07-18-2006, 04:53 PM
.RJ Wrote:stevegula Wrote:And there's still one wild card in all of this: Max Biaggi. Unless MotoGP decides he's too old, he's still an unbelievable rider.
Max is a bitch, he burned way too man bridges and he's done. He couldnt even get a WSBK ride.... maybe an AMA SBK team will pick him up :lol:
He was a good rider, not a great rider. He crashed too much, folded under pressure, and blamed his equipment, his team, the track, everyone but himself.
He doesn't always fold under pressure. That's why he's got so many race wins under his belt. And I guess you didn't know it, but he actually had a ride lined up for MotoGP this year, he just couldn't pull off a tire deal. When no tire deal materialized, his sponsor (Camel) left. Once that happened Kawasaki told him they couldn't afford to put him out there and he finally lost that ride.
Biaggi was a great rider. If he weren't so consistently at the front of the pack, you never would have learned about him in Faster. Don't forget that guy has four championship titles under his belt. Biaggi's one downfall was his arrogance. He's kind of the T.O. of MotoGP right now it would seem. Pissed off enough people that he doesn't get to play for awhile. Of course, the biggest issue is who he butted heads with: Honda. Honda thinks it is the bike that matters, not the riders. So if a rider doesn't play by their rules they get fired, doesn't much matter who they are.
Look at Hayden. He'd much rather be riding the bike Pedrosa is on, but Honda told him if he wanted to ride at all he'd be testing out next years bike. Which makes it all the more surprising that he's leading the championship. Very few people at Honda ever expected him to go top 5 because of the bike he's on and the competition he's up against this year. Although it kind of sets the stage for next year. Yamaha is having chasis issues this year and actually had to go back and pull from last year's frame, whereas Honda is already fine tuning their setup for next year.