10 reasons I think Casey Stoner is really a looser:
Yes, I love Rossi. Yes I was pissed off when people were trying to put Stoner up against a guy with 9 world championships after his second win? And yes I think Stoner is a bit of a self centered punk.
There, got that off my chest.
- He only wins when he has the best bike (or in the case of a few Ducati wins when he is looking for a new ride on Honda).
- He only wins when he has clear air.
- He isn’t dedicated to the sport; he looks at MotoGP like it’s there for him to make money and nothing else. He doesn’t work hard, rides as little as possible. The Press makes a big deal over the fact that he comes out and rides his fastest laps in his first couple laps – maybe if he rode a little harder he could learn how to run in traffic or how to be creative under race conditions.
- It’s never the bike. One thing that strikes me about the MotoGP video pass is how open the riders are about their bikes and their personal performance. Rossi openly says he is having trouble riding the Ducati as Hayden seems to ride it better. Jorge says when he makes mistakes, so do Crutchlow and Hayden. But with Stoner it’s always the bike wasn’t that good but I managed to ride through it.
- Head to head, with competitive equipment, both Rossi and Jorge have out foxed Stoner on the track several times. I my mind Stoner is a fast rider but Jorge & Rossi are racers.
- Stoner wants to get out front and run away from everyone. He’s not tough and not a fighter. I was not a Jorge fan, but I have come to appreciate that he is a street fighter – that’s what real champions are. You’re supposed to win when everything goes your way, champions win when it all goes bad and they still manage to pull through.
- Casey doesn’t love the sport. You can see it in his eyes he is doing this because of the money and it’s his job. You can see the guys that are like kids at Christmas thinking: “I’m actually getting paid to ride the best motorcycles on the best tracks in the world.†Stoner is thinking “I’m the fastest rider and this is about me.â€
- Stoner runs and hides from the interviewer when things don’t go perfect. He doesn’t realize that he owes his fans an explanation.
- Stoner makes stupid mistakes when he isn’t out front and everything is going perfect. Remember his warm-up lap crash a few years ago?
- Stoner doesn’t want it. He doesn’t care about being great or the best ever. That’s why he is willing to walk away while on the best bike in MotoGP. I respect his right to quit and maybe that’s better for his family, but there are riders all over the world who would give anything for his spot. Also Honda invested a lot of money in the Stoner team and to have that end before it’s achieved all it can has got to make Honda think twice about putting money into the sport.
Yes, I love Rossi. Yes I was pissed off when people were trying to put Stoner up against a guy with 9 world championships after his second win? And yes I think Stoner is a bit of a self centered punk.
There, got that off my chest.