MotoGP Malaysia: PH2
It all gets a bit dirty in Malaysia...
After the press conference, qualifying only heightened tensions as Marc appeared to allow Jorge to shadow him for a good time and then Iannone seemed to pause so fellow Italian Rossi could tag in behind. Helping hands or not, Rossi still pulled an amazing last sector out of the bag to finish in third spot with Lorenzo a row behind in fourth. One nil to Rossi, but the race was a different story.
The fact Pedrosa won and Lorenzo finished second didn't matter, what has set the whole world alight was the fact Rossi and Marquez collided and Rossi was accused of irresponsible riding, given three penalty points and as a result of one previous point, will start the Valencia race from the back of the grid. Rossi's team appealed the decision, but the appeal was rejected and the penalty stands so with only a seven-point advantage over Jorge and a whole grid ahead, things aren't looking good for Vale's title chances. Did he do wrong? That's up for debate. Did Rossi kick Marc? Did he deliberately run him wide (two long looks were a little suspect)? Or should Marc have backed off as he was behind Rossi and it could (and Yamaha probably will argue) be see as Marc rode into Rossi and fell off. The next two weeks before Valencia are sure to be packed full of debate...
MotoGP aside and the Moto2 race was one by Zarco while Brit Danny Kent failed to finish in sixth place in Moto3 and with Oliveria taking the win, the championship will now go down to Valencia. That said, he does have a 24-point advantage so basically just needs to stay out of trouble while Oliveria has to win. However staying out of trouble in Moto3 (or MotoGP for that matter) is tricky...
Results:
MotoGP
1st: Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team)
2nd: Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP)
3rd: Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP)
Moto2:
1st: Zarco (Ajo Motorsport)
2nd: Luthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten)
3rd: Folger (AGR Team)
Moto3:
1st: Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2nd: Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
3rd: Navvaro (Estrella Galicia 0,0)
Brit watch:
Cal Crutchlow (MotoGP) - 5
Bradley Smith (MotoGP) - 4
Scott Redding (MotoGP) - 11
Eugene Laverty (MotoGP) - 19
Sam Lowes (Moto2) - 13
John McPhee (Moto3) - 10
Danny Kent (Moto3) - 7
Previous rounds:
MotoGP USA
MotoGP Qatar
MotoGP Argentina
MotoGP Jerez
MotoGP France
MotoGP Italy
MotoGP Spain
MotoGP Assen
MotoGP Germany
MotoGP Indianapolis
MotoGP Czech Republic
MotoGP Silverstone
MotoGP Misano
MotoGP Aragon
MotoGP Japan
MotoGP Australia
Bit of a Fanboy then?
Casey Stoner called this - ANYONE else would have been back flagged and docked all his points.
He deliberately ran MM wide. At the very least, unsportsmanlike, at worst - downright dangerous and bringing the sport into disrepute.
Rossi is a fraud.
He's as gay as Christmas, and has never consistently beaten the Aliens.
Won his titles when the next best was Sete Gibernau FFS.
What they SHOULD have done is docked Queen Vale so he had equal points to George in the last race.
It was reasonably exciting and controversial and raised 32 pages of discussion on Biker Banter on what is a tiny minority sport on a car-centric forum. This weekend's F1 was apparently the most exciting of the year (only one I've watched all year so quoting a mate) a British champion was crowned in what is allegedly the most watched sporting event in the world (no World Cup footie this year) and it's only up to 52 pages.
Bit of a Fanboy then?
Casey Stoner called this - ANYONE else would have been back flagged and docked all his points.
He deliberately ran MM wide. At the very least, unsportsmanlike, at worst - downright dangerous and bringing the sport into disrepute.
Rossi is a fraud.
He's as gay as Christmas, and has never consistently beaten the Aliens.
Won his titles when the next best was Sete Gibernau FFS.
What they SHOULD have done is docked Queen Vale so he had equal points to George in the last race.
Bit of a Fanboy then?
Casey Stoner called this - ANYONE else would have been back flagged and docked all his points.
He deliberately ran MM wide. At the very least, unsportsmanlike, at worst - downright dangerous and bringing the sport into disrepute.
Rossi is a fraud.
He's as gay as Christmas, and has never consistently beaten the Aliens.
Won his titles when the next best was Sete Gibernau FFS.
What they SHOULD have done is docked Queen Vale so he had equal points to George in the last race.
In fairness to Stoner's comment, he'd only seen the live action feed at that point, and once all the angles have been shown, it wasn't so clear cut. More like MM trying to lean into VR, and VR acting like a little kid by kicking him. Whichever way you look at it, in that situ, MM could've backed off and gone straight down the inside of him, but he rose to Rossi's fight and came out worse.
Bit of a Fanboy then?
Casey Stoner called this - ANYONE else would have been back flagged and docked all his points.
He deliberately ran MM wide. At the very least, unsportsmanlike, at worst - downright dangerous and bringing the sport into disrepute.
Rossi is a fraud.
He's as gay as Christmas, and has never consistently beaten the Aliens.
Won his titles when the next best was Sete Gibernau FFS.
What they SHOULD have done is docked Queen Vale so he had equal points to George in the last race.
We've got homophobic rants, and conspiracy theories. Idiots.
We've got homophobic rants, and conspiracy theories. Idiots.
We've got homophobic rants, and conspiracy theories. Idiots.
It wasn't initially obvious what MM was up to in Aus, but re-watching the race it's there to see, and the lap times plus the ability to scramble to victory on the last lap bear it out
Vale's outburst was therefore totally unexpected, but actually very fair warning
MM greatly compounded the issue by oh-so-obviously frigging about in Malaysia before & during the race, and doing so in a way that showed that he clearly didn't care if Rossi stayed on the bike or not (possibly with a slight preference for the latter). That to me is totally unacceptable, deserving in itself of penalty, and I'm sorry to say that I've lost all respect for MM as a sportsman, having until very recently seen him as Vale's natural successor
Vale probably overreacted slightly to make the point - 'what are you up to, if all we are going to do is trip each other up then what's the point' - but gave fair warning, didn't run MM off the track, didn't kick him, & didn't even knock him off - MM's fall was caused entirely by him leaning on Vale's bike instead of tucking in behind & turning in safely
Race direction and the FIM have both therefore got it wrong, and very unfairly so, IMHO
However, looking on the bright side, if the collision hadn't occurred Vale probably wouldn't have finished the race upright, having been skittled at some point by MM's misguided derring do, and it's probably a sight easier (if still a very tall order) for him to win the championship from the back of the grid in Valencia than from the front of the grid without the Malaysian points, having taken a tumble in a 'racing incident' with MM
One last thought - Vale's never had a problem being beaten in a proper fight, as witness his reaction to being thrumped by Dani in recent rounds - and (OK that's 2 last thoughts! he wasn't in the least culpable for MM riding into his back wheel earlier in the year, which seems to be the root cause of it all
Anyway, if there is a God, fairness will prevail...!
Cheers
Matt
Anyone spring to mind?
And the pwn n00bs bit really blows your cover. As you were
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