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View Full Version : Time for Rossi to retire...



Squashed_Fly
16-07-11, 02:00 PM
When a nine times world champ, can't even out qualify his team mate on a lesser developed bike, it's carcrash to watch :(

8 places between Rossi & Hayden (Rossi was second to LAST!). Not good at all.......

NoYou
16-07-11, 02:05 PM
Dayum! Don't know what's goin on with him tbh he was fine last year from what I remember, until he destroyed his leg ofc... I wouldn't have thought 1 year would make that much difference

Squashed_Fly
16-07-11, 02:09 PM
Think he's lost the mental capacity to compete :(

It's like he's not hungry for it anymore. Being out qualified by Hector Barbara when you have Rossi's history, it's gotta make you think you just can't do this anymore. The young guys are sapping at the heels, and like it or not, he's not 20 years old anymore!

NoYou
16-07-11, 02:13 PM
True enough but I think I'm going to wait until the 2012 season before I write him off as an old fart!

crewy
16-07-11, 02:43 PM
I have to say i'm not rossi's biggest fan in the world but what a stupid thing to say. You have hit the nail on the head by saying he is on a DEVELOPMENT bike, trial and error, some times things work and sometimes they dont. You say he has lost the mental capacity to compete :D, on what basis do you say that? Did he not finish 4th only 2 races ago? And i think that if you look, you will find Rossi has beat Hayden in all bar about 3GP's. Does that mean Hayden should retire as well???

Next season is what it is all about now, and i think that you will be made to look rather silly when he is back near the front!!! ::) ::)

Squashed_Fly
16-07-11, 02:50 PM
Time will tell eh...

Scotty
16-07-11, 03:51 PM
Dayum! Don't know what's goin on with him tbh he was fine last year from what I remember, until he destroyed his leg ofc... I wouldn't have thought 1 year would make that much difference
Get the facts right... This race last year was Rossi's return from his broken leg, in which he was narrowly beaten to a podium finish by Stoner at the final corner. Today his qualifying time was a whole second slower than he managed last year on his return when he couldn't walk without crutches. The leg injury didn't trouble him unduly, it was the shoulder ligaments that he damaged by falling off an MX bike that wrecked his season.

Who knows what is happening in that Ducati pit garage, how much the absence of Jerry Burgess is hampering VR is open to conjecture, but if the GOAT is qualifying last but one, it throws into perspective just how well Stoner could ride the thing in the last four seasons... :-?

Squashed_Fly
16-07-11, 06:18 PM
My thoughts exactly Scotty. It really does show that Stoner is worth more than a lot of us thought.

I, like lots of others after seeing his early seasons, thought Ducati did well picking the guy who rides well above his limits, but develop the electronics to keep him on. But he's proven he's a lot better rider than that. Either that or he is maturing - lorenzo struggled to stay upright in the early days.

Whatever Vale does or doesn't do next year, he's getting old now for a competitive rider, and he doesn't have anything left to prove.

Dabz
16-07-11, 07:39 PM
It's my first season watching the motogp and I haven't seen any talent in rossi's riding that suggests he's a riding god on a development bike. Stoner has impressed me but then he's on a strong bike and on top form.

However being a motogp novice I'm waiting until next season to see if ducati bite back. In F1 ferarri have an off year or 2 and then a great year usually

redken1
16-07-11, 08:03 PM
I think it’s a bit premature for Moto GP fans to call on Rossi to quit the sport. The racing legend is only 32 and it’s his first year with Ducati, which unlike the Japanese machines appears to have a mind of its own. Perhaps too many of us underestimated Stoner’s ability in taming the Italian beast - I agree with Scotty on that score.

I would never count Rossi out and I’m sure he will know in his own mind when retirement beckons. In the football world, every time Man United has a dip in form the pundits call on Sir Alex Ferguson to retire, but the canny Scot always bounces back. I always say count him out at your peril. I for one really hope that Rossi perseveres because I think he has plenty left in the tank before he receives his free bus-pass.

