Valentino Rossi calls for changes to 'boring' MotoGP

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Valentino Rossi has called MotoGP "boring" and said that the sport has to change.

Jorge Lorenzo and fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa have dominated this year's championship, winning 12 out of the 16 races so far between them.

"Now is the worst moment in MotoGP since I joined in 2000," Rossi told BBC Sport.

"It is the most boring moment. Races are quite bad and it is very difficult to stay awake."

Defending champion Casey Stoner - - is the only other man to win this season and seven-time MotoGP champion Rossi believes the sport needs to change.

He said: "You look at Moto3, the races are very exciting, Moto2 is fantastic and then MotoGP is boring. So they have to change the product."

Rossi, 33, believes he can return to winning ways next season as he prepares to return to Yamaha. He won four world championships with Yamaha before leaving for Ducati at the end of 2010, but has not won in the last 37 races.

He told BBC Sport: "This is not the time in my career to be struggling every weekend like this.

"It will be difficult but I think that I have the potential to win some races next year."

Rossi last won a grand prix in Malaysia in 2010, and has managed just three podium finishes in his two seasons on a Ducati.

to return to Yamaha earlier this year but admits he regrets not being able to be competitive for Ducati.

He said: "It is a great pity for me at Ducati.

"It was a dream, it was a great and important bet to try and win for Ducati but unfortunately we have no way. It has been two very difficult seasons.

"We try lots of things but we were never able to fix the problems. We had some good races and a few good results but not what everyone expects. We lose the bet."

Rossi will be in the unusual situation of being the second rider in his Yamaha team next season, as he partners Lorenzo again.

Lorenzo is on course to win his second championship this season and will be the team's number one rider, but Rossi is determined to be at the front again.

He said: "I am at a certain age and I don't know how many years I will continue in MotoGP, so I have to race with the best bike that I can.

"Fortunately during my career I have won more or less everything so I need to enjoy it to have the right motivation. I need to arrive at the circuit every weekend with the chance to fight for the victory. It will be difficult but that is why I change teams."

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  • I agree with him, it's time for coloured exhaust fumes and tack release boxes with one release per race. All pit stops to include a hot-dog and Pepsi.

  • Nah, he's dead on. It has become so boring lately that I don't even find myself watching the races. There are some great riders out there in the GP but not enough factory bikes for them all. I've nothign against the same people winning its just that when they do they seem to be doing it by some distance. Every now and again we get get 2 riders fighting it out, but thats pretty rare.

  • Bear in mind that a year ago today, the sport lost arguably it's most entertaining rider at that time, Marco Simoncelli. You can't replace guys like that overnight, they're one offs.
    The same Rossi article appears, more in depth, on the BSN website. In it he singles out Iannone and Redding as two riders who could make a difference in the class. Shame Scott is staying in Moto2 next year, really.

  • It's boring because only 2 manufacturers have the budget for it. How anyone spends $2m on a single motorbike is beyond me. Get the budgets under control and we'll see 5 or 6 properly funded factory entries. There's a lot of talent out there and nowhere for it to go.

  • I agree with Rossi. This year Formula One has been exciting with lots of winners and overtaking where as MotoGP has become a precession. Compared to British Superbikes there is almost no action.

  • Something stinks in the world of MotoGP. When you have the world champion saying it is no fun, 1 month into the season, and wanting to retire at his physical peak, then we all know something is seriously wrong with the sport.
    Now Rossi is airing vague grievances as well.
    I wish some reporter would do some work and find out what is going on.

  • @StevejBaldwin
    You're kidding, right ? The vast majority will tell you the late 90's and 00's were the best years ever in motorcycle racing. If you were bored by that, then then maybe jumping out of balloons 24 miles up is more your thing !
    Nearly every race went down to the wire. Fairings were bashed, elbows were thrown, it couldn't have been much better. I think maybe you're anti-Rossi

  • There is nothing to learn from F1 about how to make motorsport exciting. They have tinkered and tampered and mucked around with it way too much. Forcing cars to go slower and handicapping is not the way to do it. What made MotoGP exciting (and F1 in the good old days) was unlimited engines, unlimited tyres and unlimited testing.

  • Been watching British Superbikes which is a real hoot. Certainly more entertaining than MotoGP. I think MotoGP needs Rossi competitive again

  • Moto GP has become boring, and it pains me to say it, but there are only two manufacturers with any hope. There has to be a way of attracting the other manufacturers, Suzuki, Kawasaki, BMW, Aprilia and perhaps Triumph. I presume it is the cost that deters these manufacturers.

  • Rossi is absolutely right here. I used to be an avid MotoGP fan a few years ago and wouldn't miss a race. Over the last few years though, it's just got more and more dull, to the point where I don't even actively look for the results anymore.
    Someone needs to get creative if the audiences are going to want to watch because at the moment it's just so predictable.

  • I think it's suffering from what Formula 1 went through a few years ago - too many rule changes in a very short space of time. The 800cc era was a complete dud, but going back to 1000cc doesn't seem to have fixed it.
    The racing has become long and strung out, with a similar pattern in every race; one man leads from the front, conserves his tyres then responds as soon as someone starts to catch up.

  • I agree that MotoGP is dire and has been for a hile now. Bridgestone need to be changed for new manufacturer, spending limits need to be bought in, and crucially ECU rules have to be changed if we want proper racing. The field is so hugely divided by spending it's ridiculous. Hopefully something can be done.

  • How anyone can say that the current Moto GP race season is NOT boring is beyond me. Just watch Moto 2 and Moto 3 and you will find yourself far further onto the edge of your seat from a single race than Moto GP has been able to provide over the past few seasons!

  • Moto GP needs to copy F1's qualifying system, out of 20 riders maybe 7 out in Q1, 5 in Q2 with the top 8 in a 10 minute shootout in Q3 or out of 16 riders 5 out in Q1 and Q2.

    They also need to figure out how to make the gap between Yamaha/Honda and the rest smaller.

  • Completely agree with Rossi here. There's a very strong argument to say that F1 is more exciting than MotoGP, which I never thought would be the case! Whatever they're doing in Moto2 to make it more interesting they have to replicate in MotoGP. With the calibre of riders around it should be one of the the best periods of motorcycle racing. Unfortunately that's far from the truth at the moment.

  • For the last couple of seasons it's been a mystery to me why the BBC has continued showing only the dullest race of the day, moto2 and 3 are both leagues better in entertainment terms.

    Watching Jorge Lorenzo do just enough to win the championship from mid season isn't fun, plus off the bike Jorge and Dani are dull as paint. It was 500cc two stroke for how many years and worked?

  • Jorge crashing out would have made this season a hell of a lot more entertaining. If Pedrosa does pull off the incredible title win after so many near-misses, that might be the shot in the arm the sport needs. Similar to when Rossi crashed out and Hayden snatched it, except Hayden did nothing afterwards whereas Lorenzo/Pedrosa is a rivalry that could last for years.

  • Bring back the two strokes!!

  • I totally agree with Vale on this one, it has bocome boring, not just for him but everyone. There are easy solutions to this the first being get rid of rider aids, stop limiting tyre use and stop limiting engines in number and power. The racing was far better when the riders had control not a computer.

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