The gamble was not that stupid. It only looks dumb at first evaluation. If you consider the two arch rivals IN FACT CRASHED ON SLICKS! I know this fact will be forgotten as I'm sure we will have people lined up on this thread ad in the following weeks. The thing is Rossi's bike is bullet proof. Had one thing went wrong with that bike, he wouldn't have finished and the gamble would have been genius.
Again, Ducati, specifically Stoner's two rivals actually and in fact CRASHED ON SLICKS. So to all those who will follow, equate this into your assessment.