www.boxertrix.com

So, popped down to Mcolls to pick up an MCN..... £3.25 How Much? only had £3.00 in loose on me, so I robbed 25p out of the charity box which i promised to myself to pay back with good yorkshire intention. A special edition celebrating VR. That bit went straight to recycling however Mand grabbed it as she wanted to look. I looked at the editorial and to my horror quotes like "grown men crying" err that would be MCN then and Dorna and all the paddock... Not a fan boy of VR46 mesen, in fact i think he is a bit girlie, narcissistic and a sore loser however he was a pretty boy (Mand sez) a decent racer and a first class manipulator. Fair play to the man. Good luck to him and I am sending a box load of wipes to MCN who have milked it over his career.

It would now appear that there are a few gp riders as young as 15 years who could progress rapidly off a moto 3 and disgrace the likes of veteran moto gp riders. Every champion peaks and is then disposed of their glory at the next race. Rossi had a long innings at the top and an equally long innings at the crease engineering being a celebrity and ambassador for his brand and Moto GP. I doubt the current champions will never ever have that experience or platform. Rossi`s crashes, dnf`s were few and far between perhaps that explains the longevity. I doubt we will see another racer as such.

Respect , (not admiration) is due. I am sure he will be glad to hear that

My days of following MotoGP effectively ended when BT Sport snaffled the TV rights, meaning I was no longer (prepared to pay to be) able to watch the racing live. The last few years of Rossi limping around near the back of the pack therefore do not feature heavily in my memory. I do think that by continuing on for the last few years though, he has rather taken the shine off his hugely impressive tally of race wins and podiums.

In his prime, he had several entertaining and memorable duels with aspiring champions and acquitted himself on the track admirably, whilst having a very media friendly persona. I agree with you Chris, that he was not by any stretch of the imagination the most gracious of losers.

Along with the MCN and Dorna staff, I think tee-shirt manufacturers will also be having a quiet little sob into their hankies at the moment. I'm sure history will remember him as one of "the greats" though, and his long racing decline will be forgotten over time.

There certainly seems to be more strength in depth with the current crop of MotoGP riders, with race wins being contested by several of them, rather than one rider dominating all season. Surely that's got to be a better spectacle to watch than one rider dominating and winning race after race. I guess I'll never know, unless I get a BT TV box...

Paul you can watch the highlights after every race on the Monday on ITV4 broadcast on freeview or freesat.

Yes, an era is over and arguably the rider who took over from Rossi - Marc Marquez looks like he has peaked as well, after his arm break and now his optic nerve damage too.

Next year should see closer racing and numerous different winners and podiums.
Roll on 2022