Stoner strikes back with first victory since season opener; American Spies 14th in debut INDIANAPOLIS 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. *** RESULTS CASTLE DONINGTON, England Results of the 30-lap Grand Prix of Great Britain MotoGP race, with position, rider, country, motorcycle/tire, time behind winner: 1. Casey Stoner Australia Ducati/Bridgestone 2. Valentino Rossi Italy Yamaha/Bridgestone +5.789 seconds 3. Dani Pedrosa Spain Honda/Michelin +8.347 4. Colin Edwards United States Yamaha/Michelin +12.678 5. Andrea Dovizioso Italy Honda/Michelin +14.801 6. Jorge Lorenzo Spain Yamaha/Michelin +15.690 7. Nicky Hayden United States Honda/Michelin +18.196 8. Chris Vermeulen Australia Suzuki/Bridgestone +21.666 9. Shinya Nakano Japan Honda/Bridgestone +29.354 10. Anthony West Australia Kawasaki/Bridgestone +41.030 11. Toni Elias Spain Ducati/Bridgestone +44.426 12. Randy De Puniet France Honda/Michelin +46.199 13. Sylvain Guintoli France Ducati/Bridgestone +48.731 14. Ben Spies United States Suzuki/Bridgestone +49.591 15. Alex De Angelis San Marino Honda/Bridgestone +1:22.186 16. Marco Melandri Italy Ducati/Bridgestone +1:30.021 17. James Toseland Great Britain Yamaha/Michelin +1 lap 18. John Hopkins United States Kawasaki/Bridgestone +14 laps Fastest lap: Stoner, 1:28.773, Lap 5 Pole lap: Stoner, 1:38.232 *** POINTS Riders: Rossi 162, Pedrosa 151, Stoner 117, Lorenzo 104, Edwards 82, Dovizioso 68, Hayden 57, Toseland 53, Loris Capirossi 51, Nakano 49, Vermeulen 48, Hopkins 32, Melandri 29, Elias 29, De Angelis 25, De Puniet 22, Guintoli 18, West 16, Spies 2, Tadayuki Okada 2. Manufacturers: Yamaha 180, Honda 151, Ducati 122, Suzuki 71, Kawasaki 41. *** PODIUM QUOTES CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati/Bridgestone, winner): “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. 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. We kicked off in free practice with some good lap times, and it’s just got better and better since then, in wet and dry conditions. Now we just hope that this new electronic system will work as well at the rest of the tracks as it has done at Catalunya and Donington Park.” VALENTINO ROSSI (Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha/Bridgestone, second): “I am quite happy about this result, although of course I would have preferred to have been fighting with Stoner for the win. I got a good start today and I tried to stay with Casey, but in some corners he was faster than me and it was impossible to keep up with his pace as the race went on. I knew that second place was important because of the points, so I had to win my fight with Pedrosa in the middle of the race. Luckily we took second, and now I have extended my lead by four points, which is very important for our championship. Unfortunately this weekend we made some mistakes when it was dry on Friday, and then because of the wet yesterday we weren’t able to work on them until today, when it was too late to make things perfect. We are leading the championship, but Stoner showed his potential today, so I think that this hard battle between us all is going to continue race by race. I am glad we only have a few ! days to Assen, and I am looking forward to doing better there.” DANI PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, third): “This has been a difficult weekend with the weather changing all the time and only one day of dry practice. So, considering that and the effects of my crash during the tests at Barcelona, I think that finishing on the podium is a good result for us. I pushed hard today, and I really wanted to get second. Unfortunately, starting from the third row at a tight track with a short run to the first corner was never going to be easy. I got a good start, but I got a bit boxed in through the first corner, and I lost some time while I was behind Dovizioso. Once I got up with Valentino, we had a good battle, made a few passes, but I made a couple of mistakes so I lost the possibility to finish second. My Michelin tires worked well today, but I struggled a bit through the direction changes.” *** AMERICAN RIDER QUOTES COLIN EDWARDS (Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha/Michelin, fourth): “I’m a bit cross even though fourth is still a good result. In the dry on Friday, it was so good, and I was really happy with everything. But with the rain yesterday, I got thrown a bit. The geometry of the bike is quite a bit different and the weight bias quite a bit different compared to last year. So riding in the rain threw me a bit today when it was dry. Even this morning, I went out and I came in, and I started complaining about all these problems with the front end, yet it was exactly the same bike that I had on Friday. I got out in the race, and in the first few laps I was struggling. I was riding hard, but I couldn’t get into the low 29s like I was doing on a tire that had done 24 laps on Friday. And then it kind of clicked what I needed to do, but it took too long to adjust. I kept letting the front pop up and kept running wide and running wide, and then I figured it out. Now you have to brake a lot deeper, harder and longer on this year’s bike with the geometry, and I just got my head around it too late. Once I did that, I got into the low 29s and started moving through the field. As far as lap times, there was not much between me, Valentino, Dani and Casey. I kept seeing them at the same spot on the track, and they weren’t pulling away. If anything, I was gaining a little bit on them. I might have fought with them had I come through a bit quicker, but we still did a fantastic job this weekend. The team and Michelin did a great job, and I just wish I could run the race again.” NICKY HAYDEN (Repsol Honda Team Honda/Michelin, seventh): “We learned a lot this weekend. We could’ve done with another day in the dry to really understand things. I’m actually pretty positive; we’ll try to put everything we’ve learned to good use at Assen. We didn’t really know what to expect here. Everything went smooth until this morning, when we had to switch bikes. The first few laps of the race went OK, and then about lap nine, I had a dash light come on. I didn’t know what it was for, but if a sensor goes bad you realize just how much you use traction control, engine braking control and things like that. It was nothing serious, but I lost some confidence for a couple of laps, so my lap times fell and it upset my rhythm while I got my confidence back. The guys are looking into it now. It would’ve been nice to finish higher up, because I’ve got a lot of English guys in the box. The bike was pretty consistent at the end, and I got back into the 29s. We learned a lot abou! t fuel, tire life and so on. We got a lot of information.” BEN SPIES (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki/Bridgestone, 14th): “It was a tough race as I was still trying to learn the tires, the bike and the track in the first few laps. The first half of the race felt like garbage to me, but the second half was really good. I was running times toward the end that would have put us in the top 10, so I’m quite pleased with that. I was catching the guys in front and reeling them in lap by lap, but I just didn’t have enough laps to get up and past them. I was definitely getting more comfortable on the bike, and even though the result wasn’t what I wanted, the times at the end were really fast, and I’m happy with that.” JOHN HOPKINS (Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki/Bridgestone, 18th): “It’s difficult to express how frustrated I feel after today’s race. I got away from the start pretty well, but then Toseland high-sided right in front of me exiting the first turn and, while he slid off the track, I had to brake almost to a standstill to avoid his bike. This left me dead last on the opening lap, but I got my head down and fought my way back through the field, eventually passing Anthony to take 10th position. I think it was possible to close the gap on the group ahead of me, but then the bike just stopped at the Old Hairpin. Obviously, we need to figure out what caused the problem, but with the next race less than one week away, I don’t want to dwell on what went wrong today but, rather, look forward to making amends next weekend in Assen.” *** MotoGP SUPPORT CLASS WINNERS 250cc: Mika Kallio, Finland, Red Bull KTM 250 KTM 125cc: Scott Redding, Great Britain, Blusens Aprilia Junior Aprilia. American Stevie Bonsey placed 17th and is 13th in series points. *** NEXT RACE Grand Prix of the Netherlands, Assen, June 28. Round 9 of 18. *** 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. All tickets for this event are three-day tickets, with both reserved and general admission seating available.