I want to see Marc come back and stomp a hole in the pretenders. I think his arm will never be the same, but he’s still going to be an absolute animal on the bike. What will happen is that he’ll be forced to take fewer risks and defy physics a little less. That will consequently make him a bit more beatable. He’ll enjoy another few years of being the class of the field and then eventually there will be another couple riders who are competitive with him. I still expect Marc to win 2-3 more titles and probably take the all time win record, and every other record except 1. No one will ever beat Agostini’s total title count. If he had let his arm heal and missed a few rounds, he’d almost certainly have won this title, and probably taken 3-4 more after that without that injury.
they sewed Doohan's leg to his damn leg. Marc ain't going nowhere, some of the comments in this thread are ridiculous. you guys bend like the wind on positions/arguments sometimes and its funny.
Ago was winning 2-3 titles per year. Can you even imagine someone taking part in two categories , these days?
What do you mean by conflict of interest? I don't follow much off track stuff outside of a little bit directly concerning the riders.
Was wondering when the sewing of the legs would come up. But hey, Doohan had no competition so it doesn't count.
He was almost blinded and that didn't stop him. As we get older, yes we take less risks, but he's still in his prime. Only thing that would derail the MM93 train is if he can't move the arm or he has a bunch of little MM93s.
He'll have the arm amputated, and a bionic prosthetic replacement before he quits without beating Rossi's records.
Mentally weakened probably not, but he may come back mentally smarter. As in not crashing as often and thus risking injuring that arm again or another serious injury.
Kevin Schwantz's traveled the world with his parents and ate his mama's food. That doesn't make it smart. A lot of people get to fly those wingsuits more than once. The irony is that it wasn't even that big a crash. Just a very unlucky one. It wouldn't even rank in the top 5 of crashes I have seen this year between all three classes. In all fairness, it was probably easier to do with 8-10 rounds a year.
I made it sound like it was Ago's feat. What I meant to say is that with the current level of professionalism, it would've been impossible for any human being.
Ran the red bull academy (when Pedrosa, Elias and Stoner came through), Rider management for Pedrosa (and some others), Team manager at Repsol honda and sponsor manager for Repsol oil . . pretty much all at the same time.
During a time when they were losing how many fellow riders to death, every year? Machine reliability wasn't even close to what we experience these days, as well.
It was also easier when you were 2 laps up on the 2nd place rider, and could ride around waving at the fans with one hand on your hip
that's what happens when there's 2 factory teams and then everyone else is making their bikes in their barn with farm welding equipment and their paddock consists of a van with airbrushed pegasuses (pegasii?) galloping on them and your drunk friend with a handyman's toolbox who refuses to wear a shirt all weekend.
I think the people assuming he could have one this year's title are wild-eyed optimists. That fracture is in one of the worst locations for motorcycle racing, much worse than a bone in the legs. I agree that it is ridiculous to think his father should have stepped in. HRC should have, however. Maybe they tried and couldn’t because of contract language, but I doubt it.