Stoner stops Rossi streak

From motogp.com

In the second flag-to-flag race in two rounds Casey Stoner ended Valentino Rossi’s Mugello winning streak with a polished performance to give Ducati their first ever victory at the circuit in the fifth round of the MotoGP World Championship on Sunday.

Stoner survived a last lap scare when he made a mistake at the Correntaio corner - in front of the fans of the Italian factory - and also overcame a clutch issue in the latter stages to win by one second and retake control in the championship.

Much of the race came down to tactics again in front of the 80,000-strong Italian crowd as the riders once more started on a wet surface and completed the 23-lap contest on slicks, with Stoner this time judging things to perfection.

Having made a decent start in the wet Stoner slipped back slightly before changing to slick tires, then re-emerging from pit lane to surge towards the front of the race.

Describing the race, he stated, “At the beginning we started off really well and I had a good feeling with the bike, it was working well, but as soon as the dry patches started appearing our tires started destroying themselves and there was no grip. I just tried to maintain the gap to the other riders until I could get onto the slicks and then I knew I wouldn’t have such a disadvantage.

“Once I got onto the slicks I found a good feeling immediately and I was able to get to the front quite quickly, but then I started having a problem with the clutch. The rpm was going up to the limiter and there was no forward momentum. I just tried adjusting it and I managed to get it hooked up again, but it was still difficult on the corners.”

The Australian retook the championship lead as he crossed the line a second in front of former leader Jorge Lorenzo.

Initially wary of overconfidence after qualifying in first place it was in fact a lack of confidence that briefly became an issue for Lorenzo at Mugello. He lapped 13th on the timesheet on a wet track in the morning, crashed on the sighting lap before the race and was overtaken by several riders on the grid once the action commenced in Italy, before using all of his resources to battle his way back for a brilliant podium finish in second place.

“There were so many things happening and it was a crazy race,” Lorenzo admitted. “After the warm up I was so worried because I didn’t have a good feeling to go fast in the wet, but then I was even more worried after the crash in the sighting lap because I thought I might have to start last. I got a really bad start because my rear tire was sliding so much and then I hardly remember anything because the race was like a film.”

Lorenzo was grateful to his team for their endeavours in quickly fixing his first bike and getting it ready for the swap mid-race, saying, “I have to say the biggest thank you to my guys today for getting the damaged bike ready in such a short time; it was a brilliant job and after I swapped everything changed. From then on I had a great rhythm and I was able to stay on fighting to the end and take this second place."

Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha colleague Valentino Rossi completed the podium in third place as his seven-year winning run at his beloved home track came to an end, the Italian hero crossing the line two seconds behind Stoner and less than one tenth in front of Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso.

Having never had great success before in flag-to-flag races and having crashed at Le Mans just after swapping bikes in the French wet-dry contest, Rossi was pleased with his relatively smooth showing. His remarkable winning run in front of his adoring Italian public had to come to an end at some stage and he was simply content to be on the podium alongside race-winner Stoner and Fiat Yamaha colleague Lorenzo, as the three continue to jostle for supremacy in the 2009 title race.

“I have never been able to take a podium in one of these types of races before so it is the first time I have done it when we have had to change the bike," the World Champion explained. "It was a good race for me especially as we found a good wet setting in just 20 minutes of warm up and I was strong in the first part.

“I made a good decision on when to come in and change this time but unfortunately we decided to go with the harder front tire for the second part of the race and that was a disadvantage for me, especially at the beginning. I was slow in the first two laps on slicks and I was thinking about the Le Mans crash. The front choice wasn’t right and even though I found a good pace it wasn’t enough to win.”

It was a shame for Dovizioso to miss out on the rostrum on the last lap once again, having held the race lead early on, on wet tires.

Likewise, his compatriot Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) was leading at one stage – later in the race – but he fell away in the final laps to finish fifth.

James Toseland made a brave decision to come in first and change bikes when running towards the back of the field and he just missed out on equaling his best MotoGP result of sixth as he was outdone by his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Colin Edwards on the last lap, having also dueled with LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet who was eventually eighth.

Niccolò Canepa (Pramac Racing) will be delighted to have achieved his best result to date as the second highest Ducati rider in ninth at his home race, with Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) completing the top 10 behind the young Italian.

Dani Pedrosa hit the deck and crashed out on lap 14. Having already damaged his hip earlier in the weekend, the Spaniard was stretchered away from trackside. He will face an anxious wait to see if he is fit for his own home race at Barcelona in two weeks.

Honda satellite rider Yuki Takahashi also crashed out with 13 laps to go.

As the rain poured down in Tuscany the 250cc riders did battle on a wet track at round five, with Mattia Pasini (Team Toth Aprilia) eventually coming out on top by a 0.117-sec. margin from second placed Marco Simoncelli – who he brilliantly held off on the final lap.

A big incident with 10 laps to go saw title rivals Álvaro Bautista (Mapfre Aspar) and Simoncelli (Metis Gilera) clash at high speed, with both riders running off track when Bautista held the lead – Pasini pushing through to take over at the front and Bautista eventually finishing third.

Hit with a $5,000 (US) fine and a ‘yellow card’ warning by Race Direction for what was described as ‘riding in an irresponsible manner’ Simoncelli was still fairly unrepentant about the clash between himself and Bautista that left the Spaniard fuming.

Simoncelli had attempted a pass on the fast Mugello chicane, but found himself out of room when Bautista refused to give up the racing line. Both riders ran off track before later placing on the podium, but there were plenty of accusations and very little interaction when they stepped onto the rostrum.

An exciting 125cc contest saw Briton Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) take victory, holding off a strong challenge from Spaniard Nico Terol (Jack & Jones Team) on the last lap to take maximum points and the lead in the standings.

MotoGP Race Results
1. Casey STONER (AUS) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 45:41.894 (158.389km/h)
2. Jorge LORENZO (SPA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 45:42.895
3. Valentino ROSSI (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 45:43.970
4. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (ITA) Repsol Honda Team Honda 45:44.023
5. Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 45:45.168
6. Colin EDWARDS (USA) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 46:06.345
7. James TOSELAND (GBR) Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 46:07.515
8. Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 46:07.940
9. Niccolo CANEPA (ITA) Pramac Racing Ducati 46:13.709
10. Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 46:16.708
11. Marco MELANDRI (ITA) Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 46:16.984
12. Nicky HAYDEN (USA) Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 46:21.016
13. Mika KALLIO (FIN) Pramac Racing Ducati 46:34.356
14. Toni ELIAS (SPA) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 46:34.372
15. Alex DE ANGELIS (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda +1 Lap
Not classified
Dani PEDROSA (SPA) Repsol Honda Team Honda +11 Laps
Yuki TAKAHASHI (JPN) Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda +13 Laps

MotoGP Point Standings
1. Casey STONER (Ducati) 90
2. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha) 86
3. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 81
4. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 57
5. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 56
6. Marco MELANDRI (Kawasaki) 48
7. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha) 45
8. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 38
9. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 37
10. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda) 34
11. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 26
12. Toni ELIAS (Honda) 23
13. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 21
14. Mika KALLIO (Ducati) 19
15. Nicky HAYDEN (Ducati) 13
16. Niccolo CANEPA (Ducati) 10
17. Sete GIBERNAU (Ducati) 8
18. Yuki TAKAHASHI (Honda) 8