Casey Stoner back in action this weekend

[Curly3]

Lozza, I was basing my opinion on a point in time when Mick was a mile in front on points and missed 5 or so so of the last 6 races and was only beaten by Rainey, I think, by a mere 2 points.
Given that the next year or so Mick was still recovering from his injuries and not to mention his struggle with the dreaded Staff infections.
I'm definitely no Road Race historian but anyone who can come back from injury like Mick & Barry Sheene did, are the real Champions.

[Lozza]

No doubt Mick had the the series shot to bits, before he fell, both Rainey and Schwantz started with injuries that year. A description of his scars is 'like someone layed an ox tongue on the back of his leg'

So what are the other ways Col?

[Curly3]

I should add that sadly Wayne Rainey had no chance to return from his injuries, he might have won 5-6 in a row.
But that was my point, coulda, woulda , shoulda.
My own Speedway career lasted about 5 minutes when I had big ambitions.
Opportunity and luck play a huge part.
No doubt you can have the fastest bike on earth but if the nut on the handlebars isn't up to the task, forget it.

[colmoody]

I guess there would be lots of ways to look at it Lozza. Maybe GD has the answer, "look at the points tally at the end of the season". What I do reckon though Lozza is that maybe you can answer who is the fastest on a given day Who's the best is the hard one to answer.

[DR]

I really was trying to refrain from posting on this topic but for the record I'd like to say I simply cannot take to Casey Stoner. Rossi 9 titles and to some degree on bikes that were not supposed to put him there. Stoner 1 title and a huge attitude problem. He'd have gone a long way to bite his tongue and not take on the polished Rossi PR machine. Prove your worth on the track, actions speak louder than words. It was a racing incident and in the heat of the moment a poor decission. Intentional NO! I must have been dreaming when I saw the officals going to the aid of Stoner also. He couldn't get his bike re-started and Rossi did. Bad sportsmanship in my eyes and this type of thing is reminiscent of many of Australia's high profile players, teams and officials. Not saying others don't spit the dummy either but we seem to do it on a much more frequent basis. I'd say the winner on the day is MotoGP due precisely to the exposure. I'm sure many more people will be watching the next race to see what happens. I know I will when otherwise I probably wouldn't

[Lozza]

Nonsense Doc, Rossi f-ed up the marshals did ignore Stoner (bar 1) he motioned to them 6 of them made a half arsed attempt at push starting, 3 give up immediately, 1 falls over and that leaves the original marshal pushing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYNe6VzhNo0&feature=player_embedded

There were approximately 10 or so marshals on the track, no procedure was followed and there appeared to be no communication



Why play all sweet and nice, Rossi's 'apology' was as the FOX Sports link point out as a attempt to make himself look good. I don't even think Stoner see's the incident as anything other than a racing incident. However the pass was never on in the wet and shows just how desparate Rossi is for any sort of a result on the Ducati.
Stoner has proved his worth on the track, he's won more races than Rossi(Rossi has more podiums) 1 title to Stoner and 2 titles to Rossi( 09 Stoner was crook and sat out half a season). On the same bike .................

I can find at least 10 occasions Rossi has bitched and whinged to the media about a wide range of subjects, even lately suggesting Pedrosa should have to carry ballast After THIS bit of racing Rossi ran off at the mouth with this "I'm quite unhappy with Elias today because I think he was quite dangerous - more than once he passed me on the inside and then altered his line. This is not a correct way to race" and I could be here for days.

No doubt Dorna love the drama.

Col I'll run with David Emmett's assesment, Stoner is the fastest rider by far Rossi the best racer, though Lorenzo is rapidly filling the void in between.

[JohnnyO]

I like both Rossi and Stoner but when Stoner said to Rossi 'your ambition out weighed your talent' that was just farkin dumb! 
9 titles versus 1 title...hello!
Whether you like it or not Rossi is the best of the modern era and probably the best ever. For all the people that have written him off he was also the fastest on the track until his crash, and yes it was a dodgy move. You'd be crazy write Rossi off yet, he's far from washed up.
Some people are quick to forget thet Rossi took the un competitive Yamaha to several world titles that no one else had won on since Rainey in '92.

