Quote Originally Posted by madvlad View Post
Yeah man what an unfortunate turn of events for him mainly after how strong he was coming in before the red flag came out but well gotta love racing, sometimes the muses don't smile down all the way, just an overall shit season for Yamaha but sure hope they can find their way back next season. Super cool to see KTM on the podium, pretty good ride for Pol. Would have been awesome to see Dani take at least a podium but I think he was just playing it safe just to take the checkered and clock out one last time for HRC and the paddock won't ever be the same without him that's for sure. After the red flag it didn't seem like a lot of riders were very eager to get back out there on that shit show but this is why Nascrap is laughable to say the least, here these guys are risking it all at nearly 200mph in massively wet conditions of all things making it happen, true warriors.

Rins will be a force to be reckoned with at the pace he's going and if Suzuki keeps their bike up to par as well, he's really come into his own this season and what a ride by him as well, smooth, cool and collected but made it happen. Also mad props to Nakagami dude, he even said it on friday that he was glad the conditions were crap so he could get more rain seat time since he admitted he sucked at it but damn well earned 6th place and being on Parc Ferme.... Well now back to my dull life and search for meaning with race season being over, damn it all I can say is that I honestly never thought that motorcycles would take such an important role in my life but man all I can say is am I glad I bought my first motorcycle and don't regret one thing about it! Well fellas counting down the days to the 2019 sticky taking place sooner than later cause man next season is cooking up to be insanely good. All I can say is I LOVE THIS SHIT!!!!!
I agree with much of what you say. I too thought Rossi looked good and strong. But he's just lost that killer instinct that the rest of the field have. I don't know what it is, or why but he has just lost it. He hasn't lost any speed as he can still run just as fast as everyone else and even set a few fastest laps in races throughout the season. What he's lacking is just that drive you see in the most hungry of racers, competitors or sportsman.

I'm sure some of it is down to him just not thinking it's worth the risk and really in his position it isn't worth it. He's got 9 titles and won tons of races, along with hundreds of podiums.

So Rossi always talks about the motivation has to be high in order to race. I still think his motivation to race is still high, probably the highest it's ever been. But it's his ambition that's not where it should be. He's motivated to race(because it's his passion and he loves racing) but he's not motivated to go out and win races and be that portrait of dominance he once was. That's where I see the motivation is gone.

The ambition is gone for a litany of reasons. He doesn't have the right bike, the electronics control to much now(or everything is dependent on them), the tires don't inspire confidence, the grid is ultra competitive now and let's face it, he's just getting older...