The unthinkable happened on Sunday, Rossi lost his crown. The huge crowd gathered at Valencia watched in stunned silence as Valentino low-sided off and then failed to produce a miracle to get back to the top five spots. I too found it hard to believe but it really did happen, Hayden really is the new world champion. Like Alonso in F1 he has gained his crown by consistently finishing well; he may not be a genius of Rossi's stature but he is fast and consistent; good on him I say.
What I find interesting though is this: Two weeks ago Tony Elias piped Rossi to the finish line by six thousandths of a second which cost Rossi five points and what was the points deficit between Hayden and Rossi? Five points...
If Elias hadn't turned into a man possessed at Estoril then Rossi would be world champion today. Also worth asking is - who took Rossi off in the first race of the season? Hmm, it was that Elias fellow wasn't it! It seems Honda has found an anti-Rossi assassin in Tony Elias.