| Author | Message | ||
     Davegess |
Is it just me or is anyone else in awe of Rossi's performance in the rain at Donnington? 2 seconds a lap faster than the next guy? He really is a god. | ||
| Jerry_haughton |
glad Nicky is ok. saw a still pic of his crash online, looked worse than it was during the SPEED replay of the race this morning. oh, yeah. Rossi. he's an ok rider.  | ||
| Gonen60 |
Valentino just about crashed 4 or 5 times himself...when it counted he put the pedal to the metal so to speak. He was in a whole different ball game compared to the others on the last few laps. I have wondered before if Rossi has ever ridden a Buell. I think I read once, he does not ride on the street | ||
| Jammer |
As he's been refered to "The King of Slide". You guys read the article in Road Racer X about Rossi and Carmichael as The Greatest of All Time? History is being set right now. There is no better time to following motorcycle race no matter what flavor you like. | ||
| Blake |
Not a "god", but Valentino Rossi certainly is a master at piloting a motorcycle around a road race track more quickly than anyone else. | ||
| Davegess |
I am not big on comparing people from different eras but occasionally someone demonstrates such mastery that it is hard not to say theyare best. Rossi is close to joining my list. Just for grins here is part of that list; Bicycles- Eddie Mercyx Cars - Tazio Nuvolari Motorbikes- Hailwood Baseball hitters- Hank Aaron | ||
| Dana P. |
Dave you forgot quarterbacks.lol | ||
| Davegess |
Unitas | ||
| Koz5150 |
Picture from my last track day of the back of my bike...  Yeah, if he was in the newbie group with me I would have shown him a thing or two | ||
| Jackbequick |
The GP from Donington was great! I never saw that many tank slapping/almost high sides in one race in my life. The 250 GP that followed the MotoGP was just as good, maybe even better. Lots of lead swapping and you could cover the first three bikes with a blanket most of the race. KTM's first GP effort was a good start and their rider made the podium in his first ever GP race. Can you picture Laguna Seca in the rain? Jack | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
To me, Rossi's incredible ride demonstrated his most valuable asset, and the one least remarked upon: his extraordinary intelligence. Not only did he survive a half a dozen slides that would have stopped any other rider, but he obviously studied and learned something about the track while the others were considering themselves lucky to remain upright. Then at the end of the race, Valentino demonstrated that he had be able to figure out something that the other riders admitted at the press conference that they could not even imagine: how to dramatically increase the pace in the face of absolutely appalling conditions. Valentino is not only the most talented rider, he is the real intellectual in the field. | ||
| Peter |
Don't be so pedantic.....  | ||
| 12r |
Hmmm...you really had to be be there to appreciate Rossi's skills. I know we Brits drone on about the weather but Sunday really sucked - 60F/rained ALL day. At Donington, the beer was almost $7 pint/food inedible/facilities deplorable. But me an' 80000 others had a great day largely due to an unimaginable display of riding from The Rossinator. He might not be a god but he sure can ride. | ||
| Bomber |
Rossi's moving the sport to a new level -- Robert's was, perhaps, the first rider to domintate the sport through mental horsepower, and Rossi seems to be taking approach that to the next level -- the human machine and talent can only do so much on their own, and he's found a way to extend the performance envelop that is inspiring as always, he stands on the shoulders of those that came before to my miind, one fo the nicest things about his performance is that he is also apparently approchable, and seems to be genuinely enjoying himself -- this can only be a great thing for the sport | ||
| Peter |
I saw Mick Doohan do the same thing at Philip Island. Biaggi had been mouthing how he was going to beat Doohan at his home track. Doohan went out and pulled 17 secs over the rest of the field in the first 6 laps, and kept that distance for the rest of the race. It made everyone aware how much he had been playing with them until then. Shut Biaggi up big time  | ||
| Blake |
Peter, If he were a god, he could make ME the supreme master of motorcycle road racing. | ||
| Rocketman |
God or not just like Schumacher he doesn't like losing. There's two things that amazed me about Rossi this season. 1st race last corner and he got away with punting Gibernau off the track. Gibernau had him beat that race. 2nd the most technical track of the season and one he'd not raced before and he got beat. Edwards pass at the top of the Corkscrew showed Rossi had failed to find that line. I found that odd considering that pass \ line had been used before in WSB. Still we all have our bad days. No question Rossi is better than anyone out there and that's according to all the past masters writing in MCN last week. Make that Rainey, Roberts Snr, Doohan, Spencer, Schwantz and more. Me - how do I rate him? Has he raced on pure roads? Until he's won or at least raced a TT there's always an element of doubt. Sure he's got the mental thing going on. Sure he's got the bike control above and beyond all who he races. So what about those past masters like Fogarty, Hislop and Dunlop, the pure road racers who not only proved themselves as road racers but as short circuit racers and winners too. That's what I want to see Rossi do. Compete in a TT or three seeing as he's got the circuits covered. Rocket | ||
| Peter |
He has. You're just not using it to your full potential.... | ||
| Blake |
Yes, I am a slacker. So I'll gratefully take your word that I am indeed the master of motorcycle road racing and leave it at that. | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
I have to agree with you on the TT apsect Rocket, it would be very interesting to see if Rossi could run a MotoGP bike on the Isle... | ||
| Paulinoz |
