STONER LASHES OUT AT RIVALS
 Australian MotoGP star Casey Stoner has blasted "stupid moves"
by rivals which he claims kept him off the podium at the Spanish
Grand Prix.
Stoner was relegated to fifth place at Jerez as multiple world
champion Valentino Rossi clinched the second race of the season
from the Honda of local hero Dani Pedrosa.
The Italian took the championship lead on 45 points with Stoner
on 36 after winning the season-opener at Qatar. Pedrosa joined
Stoner on 36 points.
Rossi's teammate Colin Edwards was third in the race followed by
Spain's Toni Elias on a Honda.
Stoner saw his race chances nosedive as he was elbowed backwards
by Honda rivals Marco Melandri and Carlos Checa during a late
charge up from ninth place.
"If I hadn't got held up by Carlos and Marco then I would have
been able to mow the others down at the end of the race and battle
for a podium rather settle for fifth," Stoner said.
"There were some stupid moves that cost me time. I wasn't too
happy with that and after I got shoved back I found it really
difficult to get back past those riders.
"They were running me wide and then someone else would come up
the inside of me. It was just a disaster.
"Valentino had a little bit extra today but I believe I should
have been on the podium. I had the bike and the tyres at the end of
the race.
Front-running Rossi controlled the pace with a masterful
performance ahead of Pedrosa to end a five-race losing streak, his
longest in seven seasons.
"It feels like a long time since I last won and this is a great
emotion and a very special victory for me," said Rossi whose
previous win was in Malaysia last September.
"We had some problems in practice and I want to thank my crew
chief Jerry Burgess and the team for a fantastic job."
Stoner was the fastest in the field over the final five laps,
once he had a clear track after dismissing the attentions of Checa,
Melandri and world champion Nicky Hayden.
Stoner's flu-weakened countryman Chris Vermeulen finished ninth
with his own dramatic late race charge from 15th after a poor start
on his Suzuki.
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