MotoGP

[MiloMorai]

What a race in Argentina! Didn't see the start but Rossi came from 4 seconds back and caught Marquez on the penultimate lap. Rossi went on to win when Marquez crashed out after touching Rossi's rear wheel with his front wheel.

Moto2 and Moto 3 on TV tonight.

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/217995/1/rossi-and-marquez-racing-incident.html

[Kruel]

Rossi is a beast

[Zoney]

Rossi rode the Hard compound tire and Marquez rode the soft.  Marquez got away from the field immediately and pulled away from the pack.  With about 10 laps to go Rossi moved through and up to second place and then chased Marquez down dragging the Ducati behind him most of the way.  You could see that Marquez could no longer hold the fastest line on the track toward the end but Rossi had plenty of grip left and put the pass on the kid.  Marquez should have settled for 2nd at that time but that's impossible to tell a winner to do.  He tried way to hard to stay with Rossi and took himself out just after almost taking them both out.  Rossi was bumped pretty hard twice that race but kept it up and kept charging.

The Doctor just took you to school, not sit down and eat your vegetables.

Rossi is the best post race interviews in any motorsports racing, period.

[Swoop]

Im almost positive Rossi caused the crash on purpose.  He even looked at Marquez as they were coming out of the corner, you could almost see him thinking 'Allarighty then junior, mesa showa you whatta happens now.'

Rossi has been in that situation hundreds of times, he knew exactly where to put his back wheel and exactly where Marquez's would be. 

Not saying he was wrong to do so.  Marquez is the first to bash people out of his way on track, he even tried to bash Rossi wide the corner before the crash. 


Bloody good race.  I thought Cal Crutchlow's post race interview was the best though:

"I'd like to thank all those people who wrote me off."   middle finger up to Ducati there...

[danny76]

I'm not too sure he did it deliberately, although as you point out, he was well aware of where Marquez was, and it's certainly about time Marquez got his comeuppance for all the boisterous and sometimes downright dangerous riding he has got away with over the past couple of years.
I don't know whether its his family's connections to Spanish royalty or the fact that Daddy has Dorna in his pocket but in every instance of him coming to blows with other riders he seems to always escape the sanctions that are applied to everyone else.
Marquez is an exceptional talent without doubt, he has brought the championship back to life and racing is exciting again, but if he thinks he is in for an easy ride when he starts throwing his weight about with the likes of Crutchlow, Rossi, and Lorenzo he should think again.

[Zoney]

I'm almost positive Rossi caused the crash on purpose.  He even looked at Marquez as they were coming out of the corner, you could almost see him thinking 'Allarighty then junior, mesa showa you whatta happens now.'

If this was automobile racing I might agree with you.  The stability of the bike is tenuous as best and thinking that you might be able to "take out" your opponent by crossing a wheel without suffering a complete loss of control is illogical.

I do believe that he choose to take away Marquez's line, but only because of the expectation that Marquez was at least in control and cognizant enough to slow down and therefore give Rossi an even larger advantage than he had.


Years ago I was leading a race with one guy right on me the whole way.  We had broken away from everyone.  With 4 or 5 laps to go he started to show his nose on his best set of corners and kept coming up along the outside of me.  I continued to run my line and give him that room on the outside because it was setting me up better for the next 3 corners and the finish line just after that.  On the last lap as we came up to his best section I left the throttle open just a bit longer which took me to the very edge of the track, effectively taking away any drive he might have had.  I won.  In the pits I see the other guy marching toward me with his dad in tow no less.  He was pretty hot and said, "You deliberately opened up your line and drove your bike to the edge of the track.  If I had not chopped my throttle, I would have gone off into the gravel.  I was on you that whole race.  You never once took that line.  That was where I was going to pass you for the win."

My reply was: "You got beat because you showed your hand too early, and yes, I did change my line to deny you the opportunity of a pass.  And just so we are clear, I know I am called the "old man" out here, (I was 43 years old at the time), but make no mistake, I am here to win.  Period.  I will give you nothing.  If you want something, you will have to take it, and then keep it.

The other guy just stood there slack jawed with his dad standing next to him grinning ear to ear.  Dad turned to the kid and said: "Son, you just got schooled by a guy twice your age with 10 times your experience, now shake his hand and congratulate him."

Sorry, I raced a thousand races, and every once in awhile something reminds me of one of them and I can't help but reminisce a bit.  Thanks for your indulgence.