Casey Stoner today slid out of the lead in the San Marino Grand Prix - an event he had dominated throughout practice and qualifying. Battling bravely through the pain of a scaphoid injury, the Australian lost the front end of his bike six laps into the 28 lap contest at Misano.
Marco Melandri heads to the US in high spirits after a confidence boosting performance today, making up six places on his starting position to finish ninth - his second top ten finish in as many races - despite being forced off track by another rider in the early stages.
Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) DNF"It is very disappointing for the weekend to end like this after showing such a high level of performance in practice. Basically we took the decision to put one lap on the race tyre in warm-up this morning to get it scrubbed in: we've done it before and not had a problem but today I could feel from the first lap that the grip wasn't right. After a few laps it started to feel better and I was gaining confidence but it let go. It's a real shame but, anyway, we tried hard here and once again I think we've shown we are very fast, we have a great bike and tyres that work fantastically. This gives me confidence for next year and I'm looking forward to it already. As for the injury, it's huge disappointment this problem came out but I'll have to wait until the end of the season for an operation."
Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team) 9th"I got a good start but lost a lot of ground in the second corner because Vermuelen almost crashed in front of me and I nearly hit him. But I have to say that the feeling with the bike was good from the first lap. I got past De Angelis but I guess he was keen to get back at me and he tried a pass in a corner where it was too difficult to pass. We touched and I ran wide, losing a lot more ground again. Slowly but surely I recovered and passed a few riders but the group ahead was too far away, otherwise I could have fought for an even better result. In general, even though the result is not as good as Brno."
Filippo Preziosi (General Director, Ducati Corse)"I'm really disappointed for Casey but it is important that we stay together as a team at a moment like this. We leave here knowing that we have a competitive bike, a good team and a truly great rider. I am proud to be able to work with Casey Stoner. In the early stages of the race Marco was held up by De Angelis and lost a lot of ground but it was great to see him at the end of the race setting lap times that would have been good enough for the podium. It is another step forward and we hope that he and Toni Elias - who had another splendid race and I want to congratulate him and his team for that - can consolidate their progress."
