MOTOGP » Yamaha unveils 2008 YZR-M1

Roll on that day. I bet Marty even has a black and white TV

Marty, to answer your curiosity there is a few races you can put the blame on Rossi shoulder.

1. Turkey - 06 and 07, all Rossi's fault. He weak there.
2. Donington - 07, ask CEII why Rossi slower than him.
3. Sachsenring - 07, no need explanation.
4. Motegi - (Pick any year you want) Again he weak there.
5. Laguna Seca - Still can't figure out how to ride on riders track.
6. Valencia - 06, same as sachsenring 07.

Basically, all the above is related to rider ability for front-end handling. That will put the similarity to Pedrosa's hard-braking weaknesses. A rider with strong front-end confident could beat Rossi at most of the above tracks.

Interesting list Zydon,
when you just look at the passing 2 years when his package was weak it seems you have a point.
You forgot Mugello and Assen (talk about riders tracks) though, forgot engine blowups and tyre delamination.
Sachsenring 07 was entirely his fault, he was too eager to take De Puniet on the inside and lost a load of points.
Same goes for Valencia 06.
I can name you weaknesses if you want, he is not the best qualifier and starter.
Those things he has to work on (as his factory on reliability) because you can't let anything go against a tough competitor as Stoner on the Ducati.

And Valencia last year Rossi couldent keep up with Stoner and crashed all on his own....well not all on his own the presure was to much for him....No wait thats still on his own is'nt it, Doh!

They told him to go and trust the computer and open the throttle earlier.
So he did and the thing buckled him off. The shaking of the handlebars was so violent that it broke his hand, it was not from touching the ground (according to Burgess)

Damm! you boys have got the official 2008 excuse book out already....or as I like to call it 'The Sook Book"
Hey Gromm what is the beer of choice for locals in Holland and where does Amsterdam Premium Lager fit into that. Ive picked up a case, she aint bad.

Burgess words mate, or have you lost belief in him too?
Over here people usually drink Grolsch, that is the ones that claim to have knowledge of beer.
Heineken is popular too but Grolsch more, it is less 'sweet' more malty.
Don't know the Amsterdam stuff, must be export.
Went into a liquer store some weeks go and asked if they had Fosters (not kidding u),
never saw such a blank stare in my life...

Ahh Grolsch

The Morgue, Mugello and Assen doesn't push so much rider's front-end to the edge like Laguna, Turkey, Motegi and Sachsenring. Assen basically a flat track now. Instead, Yamaha has given Rossi advantages for Motegi, Sachsenring and Le Mans where Rossi was not strong and Yamaha has strong history (except Motegi). Those tracks are simply not Rossi's favorites in the past.

Other places Rossi's was wonderful. But if a rookies like Lorenzo or Toseland (in particular) strong on these WSBK-friendly tracks, it may taken some valuable points that Rossi need to secure another title. May be the Stones will change help him like they do to Stoner. Hey may need some dirt trekking practices though...

Mugello is a notoriously difficult track that takes riders years to get right. Rossi won 6 times (out of my head)?
Assen is flattened only on a couple of turns, the part they chopped off and shortened, and de Bult corners,
the southloop all the way up to the chicane is untouched (thank God), cambered and very narrow.
There's hardly places to overtake, apart from outbraking at the chicane but the Ramshoek curve to the left is blind cambered and highspeed (Elias broke his leg there, Doohan too) so it's difficult to position yourself for the chicane.
The combination of flat and cambered turns has made it arguably even more trecherous.
Yet Rossi romped from 11th to 1st.