Rossi hits rock bottom.

i feel for the man.
Probably the best rider of this age and not being able to answer like he could.

i feel bad too with what is happening to Vale and Colin. i hope they can solve it asap.

It is a shame that the tyre rule has in a sense ruined this season, i'm not taking anything away from Stoner he is a class act but these tyre problems are not just hurting Valey, every michelin rider is experiencing the same problems. Lets hope this new engine they have has something.

This is a very bad development. The championship race is virtually over already with six races to go. That's a shame, and boring too. Michelin is having a very difficult season, and Rossi is the most prominent rider to suffer from it. To lose one second per lap is far to much.

Maybe the Factory Yamaha team should switch to Bridgestone tires next year, so we can see a battle between Stoner and Rossi on equal tires.

I hope the new M1 engine with pneumatic valves brings enough top speed for Vale to make the remaining races interesting again.

the new tyre rule has not ruined the season........

the NEW TYRE RULE has show just how pathetic michelin were all the companies new this was coming so why are bridgestone the only company able to cope???? answer michelin spent the off season sat on their collective french 35hr workin week *ss and did not really look at the problem of making an all round tyre!!!!!!!

and what does it say about rossi when over the last few seasons he could have any tyre he wanted made up???? now he can't he's whining and whinging like the primadonna he is...........

I dont feel Sad for Rossi anymore as he chose to ride for Yamaha. I am just surprised how Ducati has left all the other Manufactures with their Pants down. And how Bridgestone has FCUKED Michelin. Hey I am going to throw away my Michelins in my Bike and gonna switch over to Bridgestones. Hey this is good for the Biridgestones Tyre Sales and michelins lost in Sales. Out of this I feel Sorry for Gorge Lorenzo that he was stupid enough to Sign up with Yamaha when he should have signed with Ducati Desmodesci. Tear up the contract Lorenzo

funny... I never heard anyone complaining when Michelin was winning everything and Bridgestone was "just OK at a few tracks." Now Bridgestone is up to parity, and Rossi lost another one of his technical advantages that nobody ever wants to admit that he had. So now the "season is ruined" and Rossi is sounding like another Italian rider everybody loved to hate because they thought HE supposedly complained too much about equipment. Do-oh! There is nothing wrong with MotoGP. Rossi is finally facing parity in equipment and he can't stand it. Whine whine whine. I thought the whole reason Rosi went to Yamaha was to prove to Honda that it's the rider, not the equipment... Its in his book. ROTFL

I think Lorenzo will do okay on Yamaha as long as he keep the traction control at very minimum level and keep riding like he used to in 250cc with increased corner speed such as Honda 500cc V-Twin. It's a shame Gibernau are not there, since he was he was very good on V-Twin.

Michelin have spoilt the season by being so off the pace. The reason we all love Moto GP as opposed to the procession of F1 is the best going head to head with each other, actually racing. Bridgestone have done it right and they are rightly reaping the rewards, whilst Rossi is having to learn to not have that extra luxury/edge he has enjoyed over the last few years, but the biggest loss thanks to Michelin is a compelling and exiting title challenge.

makes you wonder how much of an effect did michelin's exit from f1 has had on their tire manufacturing and research and development..

Poor old Vale has everyone wanting to tear him down. Living in London he seems to suffer from Englands "praise the winner, kill/ridicule the loser ;)This will test the true Vale and lets see who comes out. He's having a hard time realising that he had all the aces with the tyres and it's Michelin to blame for not having any real data rather than a certain riders preference from a 990 machine and failing to turn it into 800 victory for any rider. Although Vale isn't my cup of tea, we may finally see what the man is REALLY made of now he has to fight in the trenches with the rest of 'em.

While I do have the utmost respect for all the riders in moto gp, this job comes with it's ups and downs, i'm a vale fan but must also admire the season stoner is having, if michelin get their s*it together and the italian press give vale a break after all he is the best at what he does,(better than any fat pressman) maybe he can salvage some dignity and claw back some more big points in the remaining races.
I know the old saying of, "your only as good as your last race" is true, but come on there is also another one "how soon you forget"

people just dont get it do they.

the tyre thing is important now because top teams are running on them, when bridgestone came about not many teams used them, the teams that were using them, didnt have top class riders.

now that riders, who are on par with each other in terms of talent and bikes that aren't too different, if there's such a big gap between the bikes just look at the first race of the season, rossi and the yam was the only bike who could stick with stoner. The tyres are making such a big difference now, if the repsol honda's had of been on bridgestone's today, i think you would have seen a real good race, put the suzuki on michelin's and see where it comes.

