Rossi challenges Alonso

[evo3]

Rossi challenges Alonso​

By Theodore Liasi
LONDON (espnstar.com) - Valentino Rossi has told Fernando Alonso to put his money where his mouth is after the Formula One World Champion claimed he remained unimpressed by the MotoGP superstar's recent tests with Ferrari.

The Renault world champion poured scorn on Rossi's efforts claiming the Italian would find it very difficult to switch from two wheels to four.

"He might finish fifth or even get on the podium some time but I could do the same on the bikes if I was given enough time to practise," the Spanish driver told a news conference.

Alonso's comments did not go unchallenged as the fiery Italian responded by challenging Alonso to three-stage race.

"I read that if Alonso is able to make some practice then he can put a MotoGP bike on the podium with me," Rossi was quoted as saying in Motorcycle News on Wednesday.

"Well, I think we should drive a Formula One car, a World Rally car and a MotoGP bike, add the times together and then we will see who is the fastest."

Rossi has repeatedly tested for Ferrari including a session in February with other drivers where he managed to post a lap time quicker than a number of regular F1 drivers.

However, Alonso's voice is not a lone one within Formula One, Midland Racing's Christijan Albers – who admits to being a big fan of Rossi's – also had his doubts suggesting that Rossi's performance in Spain last month.

"Knowing Ferrari, they could have taken all the fuel out of his car to make him go quicker," he told espnstar.com exclusively. "I'm not saying that is what they did, but it wouldn't surprise me."

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i think Alonso will chicken out cos alonso had never(never read it b4) drive a WRC Car and ride it MOtoGP. He might went over the ravine in WRC and crash on MotoGP. This is just my opinions.. :)

 

[ace79]

I came from a 2 - wheeled background ( watched Wayne Gardner wrestling his NSR 500 back in 1989, watched Rossi's 1st race in the 125cc category back at Batu 3 ) and have been owning all sorts of bikes for the past 8 years, and a regular Sepang 2 wheeler, I believe that Alonso cannot compete with Rossi. Rossi's been a regular top hitter with Michelin's Rally of Champions ( forgot the actual title ), have been testing with pretty good results ( for s 1st timer ) on F1 machines ( Rossi actually started with go karts bfr moving on to minibikes in his younger days ). Alonso shouldn't be doing such comments, it's not fit with his image, which, with his recent comments on Rossi, makes him look like a bad boy wanna - be. We should wait and see...and yes, I still find A1GP a bit more entertaining compared to F1 though.

 

[si|verfish]

Might Alonso be letting the title and the hype get to his head? Which would be surprising. He looks such a calm and collected fellow, always thinking. Odd that he would come out with comments like these.

Rossi is definitely multi-talented. How well he can do in F1 remains to be seen. Still, he's a feisty character and he has taken Alonso's comments as a gauntlet thrown down. It'll be interesting to see if Alonso takes him up on it.

 

[zephyr3d]

hai.. there u go. Who is better... big motor mouth like Alonso, and Ralf... or a quiet-but-labelled-as-Arrogant Raikonnen?

i'll take Kimi anytime...

sometimes.. those ppl oughta learn to shut up and show what they can do on the track instead. Lets see if Alonso is a one season wonder or a real champion this time around.

Frankly, i was never a fan of Alonso, darn difficult to accept the fact that he has sign for my favourite team.

 

[koolspyda]

alonso is a fag. sometime he "cock-talk" without thinking.

opps may have offended pro alonso fans.

high respects for rossi. throw in different car category races; my money is on rossi to do better overall

granted its not easy to be a F1 champion but it is even harder to be a MotoGP champion let alone transitioning from 125cc - moto GP

 

[landax_sonix]

waaa ace79,we are same laa..but that time im eddie lawson big fan,also start follows rossi since he race at 125,he got world factor la like MAWI ehehhehe.if he switch to F1...i think Moto gp fans also will switch to F1 lerr..jst my 2 sen

 

[ace79]

waaa ace79,we are same laa..but that time im eddie lawson big fan,also start follows rossi since he race at 125,he got world factor la like MAWI ehehhehe.if he switch to F1...i think Moto gp fans also will switch to F1 lerr..jst my 2 sen

yep, if Rossi moves to F1 ( or any sport in particular ) he will pull in his fans ( which, is in DROVES!!!! damn a'plenty i'd say! )! this, in turn, will at least, turn up the heat a little bit ( and bringing in more prospective spenders from Rossi's camp of fans ) and the sport of Rossi's choice will see a great boost from many angles, like sales of memorabilia, sales of tickets etc.

it's sad to see Alonso behaving like this, it's not his way lah!