Scotty
16-07-11, 11:59 PM
For the purposes of education Dabz, I'd suggest keeping tabs on the Best Battles Bikes on Eurosport and seeing if they replay the race from Welkom in 2004 as a taster, or better still go onto the Duke video website and buy the GP season reviews from 2001-2005 inclusive - a very informative way to spend your time during our very wet summer. It'll give an insight into an amazing talent and absolute domination of a sport by a rider rightly hailed as the GOAT - I reckon he's far from finished, and tonight I reckon he's also far from happy with the recalcitrant piece of excrement that he's supposed to be trying to win on tomorrow....

Nooj
17-07-11, 09:42 AM
recalcitrant piece of excrement

I have to use that in a conversation somewhere this week! ;D

Demonbaker
17-07-11, 09:47 AM
Only a fool would dismiss rossi's chance turning the Ducati around. I remember when he left Honda and joined Yamaha, a lot of people said the Yam M1 was a dog of a bike and he would take time to sort it out,by the end of the year VR was world champion again.

The Ducati is obviously a bigger problem and its already been reported that VR reckons the 2012 bike he is riding at the moment will not be good enough next year. Ducati appear to be in a mess and don't know whether to continue with the carbon fibre chassis or not

Squashed_Fly
17-07-11, 02:04 PM
Yeah, but rossi won 1st time out on the m1. And we already know the duke is capable of competing as his team mates and his predecessor had better results. I don't want to see him quit, but I also think he's better than languishing mid field. When you have his legacy, its better to go out on top. Just my opinion, and I'm still a huge fan whatever he does.

Interestingly, I'm typing this on my HTC phone, and it auto corrects rossi to fossil! Just an amusing coincidence

crewy
17-07-11, 02:35 PM
Well i have to say watching the moto gp today i didn't see Rossi racing without the mental capacity to compete or the hunger you mention he has lost, i saw someone who is on a lesser bike to his team mate race and dice with him the whole race nearly and finish less then a tenth of a second behind him. Haydon was offered the same bike as Rossi but turned it down, I wonder if Rossi hadn't opted to develop parts for next year how many more places up the grid he would finish on the same spec bike as Haydon.

Perhaps you could teach Rossi how to get his knee down better SF ;D

Anyway, glad to see Pedrosa win :)

Geordie Stu
17-07-11, 04:28 PM
For me the ride of the day goes Alvro Bautista on the Suzuki. He was having an epic battle with Rossi & Hayden.

Rossi & Ducati are building for next year don't think he's too concerend about this year. What is it with Stoner & tyres..? I thought all riders had the same tyres from the same supplier. Pedrosa seem to manage his tyres same with Lorenzo is it the way Stoners rides & needs to manage his tyres better..?

Squashed_Fly
17-07-11, 08:32 PM
Perhaps you could teach Rossi how to get his knee down better SF ;D



Ah yes, I see what you did there. The old 'I've run out of intelligent things to offer to the discussion, so I'll just have a pointless and unrelated dig at Squashed Fly instead' ::)

Mark_Able
17-07-11, 10:59 PM
I think someone who is running 4th in the overall standings, on a PoS Ducati, is washed up quite yet. When that bike starts performing again, know one will see which way he went... [smiley=happy.gif]

Toph
17-07-11, 11:18 PM
+1 Mark... Rossi is a class act, full stop.

crewy
17-07-11, 11:54 PM
Perhaps you could teach Rossi how to get his knee down better SF ;D



Ah yes, I see what you did there. The old 'I've run out of intelligent things to offer to the discussion, so I'll just have a pointless and unrelated dig at Squashed Fly instead' ::)



SF that comment was ment tounge in cheek, but clearly you were proven wrong and made to look silly with your comment by todays race, so i think you were the one who ran out of things to say and turned it into a dig against you!!!

Chin up ;) :D

Col
17-07-11, 11:59 PM
It was a without doubt a quality race today bearing in mind the number of 'offs' in qualifying. Pedrosa was exceptional and deserves due respect for a hard fought victory on a track not necessarily suited to him in my umble opine

In answer to the topic question I think that VR will consider bowing out next season when the reality shows that Ducati are still unable to provide a championship winning machine. It is inconceivable to assume that the other manufacturers are not also focusing on the next season.

