STONER WINS AGAIN FOR DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM
Ducati Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner won his
third Grand Prix victory of the year in superb style at Shanghai today,
extending his World Championship lead to 15 points after four of 18
races. Team-mate Loris Capirossi also enjoyed a stirring ride, coming
through from 14th on the grid to finish in sixth position. Stoner
grabbed the lead on the second lap and spent much of the race involved
in an intense duel with Valentino Rossi. Eventually Stoner and his
Desmosedici GP7 were too strong for the former World Champion, the
Australian ending the race three seconds in front. Capirossi, who
started from the fifth row after he had been brought down by a rival
during qualifying, steadfastly worked his way through the pack despite
pain from the arm injury he suffered in the fall.
CASEY STONER, 1st place, World Championship leader on 86 points
"If last year someone had told me that at this
point of the season I would have won three races I would have laughed!
Anyway, today was another perfect day. I really want to say thank you
to Ducati, to Vittoriano Guareschi of the test team, and to Bridgestone
and to all the sponsors who have given me this opportunity. The pace of
the race was incredibly fast and we were really quick on the straights.
Again we were able to take this advantage and I could just stay at the
front with the lap times we were doing. The only difficult part of the
track for me this weekend was the turn before the back straight where I
couldn't turn so well but we worked a lot on this until we found better
exit speed. During the race I concentrated on the lap times which
weren't that easy but I could do them okay. During the closing stages,
when I had less fuel load, the tyres started working even better. I'm
really happy with Bridgestone - we expected higher temperatures for the
race and that's what happened, which is why we ran a harder rear and we
were really safe with it. I knew Valentino was behind so I just
concentrated and didn't make many mistakes. I was expecting a big fight
during the last two laps but after he made his mistake I was able to
control the race. It was another fantastic race, like Qatar and Turkey,
but we aren't changing our way of thinking. We are working hard, taking
it race by race and doing our best every time".
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 6th place, 8th in World Championship on 30 points
"We had a difficult Saturday and the crash in
qualifying was simply a shame because we had to start so far back on
the grid. I was in the middle of the first lap accident but I was able
to escape getting involved. Anyway, I had problems when braking all
through the race, so I couldn't attack. I could only try to defend my
position and finish at the front of my group. I got ten points, which
isn't much but they are something. I'm eighth on points while Casey and
Valentino are way in front but I'm not so far back from third position,
so I'll just keep my head down and try to improve my feeling with this
bike which is obviously a winning machine. Also, the tyres were very
good today, so we just have to keep working hard."
LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project manager
"Another unbelievable race! The bike was great, the
tyres were great and Casey did another fantastic job out there today.
Again, this victory is a big tribute to the all people involved, from
everyone at Ducati to our technical partners Bridgestone and Shell
Advance. Loris once again showed that he is a real fighter who never
gives up. Leading the World Championship like this is a dream come true
for all of us and now we just want to keep working to keep the dream
alive."
After the race FIM technical director Mike Webb
checked the engine capacity of Casey Stoner's GP7 and everything was
okay. This was a standard FIM procedure and not the result of any
protests. Already this season the FIM has checked the fuel tank
capacity and fuel temperature of the Ducati Marlboro Team GP7."
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