 

[si|verfish]

Alonso chickened out.

Alonso says no to Rossi's challenge
Fri 17 Mar, 4:29 AM

World champion Fernando Alonso has politely rejected Valentino Rossi's proposal that the pair go head-to-head to settle the question of who is quicker.

Rankled by Alonso's claim that he could join the MotoGP ace on a podium, rider Rossi challenged the Spaniard to a battle waged on motorcycles, Formula One and rally machinery.

Asked if he had heard about Rossi's dare, Renault's 24-year-old Alonso said in Kuala Lumpur: “Yes, but I don't know if he really said it. If he did, I will have to say no - I am totally focussed on my job at the moment…”

Source: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/17032006/13/alonso-says-rossi-s-challenge.html

Alonso, put your money where your mouth is.

 

[zephyr3d]

oh alonso is such a sissy.....

 

[si|verfish]

Rossi rulez!

 

[evo3]

chicken...........

 

[GT3]

hahaha.. well its normal for f1 drivers to make such comments.. its not only alonso.. many of them been saying the samething.. which makes it more interesting to watch how it develop when rossi 'DO' get into f1..

another thing though.. alonso was right abt focusing on his job now.. F1 and Moto GP are both world class sporting event but no offence to Moto GP F1 operates in a bigger scale and drivers play a very heavy role (not jus driving in the race.. testing.. developing the cars and tons of commercial activity)

p/s: personally i believe the transition from cars to bike is tougher than bike to car.. alonso might over-exxagerated but frankly who knows he may hav the talent (even though i still think rossi would be better on 2 wheels.. haha)?

 

[igor30]

waaa ace79,we are same laa..but that time im eddie lawson big fan,also start follows rossi since he race at 125,he got world factor la like MAWI ehehhehe.if he switch to F1...i think Moto gp fans also will switch to F1 lerr..jst my 2 sen

ha..ha..i start imagining how could Rossi's fans break the fans and sneak into the track likewise they do in Moto gp if Rossi drives F1 car and win the race..Sure the marshals go crazy to c his fans break into track and hug him ...It always a laugh to see his fans greet him with all kinda funny characters...ha..ha..ha...

 

[si|verfish]

Alonso came out of this exchange of words with Rossi looking like a twat, indeed. Rossi 1 - 0 Alonso. I hope Alonso goes back to his old style of just shutting the fuck up and let his driving do the talking.

 

[igor30]

Lets see what Alonso says if he meets Rossi..

Alonso : Hey dude..I accidentally threw in my words..I was drunk last night..hi..hi..
Rossi : ( in italiano slang )It's yr problemo..I don care..u call fight with me...u don't
chicken shit or I'll kill uuu ( mafia effect )...F@@K u
Alonso : ..........gasping dunno what to say....WTF....:mouth_closed: :mouth_closed: :mouth_closed:

 

[GT3]

i saw another news abt alonso commenting on the challenge a diff way.. in essence he ask rossi to bring it on.. he was speaking to an italian press (the milan sports or something).. its in chinese but for those who can read can click on the link

http://sports.sina.com.cn/f1/2006-03-16/10552105169.shtml

 

[si|verfish]

Good article about Rossi

Everything is coming up Rossi
by RICK BROADBENT
The biker who can put the fun back into Formula One
FERNANDO Alonso sharpened his claws, polished his ego and totally missed the point when he suggested that Ferrari were wasting their time on Valentino Rossi. The truth is that everyone in Formula One should be asking not what the bloke with the inflatable trackside swimming pool can do for them so much as what they can do for him.

Forget the snobbish disdain and Rossi’s inexperience. No other sporting genius has transcended his sport and embraced the cult of celebrity with such an asinine array of post-race stunts and technical brilliance. In football-crazy Italy, the Inter Milan fan is the highest-paid sportsman. In England, he is credited with putting 50,000 on the gate at Donington Park. In the wider world he is the self-styled Doctor, a PR man’s fantasy and a figure who towers over his sport while simultaneously acknowledging it is just a bit of fun.