At 4th overall he has done well to achieve this but, as has been noted by others, it also clearly demonstrates the ability of Stoner on a Ducati last year.

Anyone know what length and terms VR contract with Ducati is as this will, obviously, have some considerable influence over any decisions ?

Squashed_Fly
18-07-11, 08:18 AM
I would have thought that, with Rossi's pedigree, and the fact that his bike has had all these new improvements over Nicky's bike, and the fact that we already know the Duke is a race winning bike (see previous comments re stoners performance), and the fact we know Rossi can take a failing bike and turn it around to be a race winner on it's first day out, and the fact we are now halfway through the season, and the fact he using next years chassis already....

We should have seen something a little better than what happened yesterday. 1 podium in the wet (gifted by 2 crashes up front) is not a great performance.

All the talk about 'next years bike' is rubbish. He will have a 1000cc engine, but he is already on next years chassis. Sticking an extra 200ccs into it won't help it turn any faster, or give more front end confidence. Anyone who thinks Rossi would bother going out if he didn't want to win, should read his autobiography. He hasn't written this year off - he still wants to be competitive and win races. So why can't he ride around problems the way he used to, and why could Stoner manage it?

For the GOAT to be beaten by a Suzuki would have been unimaginable a few years ago, no matter what bike he was on.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, maybe suddenly a 1000cc engine will provide the answers we've all been waiting for, maybe there's another chassis still waiting for 2012 that is somehow drastically improved, maybe JB and the crew will suddenly realise what they've been doing wrong all this season, maybe they really are just getting in laps for testing and not trying to win races. That's a lot of maybes though.

I sound like I'm anti-Rossi - I'm really not. I'm just being objective and asking the question. And I'm not the only one. Ducati risked a hell of a lot of sponsors, money, WSB support etc to give Rossi everything they had, convinced it would be the ultimate dream team. So far, it's not working out, and they still can't work out why. If they can't get that before next year, then I don't see how the engine size change is going to make lots of difference.

But, and this is the most important point, I REALLY hope I'm proved wrong.

Hunar
18-07-11, 09:29 AM
Why should he retire? he's 4th in the championship standings on a bike that he and the team have said they can't get working correctly. I'm not sure what that says to anyone else, but to me it says 'not bad at all chief!'. It's not like Hayden on the sister bike is streaking ahead at the top of the championship, he's in 7th, if he was then I might be tempted to say that Rossi should give retirement some consideration.

As people have already said, you really have to appreciate the skill of Stoner (I really like that name, I wonder if he is!) for the way he could ride that bike.

Squashed_Fly
18-07-11, 10:57 AM
But that 4th has kind of been gifted by the fact that Pedrosa was out for 3 races, Crutchlow & Edwards had their crashes so missed races and Simoncelli has barely finished. But we know on the day, all of them (bar possibly Edwards who only got his top 3 in the wet at Silverstone) are currently lapping much quicker, and some of those on satellite bikes.

Ok, that's racing - sometimes you take the results however you can get them, but Rossi will know he's only 4th currently by luck, not because he's consistently finished in the top 4 when all the other riders are out on track. That's got to play on your confidence and morale, whoever you are.

I'm playing devils advocate really - I hope he does come back next year and make himself worth the investment Ducati have put in. I'm hoping to go to Mugello next year, and it will be one hell of a party if Rossi wins there on duke!

Dabz
18-07-11, 11:16 AM
not necessarily gifted to rossi - every other rider was benefited equally by pedrosa going out in 3 races

BladeTriple
18-07-11, 11:21 AM
But that 4th has kind of been gifted by the fact that Pedrosa was out for 3 races, Crutchlow & Edwards had their crashes so missed races and Simoncelli has barely finished. But we know on the day, all of them (bar possibly Edwards who only got his top 3 in the wet at Silverstone) are currently lapping much quicker, and some of those on satellite bikes.

Ok, that's racing - sometimes you take the results however you can get them, but Rossi will know he's only 4th currently by luck, not because he's consistently finished in the top 4 when all the other riders are out on track. That's got to play on your confidence and morale, whoever you are.

I'm playing devils advocate really - I hope he does come back next year and make himself worth the investment Ducati have put in. I'm hoping to go to Mugello next year, and it will be one hell of a party if Rossi wins there on duke!


