He was my fav as well, I used to root for him during his battles with Rossi. I felt really bad when they fell out.

Yes, it will take a lot for Stoner to be considered in the same league as Rossi but you cannot belittle what hes' done so far in the premier class.

He's won the most number of races in the 800cc era (17 IIRC). He's had a perfect start to this years campaign, so lets see how it goes but whatever happens I'm rooting for Melandri on the Kawasaki .

Cheers

Thats pretty insulting IMO and tells more about your personality than a former Moto Gp World Champion.

1. Rossi is a whole different issue if u bring him into a team ! Imagine the no of fans .. the sponsorship deals ! the after effects .. Sales of the respective company s motorcycles ! Do u think they would bid for Rossi just for development ? At the same time Colin was nt even a title contender and was even plannin to head back to WSBK! So why did they bid for him ?

2. Tires do play an important but when there is no power or a strong engine to compete with ..it just does nt matter ! I hope u remember the Qatar race in 2007 ! 325 kmph Duc against a 310 kmph Yam !.. Who did they use to check the new parts ! and u mght as well remember the new pneumatic valve engine they tested at Misano and how it bombed !..even engine is part of developing rght !? Chassis , Suspension and tires need more knowledge in giving the proper setup rather than discovering new things.. Jeremy n vale are the best in it !! ( not sure about it I thnk Jeremy and Doohan were the best in it )
And they test new techs in WSBK too... YAmaha tested and raced with its electro magnetic suspension with haga n corser .. That is wat is development ! not tryin to find the proper setup !!!


If my memory is right, Rossi missed the first winter test in 2007 at Sepang due to his injury or somethin ( i ain t sure about the reason ) and one session at the 2008 pre season test too !..With Lorenzo n Toseland new to the grid Colin was testin the new parts ...And even after he was in Tech3.. the agreement was that they would get the new engine only after 2 races !but he was still developin the pneumatic valve engine ... And Rossi did take 3 - 4 races to find the proper setup ..i hope u remember the frst race where dovizioso overtook rossi in the final lap ! Rossi did say he has nt found the proper setup ! ( thats not development )..but the M1 was capable of keeping up with the GP8 in the straights ! hmm shud i say that was some development which the tires did matter ?

And sarcasm does nt help Nitin !..if you know somethin just say it don t give some punchlines to show it !

@suren: so according to ur last post, are u trying to say that Colin is better at bike development or he did more than Rossi for it because Rossi couldn't find a proper set up till first race last year??? If yes, then I will have to disagree. Again, I will repeat what I said in my previous post , and that is - You don't have to be in MotoGP itself to know that Rossi, Jeremy Burgess and their are the core of M1 development. Its all known.

And If you are so well informed otherwise, then I should be surprised that even renowned motogp journalists and commentators like Nick Harris have the same opinions as I have (or visa versa more appropriately) about Rossi's involvement in bike development!!! And I am sure they are much more well informed about who is contributing how much in his bike's development, right!

Well Said...I think this is the most valid post on rossi-stoner debate .

Where is sarcasm in my post.. Suren?

Still i'll say it more clearly.. What you said in your earlier post was farse!

The essay you have just posted doesn't actually justify ur older post, I hope you realise that its just your opinion based on no facts! So don't try too hard to prove it write.. coz it aint worth it.. "punchline"

He is a world champion no doubt and am sure he'll again be sometime in the future, but that doesnt automatically make him the most colorful of personalities !! Its an opinion of millions of pple around the world that he is a whining snob !! Again its just an opinion, which they (and me) are entitled to have. You think he is a rock star, good on you.

And you can think anything about my personality brother, I've enuff self esteem to not be bothered about it.
But please watch the language in wich u put it across.
Peace ...

@Sukant: Please refrain from any kind of insult. You might be a fan of anyone in this world, but that doesn't give you any kind of right to insult/ use certain kind of 'language' against other rider(s).

^^ Whoa !! Wen did I insult anybody ??? Okay, I do not like Stoner but I respect him for what e has done !! The statement 'personality of a toothbrush' although isn't exactly politically correct, is tongue-n-cheek and not an insult yaar !!

Anyways, I do not wish to drag is further, and apologies if I have insulted anyone !!

@Aryan: I think you have overreacted on Sukant's statement in which he called Stoner a "toothbrush". What was insulting in that? I mean if we will start taking this kind of things as insult then boy, u are going to have lot of trouble managing threads

Xbhp is a forum afterall! And these kind of these are exchanged quite often in a forum and should be taken normally. Darkside seems to be a big fan of Stoner and he felt that it was an insult! that was an overreaction too, I call Stoner an overconfident, arrogant Aussie, now sue me for this insult!!!

so cheer up, ok Let's balance the equation, now whom should we call a "toothpaste"

You keep on doin it dude ! and you are are the one who s not ready to accept the facts or neither ready to listen ! You seem to assume things and think what other ppl say is crap ! I ve just answered your questions ! And again ! Sepang 2007 winter testing new parts n engine tested by colin missed by rossi ! ( Check wherever you want n prove it wrong .. if you can )Rossi did not attend all the testing sessions and did nt do much in the evolution of the 800cc M1 which he won with !!!
All the best !

Go ahead! Do whatever you feel like. ENJOY!

Ummm ..... Adriana Stoner ???

Again, sorry for dragging this, but I did not call Stoner a toothbrush, I just said .. ummmm .. as a figure of speech .. that he lacks a lil' someting ! A finesse.
Also wat bout D Dark Side callin me names !! I am hurt .....

But .. moving on ..
@Mods : Would you think it'd be a good idea to perhaps start a separate thread for every race? And discuss general MotoGP in this umbrella thread ? that way discussions will be more manageable.

I Agree tht sometimes he is overconfident, but definitely not arrogant. If only this was U.S. where people sue for fun