Not only did Stoner celebrate recording the fastest pole position (1'48.451) and fastest race lap (1'49.046) at the MotorLand circuit, but he also took the 100th victory for the Respol Honda Team since the partnership was formed in 1995 where fellow Australian Mick Doohan won the very first race for the factory HRC team in Eastern Creek.
Dani Pedrosa completed a 1-2 podium finish for the team with a comfortable margin over Jorge Lorenzo. Unfortunately, team mate Andrea Dovizioso fell on the first lap and was unable to continue.
Championship leader Stoner now enjoys a 44 point margin over Lorenzo in second place, with Dovizioso in third position and Pedrosa close behind in fourth.
The Championship now heads east to Japan for round fifteen in Motegi on October 2nd where alongside it's contracted riders, HRC will enter Shinichi Ito as a wild card entry in a HRC Team while Kousuke Akiyoshi will ride alongside Toni Elias for LCR as a show of support for the affected East Japan area.
Casey Stoner:
"Before the race everyone was a little cautious with the wind picking up after the morning warm up and conditions being a lot different to those we have seen all weekend. This was on our minds, also warming the hard tyres to make sure everything was good for the beginning of the race. Our start was pretty average, I pulled to the left a little on the start and managed to avoid hitting Dani, but Ben came around the outside and I ended up third or fourth going into turn one but from there we were able to settle down and feel comfortable with the bike. I wanted to get to the front as soon as possible as the bike has been working perfect all weekend and it was our race to lose, so I tried to get in front and pull a gap. I passed Dani as soon as I could and tried to pull that gap, Dani kept with me for the first few laps, but slowly I was able to put in a gap and manage the race. I think everyone was struggling with tyres to some degree, but the bike was fantastic and I don't mind when the bike slides around a little! A big, big thank you to the whole team and to take this hundredth win for Repsol Honda is something special."
Dani Pedrosa:
"We already saw in practice that Casey was very fast here and it was also like this in the race. I was losing some tenths in the first sector and I was unable to reduce the gap in the other parts of the lap. The second half of the race I was sliding the whole time and I had some fun, but it was a shame not to be closer to Casey, I had many problems with the rear tyre for the whole race. My priority was to control the gap to Spies and Jorge in the final laps and get another podium. We've been second in the last three races, which is not so bad, but we want to keep improving in the coming races."
Andrea Dovizioso:
“I made a small but fast slide at the first right turn, all the weight went on the front, I wasn't able to control the bike and I immediately lost it as the front tyre was still not at temperature. It’s so disappointing to see your race over on turn two of the first lap after all the hard work done during the weekend. It’s a pity because we had the pace to fight for the podium and the team did a good job. Leaving Aragón without scoring any points is also so bad for the Championship. We are still third, with a fifteen point advantage over Dani, but now we need to return on the podium and have good results. Last year we had a strong end of the season, especially in Japan and Malaysia, so I look forward to the next GPs.”
Repsol Honda press release.
Source: http://www.motogp.com