Assen MotoGP: Casey Stoner slams Sete Gibernau

Aussie Casey Stoner launched a scathing attack on veteran Spaniard Sete Gibernau in Assen today after an unseen incident during qualifying for the Dutch MotoGP race.
The 23-year-old was clearly upset with the tactics of some his rivals today, but his frustration boiled over with fellow Ducati GP9 rider Gibernau.
As Stoner had to settle for fourth place on the grid to end his 100 per cent front row starting record in 2009, a forward facing camera mounted on the back of his factory Ducati showed him flicking his middle finger at Gibernau as he pulled back into his pitbox.
The 2007 world champion told MCN: “It was Sete and it was in the only part of the track where we are really in sixth gear as I changed direction, and it had already happened once this morning. He looked behind, saw me as I was coming out of the fast kink to the right and sped up to wait for me to come past and I had to shove my way past. Toni (Elias) did the same thing and Randy (de Puniet) has done it twice this weekend also. Normally a part where I am flat out through the kink I had to back off completely because I didn’t know where he was going to go. They look behind and see you coming and the first thing you should do is get out of the way but they just speed up and wait for you to push
By them and it is happening so much in 125s and 250s. When I was in 125s I saw that riders had more respect for each other, there would be riders waiting for people but they would be on the edge of the track and see you make your way through but now it is impossible. They sit there and look at you right on the line and nothing is done about it. They are waiting for a tow in a dangerous and fast part of the track, which obviously cost me time but could have cost me a whole lot more if I had crashed. It is a frustrating situation, which seems to be happening more and more in MotoGP and it is about time something was done to stop it.”
Despite his on-track frustration, Stoner was still satisfied to have claimed a place on the second row of the grid.
He added: “Pretty much all weekend we’ve been the fastest on race tyres and even though we’re normally good for a single qualifying lap on a soft tyre we’ve had a few issues here. We’re struggling a little bit for traction and making the bike turn a little better. We also had a problem with my second qualifying tyre and I was up out of the seat a couple of times but we changed it and the next one was a lot better. Unfortunately a couple of riders got in my way. Thankfully I’m starting from fourth on the grid, which I am fine with because I can still challenge at the front from there and with the times we set today there is no reason not to be confident.”