Riders opinion on last weeks events by Gino Rea, seems as balanced a view as you'd get?.........
Gino Rea
I've had quite a few people ask me about the Sepang events so before the excitement at Valencia begins, here are some of my views. I am not taking sides as I believe both riders were at fault in one way or another. Firstly, I recommend reading these articles, in which I agree mostly with:
https://motomatters.com/analysis/2015/1 ... who_h.html (scroll down to 'Down the rabbit hole')
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/race/ ... -incident/
My opinion of some of the standout points in the articles...
"He was trying to judge the right moment to turn in, something which proved to be impossible. At some point, he had no choice. If Rossi had been aiming to take the corner, instead of pushing Márquez off the track, there would have been no contact"
Having raced Sepang myself, I can put myself in MM's shoes at that corner. At the point where VR sat him up, MM's body position was already leaning off the bike ready for the turn. MM was waiting for him to make the turn. At this point MM made the split second decision (it's impossible to know what the rider on your inside is going to do) that VR would soon turn and therefore he could stay on track and not touch the astroturf. When VR continued straight, MM was already committed to keeping himself on the track and the two collided. I don't agree with the view that MM intentionally headbutted VR's knee (why would you? It's as silly as kicking a 157kg MotoGP bike-and I also don't think VR kicked MM). Whether MM's head touched VR's knee or not, to me is irrelevant. Things happen all too quickly to analyse these fine details. They collided and MM went down. The fact remains that if VR had turned in a bit earlier, the crash would not have happened. I don't blame VR for doing what he did, with the goal to make MM run wide but he didn't execute it well enough to get away without a consequence.
We all know why VR made that move...
"Was Marc Márquez' riding fair? He has every right to fight for his position on the track, but it is deeply unsporting to get involved with a rival with other priorities, unless you can beat them simply. There is nothing in the rules about being sporting, though, just about not being dangerous"
If I were MM, I would have sat behind VR. MM's argument was that he sat behind VR for a lap and thought he could go faster and therefore repassed him. In any other race situation he could have got away with that, but in light of the Championship battle, MM should have settled in behind him. If MM wasn't fast enough to stay with VR, then the best man on the day would have finished infront of the other. If MM sat behind VR but was faster later in race and was being held up by him, then he had the right to pass him (as long as it was clean).
"Ultimately, though, it was Valentino Rossi who lost out most by losing his cool."
Unfortunately, this is true. It has cost VR a lot more than it has cost MM. But it isn't over yet! This is motorcycle racing and you just never know what happens next...
You lot are so funny.
True athlete by his own admission, but I doubt that he served time. Quality
and the national petition?