Laguna Seca, July 2008. Between Casey Stoner official Ducati, reigning World Champion, and Valentino Rossi, spearhead Yamaha who discovered the young Jorge Lorenzo in his box, things were a little tense. This Grand Prix would take this rivalry to another dimension. And it was a daring maneuver that was going to turn everything upside down... The Doctor and the Australian still remember it.
He had in front of him an opponent who, for three Grands Prix, had been knocking him out with a Ducati which was setting lap records like others pearls. Since the start of the weekend, he had continued to experience such discrepancies that would have made others want to change careers. In short, this Laguna Seca race was over, the ogre Stoner was going to take it all.
Nay! We had perhaps forgotten that opposite it was Red. He gritted his teeth, didn't give in and held on like never before by doing exactly what he had to do: seize his chance, annoy his opponent by taking control and stand up to him at all costs. cost. Rocky style and that was good, we were in the United States.
The result was a magnificent Grand Prix, one of the most beautiful in History as the two men engaged in a merciless duel in the sun. They pushed each other to their limits without ever committing the irreparable and at the end of this Homeric battle, it was the one who was technically the strongest who bowed to the will of the other. When braking too hard, the Australian World Champion swerved, went out and ended up dropping to one knee, both literally and figuratively. He will nevertheless get back on his saddle to finish second.
Rossi and Stoner at the corkscrew: 10 years on@ValeYellow46 and his rival, @Official_CS27 look back on the famous battle at Laguna Seca, one decade ago#MotoGP | VIDEO 🎥 https://t.co/RvQ3b5ZIqi pic.twitter.com/12cpeajq2g
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) July 20, 2018
Valentino therefore won his American victory. And was leading the World Championship with 25 points ahead of Stoner. But the magnificent Californian duelists had barely dismounted from their proud steed when the BBC microphones overheard this spontaneous exchange between them:
Red : “Great race”
Stoner : “Not at all, you can’t behave like that”
Red : “It’s the race Casey”
Stoner : “Is this the race? OK, we'll talk about it again »
Indeed, the Australian did not appreciate the progress of this United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca. At the risk of appearing like a sore loser, he did not hesitate to accuse Valentino Rossi for his aggressiveness on the Californian track: “ These are two or three maneuvers, which everyone was able to see. The rest of these have been fair and regular, but there are these actions with which I do not agree. I've had some tough races in my career. I know what it is. But that was a little too much. I almost fell several times. ".
And in fact, he ended up getting started. On this fall, he commented: “ he seemed to brake earlier than normal. I probably would have expected it, because it wasn't the first time he'd done it. But I couldn't react fast enough. It's my fault. I was going to crash into him, so I released the brakes to go around him and went into the dirt. »
« I don't think Dani or Valentino would have liked it. If I had behaved like this, I think I would have been punished. So I won't answer on this point. But hey, Valentino had a great race, there's nothing to say about that. There are just certain maneuvers that went beyond measure for me. I talked to him about it on the podium and next week we'll think about it more »
But in 2010, he was still thinking about it... Questioned on the sidelines of the "Wrooom" demonstration about the speculations of an arrival of Valentino Rossi, rumors also encouraged by the boss of Ducati himself at the time, Gabriele Del Torchio, the Australian first remembered this race at Laguna Seca in 2008. A fight, the most spectacular blow of which was delivered by the prodigy from Tavullia in a “Corkscrew” negotiated in the dirt at the edge of the track . And this is precisely what poses a problem for the 2007 World Champion: “ I experienced this motorcycle race and there were several unfair blows during these few laps » announced Casey. “ The regulations clearly state that drivers must stay on the track. At the Corkscrew, Rossi overtook me off the track. It's not correct. The Laguna Seca race was unfair. »