Motorcycling has long been awash with characters. Barry Sheene would ask school kids to “mind my chopper” when picking up bike parts in his helicopter. Last season, two MotoGP riders turned up on the grid with burnt noses after deciding it would be a wheeze to take a can of petrol to a field and dance inside rings of fire. Rossi eclipses them all. He has nipped into a Portaloo on a victory lap, given pillion rides to a blow-up doll and a man-sized chicken and changed his livery to a garish, floral design in honour of the Hawaiian branch of his fan club; he flew its members to the Italian Grand Prix and installed an inflatable swimming pool, with plastic palms, for their use.

He dreams up stunts at 2am in the bars of his native Tavullia, where the church bells ring out to mark every victory. He celebrated his seventh world title by getting friends to pose as the seven dwarfs. Their previous roles had included booking him in the pitlane for speeding and dressing up as convicts to stage a mock jailbreak to signify his release from Honda.

All of which would make him little more than a merry prankster were it not for him being arguably the greatest motorcycle racer in the history of the sport. Of course, he will not be the greatest in Formula One and, hence, the stunts will be toned down initially. But Rossi’s career path in motorcycling has led him to win each different world title — 125cc, 250cc, 500cc — after one learning year. He will not expect to pull up trees in his debut Formula One season, but it is hard to imagine him being content to be a bit-part player for long.

Some sagacious minds in the MotoGP paddock believe he will do exceedingly well, with caveats about his ability to concentrate for the longer Formula One races and his frustration at the lack of overtaking. As well as being fast, what sets Rossi apart in MotoGP is the range and fierceness of his passing manoeuvres, highlighted when he dived down the inside of Sete Gibernau on the final corner of the opening race of last season in Jerez, forcing his rival off the track and prompting a chorus of “son of a whore” from 100,000 disgruntled Spaniards.

Whether he can give full rein to his personality in the more staid world of Formula One is debatable. However, boredom is anathema to Rossi, who has tested a Ferrari, a Subaru rally car, a world championship go-kart and a Maserati MC12 sports car in recent months.

He started his racing career on four wheels and has the technical knowledge and mental strength to give him a chance of crossover success. He has also upset the odds before, winning the world title after leaving the all- conquering Honda team for the ailing Yamaha in 2004. With Rossi, anything is possible, and everyone, Alonso included, is passable.

Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,5923-2061189,00.html

 

[si|verfish]

Even Brawn gets in on the act.

Brawn hits back at Rossi jibe
Mon 20 Mar, 2:58 PM

On behalf of Valentino Rossi, the MotoGP sensation's potential F1 boss of the future - Ross Brawn - has returned fire at Fernando Alonso.

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Spaniard Alonso, the four-wheeled World Champion, said recently that 26-year-old Rossi would 'never' become one of F1's top-5 pilots.

''I don't know how he knows that,'' Ferrari technical director Brawn said at Sepang, ''because even I cannot precisely judge Valentino yet.

''But what you can say about him is that, with so little experience of Formula One cars, it is clear that he possesses an enormous amount of talent.''

Ross Brawn also reiterated that no decision has yet been taken about whether Rossi will some day soon race a red car in F1.

He explained: ''Some time in the middle of the year, he will decide what he wants to do.

''After that, we (Ferrari) need to make our decision.''

Source: http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/20032006/13/brawn-hits-rossi-jibe.html

 

[DRiftAGster]

my vote is for rossi..... alonso never impressed me anyway.... no offense to alonso fans but i feel he is just lucky that kimi n others are having a tough year...

and i believe no matter how many testing sessions alonso has on the bike, he will be nowhere near rossi on 2 wheel, not to near rossi, but i think even top 10 also he might not be able to make it, leave alone top 5.... but these r my personal opinion, will only know if i am correct if they really challenge each other - which will be fun to watch!!!!!

but these challenge on going into each other's territory reminds me of when collin mcrae challenged the great F1 champion - m schumacher, the 7time F1 champion chickened out also... :(

 

[GT3]

haha many dislike alonso becoz he rises too quick.. but if any of u actually look thru alonso cv he is very impressive on anything with 4 wheels.. lucky or not last yr its really personal but if he isnt really that good mclaren wont woo him.. kimi yea he is quick.. quicker than alonso? don think so..

there is such race where champions from other series meet together.. its called race of champions... but frankly u cant really tell much from those.. its more of an entertainment show than a real sport.. diff drivers hav diff strength and frankly speaking its almost impossible to compare top level drivers (for example kimi or alonso sort of question.. even in the same car it might not be fair as the car might suit one driver better than the other)