Barros to Honda

No argument from me here, I've said all along these were some of the best
ever. You were the one questioning their pedigree, remember?

Mostly. I seem to remember some names like Lucchinelli and Uncini inbetwen
their dynasties. Lucky was an awesome rider, and no one can say he had a
clearly better machine- he rode his balls off. Uncini won the championship
based on consistency and smarts.

Criville was the first Spanish guy to get a 500 ride without spending an
eternity on 125 and 250 first. Note I was never a big Criville fan - he is
*one* example for someone who truly got everything done for him so he could
succeed, and got a lot of chances because of his boy wonder status. That
said, he *was* an awesomely talented youngster. He got a bit lazy and
complacent and a bit of a headcase later on. But he was a natural
supertalent that *initially* utterly deserved the chances given to him.

Mamola mismanaged his own career when it came to rides - no anti-USA
conspiracies there. The European public loved him. Come on, showing off on a
bike to this day is called "mamolear" in Spain. Mamola is more popular in
Spain to this day than he's ever been in the USA. Bad example. Spanish fans
would have loved to see Mamola champion. What a talent. Definitely one of
the best riders to never win a title, but the fault wasn't discriminating
European sponsors'.

Great rider. But it wasn't Spanish and Italian riders hogging the top bikes
then. You are misrepresenting history here. Things were quite well
distributed.

Or perhaps it was because Kocinski always managed to piss off his teams and
sponsors? Awesome rider, but he can only blame himself and his abrasive
style for the fact people couldn't work with him. You seem to neglect a key
aspect of what it means to be a professional rider - *team* work is the key
to success. If you're not a team player, all the talent in the world won't
make the team a winning team. It'll implode and fail.

One of the guys I meant. I remember firmly expecting Haslam to make it to
the elite in 500. I lost a $100 bet over that at the time.

,> So I don't think your representation of Euros during the "American
Dynasty"

Losing to the Lawsons, Spencers, Gardners etc of the world ain't no
disgrace. They did beat their share of other USA riders. I remember the
famous transatlantic Brit-USA series being stopped because the US contingent
got tired of getting their asses handed to them by the Brits in the end. ;-)

Hey, very good message. Brought great memories. I can't disagree with many
of the facts, appreciate your thoroughness, but think several of you
conclusions are somewhat clouded.

In any case, here's hoping someone like Hayden (or Melandri, or... I don't
care) finally starts kicking some Rossi butt and puts an end to yet another
somewhat boring one-sided era in GP racing. I don't care what nationality
they are, just find someone who can legitimately challenge Rossi.

....pablo