Jerez GP - Race
STONER FIFTH AFTER GREAT FIGHT BACK
 Ducati
Marlboro Team man Casey Stoner rode a hard-fought race in
front of more than 130,000 fans at Jerez today, fighting all
the way to finish fifth and put himself second in the World
Championship. Team-mate Loris Capirossi had a more difficult
day on the occasion of his 250th GP start but salvaged some
points with a 12th-place finish.
Down in ninth place at mid-distance after a fraught first
few laps, Stoner and his Desmosedici GP7 were the fastest
combination on the track during the last part of the race
as they hunted down and passed Marco Melandri, Carlos Checa
and World Champion Nicky Hayden. Stoner ended the race six
tenths off fourth place and just 2.3 seconds off the podium.
Capirossi had a challenging two days of practice and attempts
to modify his bike's set up for this afternoon's race didn't
work as well as he had expected.
Casey Stoner, race result 5th , World Championship
2nd, 36 points
"It wouldn't have been too tough if we'd got away with
them at the start but we just didn't seem to have it there
at the beginning of the race and then I got shuffled back
a fair way by a few dodgy pass manoeuvres. Once we'd got our
rhythm and finally got past Marco (Melandri) and Carlos (Checa)
then we were free to put in some good lap times and push further
forward. There were a few stupid manoeuvres out there which
lost us a few seconds. The bike and the tyres were okay, so
without that dodgy passes we would've been fighting for the
podium at the end of the race but that's the way it goes,
that's the way the race panned out. Now I'm going back to
Australia for these next two weeks to train as hard as I can
and get myself set for the rest of the season."
Loris Capirossi, race result 12th , World Championship
14th , 4 points
"This morning we thought we had found a better set-up
but the race didn't go well. At the start something happened
with the engine, I got a bad start and after... well, I didn't
ride so well. We worked on engine mapping this morning but
maybe we didn't get it right because I didn't have great acceleration
and that made things worse. I'm not happy, I had a bad race.
Yes, I finished, but this is not the way I like to race. During
the next few weeks we will work on a few things to make sure
we start Turkey in better shape. The track conditions weren't
bad today, the tyres worked well, but maybe my riding style
doesn't perfectly suit the engine character. I'm a bit aggressive
with the gas and maybe this is the problem. When we use the
electronics to make the power more sweet the bike loses it
competitiveness. It's a thing I have to work on - trying to
adapt my style."
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