[DR]

Standing at trackside clapping at Rossi as he went past flies in the face of Casey thinking little more of it than a racing incident Loz 

[JohnnyO]

Good photo Doc.. I reckon it was good of Rossi to acknowledge that he stuffed up by approaching Stoner afterwards but i doubt if he's do it again after Stoner's smartarse comments.
Stunt or no stunt it's good to see that he's man enough to admit publicly that he f...ed up.

[matcho mick]

guess what,those were the exact words ROSSI spoke to STONER 3 years ago when stoner crashed out ,an insider joke too about "hows your shoulder",thats why it looked a bit odd to us who wern't in the know,

[GD66]

Some people are quick to forget thet Rossi took the un competitive Yamaha to several world titles that no one else had won on since Rainey in '92.

Come on now, Johnny mate, I value your opinions highly but that's a long bow to draw : 500 two-stroke v 990 four-stroke, the only resemblance is the crossed tuning forks logo on the tank. Rest of your arguments stack up, but that's pushing it a little... 

[DR]

I feel the return to 990cc from 800cc will sort out the who's who and only time will tell I also believe the 500 2 bangers were more animal than the fourstokes and it took a lot more rider skill to win consecutively. Doohan did it, Rossi did it, Rainey may well have done it had the thing not highsided him. Schwantz was good at stuffing a bike where it really didn't want to go but I don't think Casey would have made the grade back then when it was a lot more push and shove. I miss the 500's for the excitement they offered. Biased yes, I loved the 2 stroke animals I admit that

[GD66]

Dunno Doc, he's a hard-nosed little bugger and has been as quick as the rest on two-stroke 125s and 250s. I know you struggle to warm to him, but I've seen him live on allsorts and I value him highly : he doesn't get much help from the press, and at times doesn't do himself any favours in the dreaded PR game, but his record in dirt track on the way up against strong opposition is mind-boggling, he's been in the mix for years and I doubt even with the world title we've really seen ther best of him yet.
I really can't begin to calculate how stoked and impressed I am that his folks sacrificed their lives to back him to go all the way, bloody hell if any of us had the opportunity his folks gave him to follow a dream we'd be grateful all our lives. He's as good as anyone out there, has been patient on the way through and now is in a position to seize a second world title, and people are worried about him not being humble or obsequious to a multi-world champ with plenty of character flaws.
I recently pointed out to a mate of mine that Casey Stoner had been a world GP champ and been married before he was 21, and his reply was, "Bloody hell, at that age I was still trying to sort out my signature !"

So let's give the lad a bit of space, and see what happens...

Regards GD

[JohnnyO]

I feel the return to 990cc from 800cc will sort out the who's who and only time will tell I also believe the 500 2 bangers were more animal than the fourstokes and it took a lot more rider skill to win consecutively. Doohan did it, Rossi did it, Rainey may well have done it had the thing not highsided him. Schwantz was good at stuffing a bike where it really didn't want to go but I don't think Casey would have made the grade back then when it was a lot more push and shove. I miss the 500's for the excitement they offered. Biased yes, I loved the 2 stroke animals I admit that

Doc don't forget Rainey was a 3 time champ on 500's, '90, '91', '92.
There is no doubting Stoner is a very good rider and capable of winning more titles(and hopefully he does) but him questioning Rossi's ability is just a joke.
GD you're right the 4 stroke doesn't really compare to the 500 but still Rossi was the one who was able to win on it and develope it into the package that others could win on.

[BultacoMacca]

What I found interesting was that when Rossi barreled past Lorenzo, Lorenzo dropped back somewhat, and I thought "I wonder if he's thinking something might happen up ahead"............and sure enough.
Coincidence, or a cunning plan?