We got a taste of ...

what a MotoGP without Valentino Rossi could be. Last Sunday, he crashed at the first turn after being hit by the Spaniard Toni Elias, ex 250cc rider at his first race with the big boys. Valentino jumped back on his bike after waving his fist, but his race was already compromised. Anyhow, everybody knows the final result. My question is if anyone had fun watching it. Personally I got bored and because of the commercials I ended up watching more the Food Channel than the race. The dissatisfaction is not for the race itself, but about the way it was presented to us, TV viewers. Most of the attention went to Loris Capirossi, undisputed leader and winner, along with Daniel Pedrosa, author of a series of consistent fast laps. The rest of the riders were only accidentally focused by the cameras. We totally missed Valentino's race without a foot-rest peg trying to catch a couple of points for the championship. They kept showing his hand pulling a broken brake lever. And what to say about Elias? After his bad start he was able to climb back to the front of the group finishing 4th but no images of him dicing with the other valuable riders where showed to us. The final blow to my TV experience was caused by the press news after the race. Capirossi was very happy but still very professional if not "corporate" in thanking his Ducati team and Bridgestone. On the other end, Pedrosa really scared me: I thought he was just a timid person but I was wrong. After winning 3 consecutive world championships in the 125cc and 250cc, and finishing on the podium on his first race in MotoGp, he was not able to crack a smile for us to ignite a minimum of passion in our hearts. He will take Valentino's place in dominating the top class but the show, or better, our fun is going to be over. Even Nicky Haiden was a disaster. He was not relaxed during the race (AMA inefficient braking style) and even after finishing third he was not able to enjoy his podium. In front the press he was sad, serious and overall negative.

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