CASEY STONER claimed his first victory of the 1000cc era after taking a surprise win ahead of two on-form Spaniards at Jerez.
With Stoner qualifying in fifth position expectations for the race were for a battle between pole-sitter Jorge Lorenzo and fellow countryman Dani Pedrosa.
Initially getting a slow start, the Australian tried to stay out of trouble in the action-packed opening laps, but the reigning champion was able to slice through the leading pack to take the top spot on lap three.
Stoner said: "We didn't get a great start so I tried to stay out of trouble, there were people out braking each other, touching and it was important just to keep out of the way!
"Then I managed to gain a lot of positions in a short space of time and reached the front. I didn't try to pull a gap, as I knew Jorge and Dani were very fast, but I just wanted to stay in front with them and pull away from the others. Then I saw that Jorge and I had slightly better pace and we could make a gap.
"I was focusing on where I wanted to go as there were a lot of wet patches and it was easy to make a mistake. We managed the race for the conditions of the circuit and as they improved I pushed a little more, the bike on a whole felt much better than in qualifying.
"I did get some arm pump again but thankfully not to the extent I had it in Qatar. Considering the weekend in general and how fast Dani and Jorge are at this track, to win here is something very special for me."
