Stoner revels in Barcelona success
Added on Monday, June 6th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Stoner revels in Barcelona success
Casey Stoner was happy to revel in his success at the Catalunya Grand Prix yesterday, celebrating a victory that moved him to within seven points of championship leader Jorge Lorenzo.
The Repsol Honda eased to victory in Barcelona, crossing the line more than 2.4 seconds ahead of Lorenzo in something of a processional race that was largely unaffected by a much anticipated rain shower.
And Stoner was understandably delighted with his performance, particularly as conditions became more treacherous as the race progressed.
“We got a reasonably good start but not as good as Jorge,” said Stoner. “I wanted to try to pass him early on but had to wait until the end of the first lap. From this point I just tried to put in the consistent laps as we did in the practice sessions to see if he could stay with me, fortunately I was able to open up an advantage without pushing too hard or feeling too much pressure.
“I was really happy, the bike was feeling fantastic and then it started to rain,” he explained. “There was enough rain there to make you think that it will affect the bike, and in the last corner there was enough rain to make the track slippery.
“As I was always the first to arrive to the wet area of the track, I watched what the others were doing and if they had started to catch me then I would push and if I start to pull an advantage then I would back off a little. I’m just happy I kept the bike upright at this stage and I want to thank all my team at Repsol Honda for all the hard work this weekend.”
