Ralf is definitely over the top, but 1%er has been the same since his earliest posts on here. Ralf at least took a while to get aggro with folks. Some started out with that attitude. Would be nice if both would give it a rest, many times.

I'm thinking Ralf might be an Aussie...

He wears Speedos
He surfs
He calls a spade a spade
He has a low tolerance for nonsense
Ready to help a mate when needed
Likes to stir the pot on occasions to see what rises to the surface
Liked by all who have met him (from what I can see)

Sounds Like a good all round fellow to me.:cool:

Well your entitled to your point of view but I certainly don't subscribe to that,Pedrosa is and always has been fast but fragile and hence why he has never won a Moto GP championship,Stoner is a league above him,he hasn't had either Puig or Repsol to wipe his backside over the years,all Stoner has had is Ducati to stab him in the back,I saw Stoner at the Valencia test in 2010,he did a handfull of laps and came in with a smile on his face and spent most of the talking with his leathers around his waste.

As for Rossi he really a law unto himself in 2012 not because of his talent,but because of his ability to generate so much money,if Rossi wasn't getting in the top 10 his fan club would still be as strong, financial and otherwise,and thats the complication,he really is becoming a victim of himself,could he win another championship yes if Lorenzo and Pedrosa fall off and break their legs,and the fact that Honda will throw everything at the championship next year,with new bikes and upgrades to everyone that runs a satellite team for them,never mind Marquez and Pedrosa,so no I don't think he's got a hope,Yamaha will just wheel him out as a money making machine,which I guess is just as important!!!.

The Ducati triangle of Rossi/Hayden.Preziosi hasn't worked,Preziosi is going back to the factory,I've already said on here I believe resigning Hayden is a major mistake,but you can't really blame Ducati,they are after continuity and Rossi looks as if he's already gone.

I've seen several posts on here about Rossi and how folks would like to see him on a Honda,they don't realise what bad blood was involved when he left,but getting to see what a whore house Moto GP really is,anything is possible.

Roger, I will make changes following your wrist-slapping. I'm willing to bet money that Signit98 won't put a lid on it because it's in his blood.

Chris Canning: You have a keen eye for the politics and money aspect of MotoGP. Let me respond by saying Stoner is indeed a better driver than Dani. I was taking issue with Signit98 saying that Stoner had a better bike. The times the bikes deliver are virtually a dead heat when you compare the QP times. How they get tweeked by the rider is a different issue.

And yes, I don't think Rossi is on Honda's Christmas card list; but, if Honda thought he could deliver them another champion season or two, I don't think his last exit would get in the way. After all the bottom line is ALWAYS expressed in Euros and anyone who thinks different is a fool. I'm speaking about the constructors and drivers.

WHAT?

Please be kind and show me where and when I said that? YOU were the one riding the difference in bikes... look at post #22 for example, where you basically state that within the Ducati Team the difference in bikes is like going from one end of the universe to an other.

They have (with the exception of slight iteration/updating differences) mostly identical bikes... and if they don't it's usually not for long. As soon as they figure out what works/doesn't...

I think people write off VR too quickly. VR has always been extremely quick and supremely talented. Don't think he lost either.

VR on the other hand also always had a weak spot. If it doesn't work inside his head, it doesn't work on the bike. He doesn't bounce back in confidence as easy as others and it clearly shows on the Ducati.

If VR gets on a bike he trusts and restores his confidence next year, I'd say the other riders better pay attention to him cause he's going to be quick, very quick and he'll have something to prove.

don't know what Rossi is doing or how, but the jungle drums are saying that he's looking for...gasp...100 million (not sure if that's dollars or euros) to establish and run his own team.
don't know if that's a one year, 2 or 3 year dealio. (not looking to hire him, ergo i'm only mildly interested in the terms).

seems like that's a tad (a big tad) higher than would be reasonable...but maybe it's the cost for a complete independent team.

keep in mind that sometimes those drummers don't know wtf they're talking about.

...Euros, Dollars, what's the diff when it's a million.
Heck I'll take a million nickles.

Thanks Kevin... yeah, I wouldn't mind being an Aussie. Many friends from there and over there. However, I am ok with being German, nothing wrong with that either! :D

Yes, but he's also a ... a GRAMMAR Nazi... can I tell you how many times he's corrected my broken Engrish? And he's smug about it too... likes to rub it in my face all the time. I dare say I make up for it all with my debonaire style. :D

If your English as your native language is so bad a non-native English speaker needs to correct you, then they have every flipping right to be smug about it! ;)

:D SmileWavy

Something like that, yeah. Though, as a non-native English speaker, I have no idea what you just corrected. It all looks the same to me.:D

...lol neither does he, Gijs... he is just showing off.

when he's wearing his speedo?! ew ew ew. ;)

YAMAHA CONFIRMS ROSSI DEAL THIS MORNING

It is with great pleasure that Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd confirms the signing of Valentino Rossi to ride for the Yamaha Factory Racing MotoGP Team for 2013 and 2014.

Valentino Rossi first joined Yamaha in 2004 and achieved four MotoGP World Champion titles with the Yamaha YZR-M1 in 2004 & 2005 and again in 2008 & 2009. He won 46 Grand Prix races with Yamaha over a 7 year period before leaving at the end of the 2010 MotoGP season.

Rossi, who is presently 8th in the Championship standings, will partner Jorge Lorenzo who currently leads the 2012 MotoGP World Championship by 23 points, having taken five victories from the first ten completed races of the 18 race series.


...rossi's official PR should be coming out in a few hours.

THAT should make for an interesting 2013 season at Yamaha...
Two riders that do not really like each other (to say it politely)
A factory that has every bit of interest in seeing the younger rider succeed.
And a rider who has something to prove, but might be a tad bit on the late side of the calendar to do so...

All the while, having to fight 2 young riders with gobs of talent, riding for the team with the most money and the willingness to still invest said money... one of them even from the "Vaterland".

I might watch after all...

so ben ran away.
valentino can't do the duck walk (must remember that for wedding receptions he attends...)

that looks an awful lot like a win/win for lin jarvis, the yamaha race team god.

he also got lorenzo to re-sign up through '14, which matches rossi's deal.

(maybe it's me, but in this foto, it looks like rossi won't even look his new best freind and bunkmate straight in the eye...)

come on boys: you have to get along: now that your teammates, you'll be driving to the races together now, sharing a motel room, fly side by side in coach, etc...

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1344608727.jpg

also interesting to note: while jorge has a patch from a paid sponsor, rossi has his own brand (him) on his hat.

patches smatches why can't these guys shave since they can't grow real beards?

The last time I saw Rossi and Jorge swap paint on a Yami, VR came out the winner. I smell a mid-life crisis looming for the Spaniard. Let's see what the bookies in Vagas say next year.