Honda boots Lorenzo

Nice to see you back defending your man.

 

How's Bostrom these days?

 

Interesting that you say that because when you factor out the rookies, there are more riders on the grid that HAVE won a race in MotoGP than those who haven't.

 

Retired and probably banging a hot chic or three. So way better than RapeFace.

 

You're right, three time world champ couldn't possible get good looking women and live a good life... Even Biaggi has done well...

 

Yeah, but Biaggi at least looks the part. Italian with those stupid goatees and Prince mustaches. He might be the size of a bag of rice at the asian grocery store but he's got something.

Raperface has money but a face like a star trek fanboy and the personality of a kid in desperate need of some bullying. Wait, he looks like a Trekkie and is difficult, now it's making sense.

 

I've said before, I just wish I had one tenth of his racing talent and focus. I like him because of his talent, not his capacity for a reality show.

 

But this is confusing, if you like racers based on talent shouldn't you like Rossi and Marquez way more than rape face?

 

There you go, winding up Bruce Banner again. You just have to do shit like that?

Dart mad! Dart Smash!

 

I did like Rossi, but the fanbase made it difficult when they constantly defended/excused him doing the same things other racers do (qualifying way down the order, finishing out of the points, crashing, getting rattled because he's getting beaten and throwing a tantrum about tires, or putting up a wall in between his and his teammate's side of the same garage). I still have the respect for Rossi that he deserves - I just don't see him as infallible anymore.

I do like Marquez. He's an amazing rider and is able to adapt and overcome quite a bit. He's going to be a better champion than Lorenzo and possibly win more championships than Rossi if he can keep it up as he gets older. But stylistically, I prefer Lorenzo's technical ability to do the same lap and hit the same mark over and over and over... Its just a difference of approach, and I latched onto him in 250s and MotoGP before Marquez came along in those classes.

 

Was he really though? It looks more like to me he displayed a bit of effort to make sure his impending contract w/ Honda was solidified.....and then stepped back down to mediocrity a couple rounds later after Honda was satisfied they made the right choice. As others have said, I think he treats this as a paycheck....not because of his love and passion for racing....which is fine, it is his livelihood, but it does preclude some other riders some would say are more deserving of his seat at Honda.


http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2018/...ride-for-repsol-honda-in-2019-and-2020/261628

Notice the date of this article....he scored his first win on the Duc the weekend before this announcement was made.

 

Yeah but he probably whines about how it is too much work the whole time.

 

He also had been making changes to the bike up to that point. Week by week, incrementally, you could see him getting faster.

Qatar - he crashed out. Says he lost the front brake. I believe he had also put in a faster lap time than the leader at that point.
Argentina - finished 15th. Better than crashing.
COTA - Top qualifying Ducati (6th), spent a good part of race in top 10, finished 11th.
Jerez - Battled Dovi and Pedrosa pretty hard until a collision initiated by Pedrosa knocked all three of them out. At one point he led the race.
Le Mans - Lead for 9 laps before fading way back... Talks about stamina and difficulty under braking
Mugello - Ducati gets him a new tank that lets him support himself under braking (at the track with the longest/fastest straight - heaviest braking), and he wins.
Catalunya - He wins again...

The date may be convenient, but your hypothesis ignores other things that were going on. They made changes in Argentina (winglets, I believe), Jerez (made him competitive), and Mugello (put him much closer to where he needed to be)... He reached out to Honda after Le Mans, before he got the part(s) he needed... If a 3 time Champ says "I'd like to ride for you" and comes from a competing manufacturer, I mean, who wouldn't listen? Especially when he has the "right" passport, and you know you have a seat opening.

 

Are you saying women aren't work? or, at times, exhausting?

 

I also believe he reached out to Honda because Ducati told him they were not going to renew his contract.

 

Probably. I couldn't find a definitive source for that one. He said in an interview that he feared they wouldn't and contacted Honda... I find it weird that they'd give him new custom parts he'd been asking for after they've told him they weren't going to renew, but I don't know how that stuff works. I do think Le Mans was the breaking point for all of them though. Regardless, I don't believe his results in Mugello and Catalunya came as a result of the Honda contract though. He was already starting to be competitive in Jerez and Le Mans.

 

Don't forget that Suzuki decided not to hire him.

 

This made me sad. I wanted to see him on the Suzuki. I really thought (and still think) its the next best place for him after Yamaha. From what I understand, he's not a bad development rider in the slightest.

I'm betting it was the money he was asking and not "him".

 

Oh, him on a suzuki would have been something to behold. Right bike, right rider, right f@ckin' now type of shit.

 

I missed that, I was unaware there were even talks involved.