Stoner’s MotoGP in Spain
Youngster withstands intense pressure from Rossi to win.
Ducati's Casey Stoner and legend, Valentino Rossi on a Yamaha, put on a fantastic display at Catalunya in an epic MotoGP race.
Stoner and Rossi rode on the limit for lap after lap in a race that will go down as one of the great races. The two favorites for the 2007 title showed why they are leading the chase for the world championship.
Stoner took an early lead after a good second row start, while Rossi dropped down the field after sitting on pole. Rossi had to work his way past local hero Dani Pedrosa on a Honda and American John Hopkins on a Suzuki.
“I lost a bit of time at the start and then it was quite hard to pass Hopkins because he was fantastic on the brakes,” said Rossi.
With seven laps to go Rossi stepped up the pressure on Stoner and constantly attacked all around the track. Stoner counter attacked every time and in the last lap gained a bike length lead over Rossi, making it impossible for the Italian superstar to make last lap move.
The two riders enjoyed the contest.
"What a race! Even if I'm disappointed not to win, it's a great emotion to be part of a race like that and fantastic fun. It really was an amazing battle to the end with many wonderful overtaking maneuvers by both of us in all different parts of the track!” said Rossi.
“It was such a close race, no one could go away, it was very, very enjoyable to be racing that close. It was really good because our bike was set up quite well for the braking points, so for Valentino to pass us he usually had to run wide and we were able to pass him back immediately a lot of times,” said Stoner.
Stoner has quickly earned the respect of his Ducati team who went into a wild celebration in the pits when Stoner took the checkered flag.
"That was one of the most beautiful races we've seen, ..... Casey proved once again that he is an unbelievable talent - very smart, with a great capacity to manage a race. We are very proud to have him on board - it's not the top speed, it's the man!” said Livio Suppo, Ducati MotoGP project director.
The victory increases Stoner’s lead over Rossi to fourteen points, with eleven races still to go in the season. “I'm still not thinking about the championship, maybe later in the season we can really start aiming for that," said Stoner.
In third place, Dani Pedrosa worked hard to stay in touch with the battle for the lead without being able to join in the fun in front of a sell out crowd of Spanish countrymen.
“All the time I was right there with them, but I couldn’t fight with them,” said Pedrosa.
John Hopkins was the best of the Americans, and even though he set the fastest lap of the race on lap eight on the Suzuki, he could not maintain the pace of the front three and finished in very comfortable fourth.
Current World Champion Nicky Hayden from Kentucky continues to struggle to get the Honda the way he would like it. Bike problems today did not help his cause.
“The rear tire became unbalanced and started to vibrate and chatter really badly – especially in the last five or ten laps, I could hardly ride it,” said Hayden.
At the rear of the field the Honda powered Kenny Roberts’ machines continue to struggle. The team drafted in Kurtis to run a second bike alongside older brother Kenny Jr. to speed up development.
The MotoGP circus heads to Donington for the Grand Prix of Great Britain, another of Rossi's favorite circuits.
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