" I think I read once, he does not ride on the street" Not true he was booked at Phillip Island a couple of years ago riding to the track, 140 kph in an 80 zone or somthing like that.If memory serves and usually it dont he lost the ability to ride on Australian roads for 6 months which would have been a big worry to him NOT. In the Oz GP a couple of years ago he was given a 10 sec penalty while leading the race, he went to 120% and pulled 2 sec a lap for the next 6 laps then held that advantage to the end of the race. The guy is a GOD on a motorcycle. What will be his next move in his life, whatever it is I bet he will win. | ||
| M1combat |
I'd like to see him run the Proddy 1000 and the Formula One at the island. | ||
| Rocketman |
Don't get me wrong, anyone would be a fool not to realize Rossi comes second only to Blake. Foggy's impressive career on Super Bikes and his TT wins along with the fastest TT lap record held for several years make Foggy one of the greats. Would he have beat Rossi in Moto GP? I doubt it but who knows. Would Rossi have beat Foggy in WSB or the TT? Now there's a question. Steve Hislop's outstanding career in British (short circuit) and Super Bike racing was outstanding. Hislop had no desire to race on the world stage but had he done he would have been according to many around him one of the worlds greats. His many wins at the TT, 11 or 12 I think, make him a TT god anyway. Perhaps one of his most impressive, taking the Norton Rotary to its maiden victory. Hislop won the BSB title in his maiden year too. Would he have beaten Rossi in Moto GP? He probably would have more so than Foggy. Would Rossi have beaten Hislop at the TT? I doubt that very much indeed. What can one say about Joey Dunlop when it comes to motorcycle racing? This man even on the weekend of his death loved nothing more than to prepare his own race bikes, shove them into the back of his van and drive several hundred miles into mainland Europe to pretty much unknown tracks to many outsiders and give the locals a chance to race against him. Apparently Joey loved racing this way as there was no media spotlight and the level of racing much more 'grass roots' and laid back which is what Joey was all about. As we all know though Joey was the TT and it's hard to imagine anyone ever doing better or even getting close. Would he have beaten Rossi in Moto GP? I doubt it. Would Rossi have beaten Dunlop at the TT? I doubt it. Only one way to find out. Let's campaign for Rossi to do the TT. Rocket | ||
| Davegess |
Rossi at the TT yeah! When he gets bored with beating everyone on the Yamaha he could take on the TT!!! Doubt he will, seems the TT exceeds what most of the GP guys see as "acceptable risk". Funny how that works, the car guys think the bike guys are crazy and the bike guys think the TT guys are nuts. I wonder what a TT guy would think was too dangerous to do? | ||
| Rocketman |
I wonder what a TT guy would think was too dangerous to do? RETIRE!!!! Rocket | ||
| Davegess |
Good one Rocket Rossi did it again today. | ||
| Rocketman |
Funny thing Dave, I just bought Steve Hislop's DVD 'Hizzy - Champion of Road and Track' this Saturday and i hadn't realized he'd held the TT lap record for so long. I thought Foggy held it longer but anyway. So there's Hizzy talking in 2003 about Dave Jeffries finally getting the fastest lap and in the next breath Hizzy was talking about returning to the TT reckoning he would still be on the pace to compete with DJ. Retire could well have been the correct answer! How sad they're both not with us any longer. Thanks for the Rossi warning. I rang my mate last night having missed the live broadcast and he told me who won too! Rocket | ||
| Heads |
Jackbequick the KTM rider was ANT WEST,an aussie rider who has been riding for several years in 250 and has won a gp and had podiums.was not his first ever GP race | ||
| Jackbequick |
Heads - Maybe I got the riders confused, I thought I remembered the guys calling the race saying that one of the leaders was riding his first GP, if it was not West maybe it was Stoner? He was on an Aprilia. At any rate, I thoroughly enjoyed both races. Jack | ||
| Davegess |
Thanks for the Rossi warning. Sorry about that. I missed the race entirely. The have been showing them in the afternoon here and this one was on at 10 am. I had to see who won, no way I was going to wait until Tuesday for the replay. I'll put race result in the headline next time. Hissy was a great talent as was Foggy and Dunlop. I would think Foggy has had more success in track racing than any other TT winner in recent memory. It seems that these days you need to be crashing occasionlly to find your limits and TT guys are adverse to that for obvious reasons. (Message edited by davegess on August 01, 2005) | ||
| Bomber |
one of the best views of motorcycle racing, I thiunk, anyways, is "V for Victory." after about 10 mintues or so, I get to the point where I can understand every thrid or forth word, but the footage is great -- the TT racers are very very skilled, indeed! | ||
| Buelluk |
Casey Stoner has been riding in 250's all season ,he even won the Portuguese GP recently, so it's probably the other guy. (Message edited by buelluk on August 01, 2005) | ||
| Jackbequick |
"Casey Stoner has been riding in 250's all season..." Well there you go, I didn't get anything right. I'm wondering if I saw a good race? :> Getting old is hell. Other than having seven Saturdays every week. The eyes go, then memory starts going... Jack | ||
| Heads |
Hey Jackbequick,u might have got mixed up that it was ant west first race of the season due to him signing with kTM at the season start but they didnt have the bike ready to race till donnigton.I agree was a very good race | ||
| Rocketman |
bequick..........I think the point is it was the KTM 250'S first race! Rocket | ||
| Cyclonecharlie |
They also said it was the backup KTM,which was not nearly as fast as the primary,which they said he either crashed or broke earlier.Sometimes all that rain can work in your favor.Was agood race to watch though,don't know how well KTM would have faired in the dry |
