What if Casey had killed it?

[ÜberDoober]

We've all seen and talked about Casey Stoner's tip over in the gravel where he was damn lucky to keep the bike running.

What if he had killed the engine?

He was close enough to the pavement that once righted, getting the bike there would haven't been a problem but it would have been in a damn dangerous spot. Question is, could Stoner bump start the bike or could some corner workers have helped him?

If he had not kept the motor running, would his day have been completely over?

[Gary]

The announcers said no way, but I've seen others do it. Hell, Lorenzo bump started the Yamaha with freshly broken ankles in China.

[ÜberDoober]

Interesting. I figured he was close enough to the track that he could have pushed the bike to the pavement before the corner workers could have gotten there and tried to stop him. It would have been in a bad spot, for sure.

What are the rules for getting assistance? Say Casey had gotten the bike to the edge of the track just as the marshalls had gotten there. Could they have given him a push?

[KingKenny]

Well I don't think you are to recieve assistance but others have. It normally doesn't seem to be inforced. The thing that killed me was "why" he binned it under the circumstances in the first place. He just paniced a little. That is so out of character for him. Is Rossi gettin to his head?

I felt so cheated. I expected a lot of overtaking during the final laps of the race and was so looking forward to it. However, it was still the best racing in MotoGP in far to long a time. That was an epic battle yet with a premature ending albiet.

[gonickygo]

What if he had killed the engine?

I'll state the obvious... he'd be down 45 points instead of 25.
;)

[Gary]

From what I saw, assuming he had the rubber and was still behind Rossi, I think Stoner would have set up to drive hard out of 11 - he seemed to have the straight line speed to get by before the line. I think Stoner was already a little intimidated by Rossi's wild passes (that's the good wild, not a negative) and figure he'd have waited until he could make a clean break or blast past at the line.

Hard not to be a little intimidated when a guy passes you on the outside in 3 - I've seen a couple of things like that in all the time I've watched GP, but not many - that move took BALLS.

[Hoofhearted]

If you look at the video again you'll see Stoner leaving the door wide open corner after corner. Stoner was riding like there was no one on the track but him. Yo can't give a demon braker like Rossi that much room. Its short circuit racing not road racing so you can do things like that and if you are as skilled as Rossi, get away with it. Of course it takes big ones to pull off moves like that. Thats why Rossi is where he is and we're here writing about it.