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01-06-2009, 12:12am
Well what a race going from wets to dry tyres and then let the racing begin. Great Finish.
Excellent win for Stoner in tricky Italian contest
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Casey Stoner wrapped up the Gran Premio dâ€Italia Alice action in style with victory in another wet-dry MotoGP race.
In the second flag-to-flag race in two rounds Casey Stoner ended Valentino Rossiâ€s Mugello winning streak with a polished performance to give Ducati their first ever victory at the circuit.
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.
The Australian retook the championship lead as he crossed the line a second in front of former leader Jorge Lorenzo, who also rode well after the scare of crashing on the sighting lap.
Lorenzoâ€s Fiat Yamaha colleague Valentino Rossi completed the podium in third place as his seven-year wining 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 Hondaâ€s Andrea Dovizioso.
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 tyres. 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 Hondaâ€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 ten 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 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.
MotoGP Race Classification
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Total time Km/h Gap
1 25 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 45'41.894 158.389
2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 45'42.895 158.331 1.001
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 45'43.970 158.269 2.076
4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 45'44.023 158.266 2.129
5 11 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 45'45.168 158.200 3.274
6 10 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 46'06.345 156.989 24.451
7 9 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 46'07.515 156.922 25.621
8 8 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 46'07.940 156.898 26.046
9 7 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 46'13.709 156.572 31.815
10 6 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 46'16.708 156.403 34.814
11 5 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 46'16.984 156.387 35.090
12 4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 46'21.016 156.160 39.122
13 3 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 46'34.356 155.415 52.462
14 2 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 46'34.372 155.414 52.478
15 1 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 46'03.967 150.292 1 Lap
Not classified
3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 25'15.529 11 Lap
MotoGP World Championship
Pos. Rider Nation Team Points
1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 90
2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 86
3 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 81
4 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 57
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 56
6 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team 48
7 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 45
8 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 38
9 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 37
10 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 34
11 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 26
12 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 23
13 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 21
14 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing 19
15 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team 13
16 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing 10
17 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 8
18 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 8
Excellent win for Stoner in tricky Italian contest
Sunday, 31 May 2009
Casey Stoner wrapped up the Gran Premio dâ€Italia Alice action in style with victory in another wet-dry MotoGP race.
In the second flag-to-flag race in two rounds Casey Stoner ended Valentino Rossiâ€s Mugello winning streak with a polished performance to give Ducati their first ever victory at the circuit.
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.
The Australian retook the championship lead as he crossed the line a second in front of former leader Jorge Lorenzo, who also rode well after the scare of crashing on the sighting lap.
Lorenzoâ€s Fiat Yamaha colleague Valentino Rossi completed the podium in third place as his seven-year wining 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 Hondaâ€s Andrea Dovizioso.
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 tyres. 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 Hondaâ€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 ten 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 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.
MotoGP Race Classification
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Total time Km/h Gap
1 25 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 45'41.894 158.389
2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 45'42.895 158.331 1.001
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 45'43.970 158.269 2.076
4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 45'44.023 158.266 2.129
5 11 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 45'45.168 158.200 3.274
6 10 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 46'06.345 156.989 24.451
7 9 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 46'07.515 156.922 25.621
8 8 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 46'07.940 156.898 26.046
9 7 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 46'13.709 156.572 31.815
10 6 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 46'16.708 156.403 34.814
11 5 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 46'16.984 156.387 35.090
12 4 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 46'21.016 156.160 39.122
13 3 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 46'34.356 155.415 52.462
14 2 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 46'34.372 155.414 52.478
15 1 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 46'03.967 150.292 1 Lap
Not classified
3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 25'15.529 11 Lap
MotoGP World Championship
Pos. Rider Nation Team Points
1 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 90
2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 86
3 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 81
4 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 57
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 56
6 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team 48
7 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 45
8 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 38
9 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 37
10 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 34
11 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 26
12 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 23
13 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 21
14 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing 19
15 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team 13
16 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing 10
17 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 8
18 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 8