Spoiler!!!! Leguna Seca race.

[spence]

Did anyone see any of the telemetry? You could see Stoner was on the throttle so much earlier in the corner than Rossi, and no gradual feeding in like Rossi, he was just pinning it every time... No wonder Melandri can't ride the thing Lol.

[Rancid Badger]

Whilst I dislike Rossi immensely & obviously wanted Stoner to win, they both ran an incredible race - just with an unfortunate outcome.

I was more than a little disapointed with Stoner's attitude, when Rossi came up to him at the end, he could certainly been more sportsmanlike rather than the petulant child he came across as. It won't do him any favours with his critics.

[Imola Duke]

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Motorbikes | Fuming Stoner accuses Rossi

For those who have missed the interviews

What a ****!

[Imola Duke]

For those who missed the said interveiw

BBC SPORT | Motorsport | Motorbikes | Fuming Stoner accuses Rossi

What a ****

[Cess pit]

Classic Rossi, typical Stoner......cry baby.
Shows that having the fastest bike is not always good enough.

[hjworton]

A fantastic fight between them for 24 laps, just like watching old-time racing. Any more like that and it is in danger of becoming entertaining again.

Just showed how hard they were riding after he fell, remounted and was still 7 seconds ahead of Vermin in third. Great build quality on the Desmosedici too - nothing broke off in the gravel....

[drinky]

The best GP for ages, Rossi showed that he is the best. Casey Stoner showed himself up for what he is really is last night, a C**k, he was beaten by a better racer, not perhaps on the better bike but by a guy who knew from the start that he could win. Rossi knew that he had to be infront of Stoner from the start and thats what he did. Fantastic.....
And as for Stoner throwing his teddies in Parc Ferme, 'spoilt little brat' and 'its called racing' come to mind. I'm so glad that I've got tickets for Brno, what a race that should be?

[749_MON]

Would have loved to have seen the press conference after such an epic race.

It's a pity that neither Eurosport, not the BBC could be bothered!

[hjworton]

I certainly don't ever recall VR complaining about anyone being too aggressive on the track - he wants to win and you can bet your life he is sick of finishing a country mile behind Mr. Stoner. Yes, his overtaking was very hard, but he wants to win badly. Should he just accept second ? No, great racing needs at least 2 protagonists and Casey should be given even more motivation to win after what happened. Can you imagine Roberts, Sheene, Rainey or Lawson complaining that the racing was too hard ?

I admire the ability to ride the Ducati that Stoner has - he is fantastic on a machine the rest can barely comprehend - but after his post-race comments, I have lost all respect for him. Bad effort, Casey.

[harriebird]

i disagree that he was dummy spitting, it was some pretty close stuff and he was probably pretty annoyed in the heat of the moment after the race, fair enough letting off a bit of steam i think.

once he watches it back he'll probably calm down a bit. it was great to watch, we saw some pretty close stuff at the Bemsee meeting at Brands on Saturday so a great weekend's racing all round! i wish i was that good but i'm just not so the next best thing is appreciating others talents!

[diamondbrit73]

Laguna Seca USGP MotoGP Press Conference Transcript
by susan haas, seamstress for the band
Sunday, July 20, 2008

