P122
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
W
ant to become un-
popular for no good
reason? I am already
an expert, but now I refer you to
Marco Lucchinelli.
"Lucky" is the Italian who nar-
rowly beat Randy Mamola and
Kenny Roberts to the 500cc
World Champ in 1981, went on
to win Superbike races then to
run the factory Ducati Superbike
team back in the late 1980s.
Now the elder statesman is in
the dogbox for downing Valen-
tino Rossi.
VR, he opined, is over the
hill. He should make way for the
young guys who are currently
kicking his backside.
Rossi could, he told Tutto Mo-
tori, "run up to [when he is] 50—
seventh or eighth every Sunday,
sometimes fourth and maybe
every so often a podium. [But]
the Rossi we knew fought for vic-
tories every Sunday. Something
important has changed."
After the opening two rounds
at Doha, seventh or eighth would
be very welcome for the senior
figure of the grid but never mind
that now. Lucky had more to say.
Elsewhere he described
early-days Rossi as "a genius, a
Martian. But now he's back on
earth." Now, "he takes the bike
off a young man, hasn't won a
race for more than three years,
and the last title in 2009. He
always competed to win. Now it
is just to finish."
Back at the height of his pow-
ers, MotoGP dreaded Rossi's
departure. He was the one-man
figurehead with an army of fans,
PAN ROSSI AT YOUR PERIL
