Casey Stoner had a complicated race at the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice but he produced a ruthlessly professional display to take the upper hand in the title battle.
Giving Ducati their first ever Mugello win on Sunday Casey Stoner survived a last lap scare when he made a mistake at the Correntaio corner - in front of the fans of the Italian factory - and also overcame a clutch issue in the latter stages to win by one second and retake control in the championship.
Having made a decent start in the wet Stoner slipped back slightly before changing to slick tyres, then re-emerging from pit lane to surge towards the front of the race.
Ending Valentino Rossi’s seven-year Mugello winning streak and preventing a second successive 2009 Jorge Lorenzo win with his solid display, despite some technical issues which he explained afterwards, Stoner struck a key psychological blow in the Tuscan hills.
Describing the race, he stated, “At the beginning we started off really well and I had a good feeling with the bike, it was working well, but as soon as the dry patches started appearing our tyres started destroying themselves and there was no grip. I just tried to maintain the gap to the other riders until I could get onto the slicks and then I knew I wouldn’t have such a disadvantage.”
“Once I got onto the slicks I found a good feeling immediately and I was able to get to the front quite quickly, but then I started having a problem with the clutch,” Stoner continued, “The RPM was going up to the limiter and there was no forward momentum. I just tried adjusting it and I managed to get it hooked up again, but it was still difficult on the corners.”
The young Australian went on to add, “It was a really hard race and I just wanted to finish it. I just tried to stay smooth and keep the same lap times even if I couldn’t ride the way I wanted to. On the last lap I pushed in areas where I hadn’t done so all through the race, and I made a mistake so I was lucky to hold onto the victory. But I think the team did a great job and we are very grateful for this win.”