Valentino Rossi (#46 Fiat Yamaha, winner):
Q Valentino, that was an unbelievable Grand Prix to watch. What was it like to ride it?
A Was very exciting, because we know that for try to win, we have to make all perfect from the start. During the session, we had some problems, because we know that Stoner is very fast. I do the great start, but especially we make some important modify from this morning to this afternoon, that give to us the last three-tenths for going in :21. I feel confident with the bike. I am very strong in braking, and I have some hard overtaking back-to-back. Was fun. Was like the old-style race. And at the end it is possible to win. So this is the fourth victory of the year. Twenty-five point, very, very important, that give to us some relaxing for going on holiday. But anyway, we have to work, we have to stay very focused, because the championship is so long, and our rival is very strong.
Q It seemed a very clear tactic to lead the race, to go straight to the front early on.
A Yes. I have to try to stay in front, because anyway, here it is difficult to overtake. For stay front, I have to stay in : 21, :21 high, because if not, I am too slow. When I understand that I have the rhythm, I try to stay front for all the race, and was very difficult, but my bike worked very well, and is precise, the setting is good, and very strong in braking, so is possible to have a great pace and make a great battle.
Q So many overtaking moves between yourself and Casey - of course, you almost run off the track as well at the Corkscrew. Talk us through that particular action at the Corkscrew.
A Yes. Was a great braking, and you know in the Corkscrew is very difficult to make the right lines, also when you are alone. So I have to risk a bit in the braking for try to overtake, and I go a little bit on the outside. But anyway, [inaudible] at the outside. After the Cork.
Q Also, every time Casey was in front of you, you looked to get straight back in front of him.
A Yes. I am good in braking, and I want to stay in front. I want to try to stay front. Anyway, was a high level battle and a great race, because our lap time is always :21.8, :21.7, or :22.0 the maximum, so I think today is all perfect for us. But we have to work. We have to fix some our problem, because is seven race to the end, and the battle will be always very hard.
Q Twenty-five points, now, between yourself and Casey, who is in second position. What are your thoughts about Brno, and maybe Misano coming up, where Casey was successful last year?
A Yes. I have 25 point, that is a good advantage, but is not amazing. Now, after the break, we have the Brno race, where last year Stoner was very fast. So we have to work, and we have to try to go faster, because last year was a disaster for us. And after, arrive at Misano, that is in Italy, and last year also with a lot of our problems. I was quite fast in the practice before broken engine. So the championship is completely open, but I have more - today I make more points than in 2007 season already, and I have seven race to go. And 212 points, this mean that, except the mistake in Assen, I am always very fast. So I think we are strong and we are ready for the battle.

Casey Stoner (#1 Marlboro Ducati, second place):
Q Casey, you were the other half of a classic battle at the front today. How did you see that race from the front?
A The pace was pretty low, which was really good. We were getting a nice buffer to the third position, which helped us relax a little bit, and know that we weren't getting any pressure from behind. I was a little bit disappointed with the fact that towards the end of the race, I made a mistake going into the last corner, and as I tried to come back on the track, I seemed to hit a big patch of, a deeper part of the sand rather than dirt, and I just lost the front. So I'm a little bit disappointed with that, but it was completely my mistake, and I have to deal with it. As for the race, most of the time it was very nice, very clean. Valentino was riding a great pace at the front, riding very well, very defensive. I just felt that some of the passing maneuvers were maybe a little bit too much, and past the point of fair or aggressive. I've been riding for a lot of years, and even though I'm only 22, I've been now racing for 18 years. I've had a lot of overtaking maneuvers. I've done a lot of overtaking maneuvers. It was just some of the most aggressive I've had in a long, long time.
Q Was there any in particular you weren't happy with?
A Two moves, basically three moves. I think everybody would've seen them. But I think a couple of other ones were all right. All nice and clean. We were riding side by side for a lot of the race. There were just a couple I wasn't really happy with.
Q What about your position in the championship now? Twenty- five points behind Valentino. What does that mean - how do you go into Brno? What's your mindset?
A We just have to look since Donington we've gained points. I know we lost five points today, but it's five points, so it was good. We've been very competitive over these last races, which has given us more confidence. Before then, we weren't really giving much of a show to the front of the pack, and now we can actually really fight. So this is the most important thing, and this is what we've got to concentrate on and focus on. We're going to the summer break now, we're going to get ready for the last part of the season, and considering not too long ago we were considered out of the championship, I think we're in with a fair chance, but for sure it's going to be very, very hard to do anything.
Q One final question about the race itself. Did you feel if you could hang on for three or four corners at the front, that you could've pulled away?
A Yeah. I was basically trying to find the right place to get past and actually pull the gap. We knew we had a faster pace, but Valentino, like I said, was riding a great race, very defensive and very difficult to pass. I was a little bit disappointed where we couldn't get past too easily, but like I just said, Valentino was very, very defensive, and a fantastic race. He wasn't making any mistakes, and it was very hard to find an opening.

