Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
Is Rossi or Loeb the greatest?
MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi wrapped up his ninth motorcycling world title in Malaysia on Sunday while Sebastien Loeb bagged a record sixth world rallying crown in Britain.
The duo are the undisputed kings of their sport and both have been heavily linked with Formula One given their immense talents.
Some may see their dominance as boring but others reckon their constant will to win is the mark of real sporting greats.
But which of the two is the best and can we even compare them across different sports?
Frenchman Loeb has won all his titles consecutively but the fact Rossi battled back from a difficult spell in 2006-2007 to reign supreme again is also telling.
Maybe soon they can really go head to head and we can find out. Rossi has a passion for rallying and will battle Loeb in March’s Mexico race – a future career in the rally car could beckon for the Italian.
Otherwise both might one day end up in F1, where the legacy of Michael Schumacher still dominates.
At least the German has rivals for greatness in two other motorsports.
PHOTOS: (Left) Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi of Italy after sealing his second successive MotoGP world championship on Sunday after finishing third at the Malaysian Grand Prix. REUTERS/Zainal Abd Halim
(Right) Sebastien Loeb of France holds up the trophy on the podium after winning the Rally of Britain in Wales October 25, 2009. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth
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For me Rossi and Loeb are pretty incomparable as they are in two totally different sports and are both legends in their own right. Rossi is a “once in a lifetime” legend and I am sure I will never see anyone so tallented in my lifetime. Rossi has shown that not only is he the greatest racer but he is also an absolute engineering genius. Rossi didnt want people to think he was only winning because he was with the best team and on the best machinery so he switched teams to prove people that he will still win on a lesser bike. Valentino has made Yamaha into the team/bike that it is today, winning 3 major titles yesterday with the Moto GP, WSB and World Supersport which would maybe not have happened without the input of the great Valentino Rossi. For me, Valentino is undoubtly the greatest circuit racer of all time and will take a miracle to produce another racer with such superhuman qualities.
[...] Some may see their dominance as boring but others reckon their constant will to win is the mark of real sporting greats… Details [...]