Valentino Rossi accused of using intimidation tactic against MotoGP rivals
Rossi was intimidating on and off track (Credit: Apex Agency)
Connor Andrews is Formula 1 and MotoGP writer for GPblog and various outlets. Having worked in motorsport for 15 years for leading companies, he has interviewed the sports biggest names and attended multiple Grands Prix.
Valentino Rossi had one of his most public falling-outs with Casey Stoner, but his former rival has now revealed how he channelled it into motivation.
Stoner won his 2007 and 2011 titles competing against Rossi in MotoGP, and twice lost out to the Italian in between.
Things boiled over between the pair in 2008 at Laguna Seca when a number of moves, particularly one at the famous ‘Corkscrew’ turn, left Stoner on the brink of crashing.
Valentino Rossi rivalry spilled beyond the racetrack
Post-race in the media pen, Rossi went to shake hands, and when Stoner appeared tense, Rossi replied: “This is racing, Casey,” in one of MotoGP’s most famous off-track scenes.
ADVERTISEMENT
Rossi went on to win the title that year, but Stoner later came back in 2011 for his second premier class crown, later retiring as a legend.
Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport about his iconic career, the Australian spoke about his rivalry with Rossi, and how it often left the racetrack.
Rossi ‘liked to try to intimidate’ his rivals
“There was certainly some tension at times that I felt was unjustified, so I decided to draw some motivation from it all for the coming years,” he explained.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I made sure not to repeat the mistakes I made during that period. The most important thing I learned from Valentino was to understand the character of the riders you compete against.
"It's about understanding their tactics, the way they like to act. Valentino liked to try to intimidate a lot off the track, and maybe this worked for him in previous years with some of his rivals, but it didn't work for me because it only gave me another layer of strength, another layer of understanding of what that character was going to do.”
Stoner had to face the sport's greatest personality (Credit: Red Bull Content Pool)
Stoner stunned the world of motorsport in 2012 when he retired from MotoGP aged just 26.
He cited a lack of enjoyment of the sport, and many suggested that what he felt was media bias towards Rossi was partly to blame.
ADVERTISEMENT
However, in the following years, tensions have simmered, and Stoner even joined Rossi for a motocross ride at his famous ranch.
Former champion also learned from Rossi's media mastery
Reflecting on the Italian’s charm, Stoner added: “In the media, he was very good, basically, at getting people on his side, supporting his opinion, his vision, or his narrative.
“He was very, very intelligent in that sense, very open with the press. There were so many aspects to the way he dealt with the media that really made me think about how I had to approach it differently.
ADVERTISEMENT
“He's a huge figure in our sport, and given everything he's achieved, it would be foolish not to learn from someone capable of what he did."
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google