I don't know that much about motorcycle racing to understand a lot of it. I think it is impossible to dispute that at some point, you call it a day. I guess there are may factors that determine that and VR probably has more in his wheel house to retain a factory ride that other riders simply based on revenue. Rossi at some point has to step down. Today would be great. Problem is what if he goes out and lets not say wins a race but gets a few more podiums this year? now what? You tell him, "look old man, its over"?. His fans are just going to laugh and tell you that 3rd out of a 20 rider field is not "over" simple as that. Yes its not the best. No one is disputing that fact. If Rossi has to go and I completely agree that Yamaha needs a replacement, then 80% of the damn field needs to go. Its filled with guys who will only see a podium in pictures. Doesn't say much for the sport. There is a big difference between a guy who is not winning and a guy who cannot win. I guess Honda should have sacked Pedrosa years ago oh but wait, he is winning again. So yes, Rossi needs to give Zarco a shot but I still think if you put Rossi on Zarco's bike today, Rossi still beats 80% of the field so I guess my point is that maybe they just need to clean house all around. I say that because Maveric is not doing a whole lot better against the field or Zarco than Rossie is. Rossi may be in fact done in GP but he sure does have a lot of company. They should just have a 6 bike series and call it a day. To say that they are fielding a competitive series with 20 competitive bikes is a joke.
