Denial is a river, not a debating technique
Yes, Wosi, the works Honda with control tyres gave Stoner the opportunity to employ different race strategies - ie. use racecraft. If you bothered to watch in 2011, Stoner frequently did not take the lead until several laps into the races, and when he did, he opened a gap and simply maintained it; P.I. aside where he simply loves the fastest track on the schedule and rides for the joy of wringing the neck of a motorcycle faster than anybody.
However, the way he rode the Ducati was the way it demanded to be ridden. You constantly criticise his 'work ethic', for not doing enough (as you see it) laps in practice. How well did that work for Hayden in '09 and '10 who consistently did more laps everywhere than anybody, with Lorenzo a close second? Remind me of the comparative podium tallies. Rossi saw all of Stoner's data, and recently said that even after two years on the damn bike, still did not understand how Stoner could ride it so fast.
If, in order to win, you have to ride the thing so that it is technically crashing several times a lap (as Burgess, I believe, has said he could see from the data that Stoner was doing), that is on average around 60 - 65 'saved' crashes per race. Times 18 races per season: the damn bike is 'crashing' over 1000 times in a season. 5 DNFs in a season is 0.2% unsaved crashes.
Alternatively, you could ride it, as Rossi did, mainly within its limitations and finish typically 30 seconds down on the winner, because you cannot - by your own admission - ride it on the edge. And you still end up with 3 DNFs in a season, and around 5th loser.
You - and others - constantly refer to L.S '08 as the pinnacle of Stoner's 'racecraft' lacking, yet Stoner's record on the Ducati at L.S is four finishes out of four starts: one win, two seconds, one fourth. Rossi's record on the Ducati at L.S is one 6th and one DNF out of two starts. Stoner's record on the Ducati at P.I. is four wins from four starts; Rossi's (the next-best P.I. winner of all time) is one 7th and one DNF from two starts. Those are the two best 'rider' circuits on the calendar. Should I go further? Aragon: Stoner 1 win from 1 start, Rossi one 10th and one 7th from 2 starts. Qatar: Stoner 3 wins, one DNF from four starts, Rossi one 7th, one 10th from two starts.
Or should we just settle for 23 wins and one WC from Stoner on a Ducati and 0 wins, 0 WC's from Rossi on a Ducati?
