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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Stoner’s Little Mysteries
Defending Indy race winner Casey Stoner explains why he was an uncharacteristic fifth on Friday.
Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner (Photo: HRC)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Three straight hours of coverage of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP from Indianapolis, IN will air on SPEED on Sunday, August 19th starting at noon ET. MotoGP QP will air Saturday, August 18th at 10:30pm ET. #MotoGPonSPEED
Retiring world champion Casey Stoner is perhaps the only racer in the paddock who can make a fifth-place showing in practice come across as a complete waste of a day -- both in terms of attitude and genuine potential.
Brusquely straight-forward, the Repsol Honda man routinely justifies his words with results. So when the Aussie explains that an issue (or two) held him back, it's best to pay heed. Only when he downplays his chances (as he did last season at both Laguna Seca and Indianapolis before escaping to victory) should one question the validity of Stoner's claims.
He was an uncharacteristic fifth in Friday's second free practice for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix after leading the morning session. He deemed it an 'unproductive' day due to the poor surface that greeted the riders in the morning and an afternoon session in which a pair of mystery problems compounded his season-long right-hand chatter mystery.
While the left-hand nature of Indy plays to his favor, the problem still came into play.
Asked to explain, Stoner said, "No idea… If we knew that we'd fix the problem. Left-hand circuits, it's not just that they work better for the bike, we don't have the rear chatter on the left. Even on the few right-hand corners we have this weekend we have chatter. So when we get to Brno, it's not looking good at this point.
"But every left-hand circuit this year we've -- both Dani (Pedrosa) and myself -- been competitive. So it's very frustrating that most of the season is right-hand corners and we're having to deal with a lot of issues.
"(Dani) has more or less the same issues but he doesn't ride the bike the same as me. He doesn't have it quite as bad as I do, but more or less, we have the same problems and the same comments. But we're on a little bit different chassis now too."
Retiring world champion Casey Stoner is perhaps the only racer in the paddock who can make a fifth-place showing in practice come across as a complete waste of a day -- both in terms of attitude and genuine potential.
Brusquely straight-forward, the Repsol Honda man routinely justifies his words with results. So when the Aussie explains that an issue (or two) held him back, it's best to pay heed. Only when he downplays his chances (as he did last season at both Laguna Seca and Indianapolis before escaping to victory) should one question the validity of Stoner's claims.
He was an uncharacteristic fifth in Friday's second free practice for the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix after leading the morning session. He deemed it an 'unproductive' day due to the poor surface that greeted the riders in the morning and an afternoon session in which a pair of mystery problems compounded his season-long right-hand chatter mystery.
While the left-hand nature of Indy plays to his favor, the problem still came into play.
Asked to explain, Stoner said, "No idea… If we knew that we'd fix the problem. Left-hand circuits, it's not just that they work better for the bike, we don't have the rear chatter on the left. Even on the few right-hand corners we have this weekend we have chatter. So when we get to Brno, it's not looking good at this point.
"But every left-hand circuit this year we've -- both Dani (Pedrosa) and myself -- been competitive. So it's very frustrating that most of the season is right-hand corners and we're having to deal with a lot of issues.
"(Dani) has more or less the same issues but he doesn't ride the bike the same as me. He doesn't have it quite as bad as I do, but more or less, we have the same problems and the same comments. But we're on a little bit different chassis now too."
Grand Prix of The France
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