How good is Rossi! (Rhetorical statement)

Good blimey bananas, that man (creature) is a phenomenon :D

I foolishly doubted him (in the predictions game I listed Pedrosa as a likely winner), thinking his poor qualifying and broken wrist on such a tight and tricky track would preclude any chance of German victory - but I was wrong.

I may have no points in the predictions game but I'm a grinning loser.

Doubt afflicts the best of us, even Valentino doubted his bike in the moments leading up to the race but, like himself, the bike came through. Powered by the genius that is Valentino Rossi.

A toast to Valentino, and to Grand Prix Bike racing :beer:

I toast to that :beer:

I toast to that aswell. :beer:

The MotoGP race was sensational with four men dicing for victory right to the final corner. It was everything that F1 should be.

Originally Posted by Joe Saward
The MotoGP race was sensational with four men dicing for victory right to the final corner. It was everything that F1 should be.


i disagree .. it's everything MotoGP should be
why do they feel the need to compare apples with prunes ??

Every week for the last few years, I've been waiting for a flat MotoGP - never happens.
And Rossi is simply a genius on a bike. I nearly wept, this racing is so good. I rather like the sheer honesty of it all. We are watching something quite amazing these last few seasons (I feel the same about Schumacher and Alonso). That last lap in Germany was HUGE from the four of them.
I didn't post this last week, but the lads got us tickets for Donington MotoGP, via Ducati and Wheatcroft. I have to tell you, it was one of the most stunning bits of racing I've every seen, round the Ducati garage and all that. The most exciting racing out there. Lets hope no stupid politics spoil it.
I would encourage any fan to spend their last most precious pound to get out and watch in the flesh; it's simply astounding stuff.
But Rossi, he's something else again.

I didn't post this last week, but the lads got us tickets for Donington MotoGP, via Ducati and Wheatcroft. I have to tell you, it was one of the most stunning bits of racing I've every seen, round the Ducati garage and all that. The most exciting racing out there. Lets hope no stupid politics spoil it.


Absolutely, though if I was to allow myself to adopt a slightly more critical attitude, I'd say that the grid is a little thin - 18 bikes, is it?

Oh yeah, and... back on topic... Rossi is very, very good! :)

I've been following MotoGP for a few years now, and every year has been a classic, a golden era. Then I think back a few years to when I'd follow Barry Sheene's exploits. Then I remember what people told me about Mike Hailwood. And I think about how exciting the BSB series has been for the last few years. And it hits me...

There is no golden era. Its just that motorcycling is this damn good. Full stop

Absolutely, though if I was to allow myself to adopt a slightly more critical attitude, I'd say that the grid is a little thin - 18 bikes, is it?

Oh yeah, and... back on topic... Rossi is very, very good! :)

I've been following MotoGP for a few years now, and every year has been a classic, a golden era. Then I think back a few years to when I'd follow Barry Sheene's exploits. Then I remember what people told me about Mike Hailwood. And I think about how exciting the BSB series has been for the last few years. And it hits me...

There is no golden era. Its just that motorcycling is this damn good. Full stop

It rocketh a-plenty :p

I beg to differ slightly with the opinions above because the latest technology I think produces GP bikes which are 'out of this world' fast. The gismos, electronic trickery, and rubber involved in making them rideable I think does make a difference to the spectacle which we have not seen before.
I would agree under certain circumstances, this wizardry is too much, but the sheer pace, power and violence of a modern bike (the mungo out of corners is colossal) adds in no subtle way to this amazing racing, but it's enough to get 4 guys to the line after 45 minutes within barging distance of each other.
Being ignorant, I'm quite nervous of the fact that next year they drop to 800 cc.

Doubt afflicts the best of us, even Valentino doubted his bike in the moments leading up to the race but, like himself, the bike came through.

I haven't read any race reports yet... Anyone know what the problem is with the M1 during qualifying (apart from a legacy of the chatter problems from the start of the season)? It was the same at Donington; terrible start positon, sublime race.

I would agree under certain circumstances, this wizardry is too much

If that's a response to my comments, I didn't really intend any such sentiment. What I did intend to say is that it really doesn't matter which era you look at, nor how much technology you throw at it, the feat of balancing solid matter between two rapidly revolving circles of rubber will always produce something spectacular!

I haven't read any race reports yet... Anyone know what the problem is with the M1 during qualifying (apart from a legacy of the chatter problems from the start of the season)? It was the same at Donington; terrible start positon, sublime race.

Qualifying tyres making the front push, too much grip and consequent poor balance.

Race tyres and it's more balanced - but still not perfect. Honda is the better bike still but that M1 works for Rossi, most things would though :laugh:

If you pay attention to the practice times, its allways 1-2, or 4-5, or 13-14 Rossi, Edwards, they are *fairly* evenly matched, except that Rossi can hack the qualifying tyres and gets an advantage in qual.

And he's a genius, and can pull a rabbit out of the hat on raceday.

How good is Rossi?

Meh, he's alright I suppose. ;)

Better than Montoya, and that is all that matters.

Well, I ain't seen Monty on a MotoGP bike, so I have to agree. ;)

The gismos, electronic trickery, and rubber involved in making them rideable I think does make a difference to the spectacle which we have not seen before...but the sheer pace, power and violence of a modern bike (the mungo out of corners is colossal) adds in no subtle way to this amazing racing.

Such comments give me the feeling that you've never watched the 125cc or 250cc racing.

Over the last 8 years that I've been watching bike racing, the 125cc class has had race after race of close racing as is now being seen in the MotoGP class.

I'll echo nihil by saying:

There is no golden era. Its just that motorcycling is this damn good. Full stop

Ive watched motogp for around 3 or 4 years and he is by far the best ive seen. Head and shoulders above the rest. Even though he is in danger of losing the championship this year his riding is as good as ive seen...

and to top it all he has such great personality...

It's hard to compare competitiors in completely different forms of motorsport, but overall I'd say Rossi is the greatest out there today, ahead of Schumacher, Loeb, Alonso, Gordon, Stewart and all the rest. He just doesn't seem to have any flaws, riding or personality. The Sachsenring race was a classic, and Rossi had to work incredibly hard to take it.

and letsnot forget to give props to Mr Burgess as well!

how many great riders can the one man engineer for?

As for Rossie, now that hes struggling and has his back to the wall again im finding myself backing him again as he has been truley awsome to watch. for a little while there was a bit of a " anyone but Rossi " theme going on everytime i watched a race..

I would have loved to see Rossi and Doohan fight it out if time could be warped so they both raced at the height of their respective careers.

How good is Rossi?

Good enough to beat Colin Mcrae!
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-4256566445435867833&q=valentino+rossi

Rossi is just above average. The key is his helmet.

His helmet is of special shape, generating some downforce (unheard in bike racing) and not increasing drag. It lets him to corner faster and brake more consistently, allowing some overtakes others cannot do.

Tht's the reason Edwards, Checa cannot match his pace with their Yamahas.

The helmet, it has to be the helmet.