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he would win the race.

Casey started for

that race sure to win,

because he had more than

half-a-second-per-lap advantage.

But when he discovered that he'd

have to battle with me so hard,

he didn't expect it, you know?

So, this was important.

A lot of things weren't

shown during that race, on camera,

that happened over the

back part of the circuit.

Rossi knew he didn't have

the speed to stay with Stoner.

So he had to try and get

in front of him early

and counter attack at once

if Stoner got back past.

If Stoner broke away,

he'd be gone.

Stoner was

unbelievable in Laguna,

and I knew that I had

to stay in front.

In his desperation

to stay ahead, Rossi overshot,

dropping into the 10-story

downhill chicane

known as the "Corkscrew."

And the Corkscrew

incident was nothing.

That was Valentino

making a huge mistake,

running wide,

going off the track,

holding it wide open

and getting lucky

that he didn't fling himself

into one of the barriers

and into me.

From the bike,

it was quite scary.

During the practice,

I did the same mistake.

And I know that it don't have

deep sand, but just some dirt.

So when I drove over

there in the racetrack,

I say, "Maybe it's okay,

because I already

"try one time in the practice.

But I don't want to try it. "

Just made a mistake,

you know?

There's been

some moments

when Valentino rides really

hard and aggressive.

But he's as clean

as a whistle.

He doesn't do

anything wrong.

And then there's

other moments where

he seems to leave his

brain somewhere else,

and he'll just plant it

into the side of someone

I just don't think it's correct.

It's not a contact sport.

But Stoner complained

with me, but I never touched Stoner.

So, you know, what happened

in Laguna was a great battle.

And unfortunately, when you

lose this great battle...

It means,

"You're very angry."

Stoner complained,

but in general,

he don't know why he complained

because I never touched him.

Yeah, there's the saying,

"What goes around, comes around."

So, you know,

we'll see what happens.

If people keep getting away

with what they are these days,

then it's gonna get quite extreme.

Something's gonna go wrong.

Stoner's 2008 challenge

faltered after Laguna.

He crashed out of

the next two races

when he was leading

from Rossi.

I think Stoner...

The thing you have to question

is his mental strength.

Rossi went on

to win the championship,

becoming only the second

rider in history

to regain the crown after

losing it two years in a row.

The only other man to do

this, Giacomo Agostini.

Stoner's fortunes, meanwhile,

took a strange turn.

After winning 10 races in

and then in 2009,

just four.

At Catalunya, in 2009, the day of

Rossi's last corner pass on Lorenzo,

something was

clearly wrong.

You saw him in the

paddock and went, "My God!

"You actually

should be in hospital.

"You look that pale,

that drawn. "

And it was getting to him.

He couldn't talk to anybody,

you know, one autograph

hunter would freak him out.

Then Stoner did what tough

guy racers aren't supposed to do.

In the middle of the season,

he packed up and went home.

It's better for me to pull

out and try and fix the problem.

And then, it took us a long

time to figure it out.

The reaction of the other

riders to that was very interesting.

They're absolutely

flabbergasted,

that he should

stop in the middle.

You just don't do that.

How do you have the mindset

that allows you to do that?

Casey came back

very strong,

but the question mark

is always gonna be there.

The Casey we got back,

completely different person.

Stoner was finally

diagnosed with lactose intolerance.

With the lactose intolerance,

I was getting that tired,

and that worn out on the

bike after five laps

that I was struggling to go

in on the braking points.

I wasn't able to get out

of the way of someone

if I was caught in the

middle of a few riders,

and it might've been

a tricky situation.

I'm 100% now.

He's puzzling, you know.

I'd say he's very much always

a championship contender.

But then he does these puzzling

things, like go off for three months

or ride like a hot-headed

Moto2 maniac, you know?

He puzzled everyone

some more by coming back

and winning his home

Grand Prix in Australia

and the next race

in Malaysia,

before crashing out of the last

race of 2009 on the warm-up lap.

He crashed out of the first

race of 2010 while leading,

and he crashed out

at Le Mans.

I wanna try and win, and

people will criticize me for that,

but racing isn't always

about the championships.

It's a bonus at

the end of the season.

I'm out there and I'm

out there to win races,

get the best result

I possibly can in each race.

Of course, sometimes

the mistakes come.

Unlike Stoner and Lorenzo, Valentino

Rossi has never missed a Grand Prix.

He's done every single

race since March, 1996.

That was 15 years ago, and

he's not yet missed a race.

I was very close sometimes.

Valencia 2007, I had injury,

but always try to resist.

This is like a legend,

that I have never have pain,

but I broke a lot of things

like the other riders.

Hands, fingers, ankles.

One of the worst of my career

and the big, big pain...

And I remember the feeling of

pain everywhere in the body,

because I did the change of

direction before the last chicane,

and that is sixth gear,

it's 265 kilometers per hour,

and when I

changed direction,

and I hold the bike

on the left of the tire,

the tires start and make

a very bad high side.

And I have the time,

when I fly, to say,

"Mamma mia, what's happened?

Now is a big, big crash!"

And when I go down and

start tumble afterwards,

it's like 30 people kick you,

you know, all together.

And broke the hand,

it was a very bad crash,

and a very stupid

mistake from myself,

because I needed

to wait more.

There are far fewer serious

injuries than 10 or 20 years ago.

The injuries now are usually to

the extremities of the skeleton,

the bones of the hand,

the feet, the shoulder

and especially

the collarbone.

Rossi raced two days later

with broken bones in his hand and wrist,

and finished eighth.

2006 was the year things

started going wrong for him.

After five consecutive

MotoGP world titles,

Rossi was the clear favorite

to win the championship.

Then Toni Elias knocks him

off in the first race,

and tire and mechanical failures put

him out of another three Grand Prixs.

Valentino Rossi,

seven and a half laps to go,

is out of the

French Grand Prix.

Midway through the season,

when he crashed and broke his hand

in practice,

for the Dutch Grand Prix,

he was trailing the American

Nicky Hayden by 43 points.

Rossi fought back in the

second half of the season,

and was just 18 points

behind the American

going into the penultimate

race in Portugal.

He came out of that weekend

with an eight-point lead,

after Hayden's own teammate,

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