+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | Dhananjaya D R @/Blog @/Software @/Resume @/Contact | | | +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Why I revere Casey Stoner and Marc Marquez? ________________________________________________________________________________ ` `. <```--... .---.// < `. `.. `.___ / ___`.' _`_ . `DUCATI.'\\__ .'---`.`. / .'---`. /.' _`.\_\ / /.'\\ `.\ || <__||_| | || ~ || \`.___.'/ /________\ \`.___.'/ `.___.' `.___.' +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Both have had the uncanny ability to immediately get a feel for a track/bike. They would be up to race pace within 2-3 laps of getting on the track in FP1. Just freakish stuff. Both have had amazing talent to drift the rear to point and shoot the bike. The way they rode/ride the bike, sliding and drifting around corners, a joy to watch. And they could do it without compromising their lap times. For Casey ________________________________________________________________________________ Casey Stoner brought a knife to a gunfight and won. - Casey Stoner did things on a prototype beast that mere mortals would deem impossible, unnatural even. - He rode that Ducati the way he did and it will always be gangster. - Going into a corner at 265 km/h with a plan to drift the rear wheel. Incredible. - This is not just a motorbike champion. Traction control was his wrist. He rode the bike with the least amount of electronic assistance. - He won with a Ducati while his teammates were at the back of the grid. Back then factory bikes were at the front and satellite bikes were at the back, unlike now, which is an indicator that the Ducati was dogshit if riders like Melandri and Hayden were riding below satellite Yamahas and Hondas. Also he immediately got the better of Pedrosa on the Honda even more convincingly than Marquez did (although he was a rookie) and would have taken the 2012 championship as well if not for his illness. His pace was godly at times and a driver dominating as much as he did was very special at a time where Rossi, Pedrosa and Lorenzo were on the grid and at their primes. - It took years for Ducati to be developed into a bike that could win races on merit. If you didn't have the best bike back then you just couldn't win. - I think he won like 32 races on a single weekend when he was 11 or something like that. - He has won on almost every track he raced on in MotoGP. So yeah, Casey was a beast. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ .... .____. . . . .. __ .. . \../ . . . /~~\ . . . ~~~ \__/ . . . . / , .\. .. . . /_ / . .~ . // '/ . . . // // . .. . '/ /, . . / / ... _ _ _`_/ _ _ +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ For Marc Marquez ________________________________________________________________________________ Marc Marquez is the last of the aliens beating up the current grid with 1.5 arms. - The statistics speak for themselves. - See 2013, rookie champion, on the podium in his first-ever MotoGP race. 2014, wins 10 races in a row. 2019, 420 points where his teammate couldn't even manage 50. - You have to respect the mental strength. He could've walked away after Jerez 2020 or after the humerus snapped again the same year, during the bout with diplopia in 2021-22, or when he needed a 4th surgery on the same arm in 2023, or after the numerous times the Honda launched him to the moon. But he kept getting back again and again and again. When the chips are down you can only bet on yourself, and against all odds he went all in, and now completes the greatest comeback in the history of the sport. This is a story for the ages and a testament to human will. I've never been more hyped to see a more dominant season such as 2025. - I am too intoxicated with whiskey to type all of his achievements but I say, one by one, all the records will fall. Every head must bow, every tongue must confess; we are likely watching the GOAT of MotoGP. Marc Marquez, take a fucking bow. +------------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ___ /~ ~\ |_ | |/ __-__ \ /~ ~~-_ ~~ -~~\ ~\ / | \ , / / \ // _ _---~~~ //-_ \ / (/~~ ) _____/-__ ~-_ _-\ _________ / _-~\\0) ~~~~ ~~-_ \__--~~ `\ ___---~~~ /' /_-~ _-/' )~/ /' (___________/ _-~/' _-~~/ _-~ _ ----- _~-_\\\\ _-~ /' __--~ (_ ______---~~~--_ _-~ ~-_~\\\\ ( ( -_~ ~-_ | ~-_ /~~~~\ \ \~~ ~-_ ~-_ ~\ ~~--__-----_ \ ; / \ ______-----\ ~-__~-~~~~~~--_ ~~--_ \ . | | \((*)~~~~~~~~~~| __--~~ ~-_ ) | | | \ |~|~---------)__--~~ \_____________/ / , \ ~-----~ / /~ HONDA ) \ ~-----~ / ~-_ _-~ /_______________________________/ `-_ _-~ ~ ----- ~ ~ ----- ~ ________________________________________________________________________________