This is the point. See point above, and IMO a boring sport is a suffering sport. Ergo, Marquez is bad for the sport. See point(s) above.
The importance of front row starts and launch control is what I think ruins racing. Get out in front by the second turn and then just control the gap....boring. I think they should go back to Lemans starts. Bump start those beasts, no little girly boys gonna do that. Get off the line a little late? Tough titties....go catch up. One of my favorite races was when Steady Eddie couldn't get his bike started, gave up something like 15 seconds then proceeded to run to the front. You know he had to be steaming in his helmet but he still managed to get it done.
The tired "saftey" argument. Racing isn't safe. Never has been. Never will be. It can however be made terribly boring to watch in the name of safety.
Just pointing out that "entertaining" and "safe" interact in a way that isn't normal. No one tunes in to see a everyone stay 1 foot away from each other and never run off course. They tune in to see what could possibly go wrong. They aren't necessarily hoping anyone gets injured or dies but they are there to see the moments that make their butt pucker. You remove those and the "show" gets really boring to watch.
Push starts were in their final years when my interested GP racing started. That did nothing for me. To each their own, I guess. But the same result can be achieved by running off in turn one and having to catch up.
In the same way that Ricky Carmichael was bad for M/X when he threw down two undefeated seasons in the midst of his domination? In the same was Jeremy McGrath was bad for S/X with his domination? These rare glimpses of pure greatness are a joy to behold, enjoy it.
By all means, Lemans starts for everyone. No racing is not safe, but there is no need to make it more needlessly dangerous. Front row starts and launch control have nothing to do with trying to win.
Well then break out the pace cars and competition cautions. Rolling starts are supposedly "safer". No need for that pesky launch control....
1965.All i wanted for my 10th birthday was a cromwell leather strap helmet in Agostini scheme.My mother has hated me ever since.LOL
Yeah...that looked incredibly safe. Can't imagine the chaos that making them start the car before pulling off would create.
Tight and unpredictable racing is no doubt the best, but I absolutely love seeing someone dominate and break records. We're in the middle of a once in every few decades kind of talent passing the torch to another and guys are complaining it sucks. I look forward to telling my grandkids that I remember watching when Marquez took it to Rossi and them saying, "I can't believe you got to watch them on the same track at the same time" And I'll say, "yeah, but everybody at the time was too busy saying the racing sucked and neither was as good as Ago" It's like the Tiger era of golf. I loved watching him lay waste to the courses and competitors back then. Guys like that move the bar up a couple notches and further refine their sports as a whole. We all benefit from that when everybody else has to rise up to beat them.
The championship battle has been more exciting this year. But I wouldn't say that individual races have been more exciting. Motogp has been fantastic the last 3-4 years. It's rare for a rider to win from pole, extending their early lead by .5 seconds each lap until they win by 10 seconds. That kind of thing used to happen frequently, with Lorenzo, Stoner, Pedrosa. But even when Marquez wins a race, it often is exciting because it involves him battling through the last lap.