do with the number of wins scored by Everyman’s Hero, Valentino Rossi, since his last world championship in 2009. Presenting Exhibit A:
Visual expression of what so many people say, how fun it would have been to watch Stoner and Marquez tangle. Anyway, if you remove the three years before Marquez got his ticket punched, the numbers look even more compelling;
Bottom line: Rossi’s salad days, and those of Dani Pedrosa, are behind them. They should avoid the “Colin Edwards mistake” of hanging around two years too long. Crutchlow, Dovizioso, Lorenzo and even Iannone are getting a little long in the tooth. Time for some new blood at the top of the food chain.
Pecco Bagnaia and Joan Mir. Jack Miller on a Pramac GP19 next year. Jorge Martin moving on up in the next two years. Lorenzo Balddassarri. Miguel Oliveira for KTM. Everyone seems to love Xavi Vierge. Moto3 is packed with fast movers wanting to move up to Moto2. Plenty of knees and elbows in the turns. It appears that, career-wise, Tito Rabat has pulled off an amazing save, Marquez quality, and seems likely to find a ride for next year. He certainly seems to enjoy life on the Ducati, as does his boy Jack Miller.
Tags: Andrea Dovizioso, andrea iannone, Cal Crutchlow, Dani Pedrosa, Jack Miller, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, maverick vinales, valentino rossi
Late-Braking MotoGP 
June 21, 2018 at 6:19 pm |
Hmm, you make a cogent analysis. On the other hand…
Even though his bike is no match for Honda’s and Ducati’s, he’s holding a solid second position in the championship, unthreatened by his teammate who was supposed to be the second coming of Marquez.
You did note a lot of young guns, but of all of those, only Mir has the air of being a potential alien – and he already has a factory ride for next year!
I don’t see a reason to rush Vale off the stage just yet 🙂
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June 22, 2018 at 6:40 am |
He still sells a lot of motorcycles. And gear.
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June 22, 2018 at 2:13 pm |
And he’s still exciting to watch. Okay, he rode to a lonely 3rd place last weekend, but that wasn’t his fault. He was nowhere on Friday and Saturday, then on Sunday he found some magic and clicked off some pretty fast laps on his way to the podium. Nobody else was up to speed, not his own teammate Vinny, not Zarco, not Rins, not Petrux, not Cal, Not Dani, not Iannone, etc.
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June 22, 2018 at 7:51 am |
Funny how, in my effort at fact checking, I added 1 + 6 + 1 and got 7.
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June 22, 2018 at 2:14 pm |
Good onya for checking and rechecking your figures.
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June 22, 2018 at 8:12 pm |
Figures don’t lie.🤔
Liars figure.🤨
Two races ago Rossi obtained pole, with a record lap, on his way to a podium. All on a bike that is generally accepted as sub par. Just because he is not as fast as he was 15 years ago doesn’t make him irrelevant. In fact it makes it that much more enjoyable to watch him continually reach deep and find something to be in the mix. Judging a champion on only success is short sited. One must also consider how they deal with adversity. 🤓
Go Rossi!!! End transmission. 🤠😤😬
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June 23, 2018 at 5:32 am |
You make some good points. Nice to hear from you.
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