CASEY STONER made a welcome return to the top step of the podium by blitzing the opposition in a blistering performance to win Sunday's Spanish Aragon MotoGP event.
The Australian took the front on the first lap and was never seriously challenged throughout the 23-lap race, crossing the finishing line over five seconds ahead of nearest rival Dani Pedrosa.
Stoner's last MotoGP win was at Sepang, October 2009.
Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden pipped 2010 Championship favourite Jorge Lorenzo on the final lap to steal a well-deserved third place.
Following his win, Stoner said:
“This win is a big relief, to be honest! We had the first race in Qatar wrapped up until I made a mistake and their have been other opportunities to win this year that I have missed out on through my own errors. We have had a lot of problems trying to find the final two or three tenths to run with Dani and Jorge this season but we changed the bike completely this weekend to adjust my position on it and got it working almost how we want it to. I had a little slip off in warm-up this morning which was a worry going into the race. I was staying away from every white line that I could over the first few laps but we were able to pick up the pace when we needed to and bring home a win. I want to thank the team, the factory and everybody who has stuck by me – I'm just sorry it took so long!”
ARAGON MotoGP Race Results
1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro 42m 16.53s
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda 42m 21.678s
3. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 42m 26.026s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha 42m 26.11s
5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42m 30.301s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha 42m 43.86s
7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 45.041s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki 42m 51.784s
9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 51.923s
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 42m 51.997s
11. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 42m 52.052s
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 1.89s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda 43m 4.849s
14. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 43m 14.577s
DNF:
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda
Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda
