#give elia a season | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

batsplat · 10 months ago

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tumblr user batsplat i need you to know that your work for the motogp community is appreciated beyond measure, thank you so much for your absolutely incredible effort!!!

thank you!! that's very sweet! lemme tell you my favourite bit of extremely low level valentino beef. fair warning: this is extremely minor. it's not that serious. I just like old drama

so you know the 2006 season, right, where valentino actually got on pretty well with all the other title contenders? depending on how you want to look at it, there were 4-5 contenders that year... capirossi's a bit marginal whether he counts as a 'title contender'. he was tied leader of the standings after six rounds, but then was involved in a horror crash at catalunya that halted his momentum. the crash was caused by his teammate sete and there's a decent chance capirossi would have been champion without this race. his eventual third place in the championship standings was due to him bouncing back to claim a strong string of results late in the season

here's a few more photos of that crash:

the other four contenders were nicky hayden, valentino, marco melandri and dani pedrosa. to give you a sense of what that title fight looked like, here were the standings after eleven out of seventeen rounds:

obviously valentino was a title contender given he nearly won the whole thing - but, yeah, he was very much on the back foot that entire season. so of those other four contenders, valentino got on very well with capirossi (who valentino had been a fan of as a kid and had met when he was eleven years old) and with hayden (who valentino had helped with the transition from superbike when hayden became his rookie teammate at repsol honda in 2003). he was reasonably friendly with pedrosa and had a long-standing friendship with melandri, if one that seems to have cooled off when they became premier class rivals (according to melandri in any case). you do have to say, the good vibes are a little unusual as valentino title fights go... it's a very chaotic very exciting season that has quite a few excellent valentino performances as he attempts to bounce back from all manner of ill fortune - but no realbeef. it really is a title fight mostly fought in good spirits. the most significant drama between any of these contenders was the hayden/pedrosa estoril crash that very nearly cost hayden the title. from broadbent's 'ring of fire' about the scenes after the race:

in the end dani was bailed out by valentino's crash in valencia (though a lot of american fans did not move on from the incident); it was by far the most significant on-track clash he had with hayden in their years together at honda, at a time when the vibes in that team were *checks notes* not great. hayden said all was forgiven - if with the caveat that he didn't know how he would've felt if he hadn't won the title. but, y'know, heartwarming: valentino is part of a title fight where he is not involved in the biggest beef of the year (the other title fight this is true of was 1998, another iconic season)

there is however one other rider who played an important role in the 2006 title fight - one who thinks that his relationship with valentino was affected by the events of that year. first bit of context: the season opener at jerez went disastrously wrong for valentino at the very first corner, when toni elias rode into him and caused him to crash. that jerez crash was one of those classic first corner incidents that could've easily been a lot uglier, and some riders quite narrowly avoid valentino

kind of started the season off the way it was going to go on, really. anyway, here's valentino reacting to the crash, and also elias coming over to him post-race to apologise:

elias ended up finishing 4th, while valentino picked the bike up to finish 14th. here's what valentino had to say post-race:

"We knew this was going to be a difficult race but maybe not so difficult!" said Rossi, who had been battling chatter problems for much of the weekend and qualified just ninth on the grid. "I saw Toni come up on the inside and he hit me; this is racing and these things happen. "I have known Toni for many years and he is a good rider. He apologised to me after the race so I told him not to worry - only to remember to brake next time and if it is too late then to hit another bike instead of me!"

great line, fairs

by the way, this incident allowed casey to get such a good start to his rookie season, in a race where he ended up finishing sixth:

I made a great start off the line and our luck improved further in the first corner, when Toni Elías got his braking markers completely wrong, took out Valentino Rossi and opened up a gap for me to dive through. I was sixth by the end of the first lap and up to fourth two laps later, just behind Nicky Hayden in third.

and there's probably some symbolism there if you dig deep enough. elias was also involved in the eventual outcome of the 2006 motogp season in another way (from the vale race recs post):

anyway, moving on from the 2006 season for now, there's a couple more on-track interactions we might as well rattle through. the two of them had quite a tense coming together at turkey 2007, the third race of the season and around the time valentino was coming to realise the casey/ducati combination was going to be a real problem that season. the fight between elias and valentino didn't have much of an effect on valentino's race given how he had some nicely fucked up tyres (bit of a theme that year), but that didn't stop valentino from being irritated post-race:

Elias took second from Rossi with a move down the inside at the final complex, but both riders nearly came off their bikes as they touched during the pass. While Elias maintained second to the flag, Rossi later fell to 10th after developing tyre issues. "I'm very disappointed with Elias because he was very unfair with me," Rossi told Italia1 television. "Obviously we're all racing, but he had already overtaken me, and when he came on my side he tried to push me out and make me fall on purpose. I don't think that's fair behaviour. There are other words than 'unfair' coming up in my mind, but I'll leave them to the imagination. "He had already tried to come to apologise another time after the chequered flag. I'll say no more, I owe him twice, so I'll see him in China. I think he has a rather unfair way of riding with everyone. He had already overtaken me, so there was no need to throw me out. We know these things among riders. So now we know, and we'll know how to behave next time we meet him." Elias shrugged off the incident. "These things happen in racing and I'm happy with today's result," he said. "The way I drive may look risky but I feel comfortable with it and I will carry on like this."

