MotoGP - Laguna Seca 2008

[leopard]

Did he assault someone physically, like pushing over photographer ?

Did he assault someone physically, like pushing over photographer ?

No mate! The author of the article in one of the previous posts does not seem to like Casey Stoner and suggests that he was being nasty when Casey made comments in China about Jorge Lorenzo's injuries not being as serious as Jorge Lorenzo was pretending they were.

The author also suggests that the photographer took the photograph in that article as Casey was making those comments but there is doubt about the accuracy of the contents of the article.
The article smells like a load of elephant dung to me.

[Ranger]

No mate! The author of the article in one of the previous posts does not seem to like Casey Stoner and suggests that he was being nasty when Casey made comments in China about Jorge Lorenzo's injuries not being as serious as Jorge Lorenzo was pretending they were.

The author also suggests that the photographer took the photograph in that article as Casey was making those comments but there is doubt about the accuracy of the contents of the article.
The article smells like a load of elephant dung to me.

I don't think you quite got the jist of his joke. :

At the British F1 Grand Prix, Kimi Raikkonen pushed over a photographer (a decent shove) on the grid for coming within his personal space. No news reporters or mainstream journalists wrote up an entire article condemning his actions.

Likewise at the German GP, a woman walked up to Kimi wanting an autograph, with her little infant getting in the way. Kimi bumped into the woman's clipboard which sconed the kid, knocking it to the ground crying, which the woman then attended to. So in the end, there was a crying child, no autograph and no apology from Kimi.

And yet, in most news sources, they just turn a blind eye to it. Especially Autosport itself, which goes down the line of "Geez, what's with these people running into Kimi?". Both incidents are only mentioned in a short paragraph summarising the GP weekend.

And yet, Casey has a bit of a whinge and its deserving of an entire article of condemnation.

To me, that doesn't quite add up.

[leopard]

Hehe... I asked the real question because it was too long to read trough.

Lorenzo had a nasty crash so he was very likely bearing down to ride in Shanghai with that serious injuries. He paid the podium very expensive.


He might not be able to stand out the pain on the podium ...but... seeing that he can endure the race and finished for podium, being in wheelchair sounds strange and Casey was probably right at some extent.

But... to call someone is pretending sounds nasty too, Lorenzo was good playing drama, it's hilarious.

[neninja]

I see no reason why Moody would fabricate such a story. Not his style at all.

Also Casey has developed a reputation for being abrasive with fans and riders alike. Probably just immaturity combined with a blinkered will to win.

However his team and sponsors will no doubt want him to temper this for PR purposes. Rossi has been successful financially not only because he wins but because he promotes himself and as a result his sponsors very favourably.

Rossi has now hit back at Stoner and Suppo's comments in the press conference and in interviews.

In an interview with Corriere dello Sport Rossi dismissed Stoner's comments about the unfairness of certain moves.

'On the podium he told me that he'd lost respect for me because he's been racing for many years and he doesn't remember ever having a race like that,' said the Italian.

'Well if he's been racing for many years, I've been racing for a lifetime and I don't know who he's been racing against but I remember all my races being like that and my rivals always fought that way.'

'He's used to the mentality of racing at the front with a four second advantage over the field but racing shoulder-to-shoulder brings other factors into play,' said Rossi.

'Hence this time I won and I'm happy.'

Rossi also said that he felt his move at Cavatappi was his best of all time.

'It's difficult to classify races especially as this season I've had many back and forth battles,' he said.

'But for sure this was one of my best five victories because Stoner is a tough cookie.

'And the pass at Cavatappi was the best of my career; he barely braked on the bend and me even less so, so little in fact that my wheels touched the gravel.'

[NinjaMaster]

I was really disappointed when Stoner wouldn't shake Rossi's hand after the race. Even though he was angry he should have done it, even as a token gesture and I'm sure Casey would be disappointed and embarassed by it. At least he calmed down by the podium and gave Vale a few genuine handshakes and a friendly conversation. A learning experience I'm sure. Also, the 'we'll see' bit he said to Vale in Parc Ferme is a completely throw-away line. I remember when Haga started racing WSB years ago and put a brutal pass on Corser at Laguna, Corser called him dangerous and said that payback's a bitch. Of course it sounded threatening but he was angry and nothing ever came of it.

