Nope! The reason for taking the heal off is it naturally puts your foot in a "toe up" attitude. Maely used to have a bandsaw in his shop just for this purpose. Oh, and say hi to the heidens for me next time you see them.
It's probably an inside joke for Rossi. He just does it and then sits back and laughs at everyone that tries to copy it.
A lot of the riders who do it also claim it's to judge where the ground is or, as said earlier, to help with braking. But those seem to be more of an excuse and in my opinion I see it more as a defense against someone cutting the inside of a corner. If your opponent has his leg out towards the inside line which you might be looking at, there is a better chance you won't risk taking that line for fear of hitting him and even potentially spilling your own bike; at least I wouldn't. I just find it hard to believe that it's a functional technique, and I am not planning on using it at a track day to find out.
Ok I'm bored at work so here's my one physics related opinion - one leg hung out ot hte side a bit and in the breeze might stabilize the bike under braking much like a tightrope walker uses a pole to help balance or the outrigger on an ocean going dugout etc, mass away from center most likely increases stability by adding a moment of inertia that the bike has to "work harder" to overcome Me personally I'll keep my feet on the pegs hehe I'm not going fast enough to have the issue racing the sv (yet maybe but hey who knows)
If my memory serves me and it probably doesn't, but I think it was KR JR who first started hanging a leg out, and not the guy who used to think he could beat anyone on any bike.
because, in their country, they play polo a lot. on their bikes. and, since they can't carry their club with them in the race, they have to stick out their foot to hit the ball. force of habit... s3aturnr