Rossi returns to Yamaha, how will he fair?

[triangleforge]

I'm not completely on board with his "Rossi has a one-in-four chance at the title".
Less favorable odds than that I'm afraid.

The situation I think Rossi will be faced with is spending quite a bit of time dicing with Marquez.
That's a hazardous proposition.

The way I read that one-in-four stat was "I can think of four riders who have a better than outside chance at the championship. Rossi is one of those riders. Math sucks, so I became a moto journo instead of a clerk at Walmart."

[gm2]

^ yup.

if he's within a second in the latter third of any given race, and the bike's working and blah blah blah, he's going to be fighting for the podium-or-better.  to expect any less of him is to have a very short memory =)

[zooom]

Even with Marquez in the mix, possibly torpedoing Pedrosa or Lorenzo....

beating Lorenzo on consistency is a big ask.

hence my reference to Hayden in '06 when Rossi was the one with the target on his back and him aiming to be consistant and rack up the points...

[ZLTFUL]

beating Lorenzo on consistency is a big ask.

This.
When that kid is on, he is all the way on.

If Yourghey and Crash 'em Smash 'em McDorfysack are consistent this year, Rossi and Marquez are going to be hard pressed in their battle for 3rd.
As much as I want Rossi to take another title, he isn't going to do it finishing consistently 2nd or 3rd if both Dani and Jorge are consistently finishing 1st and 2nd.
In 2006, Nicky was only battling with one person as consistent as he was. This year, there are 2 that will be for sure with a third that most likely will be and a 4th that could potentially be.

[gm2]

especially in the 2nd half of the season, i think we're going to see some epic battles. 

lorenzo is super strong now, pedro just had his best year ever by a factor of 10, marquez is going to continue to be fast as shit AND he has killer racecraft (moreso than lorenzo i would say), and you can be guaranteed there's going to be nothing old man about rossi this year.  he's got shit to prove in a major way and it's arguable whether or not anyone ever wants to win as badly as he does.

[ducpainter]

especially in the 2nd half of the season, i think we're going to see some epic battles. 

lorenzo is super strong now, pedro just had his best year ever by a factor of 10, marquez is going to continue to be fast as shit AND he has killer racecraft (moreso than lorenzo i would say), and you can be guaranteed there's going to be nothing old man about rossi this year.  he's got shit to prove in a major way and it's arguable whether or not anyone ever wants to win as badly as he does.

I think I have to disagree a little about Marquez' race'craft'.

He's a racer no doubt...more so than You'reghey or Dani will ever be, but I don't think he's even come close to perfecting his craft. He's young, talented, and already batshit fast. We haven't seen nuthin' yet.

[and I still don't like him ]

[gm2]

I think I have to disagree a little about Marquez' race'craft'.

He's a racer no doubt...more so than You'reghey or Dani will ever be, but I don't think he's even come close to perfecting his craft. He's young, talented, and already batshit fast. We haven't seen nuthin' yet.

[and I still don't like him ]

oh that's not to say i don't think he's going to get a hell of a lot better.  i do.  what i'm saying is we already know he's not another late-2000s era panzy ass GP rider.  that kid can dice.

[ducpainter]

Right, but so far he's done it on raw talent I think. I'm probably wrong.

I want to see him and some of the big kids go at it.

[gm2]

so far he's done it on raw talent I think.

as opposed to...?    

[ducpainter]

as opposed to...?    

racecraft...

[zooom]

racecraft...

yeah...I am betting Marqez "racecraft" will be similar to the SuperSic way of racing with Yourghey and and Dani...just like he did in Moto2....chop the nose off and hold on for dear life for a split second and then shoot the throttle

[DRKWNG]

chop the nose off and hold on for dear life for a split second and then shoot the throttle

I'm cool with that.

 

[ZLTFUL]

One thing can definitely be said for Marco...he made the races far more interesting when he was battling for a podium.
I would definitely like to see more riders like that in the mix...obviously with a bit more maturity but Marco was developing maturity but was still a balls out racer.

Marsqueage *I* think has a bit more maturity than Marco did at the same point in his MotoGP career. He also has a more methodical personality but he has also shown that he can disconnect his brain from his balls from time to time.

So you have the seasoned veterans with everything to gun for...Jorge out to prove he can do back to back championships...Crashy McHaggis out to prove he can win a title.
You have the young gun with everything to prove...Marquez showing he deserves his ride fully and can battle with the big boys.
And then you have the veteran and arguably the GOAT out to prove that old age and experience can out gun youth and enthusiasm. Rossi *has* to battle for podiums every race otherwise the doubts that he is still competetive will start to grow...

I think 2013 is shaping up to be a return to the good ol' days when more than 1 person was battling for the lead. Let's hope so at least...for all our sakes.

[zooom]

So you have the seasoned veterans with everything to gun for...Jorge out to prove he can do back to back championships...Crashy McHaggis out to prove he can win a title.
You have the young gun with everything to prove...Marquez showing he deserves his ride fully and can battle with the big boys.
And then you have the veteran and arguably the GOAT out to prove that old age and experience can out gun youth and enthusiasm. Rossi *has* to battle for podiums every race otherwise the doubts that he is still competetive will start to grow...

I think 2013 is shaping up to be a return to the good ol' days when more than 1 person was battling for the lead. Let's hope so at least...for all our sakes.

you paint a great picture for a good drama to unfold....except for 1 reality...the tire and bike technology which has seemingly dictated the terms and style of racing to a mostly parade format as of late....while I would love to see my words be wrong....I fear that it would take something strong to break those boundaries....

[DRKWNG]

Well, it was starting to get a bit more exciting when Sic was still with us, and tearing things up.  Granted, those times were a little different than what we have now, but there's still a chance that the addition of another young (i.e. hungry with a few things still to learn) alien will raise the bar a touch.