The Moody article seems odd to me given the media's habit of taking an issue and blowing it up. Take this weekends race for instance, where Casey mentions that he thought a couple of Vale's overtaking manouvre's were a bit rough and every media outlet dedicates a whole article just to this and how scathing it was. I'd be pretty sure that if his so-called comments to Moody were crediable then articles of 'Lorenzo is faking it' would spread across the internet like wildfire.

And for those attacking Stoner for being soft, get a grip. He said he enjoyed the race but for a couple of moves. He has his limits or ideas of what clean and hard racing is, the same as all riders to but some of their boundary's are different. Remember that Stoner (as with all the riders) is the one putting his neck on the line and they'd all like to do it without any further risks. From where I sat, thousands of miles away , most of it looked fine to me though Rossi's corkscrew move was the most desperate I've seen from him for years.

[MrJan]

Comments like Stoner "lifting a lip" can only be intended to suggest that he was sneering about JL being in such bad shape and is (IMO) refeclive of biased reporting.

I happen to open my mouth when I am talking and move my lips a bit...........I find it really handy when I want to speak.

It's a column, they're supposed to contain bias because they are effectively the opinion of the writer. This wasn't written as a report, merely Moody's experience of interviewing Stoner.

I still don't find the story that far fetched, we all know that CS can fly off the handle occassionally and he could quite easily have had a go at JL (I know I'd like to, the smug little.... :

[ArmchairBikeFan]

I'm with neninja on this one. People outside the UK might not know that Toby Moody has been a MotoGP commentator for the British Eurosport TV channel for donkeys. We've listened to him for countless hours, and he's certainly not a liar.

However...

He does have a bit of a tendency to climb up on his high horse and start dishing out moral judgements, as slightly pompous Middle England types sometimes do.

If you strip away the judgemental tone, you see that Casey actually made reasonable points, just in a way that annoyed that particular interviewer. Moody often likes to talk about how he chatted with this rider, and had breakfast with that rider, so I don't think he'll take it well that the plain-speaking reigning world champion doesn't think much of him.

After all, what did Casey really say in that interview? Lorenzo was exaggerating his injuries? Well, you're not going to jump from footpeg to footpeg on a MotoGP bike and bring it to 4th place if you're crippled, are you? And a distant 3rd place isn't worth showing up for? Well, not if you're fighting for world championships, it isn't.

I think it's just a case of Moody talking to a rider who has no time for him, and getting a bit hot under the collar about the answers. Total non-story.

[leopard]

Is it only me who see stoner quite often in face with a lip lifted, if not the mids of eyebrows. It might happen by its nature without tendency of being rude against someone.

[gco0307]

Also Casey has developed a reputation for being abrasive with fans and riders alike. Probably just immaturity combined with a blinkered will to win.

As someone who knows a number of people who have met CS I can state now that every one has expressed nothing but admiration for the time and courtesy that they were provided by CS. This even applies to the race officials who have had dealings with him over the years he has been in GP.

As for the riders, it was mentioned in the coverage over the weekend by Chaz Davies that CS is one of the nicer riders he has come across, just that he is private and not the 'party animal' type of a Hopkins etc.

CS also has helped a number of young riders over the last few years including (from memory) 2 in the Red Bull Rookies cup this year, Glenn Scott in the Australian championships in 2007 and Chaz Davies at Laguna Seca last year.

But, there is a darker side to all top sportsman when they will be abrasive or arrogant. This dark side will generally appear when the sportsman is 'at work' which for some may simply be during a session, but for others may be the entire race weekend. Given CS' intensity I suspect that for him, the entire weekend is work related and therefore he is 'on edge'.

In years past try to approach Mick Doohan, Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson etc at a race meeting and you would likely be told to 'go forth and multiply' pretty damn quickly.





Garry