we still haven't got a clue who is going to win the 2020 MotoGP crown. With seven races to go, there are eight riders all within 25 points (or one race win) of the championship leader, and the top ten are covered by 27 points. Four races ago, the championship leader was in fourth place, and the rider now in fourth, just 4 points behind him, was down in fourteenth. Crazy year.
That could also be said for his 2006 title chase. If he didn't crash out of the season opener @ Jerez.... ....or if Elias didn't beat him by a hair length @ Estoril ....or if he didn't dump it at the last round @ Valencia if he avoided any 1 of those that year....actually if he just avoided the first one he probably could have gotten away with the 2nd 2 combined.
I would put Mir leading (or tied with Dovi) without two DNFs, as he is the highest placed rider with the most DNFs. He is also the dark horse for the championship, if he can keep that Suzuki on song (and upright).
Jorge Lorenzo has as many points as MM and is less than 4 race wins from the lead and there are more than 4 races left this year Just sayin'
All of Mir's finishes are top 5. That's damn solid. The next "best" is Rossi with 4 top 5s and one 9th. Everyone else has plenty of finishes outside top 5 and or even outside the top 10. This season is nuts and like always, those DNFs matter A LOT.
I rate Mir the favorite right now. He is fast, can come through even when he doesn't qualify well, and the bike is probably the best overall package. Plus, the kid seems to have a really good head. Note also, he got the short end of the stick in Austria#2 with the red flag restart.
Yeap, if he had just finished those two races he would have . . . finished on the podium once this year? Be ahead of Nakagami in the points? Travis wouldn't be lining him up in his sights behind the barn? Rossi is a three day old egg salad sandwich found under the radiator.