Weather was ridiculous - Stoner
Added on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
An unhappy Stoner and Rossi give their views to Dorna officials.
Casey Stoner branded the conditions at Sunday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix as “ridiculous” as the inaugural MotoGP event at the Brickyard descended into farce.
With Hurricane Ike sweeping across the Southern States at the weekend, high winds at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway brought an abrupt end to proceedings with eight laps remaining on Sunday before confusion swept across the paddock area.
With the race more than two-thirds old, it was largely expected that the result would be declared ‘as stands’, handing Rossi his fourth consecutive victory and an almost unassailable lead at the top of the rider’s championship.
But chaos ensued as Dorna officials proposed a sprint finish once the winds had died down; much to the displeasure of Rossi and title rival Stoner, who was in fourth position as the red flags were shown. Dorna’s decision seemed even more bizarre as advertising hoardings, banners and paddock hospitality marquees collapsed under strain from the high winds and heavy rain.
Organisers later backed down on the suggestion to declare Rossi as the winner, much to the relief of Stoner despite the considerable dent in his already slim title hopes.
“With this wind, it’s literally unrideable,” he declared. “The rain wasn’t a problem in the race; it was actually the wind issues. You would glance a good two or three metres offline, and going into the back straight your front wheel is literally just moving a metre every time you change gear. It became very dangerous. It was ridiculous. The safest option was to stop.”
“We’re not happy with the race today, but I would rather go home in one piece. Even in dry conditions, I don’t think it’s safe (in that wind). It is literally unbelievable. I don’t think you can keep your bike online, and I think there would have been a few nasty crashes. You know, it’s not anybody’s fault.
“We started off OK in the race, and I needed a few laps to warm the tyres up because we just weren’t getting temperature. I destroyed the tyre after that. We were actually quite lucky it started to rain toward the end there. I don’t think we could have kept up if it hadn’t rained,” he confirmed.
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