Lin Jarvis: Remember what happened to Rossi? But how similar are the 2006 season finale and this season finale?

Lin Jarvis, boss of the Monster Energy Yamaha team, said last week that there was still hope for a shock turnaround in the world title fight for his rider Fabio Quartara. He pointed to the story of the Valencia Grand Prix, the final MotoGP round of the 2006 season, but can parallels be drawn between that season finale and the upcoming season finale this year? The answer is – in principle, no.

Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo will battle it out for the MotoGP championship this Sunday, with the Ducati-riding Italian holding a 23-point lead over his French Yamaha rival. So the maths is playing highly in Bagnaia’s favour.

The last time Yamaha battled another team for the riders’ title was in the 2013 season, excluding last year of course.

Seven years earlier, however, there was a moment that the Japanese manufacturer, and Valentino Rossi in particular, do not remember fondly.

Rossi and Nicky Hayden were entering the last round of the 2006 season as direct rivals for the championship crown. At the time, seven-time world champion Rossi had an eight-point lead over Hayden.

However, on the fifth lap of the race, Rossi, for whom a podium finish should have been at least a formality, crashed. He subsequently fought his way back up the field and finished the Grand Prix in 13th place, taking three points. Hayden finished comfortably in third place, sixteen points, and therefore the world championship.

Unfortunately for Yamaha, this sixteen year old situation is rather out of character for the situation they will face this Sunday.

Bagnai’s lead over Quartara is almost three times greater, the balance of the starting field is at a higher level and the Frenchman is facing an army of highly competitive Ducatis. So Bagnai can make mistakes and not finish, but Quartararo has no choice. He has to win.

So if the Yamaha boss wants to compare this year’s showdown with that of the 2006 season, he should first fix his attention on the all-conquering numbers. And he’ll find that the difference between 8 and 23 points is pretty damn big.

Source: MotoGP