Casey Stoner

Originally Posted by Ruffy

I also don't understand the Stoner hatred. Whilst he's definitely a "unique" character, I don't believe he deserves the amount of grief he gets from MotoGP followers.

If we're going off post race talk, Casey wanted to be able to go faster, Dani Pedrosa basically said that Stoner and Rossi were too fast. This demonstrates to me who's got the real winning mentality, and don't the results show it?

Perhaps Casey's a bit like the rest of us after a hard day at work and wishes his job could be just that bit easier?

I cetrainly don't HATE him, it's just boring to listen o him whinge so much. He's never satisfied, it seems.

Originally Posted by TazDaz

Guess away...

Rossi's would not have as many fans as he does if he came across as a willy. His usual response in the press conference when he wins iso to say the bike was great, the setting was great, the pace was great, thanks to the team, thanks to Jeremey.

You said in your opening post that you've not been watching the GP for that long so maybe the regularity of complaints/moans, despite when he's been in a winning position, hasn't come to your attention yet.

+1, I totallt agree.

[dyzio]

Originally Posted by shonadoll

I cetrainly don't HATE him, it's just boring to listen o him whinge so much. He's never satisfied, it seems.

Just shows he wants to be able to push as much as he can, not as much as the bike let's him.

Originally Posted by shonadoll

+1, I totallt agree.

Again, you can't compare anyone to Valentino.

As fantastic a rider as he is (and he will go down as one of the greats), as a person I just can't be doing with him.

Originally Posted by sinbad

I thought it was interesting when Ryder and Moody (and the other one) were talking about him, one of them said that EVERYONE in the paddock thinks that Casey has majestic throttle control. All this talk of "He just cracks the throttle wide open and lets the electronics do all the work for him" is just rubbish and it has been from day one. There've been loads of threads on this forum, with loads of crap written about Stoner. I don't get it either.

+1

Rossi just does PR a lot better which is what the public sees

I've struggled with this for some time too. Stoner is a great rider, I guess if you don't like him it's easy to ignore that but he is without doubt one of the 3 (possibly 4 if you count Pedrosa) who have the ability to win a championship (when all other things are equal) they are in a different class to the rest. Not surprisingly many also dislike Lorenzo, possibly it's the same people. I think some people just have total focus on Rossi and seem to hate anyone who chanllenges him . I also favour Rossi and prefer him to win BUT want him to be pushed and challenged by as many others as possible and the more talented they are the more validity they give to Rossi's race and championship victories. MotoGP would reach F1 levels of tedium without these riders

The other issue of course is that we've all become used to Rossi's media savvy personality and expect other riders to be the same but this doesn't explain why people interpret his words and actions differently to those of others. When Rossi discusses how his race went and mentions any quirk he's had with the bike (or anything else) he's just seen as giving interesting information, when Stoner does it he's whinging, when he pulls a post race prank he's the ultimate joker, when Lorenzo does he's an idiot. They just can't win can they. I guess that they annoy so many folk is a measure of their ability.

[TimTucker]

Casey's attitude really seemed to have changed after Estoril. He was really happy & bouncy after that race, and his opening comment to Matt Roberts of the BBC was a classic: "Don't worry, mate, I'm not going to spew on you this time!"

Normal service seemed to have been resumed this time, prompting Steve Parrish to comment, "Would you like some cheese with your whine?"

It is a perception thing, I think. He's obviously very driven and a perfectionist, to boot. The comment about how much faster he could have gone if the team had sorted out the bike's grip issues are meant, I think, more along the lines of "Yes, good race, but if we'd sorted those issues out can you imagine what the lap times would have been like?" Sadly, it comes across like he's complaining. And no-one ever complemented Mick Doohan on his post-race interview technique.

What gets me is how little time he seems to spend on the bike. During Saturday's qualifying he did about four or five runs of three or four laps each. He goes out, goes faster than anyone else, then straight back into the pits. How does he do that? None of this warming the tyres up or -- seemingly -- taking the wrong direction with setup. Even during free practice his runs are noticeably shorter than people like Rossi and Lorenzo.

Watching him and, to a lesser extent, Rossi slide those bikes around in the latter part of this weekend's race was a real pleasure, I have to say.

[STRAMASHER]

Originally Posted by sinbad

All this talk of "He just cracks the throttle wide open and lets the electronics do all the work for him" is just rubbish and it has been from day one.

A few years ago at donnington I was watching at the exit of the Esses. ****ing wet, Stonner comes round and it was easy to see that he cracks throttle like he is on a 50cc scooter leaving the lights. That was at the extreme end of things but is certainly not as you describe. Its not rubbish at all. Ducati were away ahead of everybody else with their rider aids.

Rate the guy tho' and the Stonner booing I have seen is embarrassing. Zero at Redgate this year I was glad to hear. I take it the "whinning" was on the BBC, cos he was fine in the official interviews.

Roll-on next sunday!

Originally Posted by STRAMASHER

I take it the "whinning" was on the BBC, cos he was fine in the official interviews.

There was no 'whining', Steve Parish just called it that cos he's a kernob who loves Rossi more than anything in the world. Casey said that if he'd got the setup he wanted then he could have gone a bit faster. That's not whining, it's a fact. It may not be the catchy sound-bite that people want to hear but there's nothing wrong with him saying it.

I'm so pleased that Casey is back on form and pushing the boundaries again - how boring would that race have been if Rossi had been won the race out on his own 20 seconds ahead of 2nd place?

Anyone who bashes Stoner is just not a fan of the racing. He's a genius on a bike. Who else could have two months off and then come back and finish well ahead of Rossi one race and then fend him off riding an absolute perfect race in his 2nd race back? No-one.

Doohan or Rossi dont complain, constructive critism yes but blatent moaning no.