Mamola would have been 25 time world champ if he raced against Rossi and all the nobodys that Rossi beat in those 10 years or so.
From 68-72 there was no other competitive bike in the 500 class, Yamaha showed up in 73 and he ended up getting beaten by his team mate who was bought in as development rider and a Kiwi on a home built bike. The same for the 350 class until Yamaha got the TZ fully sorted. Good rider but not as good as some of his contemporaries who were on inferior equipment for a lot of the time.
Closer to 30 than 20, hon. Regardless, I hope he comes back fully fit and himself. What a gift to the sport that would be. The remarks about his homelife living conditions are just straight up ignorant.
Yeah I don't get those guys who fly a few feet off of death. Not for me, but I love that they exist because they make me feel completely sane.
It's frankly a whole lot like the real roads. You can do it with a fair margin for error and be "safe", or you can chase glory and cheat death. I'll stick with jumping out of airplanes for another couple years, but at some point I'd really like to find a mellow exit point and do the BASE thing "safely".
Just like my promise to Danica Patrick, I'd give her the most confusing and disappointing 38 seconds of her entire life!