FreestyleXtreme Magazine Issue 4 | Page 69

//////////////////////////// MOTOGP p. Monster Energy £ Valentino Rossi proves you don’t have to be a spring chicken to take the chequered flag Now I’m going to bat for the old guard here for a bit. The fact that we are seeing these kids come through the ranks with bags of experience and talent, has brought a very ageist mentality to the sport of MotoGP. You can now be considered ‘past it’ in your mid-20s, when in fact quite the opposite is true. If the hunger is there, your prime years can come well into your 30s. A good level of fitness combined with a more rounded technical knowledge and an experienced head on their shoulders saw Bayliss, Biaggi and Checa peak when they were 40 years old. Cyclists and triathletes mature and hit their prime in their early 30s, yet MotoGP is ready to put its talent out to pasture if they reach 25 and do not have a world title to their name. p. Jonathan Godin WSBK to MotoGP along with Loris Baz. We will watch with interest how their transition compares to that of a Moto2 pilot. Unfortunately it is becoming tougher to graduate from the WSBK paddock due to the prejudice held towards the riders there and I hope Eugene and Loris can go some w