Rossi at Donnington...

[nudemetalz]

What's Italian for "Oh Feck...."

<a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v677/turbo_NZ/?action=view&current=89788_rossi_789234_122_18lo.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/turbo_NZ/89788_rossi_789234_122_18lo.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[Skunk]

I rida very fast. But I crasha bit. Which is bad. So I go-a fasta. And I finish eh? Which isa good, no?

[slofox]

What's with the leg shake thing...he tryin' to empty his trou or summat?

[slofox]

What's Italian for "Oh Feck...."



Affanculo!!!!

[TonyB]

What's with the leg shake thing...he tryin' to empty his trou or summat? At first commentators thought his leg was slipping off the peg. Now they think its to help transfer weight and stand the bike more upright when braking into a bend.

Personally, he sticks his leg out that far now that I tend to agree with the theory that he is trying to block people and stop them from passing.

[Skunk]

The Truth Behind the Leg Wave... http://www.motogpmatters.com/opinion/2009/07/22/the_truth_behind_the_rossi_leg_wave.html

So why do it? There must be some reason for such unusual behavior, something which would explain why riders perform an almost ritualized act so deliberately? Somewhere, there must be an underlying cause to explain why so many riders all go through the same motions?

As so often, there are lessons from history, and a student of American racing history drew a fascinating parallel with dirt track, which illustrates how these things come into being. With his permission, I have reproduced his story in his own words below:

For several decades, American dirt trackers all looked behind the same way: They would leave their left hand on the bar and tuck their head under their left armpit to check on who was back there. Over time, all sorts of theories were produced, most of them having to do with improved aerodynamics from keeping your head down. But people kept asking why they did it, and eventually a pattern developed:

Chris Carr: "I saw Scotty Parker ride that way"...

...Scott Parker: "I learned it from Springer"...

...then Springer [Jay Springsteen] admitted: "Mert Lawill showed me that"...

...at which point Mert admitted "I got that from Bart Markel"

..eventually Black Bart said he learned it from Carroll Resweber, who said he learned it from another Texas Racer, who -when they finally tracked him down - revealed The Secret:

"Hell, boy, I was blind in my left eye... that was the only way I could see behind me!"

[CM2005]

that was good read... bling mate