Stoner Fumes at Jerez Marshals for Lack of Assistance

Casey Stoner was undoubtedly a disappointed man on Sunday, as he was pushed off the track by Valentino Rossi in the early stages of the Spanish GP and recorded his first DNF of the year. And it happened on a track that he hasn’t been very successful at in recent years, but where he dominated the timing reports all weekend in this particular event.

And even though the Australian rider was angry with Rossi for his passing maneuver that turned bad in Lap 8 – the Italian was later able to rejoin the track and finish in 5th place – his outmost frustration was directed at the race marshals.

According to the Honda rider, he could have easily resumed racing on Sunday had the workers outside the track given him a hand at restarting his undamaged bike. However, he pointed out that most of the men outside the track were too busy helping 7-time MotoGP champion Rossi rather than him.

“There was no damage to my bike,” insisted Stoner. “When I got knocked off, I switched the bike off with the kill switch. Unfortunately with our clutch system we have to have two pins to start the bike normally.”

“We tried to start it a few times and I tried to move it up the gears, and I think if we'd got over the hill with more people pushing, there's a good chance we could've started the bike. When I looked back I had like one guy pushing me, all the rest were walking back to their posts...”

“What am I supposed to do with that? For sure that guy was trying hard, but with one guy it's impossible - he'd be destroyed before we got over the hill. I think if we'd have been able to get the bike going we would have had some very good points because the bike was undamaged. We should've been able to be competitive to the end, but things happen like this.”

“This is something that riders who are against Valentino have had to learn to deal with. It's completely unfair, but it's something that's happened to me in the past when I've crashed. I've had people pushing my bike off the track - even when it's perfect and I can still race. I've had to fight with marshals to get them to try and get me started again.”

“This was a racing incident, just him losing the talent in this corner. It's disappointing for me, but for me the worst was the marshals not helping me and to completely forget me like I'm nothing, and then trying to push me off the bike basically.”

“I'd like to see something done about it - not just for me but for other riders. I just think it's completely unfair. There's not enough consistency in the marshalling all around the world. There's got to be consistency with everyone, not hampering someone's race just because of popularity.”

After the race, Rossi visited Honda's garage and apologized to Stoner for his maneuver in the race.