While I agree with a lot of what you say, what impressed me so much was,in Valentinos' case, first time out on what in past seasons has been a loser, and on his very first ride, he won, convincingly and with hard, exciting riding..I think he did emulate the past heroes. While he may dominate, he has shown that it is not a case of best bike, easy ride...let's try Shu in a Sauber (might still do it!)
In Frankie's case, hey guys...he DID come up throught the field, breaking records lap by lap, passing riders, coping with backmarkers, and he's old enough to be Dad to half the riders. And on a partly last year's bike.
He's a hero.