<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Bunyip @ Aug 28 2007, 09:09 AM) [snapback]87105[/snapback]<div class='quotemain'>
I,ve watched from the sidelines for a year , and it has been amazing the gradual change in attitude of posters to Casey Stoner. At the end of 2006, when he secured the Ducati ride, there were many negative comments ( especially from the UK contingent) about how CS would perform in 2007. Everything from- he,s gonna crash all the time and kill Ducatis racing budget, to He,ll be booted out after one year of poor performances. I thought he would be top 3 this year, but like all opthers never imagined the dominant rides he would put in this year. Early this year, most comments were to the effect that it was the Ducatis speed and not Stoners ability. Later on it was the Bridgestones. Only now are many willing to admit that Stoner is something special and deserves the title this year.
However, there is still the pervading concensus by many that Rossi is still a better or far better rider than Stoner and woul dominate him if on the same bike.
I,m not so sure. The thing is, that it is so hard to compare riders ability. You can only make true assessments if 2 riders are on equal bikes in the same team on the same tyres. This is not possible at yamaha (Edwards not given parity, Honda ( Hayden not given as much priority as Pedrosa??)
I believe the Ducats, Suzukis and Kawasakis are essentially equal (I could be proved wrong). SOooo....Hopkins is faster than CV in the dry usually. DP( until he crashes) is usually faster than Westy( but improving rapidly), and CS is vastly faster than Capirossi. Now did Capirossi suddenly become a poor rider. I doubt it. Maybe CS suits the 800 better, but the margin is HUGE! Maybe the Ducat is nothing like the great all-round package after all. Maybe the Yamaha is a great package ( as CE and JB attest) Maybe CS just rides the ring outta that duke!
Maybe Stoner is right now a better rider than Rossi!! I think CS is on the way up and VR on the way out. It always happens , as one star fades another eclipses it. I,m sure Pedrosa will get better as will many others ,and that the racing will get closer next year, but to me Stoners dominance suggests he could well be the next Doohan .
I just don,t want to not hear any more "Rossi would thrash CS if on the Ducati as well" Total crap..........in my humble opinion.........
Burky commented on CSs ride at Brno. I agree. Track Marshalls at Laguna Seca were saying that CS was clearly going faster than all of the others.
Stoner gains ground on the others because he is smooth, inch perfect and consistent every lap, You just can,t beat that. (as a sideline -watching Westy dominate Sofoglu in WSS in the last race there- westy was so smooth and looked slower than the regular WSS riders, but it was deceptive, he was just closer to getting the perfect braking points, corner speeds and lines than all the others. Stoner is like this, but yet another level past this)
Stoner really is that good!!
bunyip...i haven’t been watching from the sideline ive been watching it from within!!!..ur a legend mate!!!...ive been saying this about mr. stoner since late 2005...it was just a matter of time when he will get to the top!!!...and the best thing that happened to Stoner is that he didn’t get the best rides in his 125/250cc era!!!...typical of all aussie riders that go to Europe/englad...when he joined the gp circuit he had absolute donkey, bummer rides!!!....but no one could/would care about that aspect or believe and/or think that i was on the right planet when i pointed this out to them!!!...
Bunyip....mr. casey stoner has shown some of the most convincing, remarkable performances that ive ever seen be it in the 500’s or motoGP in recent years!!...youre right in every respect that you describe your post towards mr stoner!!!!!!
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