Sunday pm - Valentino’s Smiling, But He Knows that Stoner Can Close
If you had to name a track where Ducati were going to make a comeback, it certainly wouldn’t have been Donington Park, an eccentric little off-camber, low-grip corner of England where even a
MotoGP bike doesn’t top 170mph.
But Stoner has always – and accurately – maintained that the Desmosedici is as effective on slow tracks as on the 200mph layouts, as he proved last year when he won on a variety of circuits.
This weekend he ruled totally, in practice, in qualifying and in the race, where he led from start to finish, set the fastest lap and topped the speed trap figures (170.775mph/275.000kph, to be precise, in the Sunday warm-up).
Casey was his old, relaxed self – he does tend to chunter on a bit when an off setup or tyre prevents him from releasing his full natural flair on the Desmo.
Dani Pedrosa predictably chose to remain on his valve-spring Repsol Honda: he and his crew have refined this package so well that’s competitive with pneumatic-valve bikes from opposition Japanese manufacturers, and there’s just no point in risking a jump to a new engine when you’re second in the championship.
But he faded in the closing stages of this race: his Michelins don’t seem to have the stamina of the Bridgestones used by Rossi and Stoner.
So the championship heads for the ninth round and the halfway point at Assen on Saturday with the battle raging between these three riders. Rossi looks content to eke out his lead by a handful of points every race over Pedrosa.
But you can’t rule out the unpredictable combination of Stoner and the engineers at Borgo Panigale putting together a string of wins that would hoist them back into the championship chase.
Sunday pm - Maybe JT Was Just Trying Too Hard
Poor JT, it just didn’t work out. Maybe he loaded himself up with too much expectation by openly stating that he was looking for a podium finish, but he and the Tech 3 Yamaha never looked really comfortable all weekend here at
Donington.
