I think Jorge Lorenzo has a problem.

I suggested this once and got excoriated for it. I think it’s probable Jorge has suffered some after effects of all his bell ringing. I remember after his crash in Catalunya ( ? ) 2008 he said he essentially crashed himself stupid and couldn’t remember shit for like a week, that’s when he decided he needed to change the way he rode or he’d die.

George is definitely an odd duck period though. So it’s probably hard to separate his natural weirdness from rearranging his personality via hits to the noggin.

I think Jorge is probably a bit bipolar or suffers from some level of depression, he’s probably a guy who always has to be active and doing something to be happy. Probably why he ended up a MotoGP god. I’m not a psychologist mind you and I don’t talk to the guy, his demeanor and personality just remind me of people I’ve known like that.

 

How many of you have seen the season wrap-up show by BT Sport from last year?

 

Yeah no shit.

I’ve been a fan of the strange bastard since he did his astronaut impression in Shanghai circa 2008, broke both ankles at once and got on his bike with crutches. When he broke his collarbone Thursday, flew home for surgery and raced Sunday I was in awe. Even the other racers couldn’t believe it. It was hilarious, they were interviewing Bautista that weekend and asked him “What do you think about Jorge racing this weekend?” Alvaro’s eyes open wide, he gets a flabbergasted look and says “Wait, he’s here?!”

George will be fine and win races this year. I think if he hadn’t gotten that horrible series of injuries he’d already be running near the front and take a win early season. Dude is still jacked up from all the hits he took, I fully expect him to do some damage once he recovers. Jorge can make Marc work for it.

Marquez is winning titles by winning races and podiuming when he can’t. It’s utter consistency, not utter dominance. For anyone to beat him to a title they’ll have to be just as consistent or Marquez will have to DNF a few. Dovi wins plenty of races, but when he has a bad day he’s 6th or 7th. Marc is 2nd.

I have a feeling Dovi will take it this year though. Maybe it’s just hope.

 

That's not hope, that's delusion....

How many hits to the head have you taken? Probably one thousand too many

 

No.

If one racer does what you describe ("winning races and podiuming when he can't"), and no one else can do the same, then it's not just consistency, it's dominance.

 

I get what you are saying. Ultimately winning championships is the greater goal. At the same time I don’t feel that championships automatically determines who the best racer is. I think there is a correlation no doubt but I can’t say it’s an automatic qualifier. I know that Doug Chandler won an AMA Superbike championship with out ever winning a race one season. He was consistent and was able to collect the points. Was he the best racer that season?
I know we’re splitting hairs, they’re all good racers. It’s dificult for me to determine who is the best. Eddie Lawson being the exception because he is the best.

 

Keep me out of this one. LOL

 

I'm not sure what else I would call leading every lap and pulling out a 12 second gap in the highest level of motorcycle racing there is...

 

I have just never heard Mick Doohan referred to as a mid packer before...

Yep. The guy is a 4x MotoGP champion. Once he gets the bike and himself to where he is comfortable he will be at the front.

 

Maybe not quite in those terms, but there's been some interesting nuggets posted occasionally. If I knew how G 97 spells Doohan, I'd run a search.

 

I hated him for a while after he took out Schwantz and Barros in England. But IMO, he was one of the aliens of that era and when Rainey got hurt and Schwantz stopped having fun he was left as the lone alien and his results show that.

But have you ever noticed that alot of people do not discount the years that Rossi won titles when he was riding at a level that was above his competitors but will try to marginalize titles won by others under similar circumstances...

 

These jokers think Rossi has mind tricks. That motherfu@#er told Honda to be build him a screamer again when everyone else started going fast on big-bangs! Criville and the other guys were completely mindfu@#ed.

 

That. Right there.

 

I loved it when Criville was being all pissy and demanded Honda give him one of those screamer motors. He got shot so high that he almost needed to call air traffic control for landing clearance. It was also pretty entertaining to watch him slow down to where one of the other guys could catch him then start slowly picking up the pace until they threw themselves in to the kitty litter then immediately pick up his pace to make sure that their spirit was completely crushed.

 

Indeed. Head injury has been linked with depression.

 

Usually the depression is situated at the zone of impact....

 

3 (plus two in 250).

 

How do I spell Doohan? O v e r r a t e d.

I’ve never stated, or even thought for that matter, that Doohan wasn’t a world class racer. I know he’s a great rider. Anyone who thinks he was mid pack is delusional. The big bang and screamer situation was epic. I guess for me, after watching the Roberts, Spencer, Lawson, Rainey, Schwantz time periods over the seasons, I just feel the talent pool was a little shallow over the majority of Doohan reign. Maybe I also transferred some of my dislike for Gardner onto Doohan. LOL.

Side note. Bubba Shobert was a hero of mine from the flat track days and seeing him at Springfield, Peoria and Du Quoin Illinois races. I still have signed posters.

 

Thanks. I stand corrected. When I glanced at the stats I must have counted his 2nd 250 title.