I'd agree, Kev, I don't think all this "Rossi is faster on lesser machinery" is quite what it was. The Honda has it's own issues now and there isn't much in it anymore, IMHO. Still, Rossi is clearly the best rider, mainly as far as his head is concerned.
killer blow was "that corner" in race 1, it gave sete a taste of whats ahead for the season. vr is just the best out their, hope we see him on a red bike?
I think the comment from Kevin Schwantz on the film 'Faster' said it all " He's got his name, address, phone number, cellphone, social security number the lot" basically Rossi is on another level from all the others currently. Overall Sete is the best of the rest, others shine at different tracks, but Rossi is ALWAYS top dog.
Originally posted by Felix I'd agree, Kev, I don't think all this "Rossi is faster on lesser machinery" is quite what it was. The Honda has it's own issues now and there isn't much in it anymore, IMHO. Still, Rossi is clearly the best rider, mainly as far as his head is concerned.
[Edited on 16-5-2005 by Felix]
Just finished reading the Mick Doohan book and one of the things that struck me was how critical Doohan was of Honda, how left to their own devices (like when he was injured or over the winter) Honda would go off in the wrong direction, and how it took Doohan and Burgess to keep them pointing in the right direction...
Rossi is the best rider and at the weekend he just had to show sete how good he was. I think he was just F***ing with his head and a fine job he made of it aswell.
I think Monty and Urban also have a very good - was it the team of Burgess and rider (be it Doohan or Rossi) which helps drive Honda's dominance of the series more than Honda themselves?
We've seen it with the RCV and maybe they haven't learnt that lesson yet.
Doohan, Rossi or Gardner! Gardner was Jeremy's first world title. I think there is a lot to be said for how many world titles he has been behind. Obviously he has also had the best rider (although with Gardner that could be debatable) so I think we'll never know the real story of how much influence either has been.
We've seen both Doohan and Rossi ride around deficiencies in the bike. And both of them pull a little extra out of the bag at a certain time. Rossi has certainly picked up a bit of Mick's mental domination of his rivals but he doesn't do it as well as Mick did (IMO)