You have to be a pretty big star to upstage Tom Cruise, but MotoGP legends Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner managed it in 2008.
The pair of world champions created one of motorsport’s greatest ever rivalries between 2007 and 2010, and never has a bout been summed up better than one single race and one single moment.
The duo battled throughout those years on polar ends of the spectrum as people, riders, athletes and entertainers, and it was all summed up in the USA in July.
Coming off his first premier title in 2007, Australian Stoner was already rated as one of the most naturally gifted riders in MotoGP history, checking out of races by the first corner never to be seen again.
Rossi, on the other hand, was all about wheel-to-wheel combat and entertaining the crowd, and had realised his only chance of stopping the greatest threat of his career so far was getting him to race on his own terms.
The Italian led the championship heading to California and one of the most iconic tracks in motorsport – Laguna Seca.
With its twisting turns and famous corkscrew corner – and undulating downhill left right turn – the race was set up for Stoner to continue his title charge.
Three wins in three races heading into the US event, Stoner was going into a race where he’d been sublime in his career, and there was every reason for Rossi to feel nervous.
On top of that, the Aussie took pole, a position that usually meant he’d wave goodbye to the rest of the grid by turn one.
However, Rossi, the last of the late breakers, challenged him at the first corner, and from then on it was chaos.
The pair traded rubber and leather turn by turn in a battle quite like no other as they even traded places on the start-finish straight, touching each other in a gladiatorial show of strength.
Every single individual in the stands, the paddock, and watching at home was enthralled and on the edge of their seats, with the other 17 drivers on the track completely invisible for those watching.
As the moves piled up, the threat of sparks flying continued to ramp up, and on lap 23, motorsport folklore was made.
Heading into the corkscrew for the umpteenth time side by side, Rossi had the inside line, but overran to the outside, and headed just off track.
Bumping back on, he completed the overtake and nearly hit Stoner in a moment that could’ve meant disaster.
So edgy was the move that just a few corners later, Stoner went wide and flopped into the gravel. Those watching suspected an adrenaline override, but the beaten warrior would never accept that.
Rossi headed to the line to claim an almighty victory, while Stoner got back on his bike and came home in second, perhaps realising the title was gone, as the Italian would eventually claim his sixth of seven championships with ease.
Rossi, meanwhile, headed to the corkscrew, got off his bike and kissed it before heading to the media pen.
There, Stoner was waiting, and a moment of miscommunication instantly went viral.
With the No.46 wanting to shake his hand, Stoner replied: “No, I, I made a mistake,” perhaps thinking he was getting an apology for falling off at the last corner.
But Rossi, instantly replied: “This is racing, Casey,” setting the rivalry into overdrive as Stoner bit back: “This is racing? OK we’ll see.”
Coming to give the No.27 a pat on the back was Hollywood megastar and one of the most famous people on the planet, Tom Cruise, but even he realised this was bigger than him and backed off quickly.
Taking to the cameras, Stoner said: “The mistake where I crashed was my fault, I still could’ve run wide and and come on the track and caught up, I completely made that mistake and it was all on my own.
“But beginning of the race, some of those overtaking moves… I was friggin so nearly on the floor, it wasn’t funny.
MotoGPTom Cruise ducked in to console his friend but realised this was too big to get involved[/caption]
“I know there’s hard racing and I’ve been in hard racing my whole life, but that was past the point.”
Rossi, meanwhile, tried to pass it off as nothing, when asked for his thoughts on the incident.
“About what?” he replied, surely joking. “You know, this is racing and every overtake was very clear for me, I never touched him, always, always good.
“The reality is I’m stronger in braking so I tried to use this advantage and anyways when I was in front I had a great rhythm with the bike, for sure I deserved it and after I think he made a mistake, so it happens.”
Rossi then reigned as champion for the next two years before Stoner fought back with his second in 2011, acknowledging the part Laguna Seca played in his rebuild.
“That moment was quite honestly one of the best things that could’ve ever happened to me,” he later said.
“If I didn’t go through that moment and understand a little bit more about that situation it wouldn’t have made me as strong as what I ended up in my career.
“From that moment on I never let it happen again and that was a crucial moment for me where I made a step up.”
Rossi, in 2018, reflected on the race, adding: “That was one of the most important wins of my career. It’s been ten years but I still have a clear memory of that race.
“It was one of the toughest battles of my career because from the first lap I overtook him on the corkscrew and after we overtook a lot of times.
“I wanted to try and stay in front because if he was in front maybe he would’ve been faster than me, but at the end overtaking at the corkscrew was a little bit iconic.”
Iconic it was, and perhaps the fallout and the defence of the Italian provoked Stoner into his 2011 mastery.
@valeyellow46The pair recently reunited, but undoubtedly with some tension still present[/caption]
Yet it may well have had another unintended consequence, with the Aussie announcing his shock retirement just a year later at the premature age of just 27.
Stoner always claimed the decision was due fatigue and no longer liking the sport and its direction, but the wear and tear of that fateful day in California surely played its part.
The duo, now both retired, recently reunited on Rossi’s motocross ranch, and almost certainly discussed one of motorsport’s greatest ever races.
Yet when they headed back out for a ride, you can be sure that the good vibes and laughter quickly died down when Rossi next went for his latest lunge on his old rival.