at this point, I do just have to go on a brief tangent to present my 'casey complains about toni elias' compilation

exhibit a: some exciting solidarity between casey and valentino

exhibit b: casey saying elias is continually stuck on his "arse-end"

exhibit c: peace talks held at casey's motorhome

definitely some fun lines in this, like "I think casey has problems with everybody and not only me". ouch. this does help show elias was just one of those guys who a lot of riders had minor beef with... you know how it is sometimes (incidentally, elias was also a talent linked to alberto puig, so they met quite young before casey was a full time grand prix rider)

the other minor on-track incident between valentino and elias I wanted to include is one where I haven't found any post-race reporting or comments from either rider, so, again, clearly not that big a deal. still found it funny so. it's sachsenring 2008, casey has just won the last two races, and he's well on his way to winning his third consecutive one after dani crashed out from a massive lead. it's raining, which is why the whole field is super spread out. valentino is actually riding a pretty decent race, but his problem is he's coming back from seventh on the grid and casey started on pole, with fairly predictable repercussions for their respective race. still, in those conditions it's always worth trying to put as much pressure as possible on the leader, and valentino does end up closing in until he's around five seconds behind casey

which is how valentino ends up attempting to lap elias - while the commentators chat about how valentino very much does not want to be taking any risks, not with toni elias, not with twenty world championship points at stake ("the front of toni elias' bike knows the side of valentino rossi's bike very well, doesn't it"). elias doesn't really move to one side, which means valentino has to overtake him the regular way. after the move has been completed, he does this:

a little bit annoyed, do we think?

anyway, obviously valentino doesn't catch casey, and casey picks up his third consecutive win. worrying from valentino's perspective... especially given that there's a lot of tracks come that really seem to suit casey, including the upcoming laguna seca

to round things off. after laguna, elias shares two consecutive podiums with valentino at brno and misano - both of which valentino won after casey crashed out of the lead

when elias was unable to secure a motogp ride for 2010, he ended up switching to moto2 and becoming the first ever winner of the series. from his motogp.com profile:

He started the year as one of the title favourites in the Moto2 class, and throughout the season his wealth of experience and race-craft has shone through as he claimed seven wins, including four in a row over the summer period. His characteristic “hang-on” riding style and charming personality has won him millions of fans across the globe, and the Spaniard becomes the first ever Moto2 World Champion at the age of 27.

he returned to motogp and had a troubled 2011 season, before competing in a mix of motogp and moto2 in 2012 - and his last full season in grand prix racing was 2013. I mainly bring this up so I can include this truly charming casey comment:

"one failed" casey. please

elias ends up moving stateside to compete there instead. so, he still runs into motogp riders at austin - which he brings up in a 2020 interview, while accusing valentino pf still being bitter over 2006:

“Being able to beat Valentino [for victory] has only happened to me once in my life,” he told DAZN. "Michelin brought me a new tyre on the Saturday and I managed to improve my pace by seven-tenths and fight for victory. "I thanked Michelin for the help, although I was very angry when I discovered that this rubber, with a softer casing, was the one used by the best riders throughout the season and they only gave it to me in the penultimate race of the year. "When I meet Valentino - I see him every year in Austin - I can see that he still has [Estoril 2006] stuck in his heart, he has not forgiven me… It's over, it's time to be friends, but it is not possible. He is so competitive, he will never forgive me!"

these comments were put to valentino, to which he said the following:

"When I met Toni Elias in the United States, because now he runs there, there were only positive moments,” he told a video chat with BT Sport. “We have a good relationship and I'm not angry with him because he beat me in Portugal, but because he knocked me out in first corner during the Spanish Grand Prix. “In that season, Jerez was the first race of the year and immediately made me lose points and probably also the championship."

obviously, this is a joke, and valentino is allowed to make those occasionally. it's also probably a joke that has just a little bit of truth to it. who knows how valentino feels about toni elias these days, whether he really was still acting coldly towards elias during austin trips because of a grudge that dates back to 2006. but, y'know, it's also kind of fine to hold grudges for petty reasons sometimes... I'll say it: I support valentino's god-given right to just find some of these guys kinda annoying. not everything has to be an epic feud. sometimes guys just have a little mental list of past transgressions where each individual item is kinda small and silly but they're also literally never going to forget about each of them and they haven't forgiven anything even if it's been well over a decade... you know how it is

#elias very much has the vibe of a 'has become a bit of an uncharitable in-joke in valentino's inner circle' level of grudge #i looooooove the photo of valentino with his visor up looking at elias asking for forgiveness ... it's so evocative idk #2006 truly one of the all time great seasons. the only thing it's missing is a feud imo #brr brr #casey stoner #//#batsplat responds #i'm way faster writing essay length posts than dealing with asks that are just compliments... i do appreciate them i swear #quite a few of them are just sitting in my inbox... they do cheer me up. so here's a random story as thanks y'know #anyway read the elias/casey stuff and picture in your mind's eye marc giving casey the pecco treatment #genuinely would've given casey an aneurysm. they really are the ships that pass in the dark of generational feuds #//ht

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