Stoner...kept cool under pressure
CASEY STONER extended his lead in this year's MotoGP championship by winning his fourth race of the season at Catalunya racetrack in spectacular fashion. Second spot was clinched by Valentino Rossi, with local hero Dani Pedrosa taking third, in front of his home crowd.
In an action-packed battle, Stoner kept his cool under relentless pressure from Rossi in the closing laps. Both riders diced for the lead in the final stages with Stoner outbraking the hard-charging 7-times world champion, eventually beating the Italian by just 0.69 seconds at the chequered flag in what must be the best race we've seen this year.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the weekend came in the shape of Randy De Puniet, who clinched fifth place for Kawasaki, despite riding with a seriously inflamed leg and shoulder from his crash at Mugello. It was De Puniet's best result in MotoGP.
Anglo-American John Hopkins also put in a fantastic performance, keeping with the front runners for most of the race and notching up a fourth for Paul Denning's Rizla Suzuki squad.
Reigning world champion, Nicky Hayden, continued his disastrous season by failing to finish in the top ten.
The first five places went to different manufacturers: Ducati, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki.
1
C Stoner (Aus) Ducati, 43:16.907
2
V Rossi (It) Yamaha, 43:16.976
3
D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda, 43:17.297
4
J Hopkins (US) Suzuki, 43:24.721
5
R de Puniet (Fr) Kawasaki, 43.34.760
6
L Capirossi (It) Ducati, 43:36.316
7
C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki, 43:36.402
8
A Barros (Brz) Ducati, 43:41.769
9
M Melandri (It) Honda, 43:41.870
10
C Edwards (US), Yamaha, 43:52.255
