21' MotoGP/WSBK/MotoAmerica discussion thread **SPOILER ALERT**

[The Black Knight]

I'm sure Rossi is just riding this year out and now that his MotoGP team deal looks to be in the final stages, I am almost certain that he will call it at the end of the year. The new line up just keeps getting faster and faster and he's just fading now. I'm sure in apparel sales alone, Petronas made most of his salary back by now They honestly should give Morbidelli factory support or I'm sure he will be jumping ship mainly with riders like Rins contract coming to an end this year and he isn't looking like he will deliver and as good of a package that Suzuki is, I'm sure they're lurking to see if they can take someone like Franco away from Yamaha and as foolish as Yamaha are being right now, they may lose out on a great rider with Factory potential. If I was Yamaha I would look to replace Maverick with Franco, he's doing more with a 2 year old bike than MV has done in his time with the factory ride.

I agree, I think Morbidelli is a very good rider, and he has shown he can be just as fast. Barring injury, he will always be right there fighting for podiums and wins. Vinales is one of those that has that alien potential, just has issues. At this point I'm starting to think it's mainly head issues. Bike is good and fast, Fabio is showing that the package is there. I think Vinales is sort of in that Lorenzo vein. When he is dialed in perfect, he's untouchable. When things are perfectly aligned, then he gets stomped or goes backwards.

I still maintain that if Vinales would have stayed with Suzuki, he may have a championship or two to his name. The Suzuki is that good, just needs that one rider on it to make things happen. Rins and Mir show brilliance on it at times and the bike is on rails. Rins problem is consistency. I still think he's faster than Mir but he has too many problems. I really think Suzuki were custom making the bike for Vinales but he jumped ship at the notion of money, prestige and all things Factory Yamaha. And the first 5 races in 2017 seemed to prove him right, as he was dominating. Then, we all know how that story went to hell in a hand basket.

Marquez is looking rough man. Two crashes during the race and both of them on the right side. He can't buy a crash to his left. He keeps battering that right arm, and sooner rather than later, it's going to get in his head.

Rossi is Rossi, what can I say. He looks terrible but did show some big improvement. At least was in the top 10 most of the Le Mans race. Mugello is make or break for him. He's got to get a good result there and I mean no less than podium. Even a 3rd place would be a win for him at this point. Too many fast guys out there now and he just can't hang. With the talent out there, he's honestly top 8 at best on a good day. He needs to dig deep, and find something to produce results. If he could consistently place in top 5, then yeah I'd say he's made a case to stick around another year or two. But this struggling for top 10's is BS. He needs to quit.

[Ted]

Rossi is Rossi, what can I say. He looks terrible but did show some big improvement. At least was in the top 10 most of the Le Mans race. Mugello is make or break for him. He's got to get a good result there and I mean no less than podium. Even a 3rd place would be a win for him at this point. Too many fast guys out there now and he just can't hang. With the talent out there, he's honestly top 8 at best on a good day. He needs to dig deep, and find something to produce results. If he could consistently place in top 5, then yeah I'd say he's made a case to stick around another year or two. But this struggling for top 10's is BS. He needs to quit.

After today's race, do you expect him to announce retirement during the summer break ?

[The Black Knight]

After today's race, do you expect him to announce retirement during the summer break ?

Wouldn't surprise me, especially after Mugello.

Mugello is supposed to motivate the Italian riders to dig deep and go for more. Bagnaia was looking to capture that until he crashed out. Morbidelli we won't ever know where he might have placed. Rossi screwed around the whole race in P17. Then somehow managed a P10 at the end.

There's been articles that he's mentioned he will make his decision after the Summer break. Which fine, whatever at this point. Also heard some rumors that his new team may be running Suzuki's next season and he's thinking of sticking around to have a go on a Suzuki.

What we are seeing in my opinion is the lack of wins has really started to wear on him. His last win was 2017 and he's just been struggling to keep his head above water ever since. Which is rather strange because you could argue that from 2014-2018 he clearly was one of the fastest riders out there. In fact it was widely consider that after the chaos of 2015, he was clearly the fastest rider in 2016. Just had some tire and engines issues that forced him to DNF races. From what I remember in 2016, he really had an axe to grind because of 2015. He was all over Marquez in Austin 2016, then the front end washed out. Bike blew up in Mugello 2016, a race where he really looked like the Rossi of old, he was toying with Lorenzo and Marquez.

I'll have to be honest, it was from there on that Rossi seemed to just start to lose a little bit. I think had he gone on to win Mugello in 2016, we would have seen a super dominant Rossi come back to life. You could really see how the wind was taken out of his sails right there on track when the bike blew up. It was almost like he just couldn't believe it and it really got in his head. His wins in Jerez and Catalunya, saw him just punish Lorenzo and Marquez. He really looked imperious in the first half of 2016. He ended up just 50 points from Marquez that year, and you could honestly say that he would have taken the crown, given he had four DNF's to Marquez' one DNF. Clearly in 2016 Marquez only took 5 wins, which in my opinion is the minimum needed for a championship win(excluding Hayden and Mir, both had anomaly years) but in general it takes at least 5 wins. And if you look where Marquez took points off Rossi in 2016, it made it hurt more when Rossi DNF'd. In all four of Rossi's DNF's, Marquez either won or got 2nd. You just can't recover from those numbers. But I can honestly say, that if you gave Rossi wins in Austin and Mugello(both races he looked to be the clear winner until crash or engine failure) he would have been able to absorb at least two DNF's because his consistency for the podium was better than Marquez that year.

From 2018 on, he's just been in decline and it really doesn't look good. It's a bad look for Rossi and he doesn't seem to want to change it.