Is/was MM93 bad for the sport?

OK then, everyone...into the gravel trap!

 

So nobody falls behind? Try to keep up with your own argument.

 

Can't have gravel traps any more. They are unsafe. You have to have a nice paved extension of the race track and then paint a line and tell the children they can't cross that line or you'll take their cookie away.

 

It's funny - I was going to make the same analogy to Tiger/golf but thought about it a bit more and realized that golf (even when Tiger was dominating) was much more exciting because each shot and opportunity is unique, and each tournament would have several "holy shit did you just see that" moments from him. He was literally must see TV and would have a handful of highlights each tournament.

The average Marquez race has him streaking out to the front and checking out or stalking his prey for half the race before passing, but (absent his saves) there's not a ton of "holy shit did you just see that" moments. It's very impressive and clinical, but much of it is somewhat "boring" ("boring" defined as "lacking in highlights that most fans would enjoy and/or appreciate").

 

I can remember only 2 years ago when we were in "The Golden Age of GP Racing". WTF happened???

 

Paved runoff is about keeping the cars in the race. The F1 drivers loved seeing gravel again when they went to Mugello.

 

Hey, Kimi knows what he is doing and he doesn't need your pansy paved run off areas.

 

Lorenzo and Pedrosa retired.

 

Actually, I believe it was because VR was sniffing the top step each weekend, so the entire Universe was whipped up into a frenzy

 

One thing I can at least point out, and I know I will get crucified, well maybe a little bit on has to be the overt track safety aspect. Now, I want all racers to come home in one piece, crashing sucks, injury sucks, but I feel like the run-off tarmac (green painted or otherwise) allows riders easy escape and an ability to take more unnecessary risks than they would normally if real consequences were considered. Case in point is exactly how MM93 received his injury. He got very lucky the first time to manage save a crash, to come back on track and nearly win only to crash in the same damn corner after a heroic ride back to the front. I feel like his antics pushed him too hard and he paid a price for it and has been sidelined since.

I do question the legitimacy of track safety with inherent regard to riders risk/reward scale. Are tracks (read track limits) too wide? Are paved run-off's without a substantial time penalty (because in the past, that rider would have otherwise binned their shit into a wall and been out of the race) causing the riders who legitimately have no fear of crash/injury to push well past the limits with a safety net so to speak that they can re-join and still have a fight. I am not advocating for making tracks more dangerous, but how do you re-imagine the challenge of racing? Think of rain races. The riders and teams go about setting up the bike a bit differently and as a race progresses, conditions change and the riders assess more or less risk accordingly. At least it is more pronounced.

 

I like it when you see the REALLY old WSBK races, like from before motorcycles were invented, where everyone is in a straight line across the start finish line.

It’s funny because back then, apparently nobody gave a shit about jumping the start either.

These days, they have all kinds of spotters and cameras, and if you even flinch you get a penalty. Back then, motherfuckers would be intentionally moving forward all over the place, long before the start, and didn’t even make an effort to hold still.

 

[Snip pertinent stuff about racing]

Ever hear of narcolepsy?....

 

Back in the days before motorcycles were invented and we had push starts, I remember every now and then hitting the saddle to start the bike at about the same time the flag dropped.

 

Didn't he crash into the kitty litter and not in a turn with extra asphalt... So like a "normal" run off

Yep.. No extra runoff there



~sent from mobile

 

Family friend (I call him uncle) was an ex tight end for the Eagles (had a nice career, made a few pro bowls, etc.). Long story short, in his rookie tryouts the coach at the time (Dick Vermeil) said "you've got great hands and you're a great blocker, but we can't keep a TE who can't run a 4.8". Unfortunately, although he's an absolutely fantastic human being and a great athlete, he's not ever running a 4.8. So, Dick Vermeil starts walking away to time him and as he walks away, our hero starts moving closer and closer to the finish line...........said he ran the world's slowest 33 yard dash

 

That’s quality shit.

 

I hope that I am wrong but Marquez may not come back from his injury and be the same rider. He may have permanent injury to his arm(neither he nor Honda will disclose that) so all this talk about how he is going to dominate may be a mute point.

 

It has to be healed properly. The bikes demand so much upper body effort that a half healed rider is likely to hurt himself again.

 

There is a huge mental/confidence aspect to it as well, case in point Sam Lowes current form. If Marc dominates his first outing back, then it is back to business as usual until he retires. If he isn't able to due to other riders believing they can challenge him or him not being as fast then I think we will see closer competition at the front.

 

Everybody is definitely keeping quiet about it.