Quote:
Originally Posted by Pig Farmer
I'm going to respectfully disagree with your assessment of MotoGP. While I agree the riders put more on the line than most professional athletes or motorsports participants, MotoGP is not without its form of "sanitization". Going back to the early 2000s they moved from the 500cc 2-strokes to the 1000cc 4-strokes. This was obviously done in search of more speed, but it sure made the bikes more docile, predictable, and easier to ride. I wasn't to bent out of shape when they made that move. The riders required immense skill and throttle control to man handle the bikes. Once riders started to master the 1000cc bikes, and manufactures started to up the horsepower, MotoGP reduced the displacement to 800cc. Because of better electronics (and tire compounds), the 800s began breaking all the track records once held by the 1000s. Once the electronics improved to the point that they could override all but the most ham fisted throttle inputs, they raised the displacement back to 1000cc. One could easily argue that all of this progress has placed R&D ahead of rider skill. Do I think the current crop of riders are good... Of course. But there's no question that MotoGP has been sanitized. This is what makes Rossi so impressive. He's won during each step of the way. And while we will never know, I'm not sure some of the premier younger riders could do the same.
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You have a very good point here, I raced the last two motocross seasons of the 2 Stroke 500cc class - vicious bikes with absolutely no room for error. Technology moves on though and is unstoppable - i did not move on to the new 4 stroke bikes, mainly because I had too many injuries and was simply too old. Rossi simply has raw talent on two wheels, even rides a motocross bike for training, so it doesn't surprise me that he still rides at the top level for his age. I admire the Moto GP guys because they race hard for the full race with no quarter given, ever. F1 is a bunch of guys complaining over the radio when another car gets too close to them, perhaps with the exception of Verstappen, who will take any gap presented to him. I loved the days when an F1 driver drove 10/10ths is an 8/10ths car, Senna comes to mind in his first races in F1, then, when he had a 10/10ths car, he drove it at 11/10ths. Some of the things I still watch in the motorsport realm are Isle of Man TT and WRC.