Stoner: Lorenzo thought he had me beat

Stoner ... outspoken infront of the press

VISORDOWN caught up with Casey Stoner at a Bridgestone tyre launch, today at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

Stoner was delighted with his win in MotoGP's first night race. When asked what it meant to him, he said: "I got annoyed at the end of last season, as everyone said it was the bike or the tyres that made it easy for me to win. So this is proof, if it's needed, that we're still the team to beat."

"We've worked hard over the winter period to get the bike even better straight away and our efforts have been rewarded. This win proves we're putting in the work against serious competition. We've beaten the Japanese, you can't underestimate that."

At the start of the first MotoGP night race, it looked like Stoner had met his match in the shape of Pedrosa, Rossi, Toseland and Lorenzo, but Stoner quickly went back to last season's winning ways.

We asked what he thought of the race:

"At the start of the race it was a mess, there were riders running in positions I didn't think they were capable of holding, there was a lot of pressure to win this one and you don't want to get caught up in the red mist. I sat back a bit, ran at a good pace but waited until the tyres really came on. After a few laps, the Bridgestones were upt o the task and while the Michelins looked quick, I didn't know if they could do the distance. I knew I could put in hotter laps so got my head down towards the end."

And were you surprised about the quality of the competition?

"No they're all capable blokes, but I had it on good authority Lorenzo was saying he was going to stick it to me on race day, all because he qualifed pole.

"The thing I love about MotoGP is that you can never be that confident, you can't be sure who's going to pull something out on race day. So, so showing Lorenzo the way around for a few laps before getting my head down and getting on with it was great for me and for Ducati. We've proved we're still the team to beat."