A seventh victory of the 2007 season means that Casey Stoner leaves Brno with an advantage of over two races from his title rivals. Sixty points separate the Australian from second placed rider Valentino Rossi in the MotoGP World Championship after another runaway win from the Ducati young gun, with Dani Pedrosa a further 18 points behind. Stoner lead from start to finish in the Czech Republic, his second consecutive victory from pole position. The last time that a rider achieved such a feat occurred when Rossi triumphed from red light to chequered flag at Le Mans and Mugello in 2005, en route to his fifth and most recent MotoGP World Title.
Eventually winning the race by nearly eight seconds, Stoner still had to keep his wits about him in the early going as Suzuki’s John Hopkins matched him for pace. The Anglo-American lost touch with the current series leader at the midway point, but still maintained his focus for a second place finish, his best ever in MotoGP and his second podium of the 2007 season.
Both Hopkins and reigning World Champion Nicky Hayden were looking to make a comeback after disappointment at their home circuit at the previous round, and the stateside duo made amends with podium appearances. Hayden confirmed that he is back in business in the premier class after two previous podiums before his Laguna Seca misfortune, putting the Honda RC212V on the rostrum for a third time in his title defending year.
‘The Kentucky Kid’ had to pass his Honda factory team-mate Dani Pedrosa to earn his third spot, but pulled away to finish as the best classifying rider from the Japanese factory.
Chris Vermeulen once again worked his way up from a less-than-ideal position on the grid for fifth place, having put in some aggressive overtaking manoeuvres on some of the more experienced MotoGP riders such as Loris Capirossi.
Valentino Rossi’s first Brno finish off the podium in MotoGP did little to help his title chances, and he now has to chase a gap even larger than that which he closed last year if he is to regain his crown. The Italian returned to the garage with his tyres ripped to shreds after giving his all on the Yamaha M1, but could do nothing to keep touch with the riders in front.
Randy de Puniet, Alex Barros and Carlos Checa were the other three riders to finish in the top ten.
Results:
1.Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 43'45.810,
2. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 43'53.713,
3. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 43'58.910,
4. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 44'01.610,
5. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 44'03.113,
6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 44'05.173,
7. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 44'08.295,
8. Randy De Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 44'08.883,
9. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 44'18.102,
10. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 44'20.963.
Championship positions after 12 rounds:
1 Stoner 246,
2 Rossi 186,
3 Pedrosa 168,
4 Vermeulen 124,
5 Hopkins 124,
6 Melandri Marco 113,
7 Edwards Colin 93,
8 Hayden 89,
9 Capirossi 87,
10 Barros Alex 83.
Bradley’s Brno BluesIt’s been a tough weekend for Bradley Smith but he finally picked up three precious World Championship points in the 19 lap 125cc race. The 16 year-old Oxfordshire rider started from the fourth row of the grid and then got baulked at the first turn which dropped him back to 20th. He fought back riding the Repsol Honda to finish 13th to grab three Championship points that could be vital at the end of the season.
“I made a decent start but got baulked and pushed wide at the first corner and dropped down the field,” explained Smith, who dropped to eighth in the World Championship. “It’s been a tough weekend and lets hope things improve at Misano in two weeks time.”
It was also a tough weekend for the other British riders. Sixteen year-old Danny Webb was 28th in the 125cc race riding the De Graaf Grand Prix Honda, Eugene Laverty retired in the 250cc race with mechanical problems while Dan Linfoot was 20th, riding the Team Sicilia Aprilia.
Record CrowdA record crowd of 141,632 spectators where at Brno on Sunday with another record three day attendance at a staggering 245,039.
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