#y'know one of the funnier little details in his autobiography is that casey goes from primarily referring to valentino as -

[batsplat]

The 10 second penalty that vale got in Phillip Island 2003 what was it for?

overtaking under yellow flags. obviously the sort of thing that should be penalised, though valentino was adamant he hadn't seen them. which, well, might be true - definitely feels like it was a pretty common issue in those years lol. here's him talking about it in his autobiography (full excerpt, including the qatar 2004 comparison):

at donington earlier that year, valentino was only informed after the race about that particular penalty, taking his victory from him and demoting him to third place after the fact. there was some controversy there where biaggi's team like... allegedly spread the word about valentino overtaking under raised yellows in the paddock, until the stewards took a look at it and did indeed penalise valentino. this incident is kind of notable because biaggi went 'yeah I didn't want valentino to be penalised' and valentino not only believed him but even thanked him, which...? scholars will note this feels rather different to valentino's response at qatar 2004 (full credit to @bikefuckersoftheworldunite for digging up the relevant articles)

another plot-relevant yellow flag controversy is when sete overtook under yellow flag conditions at mugello 2004 and valentino was extremely not thrilled by how sete hadn't been penalised. which leads to a fantastic moment at the sepang 2004 presser a whole ten races later where valentino brings up this incident again to rag on the inconsistent stewarding. and sete gives one of his 'trapped in a waking nightmare' looks

last semi-relevant one is phillip island 2006, where valentino overtakes CASEY under yellow flags. hayden was close behind them and spotted the flags - but apparently he was literally the only one to do so. IMMEDIATELY after the race - like, I'm saying you can listen to him talk about it on the actual broadcast when they're in parc fermé, quickly enough that they even get a live valentino reaction - hayden says he expects to see a penalty come valentino's way for the infraction. but the stewards hadn't seen it... hrc filed an official protest that was dismissed. here too, valentino said he hadn't seen the yellow flags and casey (despite being a honda rider at the time) just like. agreed and said he also hadn't seen them. which didn't exactly help hrc's case, lovely of casey to have valentino's back like that. but again, scholars will note that even though valentino was embroiled in a very tight championship fight with hayden, who had just called for valentino to be penalised on live tv... no curses. what's that all about then, valentino