Elias: Rossi will never forgive me!
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Toni Elias believes Valentino Rossi still hasn’t forgiven him for snatching victory in the 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix.Elias beat the Italian star by just 0.002s at the end of one of MotoGP’s craziest races, most memorable for a clash between Repsol Honda team-mates Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa, which cost the American the title lead to Rossi with just one race to go.But Rossi then went on to suffer a mishap of his own at the Valencia finale and ended up losing the world championship (for the first time since 2000) to Hayden by five points. It was the exact amount he had lost to Elias in the photo-finish at Estoril.Elias told DAZN: “Being able to beat Valentino [for victory] has only happened to me once in my life.”Michelin brought me a new tyre on the Saturday and I managed to improve my pace by seven-tenths and fight for victory.”I thanked Michelin for the help, although I was very angry when I discovered that this rubber, with a softer casing, was the one used by the best riders throughout the season and they only gave it to me in the penultimate race of the year.”When I met Valentino – I see him every year in Austin – I can see that he still has [Estoril 2006] stuck in his heart, he has not forgiven me… It’s over, it’s time to be friends, but it is not possible. He is so competitive, he will never forgive me!”Although Elias was unable to win another MotoGP race, he took five more podiums before dropping down to Moto2, where he became the inaugural champion in 2010.A return to MotoGP followed, plus partial seasons in Moto2 and a year in WorldSBK, before Elias successfully carved out a new career in the AMA Superbike championship.
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