Stoner: “A great honor to be awarded the Menarini Fair Play”

“It is an honor to have been chosen for this award, it is fantastic: in the last few years it has been very difficult for everyone to travel to these events so it is wonderful to see everyone reunite again, and as I said it is a huge privilege.” This was said by motorcycling champion Casey Stoner, the winner of the two MotoGPs 2007 and 2011, speaking in Florence, in Palazzo Vecchio, at the opening night of the Menarini International Fair Play Award. “In the last year it is difficult to understand MotoGP, because from one race to the next you see a very different list of results: the winner of a grand prix maybe the next weekend struggles to finish in the top 5 or 6, perhaps even worse. . So it is very difficult to see who is consistently strong – added Stoner speaking to reporters – I am not saying that the bikes are easy to ride, but it seems that everyone is capable of approaching peak performance a little more easily, and so then it is more difficult to understand who really makes the difference. I have the perception that some riders who were in front would not have been there, if the bikes weren’t so manageable. ” : “Valentino retired at the end of last year, but unfortunately he wasn’t that strong in recent years, and he was out of the fight for the world title, so he hasn’t changed that much without him. But I definitely think MotoGP abb ia lost many fans who came to the races to see Valentino every month, so we’ll see what happens next year. “Speaking of driver Francesco Bagnaia, Stoner said he considers him” a good guy: he has my old mechanics, he’s working hard. He has made too many mistakes this year, but until you are in his situation you cannot understand, and it is very easy to judge from the outside, so I prefer not to comment, I prefer not to say anything. But the speed is there. Maybe you just have to accept that you can’t win every race, and you have to finish a few more races: however, again, it’s very easy to comment on mistakes from the outside. “As for the importance of fair play in sport, Stoner stated:” There are so many different angles from which you can see fair play. To me it’s an old Australian saying in English: Do to others what you would like others to do to you. It is a principle that I always try to apply: sometimes I have not been able to do this, but in general I always try to treat everyone as I would like them to treat me. Sometimes it was difficult because they treated me in a very different way, but I always try to respect my opponents, the people around me, the people who work behind the scenes. Everyone has pressure on them, but they have a job to do, and it’s not easy. “