I don’t know if you’ve read Lance Armstrong’s autobiography with the above title. It’s a pretty harrowing read, actually, especially when it is detailing the after-effects of the chemotherapy he endured. What does come through is that his struggle, his recovery and his triumph in the Tour de France WASN’T about the bike, it was about the mental toughness that he exhibited in fighting and beating cancer.
I was reminded about this this morning when I noticed an excellent B&W shot of Livio Suppo on the Asphalt and Rubber web site. The story attached harks back to when Suppo was head of Ducati’s race effort back in 2007, the year they controversially signed Casey Stoner and then presided over his amazing world championship win. During that year, Suppo was constantly asked what it was about the bike that made it such a dominant force, and, time after time, Suppo told journalists that they hadn’t done anything that special with the bike, it was just the way that Stoner was riding it. Of course, he wasn’t believed. The international press found the idea of an upstart Australian with little MotoGp experience beating Valentino Rossi at his own game on skill alone to be altogether too unpalatable for words. So, his championship was decried with the dismissive, “Well, he had the best bike” aphorism (especially on American forums, it must be said)
Well, think back to that scenario now and ask yourself two questions.
1. WAS it just the bike? Or, was Suppo right when he consistently told the journalists that it was Casey’s riding that made the difference? Incidentally, if it WAS just the bike, why didn’t Casey’s team-mate do as well as he did?
2. Will the same journalists trot out the same crap again in 2011 when (if) Casey Stoner is crowned World Champion again at Phillip Island in a couple of weeks’ time? Already the TV commentators have alluded many times to how much better than everybody else’s bike the Honda has been this year. Will this be used as an excuse to belittle Stoner’s performance again? I am guessing that, in some quarters, it will be.
And, most importantly, do not we have being clearly played out before us every meeting the PROOF that it wasn’t just the bike? NOBODY has achieved any level of success on the Ducati EXCEPT Stoner. Not even Rossi, rightfully acknowledged as the Greatest of all Time, has been able to wrestle from the Italian beast the level of performance and consistent winning success that Stoner was able to achieve.
I’ll get down off my soap box now.
Overnight, the Gresini team announced that Marco Simoncelli has re-signed with the team for 2012, so that reduces even further the number of chairs left in the game. Over the next few weeks we should see the picture becoming even clearer.
Should John Hopkins win the BSB next weekend, he has been promised a wild-card at the season-ending GP at Valencia (I’m guessing it won’t make any difference if he doesn’t win, the ride’s been promised anyway)