"Thanks to everyone for their fantastic support. Reading (your comments) has helped me overcome the bitterness and anger," Rossi wrote on Twitter and Facebook. "From today we are working towards Valencia."
Sadly, I don't think online petitions mean diddly-squat when it comes to these decisions. Might make the signer feel good but won't mean anything in the end.
You know I gave up watching NASCAR years ago, and when I did watch them I cussed them on occasion about their willingness to interpret the rules however it suited them. IIRC there were some very nebulous rules that basically said "whatever we say is not allowed is not allowed, whether we said it before or not". As much as I cussed them, I'm sure they could straighten this situation out in about an hour.
I read a good portion of the FIM Rulebook earlier this year. Two things struck me.
1) It was very vague on placing rules on on-track incidents. It basically said anything that puts riders in undo danger is illegal...perhaps because to encapsulate in writing every possible scenario on the track is virtually impossible.
quote:
Riders must ride in a responsible manner which does not cause danger to other competitors or participants, either on the track or in the pit-lane. Any infringement of this rule will be penalised with one of the following penalties: penalty points - fine - change of position - ride through – time penalty – drop of any number of grid position at the rider’s next race – disqualification - withdrawal of Championship points - suspension.
2) It gives Race Direction a HUGE amount of leeway to handle any situation as it sees fit.
Here's the deal on penalty points:
quote:
Grand Prix Penalty points: may be imposed by GP Race Direction on a rider in any number from 1 to 10, points are cumulative and expire after a period of 365 days from the date they were imposed. Automatic sanctions apply to a rider accumulating points as follows: 4 Points - Start the next race from last grid position. 7 Points - Start the next race from pit lane. 10 Points - Disqualification from participation at the next event (or from the race results if this occurs at the last event of the season). Points re-set to 0 after a rider reaches 10 points and serves a disqualification. A penalty of up to 3 points can be imposed without a prior hearing being necessary.
Yeh I think he hit the nail on the head. I've been on the MM bandwagon from his first Moto GP race. I liked his riding but I no longer care for the kid much after all of this. I never really liked Rossi much but I have to admit that I have really been warming up to the old dog this year. I have viewed this incident from the beginning of the race and even posted right after the race what the rest of the world has come to see and with all the rest of the info given it's pretty clear MM's intentions were clearly to disrupt Rossi' race and he succeeded. It's really sad that the stewards didn't get it and that Rossi has to pay for MM's stupidity. Hopefully what goes around comes around and MM will get it up his ass someday....apart from his lover Lorenzo...lol.
I agree whole heartedly Jason's explanation, if your in the not in the championship points leave well enough alone. That's just plain dirty. Rossi didn't deserve that penalty.
Is anyone surprised at Honda's "Press Release" this morning? Of course they'd back their "Golden Boy." The only thing their data "proves" is that Marquez' brake lever hit Rossi's leg when he recklessly tried to dive under him, not that Rossi kicked it.
"WELL !" as the narrator for the Chickenman series would say . . .
Per the MotoGP website, there will be a big meeting on Thursday between the powers that be and all of the MotoGP riders and the team principles. Issue to be discussed concerns the current 'situation' in MotoPG.
So Honda is seriously claiming Rossi kicked Marquez's hand (not his foot)?
DOn't they have brake protectors? From the best video I have seen, "the kick" is more an instinctual motion caused by MM leaning (falling) on him. His helmet makes contact with VR46's knee puck...
I agree whole heartedly Jason's explanation, if your in the not in the championship points leave well enough alone. That's just plain dirty. Rossi didn't deserve that penalty.
I have always like Pridmore. He was great the few times he did color commentary for the AMA.
This really seems like a situation where as time has gone on...and more camera angles have been analyzed and cooler heads have weighed in, that VR46 is being vindicated. It may not be enough to change the decision, but we have seen several opinions by respected and seemingly unbiased individuals within the sport (mamola and pridmore come to mind) that have broken it all down as sided squarely with VR46.
This is analogous to the waving blue flag, which of course means move out of the way for the leaders. MM was the backmarker in this case and he chose in at least one race (probably 2 races) to not move aside (being that he is mathematically eliminated from the Championship)--but rather he make the choice to INTENTIONALLY f*#K with the Championship points leader (and most revered person to ever toss a leg over.)
I have no idea whats gonna happen, but whatever it is, it's gonna be exciting.
Lorenzo has stuff in the back of his head. Even for an alien, it's gotta be tough knowing you need to finish top two but at the same time you lose with any DNF.
The intensity of the last two weeks just adds to the drama.
DOn't know about you but I can't wait for Sunday morning!