Estoril MotoGP: Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner square up off track

Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Marlboro Ducati’s Casey Stoner took their rivalry off the track in Estoril yesterday afternoon when they squared up for a game of table football.

The top two in the 2007 MotoGP world championship locked horns in a two game battle, and for once this year it was Italian Valentino Rossi who inflicted defeat on his Aussie rival.

Ducati’s Casey Stoner failed to continue his domination over Yamaha man Valentino Rossi off the track when he lost the game of doubles 2-0, with Rossi and an Italian photographer defeating Stoner and an Alpinestars team member.

Casey Stoner can clinch the MotoGP world championship this weekend in Estoril if results go his way. He needs to score 15-points more than Rossi to wrap up his first world crown.

A Yamaha source said: “Valentino was playing table football in the Yamaha hospitality and somebody spotted Casey outside.

“So they invited him for a challenge. It was all good fun.”