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MotoGP rivalries are less pronounced today than they were in Stoner’s days

(Motorsport-Total.com) – In his active MotoGP career, Valentino Rossi not only fought a bitter duel with one driver. The list of former rivals is long. At the beginning Max Biaggi was the toughest adversary of the “Doctor”. Sete Gibernau would later experience this before Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez became Rossi’s nemesis. Today, MotoGP is much more harmonious. Why is that?

Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi didn’t just get down to business on the track

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“Now it’s different,” confirms Rossi, blaming the media situation for it: “Today the echo is much stronger, even if you only say something very small. You are not aware of any guilt and suddenly you have the following day or even in problems with it in the coming weeks.”

“It was easier 10 or 15 years ago because this problem wasn’t that big. You could say more,” explains Rossi, who has repeatedly used the media to get into the minds of his opponents.

Casey Stoner

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Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi didn’t always see eye to eye Zoom

That worked in the case of Biaggi and Gibernau. With Stoner and Lorenzo, Rossi was already having a harder time. In the case of Marquez, this tactic did not work.

With some distance Rossi fondly remembers the duel with Stoner, in which he lost in 2007 but was superior in 2008 and 2009. Unforgettable is the spectacular duel at the US Grand Prix 2008 in Laguna Seca (which happened back then).


Photo gallery: Valentino Rossi’s career highlights

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“I enjoyed the duel with Stoner. I can say that now because it was a really tough fight back then,” recalled Rossi. “Stoner is incredibly talented and very fast. He was very strong in all conditions.”

“He was a really tough opponent. We fought for championships. He won, but so did I. It was a great fight. I rode for Yamaha, he rode for Ducati. It was different manufacturers and teams. I really enjoyed it “, says Rossi.

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