Stoner loses way in Czech GP

Potentially a make or break race for his hopes of retaining the championship,the Czech round of the MotoGP circus turned into a nightmare for Australian Casey Stoner, who slid off his Ducati on lap 7.

After dominating a wet and hazardous qualifying session, Stoner was looking good to make his long climb back into championship contention, when he was trailing arch-rival Rossi by 25 points. The fast-starting Australian led the race initially, with Rossi's Yamaha in tow. However on lap 7, Stoner lost control in an incident which clearly baffled the youngster.

This left Rossi with a relatively easy win and some unexpectedly good results for some other, less prominent players. For example Toni Elias, riding for the Alice team, found himself on the podium, while Capirossi scored Suzuki third spot.

It was the best race in a very long time for Australian Anthon West, who qualified well and just beat compatriot Chris Vermeulen home to fifth place behind Nakano. West is looking likely to be without a ride next year and was clearly keen to show good form.
Here is what the riders had to say...

Valentino Rossi - 1st
"I was confident today because my bike was fast from Friday practice, and with Jeremy we made a small modification to the front after warm-up to allow me to be a bit faster in some sections, and it worked very well. I lost about half a second getting past Hopkins at the start and Casey was incredibly fast at that stage, like he'd already done ten laps! For a short time I was worried but then, after two laps, I understood that my bike was working very well and that I was fast enough to try to catch him. I had closed a little bit already and gradually the red bike was becoming a bit bigger in front of me, and I think this is when he started to push harder and made his mistake. I was anticipating a very hard battle if I did catch him, so when I saw the red bike slide out I could hardly believe it - this made things a lot easier for me! After that I just enjoyed riding my bike; my Bridgestone tyres worked very well until the end and my M1 felt very good. Of course I can't count this as a complete victory because Casey fell, and I am sorry for him, but this is racing and I have to be happy with this result. We are 50 points clear which is a lot and I am very excited to be going to Misano in this situation. However we know that 50 points is still not always enough when you have someone as strong as Casey and so we won't relax. Now we have two days of testing and we will try some new electronics in order to help me open the throttle earlier and also, of course, test some Bridgestone tyres."

Casey Stoner - DNF
"Obviously we are all disappointed with this result because our pace in practice was good, everything went very well this morning and we felt we could push out in front. Things were going according to plan until the crash. I was doing the same lap time over and over and I was quite happy with the pace I was running. The crash came out of the blue, that corner was an easy one but I lost the front and it happened very quickly, very suddenly and I didn't manage to save it. It's a hard one to explain and we will look at the data but sometimes this kind of crash happens at this level of racing and it was my mistake! We knew that we needed to win this race - and more - in order to close down Valentino's advantage so this makes the championship very difficult for us. Anything can happen in racing but fifty points is a big gap against such a strong and consistent competitor. Anyway I never throw in the towel, nor does anybody at Ducati, and we will keep fighting until the end. Misano is a home race for the factory and there will be lots of Ducatisti there, so my main thought now is to stay positive and bounce back with a good show for them in two weeks' time".

Toni Elias - 2nd
"I am very happy by my performance. Since Germany we have improved a lot also thanks to the new technical material received by Ducati. I also thought I could have done a podium in Laguna Seca but I committed a mistake and I couldn't make it. Today everything went in the right direction. I am sure that we can maintain the same level for the rest of the season. I heard rumors that wanted me in Superbike next season: I never spoke to anybody in Superbike and I want to remain in MotoGP for many more years. I am happy to work in the Alice Team and with the Pramac Racing structure. If things will go well in this final part of the season I don't see why I should change Team."

Loris Capirossi - 3rd
"I want to say what a fantastic day this is for me today! After the injury in Barcelona I have not had the opportunity to go quick due to my condition, but all the people around me - including the whole team and Suzuki - stayed really close to me and gave me great support so I am really happy to pay them back with this podium - it actually feels more like a win for me because it means so much! After the break following Laguna, I was able to get some rest and start training again to get myself back in the best condition, and although I am still not 100% I am nearly there and I was able to challenge all weekend. My dream this weekend was to fight for a podium; after Friday I felt I could do that and today I started with a good focus to do my best. This result is for all the team and everybody working with me, because when we make a great result I am really happy, and today I am certainly really happy!"

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