Ya know, for shits and grins I looked up the Italian Windbag’s results for 2008. Pre-PI crash: a 2nd and a 3rd place finishes. Post-PI crash: two 2nd place finishes, three 3rd place finishes, two races with fastest laps (including the very next race after the PI crash), and five, count ‘em FIVE DNF’s (including the race after PI where he set the fastest lap of the race). Max’s problem is between his ears.
Analogy isn't even close. You do not sign a contract to buy cigarettes at the local store but he signed a contract to ride a certain spec bike in a dangerous situation and then was provided deliberately with a bike that did not meet that spec. Two completely different situations.
And in this case, Ducati wasn’t cheating. However, I don’t think they were operating in good faith but that is as much as DORNAs and WSBK faults as well.
This, yeah. It was an actively bad-faith decision on Ducati's part. That's a better way of putting it. Cheating is breaking the rules, and they didn't do that. But they did go outside the bounds of what I consider ethical competition. It's not something I would (or even could, obviously) officially protest about, but it's the sort of thing you'd shake your head disappointedly at someone for. Me: <disapprovingly> Dick move, dude. Ducati: laughs in €20MM sales increase
This whole thing is interesting in that they cheated their satellite teams but not their real competition. There is nothing they were allowed to build that the other manufacturers were not. When Honda got tired of losing a few years earlier, they built a twin. They could have chosen to continue in that direction and even the playing field again.
Exactly but apparently Hondas appetite for throwing cubic dollars towards turd production bikes, in order to make them competitive, steadily waned. They went from producing limited number homologated bikes, to mass produced bikes as their race platform. Although the RC51 was successful in winning AMA and WSBK championships, as you know, Honda spent Million$ making them competitive. They similarly tried with the CBR before throwing in the towel all together.
Having been a lifelong motorcycle racing fan, when I first got into F1 in the 90’s I was shocked they did this. That crap never happened in bike racing, at least back then.
Are you saying those Saturday night specials helped a certain Eyetalian win some MotoGP championships. I mean the Michelin logo does have yellow in it.
I really wish I was watching during these years. After Schwantz retired I got married and started having kids and must have also lost the channel that broadcast it? I do remember seeing some of the incredible performances by Doohan. When did speedvision go away? I unfortunately missed most of the Biaggi/Rossi battles. Even though I tease @motion and @Dave Wolfe about their super nutso ❤️ of Rossi, I like Rossi too. The only expensive memorabilia I have ever purchased is Rossi stuff. I just get a kick out of laughing at the out of control fanboys.
There actually was no punch at all. He was cut by a helmet face shield carried by one of Rossi's people in the crowded staircase.