Dutch TT - Race
SERIES LEADER STONER SCORES STRONG PODIUM RESULT
AT ASSEN, CAPIROSSI DNFS
 Ducati
Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner finished a strong second
in this afternoon's windswept Dutch TT to preserve his World
Championship lead as the 2007 MotoGP series reached half-distance.
Team-mate Loris Capirossi had a tougher day at Assen, entering
the pits with nine laps remaining.
Stoner dominated much of the race after a brilliant start
from the front row of the grid. But he was troubled somewhat
by the windy conditions and couldn't quite fend off Valentino
Rossi in the closing laps. Capirossi was involved in some
hectic tussles with a bunch of rivals until his GP7 began
to suffer possible clutch slip, currently being investigated
by his crew. Both riders left Assen in a hurry this afternoon,
flying from nearby Groningen to Rimini in Italy to appear
at the big World Ducati Week event currently taking place
at Misano.
CASEY STONER, 2nd place, World Championship leader
on 185 points
"We got an awesome start, went out to the front and
felt quite comfortable doing similar times to what we were
doing in practice, though not quite as fast because the wind
was worse today. I was getting pushed around in a few of the
fast turns and had a couple of front-end loses, so I wasn't
willing to push the bike in the braking points. I saw Valentino
catching up, I saw him battling on the TV screens around the
track. He was chasing me down pretty hard, he had a faster
pace. I tried to up my own pace but once he came past I was
at my maximum. I felt great the entire race and I can't complain
about the result because we only lost five points in the championship
and we've only been off the podium twice this year. I'm really
happy with the result, so my thanks to the team, after a bit
of a spill this morning I think it's been a good recovery.
The bike ran out of fuel on the slowdown lap, just because
I'd been sliding and spinning a heck of a lot more during
the race than I had through practice, so I think the bike
was using a lot more fuel. Overall, I'm happy with the way
the season's going. I didn't start the year expecting to be
leading the championship at this point, and no matter what
happens for the rest of the season we're going to be very
happy. I'm proud to be a Ducati man."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, DNF, 9th in World Championship on
57 points
"I had some difficulty with the front tyre early in
the race. Then after a few more laps the cutch began to slip
and that got worse, so eventually I decided to enter the pits.
It's very sad and for sure I'm having a tough time at the
moment, but the most important thing is not to give up and
to try and improve."
LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project director
"Well, we can't win every race! Once again, Casey did
a brilliant job all weekend, he was the only one who could
run with Valentino who was in unbelievable form today. Loris
was unlucky, he had some clutch slip, which we are currently
investigating. Apart from that, it's been another good weekend,
now we got to Misano to meet the Ducati fans. Our thanks as
always to everyone involved, especially Bridgestone and Shell
Advance."
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