Next years MGP prospects

Will Vale win the 2006 MGP?? Can Hayden or Melandri take the
championship? I think the old school has gone now, Biaggi, Gibs, Checa,
Caps, Barros etc I feel will never climb that top step, maybe Gibs but I
doubt it. Pedrosa won't have the experience next year and I'm not
convinced he will adapt to MGP as well as his expectations but we'll
see. Stoner similar, give him 3 years.

I see next season being a pick from Rossi, Melandri or Hayden with Rossi
being the favourite again although I predict it being closer in points
than this years run away Rossi domination.

Paul

 

Look at the motivation. Rossi really wanted the final 500cc
championship bad since it was the end of an era. Then he really
wanted to be the first MotoGP champion. Now, not only can he win the
final 990cc MotoGP championship but he can lay claim to *every* 990cc
title. Would you bet against him with that on the line?

Along the same vein, even though it's been rumored that Rossi will be
gone after next season I can't imagine him not sticking around for one
more year to be the first 800cc champion. That is, unless he doesn't
think Yamaha's initial effort will make the grade.

 

First impressions, Biaggi will retire at the end of 2006, Rossi or
Hayden wil win the FIM championship and Melandri and Edwards 3rd or
4th. Carlos Checa will live up to his name 'Careless Chucca' and will
be dumped by Honda halfway through the season. No British wins this
season either.

 

WTF?, if they give them the right bike/tyre combo., Capa and Sete WILL
win races but not sure if they have the ammo. to beat Rossi over a full
season.

Its TIME for a non Jap brand to win the Championship and the most
*winningest* SBK Champion brand Ducati is it.

Either way looking foward to Italians winning EVERY single race next
year not just most like this year.

But alas if Yamaha would give Rossi a better bike not the shit they
have given him thus far, he *could* win EVERY race...

Leave you with this, just think the *damage* Rossi would do if he still
raced the factory honda.......

 

Without Rossi Yamaha wouldn't have won anything for the last 2 years. So the
choice they made to put the money on Rossi and not on the mechanic was
right. Honda did the opposite and we know the result... And I doubt Rossi
and/or Ferrari will wait 2008.

 

You say that like Americans have much to brag about in terms of AMA
superbike wins. At 16 wins out of 53 races in the past three years, you know
better.

 

Do you consider Mladin one of ours now? Does he?

 

Spouting yer usual anti-Rossi bullshit again, u twat.
matty

 

You're coloring the argument. They're either US citizens or they aren't.

Doesn't Rossi live in London at least part of the time?

 

I've had wages taxed from other countries where I've earned income. Does
that mean I've become a dual citizen or relinquished my US citizenship?

Taken to an extreme, the 9/11 hijackers paid taxes directly and indirectly
during their time living in the US. Does that mean they were citizens, too?

 

It's all part of the Euro-Med conspiracy.

 

Yes. Also Checa and Melandri live in the UK.

And btw, Stoner is another honorary Brit as he started his career
outside Australia in the UK 125GP series.

 

Re: Hodgson, don't ask me, ask T3 (didn't mean to Jesse Jackson-ify that).

I don't know how many GP riders (or Monaco residents in general, for that
matter) are tax exiles. I also don't know what distinction there is between
being a resident or a citizen of Monaco, what the requirements are for
citizenship in Monaco, or whether you need to relinquish your preceding
citizenship.

You are putting words into other people's mouths. As I said in my original
post on this thread, Does Mladin or the US government consider him a US
citizen? That is the ultimate factor. I can only presume that you must not
work with anyone who is in the US on a work visa. Just because their
employment is in the US does not automatically make them US citizens,
legally or even in their minds. Haven't you noticed how Mladin seems to be
on a plane across the Pacific within hours of the last race of the season
and the end of the December tire test? Does that sound like he thinks of
himself as a US citizen? The US is where his job is and where he's invested
time becoming familiar with the tracks and surroundings, pure and simple.
Mladin speaks of cutting out all the bullshit and preparing very well when
it comes to racing. Not having to learn his way around new cities and tracks
works in his favor, so why should he jump to another level or national
series?

If the dollars invested in the American and Australian superbike series were
reversed, would he still be here or there?

Why don't Canadians who have headed south to clog the highways and byways of
T3-land every winter consider themselves Floridians or Americans?

 

What's happened is that I've taken this to the extreme, not you. You
were just trying to put a lighthearted angle on things.

Nusbaum said:
"> No British wins this season either.
In BSB? Yeah, you could be right... "

I get tired of Nusbaum's smarmy backhanded comments, hyperanalysis,
general lack of acknowledgement of error, and arrogance about the
superiority of the AMA. Let's face it, Mladin is here is because of
the salary he can pull here and he can win here. Not because he wants
to live here and/or be an American citizen. That doesn't qualify him to
be thought of as an American in terms of American wins in AMA superbike
any more than the dozens of baseball players from the Carribbean area
or Japan would be Americans. They still choose to be citizens of their
native countries despite where their job is, and it's proper to respect
them for that.

 

No need to relinquish citizenship at all. Monaco allows for whatever
additional citizenships are necessary, and in fact by default you have a
French citizenship if you have the Monaco citizenship, I am pretty sure.
Other than that, a key requirement for residency in Monaco is that about ~1M
Euros (it's a flexible thing) have been lodged with a local bank. Buying
generous amounts of local bonds will also sway authorities to grant
residency status.

....pablo

 

What is simple is that you tend to say that Rossi is champion because he's
N°1 et I say he's N°1 because he's a champion. You know it's not easy to get
what you want from a Japanese factory and he succeed on this point with the
aid of Burgess who came with him (another good point for Rossi).
Now this story of 125/250 style is really an irony of the history as 30
years ago the Euro-riders was complaining about the USA developed factory
bikes.
Today some experts like you finally recognize that the GP125/250 is a better
school for MotoGP than the Superbike. You were claiming the opposite when
you made your famous list (2000 or 2001?) with Edwards N°1 and your special
mention for "the bunch of mediocre riders coming from 250".
I also red this interview of Colin saying that we was desperate to match the
corner speed (-5/6 km/h) of Rossi. I don't think he can improve with
changing of style; he's too old now.
We've seen that Haga, Bayliss, Xaus fail to adapt and it took almost 3 years
to Hayden (far younger) to reach the top 3. And I think he still misses some
aggressiveness (what they learn in 125) to be champion.

 

pierre bonneau thinks:

You sir have obviously never seen an AMA short track. Even 125 guys
could
learn a thing or two about aggression.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

Well said that man!!!

 

To Sturd, "you sir have obviously never seen a 125Gp race. Even AMA
Short track guys could learn a thing or two."

And T3. Yes. I'm glad somebody else said that. It's occurred to me as
well that Nicky doesn't seem to be able to pass people. He can run up
there in 2nd and 3rd now. And I think it's noticeable that he looks
likes he's trying less hard when he does it as though he's learning how
to ride with the wheels in line in a more 250GP stylee. But I haven't
seen him put the sort of aggressive moves on people that Rossi, Melandri
and the others seem able to.

I've thought for a while now that it would be interesting to count how
many passing moves people make through a season. It's one thing to start
from pole, get into the first corner in front and lead to a win. It's
quite another to start 4th to 8th, be 10th in the first corner and still
win. Perhaps there's a challenge there for Mark N. Rank the racers by
how many passes they made and how many times they were passed. And
before anyone comments this is not the same as the difference between
their final position and their position on the grid.