Only just watched the race on iPlayer. Anyway…
FOR GOD’S SAKE Casey, quit with the bloody excuses! The thread I started the other day once I’d heard of Stoner’s retirement just makes some people look REALLY stupid. Casey is, was, and probably always be one of the best motorbike riders in the world. Valentino Rossi is, was, and always will be one of, if not the, greatest motorbike racers ever to have got on a bike!
Stoner’s problem is he’s never wanted it bad enough. He came into the sport, set the timing sheets on fire with his pace, and had a relatively untroubled first season and won the world title with Rossi struggling on Michelin tyres which were becoming increasingly uncompetitive. For the next 4 years, he pretty much let Rossi dominate him in every way, shape or form, in almost every battle they entered, exactly the same as he did today. Stoner, on his own, is probably about the quickest rider out there more than 50% of the time. But motorbike racing isn’t about beating the clock, it’s about beating your rivals. Rossi is an out and out racer, he’ll be in the sport loooooooong after the next 2 years I’d bet, he lives for the thrill of it, which all the best riders have always done. Stoner is a boring kid, who wants a quiet life, and isn’t particularly turned on by the whole rock’n’roll lifestyle of Motorbike racing and he wants out cos he doesn’t enjoy it. Shame, cos he is a real talent, but if he’d just wanted to win as much as Rossi does, he’d be a bloody good racer too, not just a damned good rider.
Almost cried seeing Rossi back on the podium, and I’d certainly not bet against him being back up there more regularly now. Whatever happens, whether he stays with Ducati and they continue to develop the bike around him, or he goes back to Honda or Yamaha, for 2013 it’s gonna be Rossi Vs Lorenzo all the way to the title…
