MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner has slammed some elements of the British Grand Prix crowd after being booed on the podium and 'abused' during the slow down lap.
Casey Stoner's substantial practice and qualifying advantage at Donington Park transferred into a dominant lights-to-flag victory in Sunday's British Grand Prix at a dry but blustery Donington Park.
Casey Stoner's substantial practice and qualifying advantage at Donington Park transferred into a dominant lights-to-flag victory in Sunday's British Grand Prix at a dry but blustery Donington Park.
Reigning double AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies is making his MotoGP debut this weekend, in place of the injured Loris Capirossi, while Nicky Hayden is riding with Honda's pneumatic-valve engine for the first time at a grand prix.
By Mike Nicks It's nearly impossible to imagine Casey Stoner riding a bike where he isn't pushing it onto the realm of wobbles and weaves: the reigning MotoGP world champion is that kind of full-on rider who keeps the throttle wound.
MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner took an early version of next year's Ducati Desmosedici GP9 - which features a carbon fibre frame - to the top of the Monday test times at Catalunya.
MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner has taken his first pole position of the 2008 season after edging out home hero Dani Pedrosa by just 0.083secs during qualifying for Sunday's Catalan Grand prix.
Full qualifying times from the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, round six of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship. 500GP race winner Tady Okada has returned as a wild-card this weekend, to give the pneumatic-valve Honda engine its MotoGP debut...
This morning's first session was held on a drying track, but the weather took a turn for the worse this afternoon - with rain pouring down throughout the second hour.
And superstitious '12+1' world champion Nieto - six times ruler of the 50cc class in addition to seven 125cc titles - played a central part in Rossi's post-race celebrations.
Both Marco Melandri and Ducati Marlboro team-mate Casey Stoner chose to pit for their wet weather bikes, after suffering mechanical problems with their number one machines.
With race wins divided equally between Bridgestone and Michelin during the first four rounds of the 2008 MotoGP World championship, Tohru Ubukata, manager of Motorcycle Race Tyre Development at Bridgestone, believes the tyre war is 'about as even as it could possibly be'.
After qualifying on the front row for the first time this year, Stoner had hoped to be fighting for his second 2008 victory - following two tough rounds - but a change in the weather prompted a tyre gamble, which backfired, leaving the Australian helpless to prevent Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Ros
Slicks were the tyres of choice for the damp track conditions - the lengthy Shanghai circuit drying steadily after heavy morning rain - and Rossi earned his breakthrough victory after a tense race-long battle with Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa.
The Australian bounced back from two tough rounds to take his first front row qualifying performance of the season on Saturday, and is a previous Shanghai winner in both the wet (2005) and dry (2007).
1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 45min 53.089 secs 2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 45min 54.906 secs 3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 46min 5.812 secs
1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 35.715 secs 2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 35.948 secs 3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1min 36.199 secs