Ducati’s Casey Stoner extended his lead of the MotoGP world championship to a mammoth 60 points with another classy victory in Brno today. It was the Australian’s seventh win of the season and the eighth on Bridgestone tyres in the twelve races of the season so far with just six events remaining. Suzuki’s John Hopkins was able to match Stoner’s race-winning pace for much of the 22-lap GP and ultimately crossed the line in the runner up position to claim his best MotoGP result to date after the third position he took earlier in the season in Shanghai.
Brno is a circuit which has historically produced close race finishes and Stoner’s win margin of 7.903s this afternoon is the greatest since fellow Australian Mick Doohan won by 14.858s ten years ago in 1997. It is only the second time that there have been consecutive wins at a circuit on Bridgestone tyres alongside victories at Motegi in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Bridgestone’s performance around Brno, where its tyres helped Loris Capirossi to victory twelve months ago, was further underlined by competitive rides from Chris Vermeulen who took fifth for Suzuki, his fourth top five result of the season, Capirossi himself who finished sixth for Ducati, Kawasaki’s Randy de Puniet who bolsters his championship position with a fine eighth place and Pramac d’Antin’s Alex Barros who was the sixth Bridgestone-shod rider in the top ten, taking ninth place.
Hiroshi Yamada- Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Sport Unit
“Congratulations to the Ducati team and to Casey for another magnificent win on our tyres today. Casey has again been the benchmark all weekend and this is his second consecutive pole to flag victory which is a proud achievement for us. I would also like to extend my congratulations to Suzuki for two bikes in the top five and especially to John for a hard fought and well deserved second place, his best ever MotoGP result. It is always a joy to see our tyres help riders to victory but it is extra special when we have more than one rider on the podium. Today’s 1-2 result is also a reward for all the hard work that our team has put in so I would also like to thank them for a job well done this weekend.”
Junichi Kawajiri – Bridgestone Motorsport – Manager, Motorcycle Race Tyre Development
“Today’s race saw a real variety in the tyre selections from our teams and riders. A complete range of soft, medium and hard compound rear tyres were fielded and all three compound types were represented by riders in the top six, which is very satisfying for us from a technical perspective. This afternoon was the first chance we have had to see the potential over the full race distance, and while we are always looking for improvements, I am pleased with the performance and, of course, the end results. We were also able to demonstrate a good performance in qualifying with Casey taking the fourth consecutive pole position on Bridgestone tyres. We now have an extensive test here in Brno where we have a range of new tyres to test in preparation for the remaining six events of the year, so the work never stops.”
Casey Stoner – Ducati Corse – Race Winner and Championship Leader
“At the start, I was right on the limit with John behind me chasing me down. I was very surprised and a bit worried that he could catch me. We just kept our pace until around eight or ten laps to go when I was able to pull out a bit of an advantage. I had to keep my concentration up throughout the race and it wasn’t until the last few laps that I started to ease up just to make sure the bike and tyres would last; everything was perfect. We had confidence in the Ducati-Bridgestone package this weekend, the bike, team and tyres have performed faultlessly and it is great for everyone involved to get another win today.”
Bridgestone Race Results Front (16.5’’) Rear (16.5’’ unless indicated)
P1. Casey Stoner - Ducati 43m45.810s WINNER Slick Medium - Slick Hard
P2. John Hopkins - Suzuki 43m53.713s +7.903s Slick Soft - Slick Medium
P5. Chris Vermeulen - Suzuki 44m03.113s +17.303s Slick Soft - Slick Medium
P6. Loris Capirossi - Ducati 44m05.173s +19.363s Slick Soft - Slick Soft
P8. Randy de Puniet - Kawasaki 44m08.883s +23.073s Slick Soft - Slick Medium
P9. Alex Barros - Pramac d’Antin 44m18.102s +32.292s Slick Medium - Slick Hard
P11. Toni Elias - Honda Gresini 44m23.558s +37.748s Slick Medium - Slick Soft (16’’)
P12. Anthony West - Kawasaki 44m24.060s +38.250s Slick Soft - Slick Medium
P16. Ivan Silva - Pramac d’Antin 45m07.220s +1m21.410s Slick Medium - Slick Hard
Conditions - (Taken from official MotoGP timesheet)
Weather: Dry.
Air: 26°C,
Track: 35°C,
Humidity: 40%
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