MotoGP & Rossi

[Phadreus_imp]

Phadreus, a number of us follow MotoGP—Ferret, redbirds and, of course, Houtman immediately come to mind. Once there was a regular threads discussing the race, but they lapsed due to lack of interest.

That was a terrible accident. It amazed me at the time—and still does—that no-one was killed or badly injured in it. I'd not have been surprised if Rossi had given-up racing after that. How many near misses like that can one expect to survive?

While I've not ever been a big Rossi fan, his contribution to the sport is undeniable and extensive. He also has great character and a certain flamboyance that will be missed. In my view, it's a pity he didn't retire a couple of years ago at the top of his game, but perhaps that's only easy to say with the benefit of hindsight.

I agree, Rossi should have hung up his helmet at least two years ago. He said over and over, "As long as I'm competitive, I'll continue racing." I guess how he defined competitive changed over time. Going from such a long period of being on the box nearly every race to commonly fighting for top 5, then top ten, then where he is now, in the final three to five to cross the line each race has to be painful for him. Guess it was hard to close the book on a 25 year career for him.
One of my favorite memories of a MotoGP race was during the 2010 Redbull GP in Indy. Wifey and I were hanging out right across from Rossi's pit booth. He came out to mount up for Practice and my wife whistled and yelled his name. She was wearing a highlighter yellow shirt that said "The Nurse" on the front of it. She actually caught his attention and he looked up at her, flipped his visor up and blew her a kiss. I figured for sure I was going home by myself after that. Made her day for sure. After that, she couldn't see anybody else on the track.

A couple of hours after that, we were walking around the infield and I lost track of her while I was walking around the Honda tent. When I finally found her, she was in the middle of a group of guys having her picture taken. She said they thought her shirt was the coolest thing ever. Wish I had a picture of that day.

Anyway, here is my better half:

I too have watched MotoGP since 2005 and been to several of the races in Laguna and the first at COTA. I've followed Vale and Yamaha boys since then and was a huge Vale fan.
I think his demise began when he switched to Ducati in 2010 and then the unfortunate incident in Sepang the next year. I truly believe that's when he lost the edge to compete and dominate like he did before. After the crash that he was involved in that killed Marco, he's gone on to win 10 races in 10 years. Those are not Vale type numbers and nary a championship in that time.
I'm glad he's retiring. He's not helping anybody by being a back marker and struggling to get in the points. MotoGP will go on though will look different without that #46 in the paddock since 1995.

Those events did seem like a huge impact on him, especially his leg injury. I heard him talk about his accident with Marco, I did not realize at the time how close of a friendship they had shared before the accident. I can't even imagine what Rossi went through afterwards.