Stoner cracks MotoGP curse

Casey Stoner's apparently cursed attempt to regain his world chalmpionship took a turn for the good in Britiain when he steered his Ducati to a much needed MotoGP win.

The event is not the Aussie rider's favourite, and the vicxtory was a great morale boost for both him and the team as they head into a series of tracks which they believe better suit their machine.

Championship leader Valentino Rossi was philosophical about his loss - by several seconds - seeing it as a minor setback in his very solid campaign for points.

Here is what the leaders had to say...

Casey Stoner, Ducati -- 1st
"This has been a great weekend for us and it's brilliant to know that we're in a position to fight that little bit harder. The last three races have gone quite well for us in general but we've taken a big step forward with the new electronic system, which worked so well at the Catalunya test and then here. After a disappointing start to the season since the opening round at Qatar it's nice to feel as though we're back on track and this weekend went well from the start. We kicked off in free practice with some good lap times and it's just got better and better since then, in wet and dry conditions. Today the bike was perfect, even at the end of the race we had really good traction and I want to thank all my team - Filippo, Vitto and all the people at Ducati - for the hard work they are doing. Now we just hope that this new electronic system will work as well at the rest of the tracks as it has done at Catalunya and Donington Park."

Valentino Rossi, Yamaha - 2nd
"I am quite happy about this result, although of course I would have preferred to have been fighting with Stoner for the win! I got a good start today and I tried to stay with Casey, but in some corners he was faster than me and it was impossible to keep up with his pace as the race went on. I knew that second place was important because of the points so I had to win my fight with Pedrosa in the middle of the race! Luckily we took second and now I have extended my lead by four points, which is very important for our championship. Unfortunately this weekend we made some mistakes when it was dry on Friday, and then because of the wet yesterday we weren't able to work on them until today, when it was too late to make things perfect. Anyway we did the best we could so thanks to all my guys. We are leading the championship but Stoner showed his potential today so I think that this hard battle between us all is going to continue race by race. I am glad we only have a few days to Assen and I am looking forward to doing better there."

Dani Pedrosa, Honda -- 3rd
"This has been a difficult weekend with the weather changing all the time and only one day of dry practice. So, considering that and the effects of my crash during the tests at Barcelona I think that finishing on the podium is a good result for us. I pushed hard today and I really wanted to get second. Unfortunately, starting from the third row at a tight track with a short run to the first corner was never going to be easy. I got a good start, but I got a bit boxed in through the first corner and I lost some time while I was behind Dovizioso. Once I got up with Valentino we had a good battle, made a few passes but I made a couple of mistakes so I lost the possibility to finish second. My Michelin tyres worked well today but I struggled a bit through the direction changes. Anyway, we got some good points for the championship and we can look forward to getting a better result at Assen next weekend."

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