Stoner Strikes Back With First Victory Since Season Opener; American Spies 14th In Debut

INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, June 22, 2008 – The two-man MotoGP title chase could grow to three shortly, as defending World Champion Casey Stoner won the Grand Prix of Great Britain on June 22 to complete a dominant weekend at Donington Park.

Stoner, from Australia, rode his Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone to a 5.789-second victory over series points leader Valentino Rossi. Stoner started from pole and earned his first victory since the season opener on March 9 at Qatar.

Dani Pedrosa finished third, 8.347 seconds behind Stoner. The victory pulled Stoner into third place in the series standings with 117 points, 45 behind Rossi. Pedrosa is second with 151, just 11 points behind Rossi.

“This has been a great weekend for us, and it's brilliant to know that we're in a position to fight that little bit harder,” Stoner said. “The last three races have gone quite well for us in general, but we’ve taken a big step forward with the new electronic system, which worked so well at the Catalunya test and then here. After a disappointing start to the season since the opening round at Qatar, it's nice to feel as though we're back on track, and this weekend went well from the start.”

There were four American riders on the grid this weekend in the British countryside, as rookie Ben Spies joined series regulars Colin Edwards, Nicky Hayden and John Hopkins in the 30-lap race.

Edwards, from Houston, continued his strong, consistent season by finishing fourth on his Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Michelin, his fourth consecutive top-five finish. Edwards is fifth in points and is the top non-factory rider in the standings this season.

2006 World Champion Hayden finished seventh after qualifying fourth on his Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, as he rode with Honda’s new pneumatic-valve engine for the first time. A sensor warning light on his dash distracted Hayden for a few laps, but he recovered to run lap times comparable with the race leaders in the closing laps of the race.

Two-time defending AMA Superbike champion Spies, from Longview, Texas, finished 14th in his MotoGP debut, replacing the injured Loris Capirossi on the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team. Spies qualified an outstanding eighth in wet conditions Saturday.

“The first half of the race felt like garbage to me, but the second half was really good,” Spies said. “I was running times toward the end that would have put us in the top 10, so I’m quite pleased with that.”

John Hopkins, from Ramona, Calif., finished 18th after his Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone stopped due to a technical problem on Lap 17 while running 10th.

The next race is the Grand Prix of the Netherlands on June 28 at Assen, The Netherlands. The inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sept. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.