We could use the same argument that Jorge was gifted last years title by the same reasoning, that Rossi had a bad accident and was out of the running for most of the season recovering and gifted the Spanish whinger his title and lost out on a 10th title.

Rossi on his day is a genius... Yesterday from 16th to 9th is still some doing on an under performing machine, he says he lacks confidence in that front end , that showed when he went into the tussle with Hayden and Bautista ending up running wide and dropping back 2 places for his troubles. .

Rossi is still a force to be reckoned with... Honda are without a doubt having an amazing season, no its not all down to the bike , however to see all 3 Honda factory riders and a few satellite riders, no matter how gifted constantly looking at top 5 finishes, along with Spies and Lorenzo scrapping for the points too on a bike that ROSSI developed shows what Vale on a sub standard machine , and still probably coming back from some level of injury is up against.

Dani road an amazing race yesterday, so fresh from his broken collar bone but there is absolutely no writing off Rossi at this early stage. I recall the guy took 2 seasons to win his first title on a 125, same on a 250 and then again coming up to MotoGP on the 500's initally. This bike he is on isn't the same bike as Casey 'I could eat an apple through a letter box ' Stoner was riding last year, they have played with the power delivery , changed the engine, changed the chassis and suspension , its a different bike altogether. Maybe the boy who should be sponsored by Colgate would win on that bike , maybe he wouldn't .

This is an extremely competitive series now , all bikes on the same rubber now, fewer compounds and we all know as bikers how much a different set of rubber on our bikes to the ones we are used to or prefer can change our riding styles at the speeds we do, imagine what its like for these guys putting knee to tarmac at 160mph plus !

To write Rossi off at this stage of his career would be stupidity ... He has AT LEAST one more title in him ... if not more . Personally I think if he gets the tenth title on a Ducati next year that will be him proven ..... 10 titles on 4 different manufacturers on 5 different engine sized bikes.... Is there anyone else out there in the current paddock who can claim to be that good ...

And as for Cal Crutchbag.... Bad mouthing Toseland as much as he did... he's hardly cut the mustard this season putting in lesser results than JT managed in his first season in MotoGP ... at least JT was a 2x WSB champion as well (sorry for going slightly off topic)

Scotty
18-07-11, 12:53 PM
And another thing.... ;D ;D ;D

Something I omitted to point out in an earlier post is that due to Dorna's ruling that severely limits testing time, all Rossi's testing on the bike is done at the GPs, rather than at separate test sessions where they could gather valuable data and make changes ahead of the races. Given what we've seen so far, I reckon that Ducati should bin the fancy carbon airbox that's used as a stressed chassis member and go for something more conventional (an opinion very much shared by Jerry Burgess and VR I gather) - hi-tech for its own sake is pointless if it doesn't work! >:(

Squashed_Fly
18-07-11, 02:46 PM
One thing I will say about yesterday, is it was easily the most exciting race to watch for me so far this year.

Whatever happens, it makes such a huge difference when you have a full grid, with all the riders finishing. I can't remember the last time that happened!

Even the 'up front' was good to watch. It could have been anybodys race up until the last few laps, and even then seeing Lorenzo put that last move on Stoner was epic!

Dabz
18-07-11, 03:07 PM
I turned to Hazel and said "well at least Stoner has finished second" and with that he was overtaken on the last corner :P all my fault, sorry Casey

redken1
18-07-11, 09:49 PM
I turned to Hazel and said "well at least Stoner has finished second" and with that he was overtaken on the last corner :P all my fault, sorry Casey

That's you out of contention to hold the Olympic torch then. lol ;D

Dabz
18-07-11, 09:53 PM
Lol :p

Morticia
20-07-11, 06:55 AM
Rossi RETIRE???? Have you gone MAD? A lot of people thought he would never win again when his Yam was utter ****e, everyone said how he'd lost it, blah blah BLAH!!! Then, the following year he won the title, (let me remind you all, he won it AGAIN) and delighted us all by apologising for the delay, bless him! I think he, like the terminator, will be back! 8-)

You, of little faith, REPENT! ;D