Ducati
MotoGP project director Livio Suppo believes
Casey Stoner's sixth place in Sunday's Portuguese Grand Prix was 'one of his best races' - as the MotoGP world champion battled set-up problems and loose camera equipment.
The set-up problems may have been a frustration - and had left the Australian just ninth on the grid - but the loose camera equipment, which flapped dangerously between his handlebars and front fairing, was much harder to accept.
"It was incredible what happened today, we had a problem which was no fault of the bike from the beginning of the race," said Stoner. "I didn't understand what was going on and wasn't sure if an important part of the bike was involved. It was a major distraction.
"Sometimes the piece would lock the steering and sometimes it locked the clutch lever. It was a very difficult situation but eventually I worked out a way to ride around it. Every time I came down the straight I pushed it back into place but the turbulence from the wind would blow it back out again so it was very frustrating.
"I think a better result for sure was possible without this but we have to take this as a positive thing and not reflect on the negatives. It wasn't a good weekend for us but the problem in the race was not a general fault with the bike, just one of those things that happens from time to time. We need to continue working hard in China, a track that should be a little better for us, and hope for a bit more luck," he concluded.
Despite the problems, Stoner - who had slipped back to eleventh during the middle stages - produced an impressive second half charge to climb back up the order. The 22-year-old overtook
Chris Vermeulen,
Randy de Puniet and
James Toseland, while
Andrea Dovizioso and
Nicky Hayden crashed out ahead of him.
