Originally Posted by The Phantom
Rossi is not the lovable jokester that his public persona would suggest - many of his rivals have alluded to him being a bit of a ******* on and off the track, and if you take the rose-tinted spectacles off and have a good look at some of the things he has done over the years it is hard to disagree. Unless you are absolutely parochial about him, of course, and wish you were Uccio helping him out of his leathers after each race :D
(and no that's not aimed at you Seb! :) )
He is also prone to making at least one or two absolutely stupid moves per season, but usually the only person he affects is himself. In this case the crash is far more serious than the one affecting Marc Marquez, as Stoner is arguably the prime title contendor.
Let's say Kenny Roberts had smacked Barry Sheen off his bike in the same circumstances - what do you reckon Sheen would have said to Roberts? I don't blame Stoner one little bit for shoving Rossi's pathetic apology back in his face, and speaking of answering on the track, Stoner will do just that. And Rossi knows it which is why he did what he did at Laguna. It's easy to race dirty against a rider who races as cleanly as Stoner.
Thanks for the links Pat, Kallio really did well to save that - didn't even lose a place!