....... hell Lex, You should apply to be stoners PR excuse maker job. First its the big bang is the problem, then its tyres then ill-health when its pointed out he was using the screamer for the past 2 seasons he lost07 was a fluke in a transitional year. A one hit wonder and if you lot can't see that then your delusional. Theres just been excuse after excuse from him and his fans ever since the 07 title.
2007 was the year Casey Stoner received a factory bike with tires built to his unique specifications. This is something Vale had enjoyed for years until 2006 when he claimed that Michelin started building tires for Pedrosa/Honda (as part of 800cc development).
Stoner doesn't need a PR man, he needs people who understand what is going on. Stoner has no PR abilities whatsoever which is how he's managed to piss off the entire nation of Britain, but his behavioral shortcomings do not manifest themselves on the track regardless of the apparitions his detractors claim to witness. All of his career achievements have occurred during the Rossi era, and even in his worst factory season to date (2009) he still managed to have as many wins as Lorenzo.
No one is making excuses. The sport has changed drastically since 2007. Most of the competitive luxuries afforded to Stoner during the 2007 season have been stripped via rules changes. His tires are gone. The screamer has been legislated out of existence (de facto) with the new engine life rules. Look at what's happened to all of the factory Bridgestone runners since the end of the 2007 season!! You're trying to tell me that Ducati/Stoner aren't fighting an uphill battle against changes by the governing body? How anyone can watch the sport get turned on its ear from 2008-2010 (by artificial legislative forces) and then conclude that Casey Stoner is a head case?
Nobody said that about Hayden, though we did have many debates about whether or not Hayden ever "had it" in the first place. When Hayden started going slowly relative to 2006 most people said it was the 800s, and the diminutive, underpowered RC212V, and the poorly built Michelin tires. Guess what? Stoner is going slowly or crashing b/c of the monotire rules and the engine life rules which have completely changed his bike at least twice during the last 3 seasons. He's trying to adjust during the tightest testing and practice restrictions in the history of the sport. Casey, Guareschi, and Preziosi are up against Rossi, Burgess, and Furusawa.
That's what it is. Little or no opinion involved.
