Stoner romps to Brno success
Added on Sunday, August 14th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor | No Comments
Stoner romps to Brno success
Casey Stoner continued his strong race form at Brno this afternoon, with another victory to enhance his already impressive tally.
After his Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa stormed to pole position following his dominant performance all weekend, Stoner continued his championship challenge with honours. A good start from Pedrosa saw him launch towards the first corner, however before long it was Lorenzo who leapt into the lead.
Pedrosa followed the Yamaha rider for the opening stint, however when Lorenzo suffered a slight wobble circling the Brno circuit he slipped passed into the lead. Stoner followed his Repsol Honda teammate shortly afterwards, before disaster struck. Moments later, Pedrosa slipped from his Honda machine, and after landing in the gravel he was forced to watch from the sidelines for the remainder of the race.
After inheriting the lead courtesy of his teammate’s misfortune, Stoner soon edged away an extensive lead, which saw him ride to the top step of the podium. Behind the action continued, with a three way fight for second for much of the twenty two laps.
Now forced to defend his second place from a charging Andrea Dovizioso, Lorenzo’s soft tyre choice appeared to hamper his pace. Shortly afterwards a storming performance from Marco Simoncelli gave Lorenzo more problems, when he latched onto his fellow Italian Dovizioso.
A fierce battle ensued, with the three riders lapping the circuit nose to tail for much of the remaining laps. A chance for Dovizioso soon elevated himto second place, before a resurging Lorenzo temporarily stole back his original position. Unable to defend into the latter phase of the race, Dovizioso secured a strong second place, whilst Simoncelli’s pace elevated him into third and his first MotoGP podium finish.
Lorenzo circulated to fourth place, despite immense pressure for the duration. The closing Ben Spies tried to make up further ground after catching the struggling Lorenzo, however he was unable to faze the reigning World Champion. Despite battling through nerve damage for the duration, Spies crossed the finish line in a strong fifth place, ahead of the chasing Valentino Rossi.
After securing his best qualifying position of the season thus far yesterday, Rossi spent much of today’s race defending from Alvaro Bautista. However, with just six laps to go, the Suzuki rider slipped from seventh place. Free of the pressure, Rossi was able to bear down on Spies, as he weaved around the circuit just five seconds adrift of second place.
Nicky Hayden followed his Ducati teammate towards the finish, with the American rider securing a seventh place finish, ahead of fellow American Colin Edwards. Hiroshi Aoyama made the best of a good opportunity to work his way into a top ten finish, with San Carlo Honda Gresini rider sealing ninth. The final top ten spot was awarded to Hector Barbera, as drama struck many others throughout the field.
With a number of retirements, the remaining three positions went the way of Toni Elias, Randy De Puniet and Loris Capirossi.
After just missing out on a top ten qualifying position yesterday, Brit Cal Crutchlow was forced to start eleventh. As he worked his way into a top ten position, the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider lost out, when a crash left him in the gravel. Local rider Karel Abraham also lost out, when an initial off track excursion saw him rejoin further down the field, followed by an apparent engine blow out with nine laps to go.
Stoner has now extended his championship advantage to thirty-two points over Lorenzo. The next round takes the MotoGP field to America, with the Indianapolis circuit set to host round twelve on the 28th August.
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