It never looked like Stoner was going to make the podium at
Jerez, but an 11th place after two excursions into the gravel - and did you note that Australian dirt-track pedigree helping him to keep the Ducati upright? - was totally unexpected.
"I don't understand why I ran off the first time because I used the same braking point," Stoner admitted candidly in his post-race debrief. The second off-piste he blamed on untidy riding by
Shinya Nakano.
The question is: was this debacle - Stoner's previous lowest placing on a Ducati was sixth at Motegi last year - the start of more serious problems with the Ducati/
Bridgestone alliance? Michelin's rebound this year has clearly narrowed the clear air that existed between the Ducati and its pursuers last season.
Lorenzo's defeat by Rossi at Jerez implies no shame on the Spaniard, who has now racked up two pole positions and two podiums in only two races in his fledgling
MotoGP career. Lorenzo will win races as the season progresses.
We wait for round three of the drama at Estoril on April 13 to see whether Stoner has suffered a one-race blip. That's probably all it was.
Sunday pm - Hopkins Out on Screamer Kawasaki Tomorrow
Whoops - sorry, Kawasaki. The team will test its screamer engine at Jerez here tomorrow, and not at Estoril after the Portuguese grand prix, as we said earlier this weekend. Fresh from his strong seventh place in today's race,
John Hopkins will assess the new motor, along with the team's test rider Olivier Jacque.
Kawasaki's screamer first appeared at Sepang in January, and the engine has since been undergoing dyno testing at the factory in Japan. "That's gone as far as it can go for now," Ian Wheeler, Kawasaki's communications manager, said. "We now need to put the bike back on the track to see how that will go."
