Sorry but MM never raced for top of his game.
He did seem to have better pace than VR and JLo, according to Q2 and WUP (he was 1st there).
Maybe no DP.
And maybe VR did not have the pace got get back to JLo, which took off thanks to MM having had VR lose what, 7s?
Maybe seeing that he did not have the pace to fill the 7s gap, he decided to coast and get 3rd.

Times are here BTW:

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/224643/1/motogp-malaysia-rossi-marquez-lap-times.html

Q2 and WUP isn't the race. VR is often down in those, only to have great race pace. So what gives then? They were all faster than Pedro in WUP.

I graphed the lap times myself. Another guy on the AF1 forum (VR fan btw) also looked at the splits to see if MM was sandbagging when he got ahead of VR. There's no evidence of it (it changed the guy's opinion on the issue). Their constant racing did slow them down though, no doubt.

Like I said, VR never had the pace. Even before MM started bugging him. Afterwards, he wasn't only not catching JLo, he wasn't even matching him. Lap times clearly show that.

I don't know why VR fans can't believe this. JLo has been faster than VR this year consistently when the conditions have been constant.

You seem to be forgetting the beginning of the season 

Quote from: HotIce on November 01, 2015, 05:25:46 PM
You seem to be forgetting the beginning of the season  

Nope. I didn't forget that JLo had the flu in Austin, and a helmet issue in Qatar.  If those wouldn't have happened, JLo would most likely be in the lead right now...probably too far for VR to win, but you never know.

VR did have a better race in Argentina. JLo admitted as much, then went on a tear since.

I'm not even a JLo fan, and I think Rossi is having a remarkable season. Pretty much everyone agrees that JLo is faster in constant conditions though. VR's strength is his adaptability.

edit: I had my races confused.

Jlo is faster than most when consitions allow it. But this isnracing not practice. And jlo decisions as well as everyone elses affects outcomes. All I'm saying is that i do believe. mM's Choices in this last race did affect the outcome. I do not believe that in PI. Personnally i am a MM fan. He's the real deal but just maybe he sees this as a way to stop VR from getting a nother title that he will have to overcome. It just happens to benefit a fellow spainard. I think if it benefited ianonne or Dp he wouldnt have cared either way.

I like MM, but he was being a douche in Sepang. granted, I doubt that he purposely fell back to make Rossi's life miserable, but I do believe that when Rossi caught up, he saw red. I also believe he raced harder, but not unfairly, with Rossi, it is a race after all.

Rossi's handling of the whole thing seems to me as a built is excuse for losing the championship. Jorghey has shown that he is faster, even though he wasn't as consistent this year. Yamaha would not appreciate Rossi trying to mess with Jorghey directly. I believe his original plan was a fired up MM trying to show his idol that he's still a fan. Didn't work out as he expected.

I don't think Rossi had a plan for what he said in that press conference, I think he finally let the pressure get to him. I mean, barring some more miracles, this is his chance to beat Ago, one that no one ever saw coming or gave him credit for being able to accomplish.

Seeing that slip away with what he sees as MM interfering in the championship and messing with that unwritten rule amongst riders... I think he just flipped out and stopped playing it cool.

I agree w/ Carlos above on the 1st part^^

MM showed his immaturity this season, especially in Sepang. Not surprising, given his wild success his 1st two years in MotoGP. 2016 will be a defining year for him IMO, as no one knows what will happen with the switch to Michelins. If HRC doesn't given him a stellar bike, which is a real possibility, then he needs to react as smart as possible, and get points where he can instead of crashing out overriding the bike. Hopefully the people around him point this out to him, and get him to think more clearly. If he can grasp this last concept, then he could be the GOAT IMO. If not, he may continue to struggle, possibly getting hurt prematurely.

Remarkable that he's still in 3rd place, despite wadding it 6 times. Had he settled for six 4th place finishes instead, Valencia would be an entirely different race! Not that I blame him for this season...he's gotta learn.

Bahhhhh mm has drank the Honda koolaid hard, I think we will see him continue on his flash in the pan trajectory, and eventually Honda will show their true colors like they did when vr raced for them and it will crush mm and he will stomp off and leave the sport entirely

I see a stint at Ducati in MMs future. Just to do what Rissi could not. Even though it is not the same now....

Quote from: rufus1138 on November 02, 2015, 12:51:18 PM
his flash in the pan trajectory

Wow! The guy just won 3 GP Championships in a row.

Quote from: Blackout on November 02, 2015, 01:19:06 PM
Wow! The guy just won 3 GP Championships in a row.

He won 2 GP and 1 Moto2. He's not winning this year's GP championship.

something else to keep the fire going,  http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/motogp-honda-claims-rossi-kicked-marquez-s-brake-lever-110215

Quote from: DarkMonster620 on November 02, 2015, 02:37:28 PM
something else to keep the fire going,  http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/motogp-honda-claims-rossi-kicked-marquez-s-brake-lever-110215

I never considered Nakamoto san to be desperate...

until now.

I'm sure there was a sharp impact to Marc's brake lever when he got it caught on Rossi's fairing as he tried to knock him down.

Quote from: ducpainter on November 02, 2015, 02:42:49 PM
I never considered Nakamoto san to be desperate...

until now.

I'm sure there was a sharp impact to Marc's brake lever when he got it caught on Rossi's fairing as he tried to knock him down.

What's he supposed to do?  He's VP of Honda racing.  He has to support his riders or he's not doing his job.