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Casey Stoner produced another example of the
class and maturity that made him World Champion as he overcame an unfortunate
technical problem to salvage a worthy sixth place. Shortly after the start of
the race a part of the on-board camera on Casey's GP8 came lose, flapping
dangerously between his handlebars and front fairing.
After dropping all
the way back to eleventh place, Stoner showed great composure and skill to fix
the problem himself before putting together a sensational comeback that saw him
set the fourth fastest lap of the race on his way to sixth place. That was
enough to seal 10 crucial points that keep the Australian holding firmly to
fourth place in the championship.
Stoner's team-mate Marco Melandri paid
a heavy price for his difficulties during practice, having never found a
suitable set-up for this circuit. The Italian struggled to thirteenth place and
is looking forward to the next race at China, which should be more suited to the
characteristics of his bike.
CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 6th in the race,
4th overall on 40 points
"It was incredible what happened today,
we had a problem which was no fault of the bike from the beginning of the race.
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."
MARCO MELANDRI (Ducati Marlboro
Team) 13th in the race, 13th overall on 12 points
"The result in
the race is a direct reflection of a difficult weekend, during which we've been
unable to find a satisfactory set-up for the bike. All I can do is wait and hope
that this proves to be the second of the two worst races for us this season and
that things start to be more favourable from China onwards."
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