Stoner climbs closer to top with third straight victory

INDIANAPOLIS, Sunday, – Valentino Rossi regained the MotoGP points lead from Dani Pedrosa on July 13 at the Grand Prix of Germany, but now there’s no question that the top two are focused more on the red storm rising – Casey Stoner and Ducati – than each other.

Stoner won the 30-lap race in wet conditions at the Sachsenring on his red Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone, his third consecutive victory and fourth overall of the season. Stoner, who was fourth and 46 points out of the lead June 1, now is third and just 20 points behind Rossi and four points behind second-place Pedrosa.

“It’s nice to close the championship down a little bit more,” Stoner said.

Rossi bounced back from his crash and 11th-place finish June 29 in the British Grand Prix to place second on his Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, 3.708 seconds behind Stoner. Wet-weather specialist Chris Vermeulen rode to third on his Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki/Bridgestone, holding off Alex de Angelis by .122 of a second for the final podium spot.

“Dani is tough and we know he will be back fighting at the front, but sincerely at the moment we need to think about how to catch Casey because he has been very fast now for a few races,” Rossi said.

It was a race to forget for American riders. 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden finished 13th on his Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, two laps behind Stoner, after being hampered by poor tire choice and electronics problems. He was forced to make a pit stop to change the rear tire.

Colin Edwards crashed with 10 laps remaining on his Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha/Michelin and was credited with 14th place. He was unhurt. It was only the second race this season in which Edwards didn’t score points.

The third full-time American rider on the MotoGP grid, John Hopkins, did not compete in this race due to a broken leg and ankle suffered in a crash during the British Grand Prix on his Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone.

Pedrosa jumped pole sitter Stoner at the start and shot away in the wet conditions, building a lead of 7.5 seconds after just five laps on his Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin.

But Pedrosa fell in Turn 1 on Lap 6, rolling through the gravel. He broke his left index finger and suffered a possible fracture of his right ankle.

Stoner then rode solo for the rest of the race, trying to stay focused despite not feeling well and riding with a hard-compound rain tire in the tricky conditions.

The next race is the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on July 20 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, the first of two MotoGP events in America this season. The inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP is Sept. 14 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

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RESULTS

HOHENSTEIN-ERNSTTHAL, Germany – Results of the 30-lap Grand Prix of Germany MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle/tire, time behind winner: 1. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati/Bridgestone 2. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha/Bridgestone +3.708 seconds 3. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki/Bridgestone +14.002 4. Alex de Angelis San Marino Honda/Bridgestone +14.124 5. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda/Michelin +42.022 6. Sylvain Guintoli France Ducati/Bridgestone +46.648 7. Loris Capirossi Italy Suzuki/Bridgestone +1:04.483 8. Randy de Puniet France Honda/Michelin +1:04.588 9. Shinya Nakano Japan Honda/Bridgestone +1:16.773 10. Anthony West Australia Kawasaki/Bridgestone +1:29.275 11. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha/Michelin +1 lap 12. Toni Elias Spain Ducati/Bridgestone +1 lap 13. Nicky Hayden United States Honda/Michelin +2 laps 14. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha/Michelin +10 laps 15. Marco Melandri Italy Ducati/Bridgestone +21 laps 16. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda/Michelin +25 laps 17. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha/Michelin +28 laps Fastest lap: Stoner, 1:32.749, Lap 23 Pole lap: Stoner, 1:21.067

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POINTS

Riders: Rossi 187, Pedrosa 171, Stoner 167, Lorenzo 114, Edwards 98, Dovizioso 90, Vermeulen 73, Hayden 73, Toseland 65, Nakano 64, Capirossi 60, de Angelis 38, Elias 37, Guintoli 34, Hopkins 32, Melandri 32, de Puniet 30, West 22, Spies 2, Okada 2.

Manufacturers: Yamaha 216, Honda 184, Ducati 172, Suzuki 96, Kawasaki 47.

