BTW, during the 2011-12 seasons where there were teammates and both finished the race, Rossi finished ahead of Hayden 17 times and Hayden ahead of Rossi 9 times. Anyway, to your point, Lorenzo looked terrible all weekend. This season will be his biggest test of his career, mainly to assess his fortitude and confidence. Jorge Melandri?
Despite a lackluster Qatar round, I am working under the assumption that it is Marquez's championship to lose. The Honda (both he and Dani) seemed to miss setup or the bike was difficult to ride, or something. Cal crashing can be ignored because that is Cal. Aprilia looking so strong was also probably an anomaly, I was very surprised though to see the Honda unable to pull away on the straight. Hopefully they are for real. being in the top ten regularly should be considered a major accomplishment. If they are equal to the Suzukis you never know what might happen in weather or high attrition races. We will see how Argentina goes, it is an unusual track and difficult to get to in the middle of nowhere. Really not typical of the season so if weirdness happens I can overlook that one. But Texas...Marquez has never lost there. If Mav is able to go to Austin and beat Marquez in a straight up fight then the championship suddenly just got much more interesting once it returns to Europe.
Anyone going to COTA? I am. Yay! Loved the last race at Indy. Should I purchase seats or just go with general admission?
with all the problems they had with the rain, it ended up being a very good set of races... the hondas seemed down on power, but marquez has never lost at COTA... how improved is the Ducati, we probably will not know until the series hits a more technical track... and how bout those rookies!!!
Definitely and that makes me happy. Maybe if he hadn't been such a tool he wouldn't have left a winning team. Go Rossi!
At what point does JLo become a liability for Ducati? He is the lowest seeded Ducati rider in the standings, out of 8 Ducatis on the grid currently. Petrucci has looked better on his GP17, and Redding is 4th in the championship on a GP16... I have to think that should he not finish in the top 10 in Texas, many at Ducati might want to see Redding on JLo's GP17.
I don't care if Marquez wins the championship. There will never be another Rossi. As dynamic off the track as on. Moto GP will lose big time when he retires.
Glad to see Lorenzo struggling. Sad it's on a Ducati. I feel like Marquez would also struggle if the Honda wasn't such a good package.
+1 great race. Yamaha looking like the best all round bike this year. Shame for Rossi's two falls in the last race and in training as Vinales is the clear favourite for the championship now.
Way to go Dovi and Ducati, what to see #46 back on top, but happy to see Dovi and Ducati strong. This could be a great year!
A disappointing race for Yamaha all the way around. What the heck happened? Usually Rossi is great at coming back but he couldn't make it happen.
Fantastic result! We're going to have a great battle for the championship this year. I hope Rossi wins it of course.
Rossi is a living legend and has made history once again, now aged 38. All time record of 20 years, 313 days between first victory (Brno 1996 in 125cc) and last victory. He is also just 7 wins shy of the all time winning record of 122 set by Giacomo Agostini. He is the greatest of all time. I'm glad I'm alive in the Valentino Rossi era. Kind regards, Nuno.
I don't think Rossi will break Agostini's 122 wins record. Valentino is already 38, and barely wins a race every year now. Also, Agostini raced in 2 categories at most GPs.
+1, we are lucky to have been able to watch the doctor, I do not think this will be his only win this season. MotoGP must be the most exciting racing right now, it is very unpredictable and provides many opportunities to both overtake and have the rider make the difference. Valentino Rossi is the GOAT! Forza #46!