MotoGP – Estoril – Casey Stoner: "I'm happy with today's result"

Casey Stoner's race probably could have gone better than a third place, at least he could have played for the victory with Rossi and Pedrosa, but after a few laps a problem arose with the clutch, which prevented him from delaying the braking like his rivals, thus causing him to lose ground. By the time he figured out how to get around the problem and got back into rhythm, it was too late to catch the two breakaways, and so he had to settle for third place. He has the microphone.

“I'm happy with today's result but I have to say that I had higher expectations for this race: at least being able to be there on the last lap to fight for the victory. We thought we had a very good set-up but unfortunately after about five laps I started having problems with the clutch. I no longer had engine brake and I couldn't brake late like the others, because then I would have gone wide. It was difficult to handle a situation like this and it took me a while to figure out how to work around the problem. Towards the end I managed to find a fairly fast pace again and get close to the leaders but, even though I felt I had the right energy to catch them, I didn't have a perfect feeling with the bike and there weren't enough laps left. I would have needed a few tenths to get under him but I couldn't do it, I had lost too much at the start. In any case I gave everything I had and my team also did a fantastic job all weekend. We were fast, today we had a small problem but I think we'll be there again next weekend.”

Marika Farinazzo