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PODIUM QUOTES

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone, winner): “I saw Dani ride off into the distance, and I thought, “Fair play.” There was no way I could keep that pace in those conditions at that time. We definitely needed a bit more time to get the tires up to temperature and Dani just kept edging away, but then after a few laps I was coming down the main straight and I could see his bike bouncing around in the gravel at Turn 1. It's a shame for him but even though he crashed he was still very impressive today. From then on, it was a case of keeping my concentration, but that wasn't easy because I've been a little sick all weekend and I wasn't feeling at all good during the race. Also, we went with quite a hard rear tire compound and I had quite a few small moments that made me nervous but kept me on my guard. It's nice to close the championship down a little bit more.”

VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, second): “I’m really happy with this result, even if racing in the rain today wasn’t quite as much fun as I’ve had in some of my past races here. For the championship, this is very, very important: I made a mistake last week in Assen, and today Dani did the same. It’s unlucky, but this is racing and now we are back in front and this is a very good feeling. Dani is tough and we know he will be back fighting at the front, but sincerely at the moment we need to think about how to catch Casey because he has been very fast now for a few races. Once again here we lost some time during the practice trying to find the right setting, and we can’t afford to keep doing this. Today we started from the third row, and this meant that I had to deal with some confusion at the start and lost some time on the front riders. By the time I got behind Casey, my M1 was working very well and I had very good grip with my Bridgestone rain tires. I felt very confident and I tried hard to push, but there was no way to catch him at that stage, so our aim must be to start at the front from now on. Now we have to try to extend this lead in Laguna.”

CHRIS VERMEULEN (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki/Bridgestone, third): “I am very happy to be on the podium here in Germany. It was a really difficult race, as there was a lot more water than we had practiced in on this circuit. I have got to give full credit to Bridgestone as they pushed me to go for a much harder compound than I wanted, and it definitely worked. I really want to thank my crew, as well, and the Japanese Suzuki staff, as we didn’t really have a lot of setup in the rain, but the bike worked really well. It wasn’t perfect, but it was more than capable of getting me home, so I am really pleased to have put it on the podium for them, as well. Let’s hope this is the start of a good run, and now we are off to a track I enjoy a lot, so hopefully we can move up to the top step there.”

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AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES

NICKY HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, 13th): “Today was a bit of a disaster, really. All weekend in the dry we had been going OK, but conditions changed a lot for the race. I was actually glad it was raining because the bike has been working good in the rain recently, but the race turned into a disaster. The tire choice wasn’t good and something also didn’t look right on the electronics. Seems like it was a combination of problems. We came in and changed the rear tire to a slightly different compound. Things were a lot better when I went out, but I was right in the middle of everybody and I didn’t want to get in the way of people racing. We got a few points. Now it’s Laguna next weekend, so we’ll just keep pushing and hope to catch a break somewhere along the way.”

COLIN EDWARDS (Tech 3 Yamaha Yamaha/Michelin, 14th): “All I can say is it was a very tough race right from the start. The conditions were not easy, but I got a reasonable start and just wanted to get into a steady pace. But it was obvious from quite early on that it was going to be difficult. I didn’t have a lot of feel from the rear tire, and I tried everything I could to hang in there and keep a top-five finish for the team, who have been great all weekend. It would have also kept my own personal good run going. But as the race wore on, it wasn’t getting any better, and I lost the rear at the downhill left-hander. I had no warning at all, and I didn’t feel I was particularly pushing too hard because by that stage a podium had already gone. I was trying to keep Dovizioso behind me to at least finish top Michelin rider. I’d tried to follow Casey and Valentino, but I just didn’t have anything for them. Fifth was going to be the best result I could have managed today, and that’ s a bit disappointing because in the dry I think I could have been fighting for a podium. I’m just grateful I didn’t get hurt in the crash because I’ve got my home race coming up, and I desperately want to put on a good performance for the American fans, Tech 3 and Yamaha at Laguna Seca. After this disappointment, I’ll be looking to bounce straight back.”

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MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS

250cc: Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Metis Gilera Gilera

125cc: Mike Di Meglio, France, Ajo Motorsport Derbi. American Stevie Bonsey placed 18th and is 13th in series points.

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NEXT RACE

Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, July 20. Round 11 of 18.

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Red Bull Indianapolis GP tickets: Tickets are on sale for the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sept. 14, 2008.

Tickets can be purchased either online at www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com at any time; on the phone by calling (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area or (317) 492-6700 locally between 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday; or visiting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Ticket Office on the first floor of the IMS Administration Building at 4790 W. 16th St. in Indianapolis from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.