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MotoGP
MOTOGP: The Wizard Of Oz
Reigning MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner is on a mission to end his career on a winning note.
Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner (Photo: HRC)
PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Grand Prix of Australia from Phillip Island will air on SPEED on Sunday, October 28 at 1:00am ET. MotoGP QP will air LIVE on SPEED2 all season long. #MotoGPonSPEED
Casey Stoner is on a mission to go out a winner.
And his stunning early pace at his much-loved Phillip Island circuit is a reminder that even with a mashed right ankle he is the benchmark rider at this classic oceanside circuit.
Surely, the only question is can he maintain his breathtaking speed for 27 laps in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix?
Stoner, just two races from retirement, admits his surprise at his early domination. At the end of Friday's free practice he was 0.8s up on Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa and one second clear of Yamaha's championship leader Jorge Lorenzo.
Worse off yet was Valentine Rossi, flapping around eighth in cool and breezy conditions on the Ducati Desmosedici and two second slower than Stoner who won here four straight times on the red bike.
"I am surprised at the gap," Stoner said. "I saw everybody going out on new softs and I was expecting them to really close gap or get in front of me because there is a huge difference between new tire and old.
"I never have expectations but to get into the 1' 29s on the first day I'm pretty happy especially because I did that with the hard tire, nobody else was running the hard tire so we found some extra pace on everybody.
"That is positive because by the time everybody else switches to the hard tire they might be on the back foot. We jumped to the hard early to find our direction and so far it seems not too bad.
"Almost certainly I'll use the hard for the race -- a medium compound tire here is really going to cop a huge beating."
Rossi admits that the performance of the softer option tire "drops down" significantly and that the hard tire is "a good race option."
Casey Stoner is on a mission to go out a winner.
And his stunning early pace at his much-loved Phillip Island circuit is a reminder that even with a mashed right ankle he is the benchmark rider at this classic oceanside circuit.
Surely, the only question is can he maintain his breathtaking speed for 27 laps in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix?
Stoner, just two races from retirement, admits his surprise at his early domination. At the end of Friday's free practice he was 0.8s up on Repsol Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa and one second clear of Yamaha's championship leader Jorge Lorenzo.
Worse off yet was Valentine Rossi, flapping around eighth in cool and breezy conditions on the Ducati Desmosedici and two second slower than Stoner who won here four straight times on the red bike.
"I am surprised at the gap," Stoner said. "I saw everybody going out on new softs and I was expecting them to really close gap or get in front of me because there is a huge difference between new tire and old.
"I never have expectations but to get into the 1' 29s on the first day I'm pretty happy especially because I did that with the hard tire, nobody else was running the hard tire so we found some extra pace on everybody.
"That is positive because by the time everybody else switches to the hard tire they might be on the back foot. We jumped to the hard early to find our direction and so far it seems not too bad.
"Almost certainly I'll use the hard for the race -- a medium compound tire here is really going to cop a huge beating."
Rossi admits that the performance of the softer option tire "drops down" significantly and that the hard tire is "a good race option."
Grand Prix of The France
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