STONER A FRACTION OFF THE ITALIAN GP PODIUM, CAPIROSSI 7TH
 Ducati
Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi finished
today's Italian Grand Prix in a close fourth place and seventh
place to retain their advantage in the riders', constructors'
and teams' World Championships as the 2007 MotoGP series reached
one-third distance
The pair enjoyed a brilliant start to the race, World Championship
leader and pole-position man Stoner completing the opening
lap in first place, just ahead of Capirossi. Stoner led the
first three laps, Capirossi the next two, but then both men
slipped back slightly. Stoner spent much of the remainder
of the race in third place, ending up fourth after fellow
Ducati rider Alex Barros went past in the closing stages.
Capirossi, racing for the first time with a new engine spec
in his GP7, battled long and hard for sixth place, crossing
the line in seventh spot.
CASEY STONER, 4th place, World Championship leader
on 115 points
"That was a very difficult race. After warm-up we knew
we would struggle a bit but I thought maybe we could make
the podium. We were really close to a top-three result but
we didn't quite manage it. Anyway, I'd like to say thank you
to the team because we tried everything we could this weekend
but unfortunately the conditions weren't perfect for us, with
so much rain during practice. We learned some more lessons
that will make us come back stronger at Barcelona next weekend.
The biggest difficulty we had today was turning in the long
corners and we also lacked a bit of traction. But, as I said,
we should be able to solve these problems before the next
race and score a better result."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 7th place, 7th in World Championship
on 47 points
"I gave everything I had today and things were going
well at the start. Then I had two big moments, first at Arrabbiata
1, then at Arrabbiata 2. I lost the front and risked falling,
so that lost me some confidence in the front and I wasn't
able to maintain such a fast pace, I had to slow my rhythm.
Unfortunately, the strange weather conditions during the weekend
didn't allow us to work the way we wanted to on my new engine
spec. I used the new spec today because Ducati had done such
a good job in giving me more rideability but we lacked some
speed. Anyway, it was good to be up front again and we will
work to improve some more during practice at Barcelona next
weekend".
CLAUDIO DOMENICALI, CEO Ducati Corse
"The race didn't go as we had expected, we were aiming
for a better result, even though we had two Ducatis in the
first four. The weekend's extremely changeable weather conditions
didn't allow us to find the ideal set-up to allow our riders
to get the maximum from their bikes. In particular the bike/tyre
combination wasn't perfect for the faster turns, which are
fundamental to fast lap times at Mugello. Anyway, Loris was
very competitive in the early stages, and we will continue
working with him to get the best set-up for his new engine
spec at Barcelona. Once again I was amazed by Casey's coolness
and determination in getting so close to the podium. He confirmed
once more that he's consistent as well as fast, and quite
able to manage a race when he cannot fight for the win."
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