Chris Vermeulen (#7 Rizla Suzuki, third place):
Q Chris, on the podium in Sachsenring just seven days ago. That was in the wet, though. I'm sure it's a big boost to you to do it in the dry here at Laguna.
A It's the second race in a row we're on the podium, so it's a big step. It's a big boost for myself, for the team, and very good to be on here in the dry conditions. Obviously, Laguna Seca I like. I was quick here last year as well. We finished second. Unfortunately, today we didn't have the pace of the front two guys. After practice, I thought maybe we could race with them, or be a lot closer than we were, but we didn't have the pace today. But yeah. We'll see how we go in Brno.
Q It looked like a bit of fun there with Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso early on in the race. Were you surprised at their pace?
A Not at all. Everyone - nobody's slow out there. There's 18 or 19 riders and they're all very fast, very talented. It was hard starting from the third row of the grid and trying to come through. It's not an easy track to pass, and when you do make a pass, a lot of the time you run wide. Nicky was very clever. He took advantage of that and passed me back quite often. But once I got in front, I knew I had more pace than them, and we got away. To be honest, from about lap six or seven, it was pretty boring for me. I just rode around on my own a lot. But we got home, we're on the podium, and it was a good race.
Q What about now, for the remaining seven races in the championship? What's your hopes for the Suzuki in the races to come?
A Being on the podium, I guess, now in the dry, proves that we've made some steps with the bike, and we want to continue that. I think we're going to a couple more tracks that are going to suit the bike, some more tracks that I like - Brno, Misano. Hopefully we can fight for some more podiums there.
Q Valentino, what do you think about the words of Casey about this not-very-clean overtaking?
ROSSI: For sure, after a battle like this, for sure also with all the pressure and all the emotion of the race, is quite normal. But everybody, is race. My style to race is try to never give up, so I make the tactic that I think is possible for try to win. For sure the overtaking, we make a lot of overtaking, quite aggressive, but we never touch each other. So I think - anyway, I enjoyed the battle.
Q Valentino, what do you think of Laguna Seca now? And, was it the Corkscrew where you got off and kissed the ground?
ROSSI: I don't know if I understand. But at the beginning, the Corkscrew was a nightmare for me, especially 2005, but also 2006, because is a difficult corner. But I think this year, from Friday, I right away, and I am able to improve practice by practice and understand the right line for the Corkscrew. And you have also some overtaking, and is a tricky place for overtake. So at the end, after today, I like more this track, for sure.

[Ghost]

Originally Posted by harriebird

i disagree that he was dummy spitting, !

Errr.... No he defo was.

[Dave G]

So it wasn't just heat of the moment stuff,Stoner continued to whine and cry afterwards too. A tight and twisty track where he couldnt just accelerate past everyone on the fastest bike out there.
Hes not a sportsman, just a spoilt brat with the best equipment.

[Pax]

Originally Posted by Dave G

So it wasn't just heat of the moment stuff,Stoner continued to whine and cry afterwards too. A tight and twisty track where he couldnt just accelerate past everyone on the fastest bike out there.
Hes not a sportsman, just a spoilt brat with the best equipment.

Blimey! seems to be quite an anti Stoner feeling here. Remember immediately after the race he is not in the best position to judge what happened on track because his perspective is very narrow as a rider. Once he see's the replays and can see all of what went on I am sure he will shrug his shoulders and accept it. After the initial anger and frustration had died down he shook Rossi's hand on the podium and they shared a joke. Rossi apologised to Stoner so he must have felt he made a mistake or two. As for the lack of skill comments, he has got more out of that bike than his team mate, I have marvelled at the way he wrings the neck of that Ducati, things are bound to go wrong now and again, when you are that close to the edge.

[ziggi]

Casey was lulled into the Rossi false sense of security. When it comes to tactics Rossi has everyone beat.

I don't think Casey is a w4nker though. Yeah, he spat his dummy out and it reminds me of some other champs in the past. Fogarty was a bit like that. He had a right to be upset - he lost. I don't like to see it but he's an out and out champion and nothing but winning is good enough.

I love Ducati but boy, did I want Rossi to win last night.