Valentino has every right to be down in the dumps & not just him, Danny spat his dummy out today after the race and after seeing the state of the front tyre on rossis bike after the race im not surprised the things got no grip it was sha**ed.

What people are forgeting is what Rossi did on the yamaha & on the Honda before hand so all the users that are eager to stick the knife into Rossi ought to remember he's a 7 time world champ & they was not handed to him, just look at his first year with Yamaha, it's so damn easy for everyone to forget just what a bag of sh*t that bike was untill he signed for them and he & Burgess told them what to change & he developed it just like he did the RC211V.

Why do so many people call a straight-forward statement of what's gone wrong a whinge, excuse, etc? Get real and balanced. Sorry, but I don't see an excuse in the statements from Vale. What ever the reason for the poor performance of Michelin, the fact remains that this is ruining the season of many of the best riders, Vale included. This doesn't detract from the performance of Stoner, but he is undoubtedly riding the bike that's hit the sweet spot at the right time - and riding it perfectly. Smaller engine, high revs, patented Desmo valve technology... and perhaps less likely to punish a heavy throttle than last year (remember Stoner's propensity to drop it?)

Gnome, you have fair points to make & there is no doubt in my mind after today it's not just the tyres that are causing problems for teams.

I have to ask this, last year Valentino had a power disadvantage not as bad as this year but never the less he had that pro, this year its the same pro, now let's cut to the chase, the rider can only ride the bike to its maximum if he has the ability.

Stoner is riding well within himself and I beleive he's possibly got abit in reserve, he and the team deserves credit because they are in a league of their own this season.

However just check out the decent riders on Michelins struggling this year, this is no coincidence its down to crap rubber.

I couldnt have put it better myself Nigel and Gnome. Not taking anything away from Stoner - he is having a fantastic season - but when has he really been challenged. Leading from pole and ending up 6-7 seconds ahead of second place, without having to pass anyone - how can anyone call that racing . The tv coverage showed more of rossi, capi, de puniet and vermulen (great race btw) than the first four. I thing motogp is away to the dogs and the only good races this year have been mugello, catalunya and assen so far.

did anyone see the michelin at the end of the race . They really have a lot of work to do!!!

please dont forget that with all these tyre problems michelin are having, there is only one bridgestone that theyre not beating in the championship. 1st Stoner (B) 2nd Rossi (M) 3rd Pedrosa (M).

I know what happens in the races as i am watching the same races as you guys, but if the tyre rule was so lop sided then bridgestones would be 1, 2 & 3 in the championship. And if Stoner is only winning because of ducati then Capirossi would be comfortably be second in the championship.

Credit should be given when credit is due!

Fair point Andrew, but perhaps the reason Rossi and Pedrosa are (a distant) 2nd and 3rd is because their talent and skill put them there against the odds. This is taking nothing away from Stoner. Who knows, if Michelin were competitive this year Stoner may well still be leading (be honest though, it wouldn't be so easy), he is riding brilliantly. The fact that he is on a far superior package shouldn't downplay his skill this year, he's made the difference . My favourite rider is Edwards simply because he's a cool fooker. Still, I'd like to see Stoner do what Rossi did in Assen, then he'd be a legend...

I say give them all 5 laps on their pit-lane scooters and see who wins! Would be a laugh

The real problem lies with Yamaha. Yamaha is the one with another terrible year, and there's only so much rossi can do to make it up. Yamaha didn't do their homework this year because they thought Rossi and Jeremy would do their homework for them and win the championship as in 2004, 2005 and almost 2006 (2007 example, lack of top speed. What is Yamaha thinking?). Also, many of you guys are blind about the fact that the tire rule IS bad. Its either a michelin race or bridgestone race. I dont care if you're a rossi fan or not, when has rossi finished worse than 30 sec? Stoner is having a great year as Hayden did last year. Hopefully Yamaha got their game on with this new upcoming engine.