Cycle News

VOL. 52 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 18, 2015 P153 ling, with plenty of time to let his so far merely likeable persona to develop. So it's between the two of them, and although Lorenzo is certainly in a position to beat them both, in legendary terms that would be something of a disappointment. This is how it has gone so far. In his 20th grand prix season, and after 322 grand prix races, Rossi has been simply amaz- ing, polishing up his ever-green credentials with a tally of three wins and a 100 percent rostrum record. The wins include the epic at Assen, where his cre- ativity, opportunism and quick reactions made mincemeat of Marquez's most devastatingly successful tactic—the last-corner T-bone attack. The youngster, fresh off two years of remarkable domination and after (by way of comparison) a mere 124 starts, has gone the other way. It almost looked like a melt-down, but there was an un- derstandable technical reason. His original 2015 RC213V was a precision instrument, and it didn't suit his loose and wayward riding style at all. His particular gift (reminiscent, by the way, of the previous "youngest-ever" superstar Freddie Spencer) is to push the bike until it has started to crash, and then to recover it. The new bike didn't allow him to do that, so he crashed instead. Three times, in the first half of the year, and one of those not even while fighting for the lead. Zero points, times three. Shortly before the midway point, an epiphany. Before the Dutch TT—and one wonders why it took him so long—he switched to last year's chassis, although retaining this year's swingarm and rear suspension linkage. He tested the combo at Misano, and though rain meant he only got a handful of laps, he immediately felt comfortable. Go to Assen and at once he was back where he belonged— riding on the ragged edge, nice and loose, and getting away with it. Almost won there, won from pole in Germany and now at Indy. With eight races left, he now hangs 56 points adrift of Rossi. This means he needs to take back seven points per race to equal his score. Since this implies a number of race wins and he is already equal on three, equal points would be good enough for a third successive crown. At each of the last two races, he has recovered nine points. Better than bang on target. (By the way, the same figures versus Lorenzo require an aver- age points recovery of just under 5.9. His average gain over the last two races has been 8.5.) Personally, I think he could do it, and it would be genuinely legendary if he did. While my admiration for Rossi knows no bounds, a comeback like that would be something very special. A friend poo-pooed the notion saying it was not possible. Nobody in history, he said, has made up such a gap. This is not strictly true. As an old-timer, I recall as if yesterday the 1992 season. At Assen, with six (of 13) races left, Mick Doohan led Wayne Rainey by 65 points, requiring an average of more than 10 points a race. Back then, points were fewer and awarded only to the top 10. Ap- ply today's system, and the gap becomes a yawning 80 points; the average increases to 13.3. As we know, Rainey did come through to win his third and final title. It wasn't decided on the track, however, but in the hos- pital. Neither even started at As- sen. Rainey was at home, badly battered. Doohan broke his leg in practice and suffered shock- ingly bad medical treatment that meant he missed four of those six races, coming back as a limping ghost, unable to save his dwindling advantage. For this epic season, this is also possible, but a bad crash for any of the three potential winners would of course be the worst way of reaching a final result. Here's hoping it will go to Valencia without interruption. Whichever way it ends up, it will surely be legendary. CN

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