Stoner on podium in Aragon

Aragon, Spain Sep 19th – Casey Stoner took his first victory of the 2010 campaign at Aragón today, converting his pole position into a long awaited win. The Ducati Team rider finished 5.148s ahead of Dani Pedrosa, with Nicky Hayden completing the podium for his first top-three result of the year after a magnificent last-lap overtake on championship leader, Jorge Lorenzo, finishing ‘off ‘ the podium for the first time this season.

Listen to Caseys interview here-[audio:http://circuitprodigital.com/wp-content/uploads/stoneraudio-aragon.mp3|titles=stoner audio from aragon]

Championship leader Lorenzo got a good start from second on the grid but it was soon clear that he lacked the pace to stay with Stoner as the Australian quickly began to open out a gap, while the Yamaha man came under pressure from compatriot Dani Pedrosa behind. On lap three Pedrosa passed the Mallorcan and, hampered by a lack of grip, Lorenzo was unable to run with him and spent most of the remainder of the race in third, just ahead of Nicky Hayden. He did everything he could to hold onto the final podium spot but a determined Hayden mounted a strong last-lap challenge and Lorenzo, not wanting to put his championship lead in jeopardy with too many risky moves, was powerless to keep the American from passing him on the final part of the track and missed out at the line by less than a tenth of a second.

Stoner takes the checkered flag in Aragon

Starting from pole Stoner held his position going into the first turn, but usual rapid starter Pedrosa dropped to fifth as the riders bunched up in the tight opening curve. The Repsol Honda rider fought back in the early stages of the race however to climb to second behind Stoner, and the gap between the two fluctuated throughout.

The pair were consistently fast for the duration of the race but Stoner managed to pull away towards the end as he achieved what was eventually a comfortable 25 points, with Pedrosa maintaining his good form in second.

There were battles all the way through the field and none more entertaining than that between Hayden and Lorenzo for the final podium spot. A fearless overtake on Lorenzo by Hayden on the final lap delivered the American the honours, and ended the Fiat Yamaha rider’s record of having placed on the rostrum at every race so far this season.

Ben Spies notched another impressive result with fifth place as he resisted the challenge of Andrea Dovizioso, who crashed out on the final lap whilst pushing hard in better the American.

Ben Spies 5th 131-points“That was a really good race. I like racing like that and I told my crew that even if I’d finished sixth it would have been t he funniest race of the year for me. Dovi and me started going at it with four laps to go and it was fun. I wish it didn’t end with him crashing and I’m sure he’s mad he fell down but we were having a blast. We kept it clean and close and he just made a small mistake on the last lap. I must admit I wasn’t too far away from making one myself because it was getting pretty hectic. On the last lap I got him at turn one and then he got me back at turn eight. Going into turn 11 I passed him but got in deep and when we went back to turn 12 I was ahead of him but I didn’t have the right line. So he had to go around me but unfortunately he fell and that’s a shame because he rode great. I did too and for a while I was pulling back Nicky and Jorge but fifth is still a great result. I wasn’t far behind Jorge and I beat Valentino and I was the top non-factory rider again. And the points are good for my championship, so I’m looking forward to this big final run of races with a lot of c onfidence.”

Valentino Rossi rounded off a tough weekend in sixth place, whilst rookies Marco Simoncelli and Álvaro Bautista completed the top eight with solid displays. Marco Melandri and Aleix Espargaró took top-ten finishes, whilst Randy de Puniet escaped injury when he crashed out on lap 16.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 6Time: +27.330
“This was a very difficult race for us; we had a lot of problems all weekend and I was very slow today. I had to try to arrive to the end but I couldn’t do better than sixth. All the Yamahas have suffered here but my shoulder problems made it even worse for me and this, combined with the problems with our package at this track, made it extra hard. We’re very sad this afternoon and we hope for better in Japan.”

Lorenzo’s advantage at the top of the Championship was cut to 56 points and he now stands on 284 points, with Pedrosa on 228 in second. Stoner’s victory lifts him to third on 155, with Rossi staying fourth and Dovizioso dropping to fifth.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st
“This win is a big relief, to be honest! We had the first race in Qatar wrapped up until I made a mistake and their have been other opportunities to win this year that I have missed out on through my own errors. We have had a lot of problems trying to find the final two or three tenths to run with Dani and Jorge this season but we changed the bike completely this weekend to adjust my position on it and got it working almost how we want it to. I had a little slip off in warm-up this morning which was a worry going into the race. I was staying away from every white line that I could over the first few laps but we were able to pick up the pace when we needed to and bring home a win. I want to thank the team, the factory and everybody who has stuck by me – I’m just sorry it took so long!”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd
“It feels great to be back on the podium and I really enjoyed myself today. The bike has been working really well all weekend and in the race I was able to get a good start and stay with Jorge. There wasn’t really anywhere I could get a wheel in and over the last couple of laps he pushed hard to get away but I decided that fourth wasn’t good enough for me today. I did a bit of a backyard move in the chicane over there and managed to hold him off to the line. It’s nice to be on the podium, it has been a really good weekend for us and for the team, the sponsors and the supporters I’m glad we could be up here today. We’ll try to do it again a few more times before the season’s over!”