Best Motorcycle racer ever.

[S2kane]

"they gotta know how to manage their tyres, fuel load, consistent racing lines, defending positions, etc, etc"

Mick did that better than anyone else, A master tactician.

I'd be the first to admit you cant argue with Rossi being the most successful!! Unless you count Agostini's 15 world titles..

[SteveH]

Rossi is good but look at his competition in the premium class: Max Biaggi, Sete Gibernau etc etc are hardly top of the tree. also please remember he took over Mick Doohan's crew when Doohan retired and took them with him when he switched to Yamaha.

he arguably has the best bikes, tyres and mechanics until the Ducati and Stoner came along.

however no doubt Rossi is good. but if he was racing against Doohan/Schwantz/Rainy/Lawson etc etc. he wouldn't have won as many races he has.

You could say the same about Mick Doohan though. He won his titles after Rainey and Co had all retired. The biggest thing about your Doohan's, Rossi's, etc. is that they are just so far ahead of everyone else, that you think the other riders are ordinary. The great riders are able to step it up when they are challenged.

No one has mentioned Mike Hailwood as he is often rated the best rider of all time as he was able to win across different classes. I am not sure Agostini was as great as his race wins suggest. He won a lot of races on far superior multi cylinder machines while most of the field were still racing single cylinder Norton's and the like

[e240]

Troy Bayliss - I thought he was very good too

[Philip Lee]

You could say the same about Mick Doohan though. He won his titles after Rainey and Co had all retired. The biggest thing about your Doohan's, Rossi's, etc. is that they are just so far ahead of everyone else, that you think the other riders are ordinary. The great riders are able to step it up when they are challenged.

regarding Doohan, 92 should have been his first title until his crash at Assen. obviously it was his own mistake but he has been proven to be able to mix it with the other greats of the (golden?!) era.

while Rossi, in my view had it much easier. maybe he was/is head and shoulder above his peers but my point was, due to the relative lack of competition, he could break records much easier than the generations before him.

in a way Rossi is a bit like Schumacher (in terms of competition and records).

[e240]

while Rossi, in my view had it much easier. maybe he was/is head and shoulder above his peers but my point was, due to the relative lack of competition, he could break records much easier than the generations before him.

in a way Rossi is a bit like Schumacher (in terms of competition and records).

Huh? Don't take that away from Rossi, its nothing like F1 - Rossi went to Yamaha, to an obviously inferior bike and still won - Honda threw everything they had - Even now, the Ducati is obviously a more Superior Bike - Just look at it down the straight, the Yamaha doesn't even have the pace to keep up and they're just about equally matched in the corners (Ducati makes great bikes!).

Its a great rider who can make it look so easy that observers think that its just easy. Sometimes, just look at what Rossi does just to keep up with the current batch of competitors, its subtle but amazing.

If Rossi were riding with the giants of old, I'm pretty sure he would hold his own and even beat them. Even Doohan has admitted that Rossi is the best.

[Philip Lee]

Remember Schumacher (Rossi) switched from Benetton (Honda) after winning titles to Ferrari (Yamaha) and built it up and won a few more titles??

obviously you can't directly compare them but the story line was similar.

i wouldn't say Duc is a superior bike to Yamaha. Duc in the hands of Stoner is great but no one else could do anything on it yet which is a mystery. on the other hand, Lorenzo, Edwards are doing pretty well on a Yamaha.

i'm not taking anything away from Rossi. he surely is one of the greats but my point is one can't just look at his record to say he is better than other greats like eg. Wayne Rainy. i'm sure he can mix with them but surely Rossi won't win as many races as the record book currently says.

[nvmee]

Not to mention Nicky Hayden, I wonder what the secret it !