Stoner and his GP7 have won six races so far this season, with a lowest race finish of fifth. The 21-year-old Australian also ended MotoGP's pole jinx in style last time out at Laguna Seca and is in a commanding position heading to the track where Ducati took victory last year.
The Stoner/Ducati/
Bridgestone onslaught has left
Valentino Rossi's hopes of a sixth MotoGP crown dangling precariously, but the Yamaha backed Italian overhauled an even greater mid-season margin to lead at the start of the final round last season. Rossi has won three times at Brno in
MotoGP, and both he and tyre manufacturer Michelin have a point to prove after Bridgestone took the triumph in 2006 courtesy of
Loris Capirossi.
Trailing Rossi by 22 points, 66 behind former 250cc rival Stoner,
Dani Pedrosa has won twice in the Czech Republic in the 125cc and 250cc categories. Victorious in Germany, the Spaniard was unable to follow up on his return to winning ways at the U.S. visit, with the 2007 title looking ever more elusive. Pedrosa was on the podium last year at Brno with a third place finish.
Two rostrum finishers at the last round at Laguna Seca had an eventful time post-race. Level on 113 points so far this year,
Chris Vermeulen and
Marco Melandri both made announcements about their 2008 rides immediately after stepping onto the podium, with Vermeulen staying with Suzuki and Marco Melandri making a long-rumoured link to Ducati. The Italian’s performance stateside was made all the more impressive by the revelation that he had been riding with an undiscovered ankle fracture, one that had made his participation in the Czech Republic uncertain. However he will ride and his Gresini Honda team-mate
Toni Elias will also make a surprisingly early return after just two races away recovering from a fractured femur.
