So the answer is NO. Casey has not retracted this part of his statement, where he indicts Nicky saying "that was blatantly on purpose".
Besides having to deal with more pressing issues, I had purposely avoided this thread. When I flew back from Silverstone, while waiting for a connection, I saw these comments by Stoner. My first reaction was, I hope this is a misquote, and thought, I should wait a few days to see if he retracts, because the nature of his statement is so extremely outrageous and out of line. In the absence of any redress, recanting, clarification, or profuse apology, then, I'm very disappointed in Casey Stoner. I think he's lost his mind and lost his way.
I could understand if he said Nicky screwed up his lap and be angry about it, but he went so far as to say it was 'intentional', and qualified it by leaving no doubt. Casey left us no room for interpretation by saying, he could understand if Nicky had done it unintentionally, so I think he made it pretty clear. This is an indictment on Nicky Haydens integrity. And for this, there can be no glossing over it. This makes me question myself and the perception I had of Casey. It seems so out of character, but regardless, no pass can be issued unless he were to say he was misquoted or apologize for it. I know he wont lose any sleep over my perceptions of him. And hes told us often enough, he doesnt care what people think, though I dont believe it because us humans have an actual need to be admired. But its disappoint on several fronts, especially that he chose to attack with out a doubt, one of the most honest honorable guys on the grid--ever. Which makes his indictment all that more shocking, bizarre, and despicable. Whos he gonna go after next, Mother Teresa?
Weve all said things we didnt mean, but most of the time it was in specifically in the very heat of the moment, I dont think this even qualifies as that. There is no way he could judge "intent". And by the time the journalist got to him, the moment had passed and cerebral reasoning should have began to take hold of his tongue.
I dont think he even had a verbal outburst in the mdia toward Randy DePuniet, who actually put him in dire danger. This was more a matter of screwing up his fast lap. Yes, he lashed out and tapped Randy, but he didnt later question DePuniets honor & integrity. It was fine to question Randys presence of mind while on the track, but not that Randy had intentionally tried to cause him danger, right? Its interesting, because Rossi's torpedo of him, though not "intentional in the sense that VR meant to crash seems to speak more about what is "intent"; in that the race move was clearly intentional, though it had gone wrong. Casey remained rather muted on his indictment of Rossi, even declaring it a mere racing incident. Yet here, by comparison, an infinitely milder incident, he issues the harshest of indictmentsand to whom. So for him to go after Nickys integrity is way out of line. This is not "a mountain out of a molehill" incident, as some here try to assign it. Attempting to gloss it over, as "Casey being Casey" is unacceptable to me because in my estimation this is not mere whining. Incidentally, I dont believe Stoner has whined in the past any more or less than the 3-5 divas that surround him. In my estimation, when people have in the past described him as whining, it was actually a legitimate criticism or grievance by Casey. There has been lots of writing on this thread, but most of it has been irrelevant and tangential. Its a simple as this: Stoner questioned Nicky's integrity as a man; Casey is completely wrong and out of order! Not only is he wrong, but its awful unprofessional. Its up there with Rossi's diva antics. Also, this specific outburst is not about his frustration with Ducati, as some here erroneously try to assign it. It doesnt matter if Ducati murdered his entire family, this has zero to do with Nicky, so that line of argument is simply illogical. There is no excuse for this behavior and statement, as he had time to settle down. I can understand the hand wave in anger, because this is simply a human moment of frustration. But his statement to the media no les, is not one of a kneejerk reflex variety. Casey had time to get off the bike and accept a journalist inquiry. As I said, I'm very disappointed in him, as I thought he was different and above this sort of ........ usually employed by the more flamboyant & mind-game savvy elements of the grid.
Casey really ...... up on this one. The right thing for him to do would be to apologize to Nicky. There is no way around this. You can angle it, spin it, explain it, and go back to his childhood up bringing all we want, but the fact of the matte is, he need to say he mis-spoke and apologize like a man. This is the Casey Stoner I thought I knew, and I hope he reads his own statement and cringes, then immediately calls Nicky to say, 'dude, I was a total ....... to you man, sorry bro.'
