Sorry but I don't subscribe to the 'Rossi is God' school of thought either, I do however think he is the most talented rider out there currently-but thankfully there are some others coming through who will challenge him, just I don't think in a straight fight Nicky hayden is it. Danny Pedrosa will next year be more up for it-have you seen how small the 800 Honda is?-it actually makes pint sized Danny look normal. Casey Stoner is another one who will challenge IMHO, then there is Marco Mellandri, and of course not forgetting Loris-the 800's are much more to his size since he is another tiny guy, but he also has more than 16 years of GP experience. According to both Loris and Vale the 800 bikes will suit the ex 250 riders down to the ground being basically bigger more powerful 250's-it will be interesting to see how riders like Nicky cope with them since he is an (ex) Superbike rider not a GP250 rider.
I have been chatting to John Hackett today and he says the 800 Sedici revs to 20,000!!!-bring on 2007!
John