It has been 14 years since the Grand Prix motorcycles have visited the rough Misano circuit so when the checkered flag waved it was a historic moment for the 57,000 fans at the track as well as the racers.
Casey Stoner: "This was very nice win for me. Yesterday I wasn't so confident, but when we arrived on the grid today we were quite confident with the setting and everything worked well, we got a good start and we were able to get a good advantage. If there was a group up front my plan was to separate the group so there were less riders to battle with, I expected it to be a very difficult race."
It was an all Aussie show at the San Marino Grand Prix as Ducati Marloboro's
Casey Stoner and Rizla Suzuki's
Chris Vermeulen finished 1-2 for the second time this season. Vermeulen's teammate John Hopkins joined him on the box, giving the Suzuki
MotoGP team its first-ever double podium finish in the four stroke era. In contrast to the elation for Ducati and Suzuki, the Yamaha camp could have done without this race. Only five laps into the action, Valentino Rossi was forced to retire when his motor failed, effectively eliminating any hope of contending for the title.
Stoner's eighth win of the year extends his championship lead to a nearly untouchable 85 points with only 125 points still up for grabs, was also the first-ever for Ducati on its home turf.
"I'm still taking the championship race by race," explains race-winner Casey Stoner. "It was unfortunate what happened to Valentino and to Dani today, but I was out in front doing my own thing, I had enough pressure myself. It took a lot of concentration to not make any mistakes because it was really hot and hard work today. The team did a great job all weekend, they really pulled through for me. And after a race like this I'd really like to thank my trainer Anthony who I work with every time I have a bit of time off. The second part of the season is when I usually get stronger, so I hope we can be stronger at the next races but we'll see what happens. The more I ride My Ducati the more comfortable I become and the faster I become."
Stoner grabbed the holeshot from his pole position and was never really challenged after that. Behind him there was plenty of action to keep the capacity crowd entertained. Kawasaki's Randy de Puniet lost the rear of his ZX-RR in turn two of the first lap, collecting Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa and forcing American riders Kurtis Roberts and Nicky Hayden into the gravel trap in order to avoid crashing as well. Fortunately Vermeulen had just edged past before the incident occurred and he set out to track his teammate down. The Rizla Suzuki riders put on quite a show as they set the fastest times during the first six laps of the content.
"I am very happy to be on the podium," Vermeulen said after claiming his fourth podium of the season. "I said earlier this year that there would be two Rizla Suzukis on there before the end of the year, and I am very pleased to have been proved right. Obviously I'm happy to be in front of John, but congratulations to him and the whole team on this great result. We had no data on the bikes before we came here and Suzuki and Bridgestone have both done a great job to give us such a fantastic package for a new circuit. I got a good start from the third row, which was nice because I was dreading starting back there as it is so difficult to pass around here. I got up to fourth early on, but I still had to pass John and Valentino - two of the hardest guys in the paddock to get around. After I got through them I tried to catch Casey and thought I was doing so, but I think I used up a bit too much of my rear tire trying to catch him and at the end he pulled away a bit. Once again I would like to pass on my thanks to Tom and all my crew, plus all the guys at Bridgestone for this weekend."
The championship results didn't change much with Stoner now enjoying an 85-point lead over Valentino Rossi. Both Rossi and Pedrosa gained zero points yet remain in second and third respectively. Their idle standing allowed Vermeulen and Hopkins to gain ground however. The Suzuki riders are fourth and fifth respectively, less than 30-points back from Pedrosa for third in the standings.
The series moves to Portugal for the round 14 at Estoril on September 16th.
MotoGP Results:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro 44'34.720
2. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 4.851
3. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 16.002
4. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda Gresini + 22.737
5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati Marlboro + 24.787
6. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda LCR + 34.986
7. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda Gresini + 40.896
8. Anthony West (AUS) Kawasaki + 41.774
9. Colin Edwards (USA) Fiat Yamaha + 47.146
10. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Konica Minolta Honda + 48.808
11. Alex Hofmann (GER) Pramac d'Antin + 49.299
12. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 + 1'09.176
13. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda + 1'20.424
14. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 + 1'34.223
15. Kurtis Roberts (USA) Team Roberts - 1 Lap down
DNF.Alex Barros (BRA) Pramac d'Antin - 13 Lap
DNF.Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha - 23 Lap
DNF. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki Racing - 28 Lap
DNF. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda - 28 Lap
Championship Standings:
1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro, 271
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha, 186
3. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda, 168
4. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 144
5. John Hopkins (USA) Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 140
