I need to get to the Festival of Speed again. Always entertaining and a lovely part of the UK.This was pretty fucking cool.
Wayne Rainey rides again! MotoGP legend on YZR500 at Goodwood
The 1992 YZR500 was specially adapted by Yamaha Motor Company engineers in Japan, who modified the gear shift system so Rainey could change up and down the gears by controls on the left handlebar. Bicycle style cleats were used on the pegs to secure Wayne's feet and special seat helped support...www.mcnews.com.au
Some say Calvin Rayborn, Jr., was the best. My vote is for King Kenny...Not my intention to sully this thread, but I have never bought into the Rossi hagiography or this GOAT nonsense.
Followed him from the 125 class in which his formidable talent was immediately obvious. As charismatic as Sheene, clinical as Lawson and uncompromising on track as Doohan. His best season for me was 2001 and his first 500cc world title. 2002 and the introduction of the V5 was an absolute farce and the much heralded move to Yamaha in 2004 was accompanied by a choice of three engines and a gazillion changes to the M1 which up until then had been a virtual career wrecker. His vanity motivated move to Ducati was folly in the extreme and despite the desperate revisionist efforts of the Vale-ban and the attempts of his fanatical followers to re-write history, brutally exposed his flaws and his weaknesses in the absence of the substantial comparative advantage that had favoured him for most of his career at the expense of other riders. Regarding him remaining in the paddock, commercially, that's beneficial for DORNA of course, but over the last decade his influence together with the yellow smoke blown up his arse and much of his moronic following that aren't here for the sport has become increasingly toxic.
The actual GOAT? The cards were similarly stacked in Ago's favour, and as much as I loved the holy trinity of King Kenny, Lawson and Rainey - Hailwood could ride anything. That's your man. Aside from that, the most naturally talented riders that I've ever seen are Spencer, Stoner and Marquez.
I'll fondly remember many of Rossi's brilliant rides - trackside Donington 2005 was one of the most incredible wet weather performances I've ever seen, but as a follower of the sport as opposed to the cult of personality, I won't miss the man himself in the slightest.
Sorry.
I've always loved the flat track pedigree and many of the greatest ever riders to grace road racing came from the dirt. Rayborn was no exception and for me one of his greatest legacies was smoking the UK riders during the Tran-Atlantic match races of the early 70s on very challenging circuits he'd never ridden astride those iron barreled XRs.Some say Calvin Rayborn, Jr., was the best. My vote is for King Kenny...
It was pretty cool when he won the Isle of Man on the Ducati, great stuff.I've always loved the flat track pedigree and many of the greatest ever riders to grace road racing came from the dirt. Rayborn was no exception and for me one of his greatest legacies was smoking the UK riders during the Tran-Atlantic match races of the early 70s on very challenging circuits he'd never ridden astride those iron barreled XRs.
Regarding The King, I never tire of this...
One of my favourite recollections from GP? - Sheene vs Roberts, Silverstone 1979. I was there as a kid. They agreed to put on a show for the crowd, and then go balls out for the last five laps. Barry would have just edged it were it not for backing off around Woodcote and losing his drive due to backmarker - one George Fogarty. Talking of famous racer progenitors, Graziano Rossi was also in that race.
The famous two-fingered 'wave'...
Ex ice-racer Jarno Saarinen was another God-like talent that was taken from the sport far too soon and with the gifts and potential to have been one of the greats. Like Hailwood, Spencer and Stoner, his talent was unearthly. On Stoner, in terms of riding talent, he became the archetype. He achieved the perfect balance between fast-loose and wheels in line corner speed, and he could alter the balance of his style turn by turn or lap by lap to optimize his lap time.
Many riders measure themselves by how much faster they are than the competition. Casey clearly measured himself by how fast he was compared to his own expectations.
Rossi is obviously one of the greats, but his talents were augmented by preferential treatment from Michelin, and when it disappeared, he reacted with incredible bile, publicly condemning Michelin for choosing Honda's development path in 2007 when overnight specials were outlawed. It doesn't cast a pall over his incredible talents, but these carefully orchestrated race wins by an ebullient maestro were machinations of Michelin's marketing department. Also. assuming parity in terms of lack of preferential treatment, equipment and minus the huge comparative advantage, Rossi's championships would have looked like 2008 and beyond - gritty battles with a sprinkle of extra-legal chicanery. There have been previous legendary rivalries that transcended racing such as Rainey and Schwantz, but with the exception of Nicky, (imo, one of the most humble and noble riders to ever grace the paddock), his disdain anyone that threatened him was tiresome. The contempt for Max was I guess understandable, the pettiness against Gibernau was pathetic, the dislike of Stoner simply his own inadequacy, this hissy fits over his teammate Lorenzo, frankly embarrassing and the vitriol against Márquez and subsequent conspiracy theories, just deranged. That his canary/custard cum-shot coloured fanatical devotees remained oblivious to all this is all the more bewildering, but since 70% of them have predictably packed away the yellow paraphernalia and deserted the sport is in the long-term, for the better. I can't abide disingenuity and insincerity in people and such character defects certainly don't qualify someone as 'the greatest of all time'.
There are many historical greats in this fine sport...but if I was forced to choose just one, then it is unlikely that Hailwood will ever be surpassed in my lifetime.
The 1978 comeback - grown men wept.It was pretty cool when he won the Isle of Man on the Ducati, great stuff.
Bizarre - I assumed that same, but it transpires (as I'm sure you have read by now) that Bastianini broke the wheel in a freak impact with the curb on turn 10. Take nothing away from Fabio who was expected to be relegated to sixth or seventh by the Ducati dominance. Not only did he almost perfectly manage and calculate the race with his choice of the hard front but that pass on Miller and Martin was masterful. Must have taken some of the off Pecco's treble. Misano will be interesting, Ducati test track but a circuit very much favoured by both.For a change, I actually caught the Moto 2 and 3 races today! both very exciting with an awesome last 5 laps as always.
that crash though- yikes!
as for MotoGP - great race, stoked to see Miller on the podium again. not sure what happened to the Beast's bike but looked like he had no brakes? scary stuff.
Donna announced a few changes on the weekend too - there's now going to be a sprint race every round on the Saturday. Some riders love it, others hate it. I'm willing to give it a chance. at least Miller won't run out of tyres doe a change lmao!
few changes at KTM too, not sure what it means foe Remy Gardner but looks like his teammate is definitely gone. waiting for more info on that one.
I wondered what happened there...Really felt for Aleix who had his race butchered by the malfunctioning ride height device at the start.