Rossi better than Stoner, says Brivio
"Casey doesn't have Valentino's ability to understand what the bike is doing and what it needs, and that's why he crashed so much at Ducati."
VALENTINO ROSSI'S personal manager Davide Brivio has stated that Casey Stoner doesn't have the superior understanding of a bike and analytical ability of the Doctor.
GPOne have taken an excerpt from a new book about Rossi called 'Il Capolavoro' (The Masterpiece), in it Brivio says that the two main reasons that hampered Rossi in 2011 were Stoner's history at Ducati and the Bridgestone tyres: "Stoner is very fast, and he has the ability to get the most out of the bike he is riding. But [Casey] doesn't have Valentino's ability to understand what the bike is doing and what it needs, and that's why he crashed so much at Ducati. This doesn't help the engineers develop the project."
Of course this is strictly the opinion of Brivio, defending Rossi after his difficult year adapting to the Desmosedici. Although he doesn't mention the frequent falls that the seven-time champion had himself.
In relation to the struggles with the Bridgestones, he added: "There used to be greater options with the tyres you could try different setups, and you had more flexibility when setting the bike up. Now you need to develop the entire bike around the tyres, and the Japanese manufacturers have been better at doing that."
Even with all the difficulties in 2011, and the fact that it was Rossi's worst ever season with no wins, the Italian team and rider still remain positive. "Despite all the problems, I see Valentino and the team giving the same effort as always, with the same enthusiasm and passion. He has always worked hard to refine his talent, training intensely and studying the sport down to the finest detail."
So far the book is only in Italian and details why Rossi left Honda for Yamaha and again the story of leaving the Japanese manufacturer for Ducati. Amongst the behind-the-scene tales is an interesting anecdote that highlights the greatness of Rossi's mind: "During the 2006 Sachsenring race, it was Rossi, Melandri, Edwards, Hayden and Pedrosa fighting for the win. By the end Valentino managed to open a small gap and take the victory.
"After the race, he told us that he tried to break away after he saw Hayden pass Pedrosa on the big screen televisions at the track. The two Honda riders were wearing obviously wearing the same colors, and nobody understood how he could tell them apart at that speed. But Valentino said he could distinguish them from their helmet designs."
