Stoner surprised by Brno success
Added on Monday, August 15th, 2011 by Carole Nash Editor
Stoner surprised by Brno success
Casey Stoner admitted that he didn’t expect to win this weekend at Brno, with the Repsol Honda rider feeling some sympathy for teammate Dani Pedrosa.
Stoner extended his lead in the championship to 32 points after a dominant win in Brno, although the Aussie benefitted from Dani Pedrosa’s early crash as he stormed to victory by more than 6.5 seconds.
Pedrosa, who had dominated throughout the weekend, crashed out of the race early on, leaving Stoner to lead the pack largely unchallenged for the remainder of the Grand Prix.
Stoner later admitted that fortune had been on his side following the result, admitting that a win was not what he was expecting from the weekend.
“We knew we could make a strong podium challenge today, but we didn’t really expect the race win,” he claimed.
“As soon as the race got underway I was having a good battle with Andrea, but this cost me a little time and I was afraid that Jorge and Dani would stretch away from me. But when I got past I found I had plenty of speed to catch up and the bike felt great.
“I passed Jorge and then Dani sadly crashed out, so I pushed to see if I could pull a gap and I was able to do so quite quickly. I’m very sorry for Dani, he would have been hard to beat today.
“After such a hard weekend it’s fantastic to come out with a comfortable win, a big thanks to my team who never give up. Tomorrow we’ll be back on the 1000 for another day of testing, so I hope the weather stays dry for us!”
