OH NO, it's starting to sound as though Valentino Rossi might be throwing the towel in on the MotoGP championship already.
Well, maybe not quite, but his latest quotes in the run-up to this weekend's race at Motegi aren't exactly inspiring for an elbow-to-elbow showdown in what used to be called the Premier class.
Talking about his chances in Sunday's race, the eight-time World Champion said: "I expect that Stoner will be strong again, so we just need to reduce the gap to him so that we can put up more of a fight. In the past Motegi hasn’t been a great track for me and I’ve had some bad races there, but I think last year cancelled that all out so I hope it can be successful for us once again this year.
"My memories of last year at Motegi are incredible, because it was such a special victory after two year’s without the championship. This year of course will be very different, it’s only the second race and it will be quite strange going there so early in the championship.”
Mind games or genuine concern from the Italian? Is anyone still watching MotoGP anymore?
