Stoner finds much-needed extra grip in test session, but team struggle to figure out what they did to gain it
REIGNING MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner says that he and his Ducati team
have been left puzzled by a bought of extra grip they found at the Le Mans
tests earlier this week.
After using a particular rear Bridgestone for the Portugal race Stoner was
left struggling for grip, but putting exactly the same compound on during the
French post-race test on Monday and Tuesday proved puzzling because this time
there was grip by the bucketload.
Stoner said: “We worked on an old rear tyre from Portugal that went well -
before we´d been struggling to get any kind of rear temperature. This one now
seems to be running where we need it to be. The grip level is unbelievable.
“We put it on today without changing anything, and immediately the lap times
went down. We don´t understand exactly why that is yet.
“With a better front I think that at least here we would have been more
competitive. Maybe we wouldn´t have won the race, but at least fighting for the
podium.”
