DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM RIDER STONER EXTENDS POINTS LEAD AT
SOAKING LE MANS, CAPIROSSI OUT OF LUCK
 Ducati
Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner extended his lead at the
top of the MotoGP World Championship with a superbly judged
ride to third place in atrocious conditions at Le Mans this
afternoon. Team-mate Loris Capirossi had a much more difficult
ride to eighth in the soaking wet conditions because of a
bike problem.
The race started with light drizzle falling at some parts
of the tricky French circuit, Stoner keeping out of trouble
in the midst of the leading pack while some of his rivals
were riding like it was the last lap, several of them crashing
out. When heavier rain started falling at one-third distance
riders came into the pits to swap to bikes fitted with rain
tyres. Stoner maintained his composure despite the treacherous
conditions, slipping to seventh at one point but then moving
forward, getting the best out of his second GP7 and its Bridgestone
rain tyres to take third place on lap 17.
Capirossi had his work cut out starting from the fifth row
of the grid but the Italian charged through the pack to move
into fifth place before the heavier rain came. However, when
he swapped bikes his number-two GP7 didn't have exactly the
right engine mapping for the rain and he was unable to keep
improving.
CASEY STONER, 3rd place, World Championship leader
on 102 points
"I was surprised to stay upright really! I thought
it was going to be difficult to finish because a lot of people
were slipping off for what looked like no reason. In the first
part of the race it was light rain and there were a lot of
people going fast but a couple of corners later they'd be
on the ground, so you weren't too sure how hard to push. We
got through that part, got on the wet-weather tyres at the
right time and from there just tried to play it smart. I felt
like we did that today, we did everything right. I went back
to eighth or ninth or something - I couldn't really see my
pit board with all the rain - then at the end we managed to
pull back up to a podium position and bring it home. The Ducati
and the Bridgestones seemed to work really good in the wet,
considering we haven't had time to get used to them in the
rain. I did have a few issues with rear grip, so I hope it's
wet tomorrow so can do some more wet testing."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 8th place, 7th overall on 38 points
"I'm very sad because I had the chance of a good result
in the rain. I changed bikes at the best moment, swapping
over a lap before the others and I found myself up front with
Chris [Vermeulen, the race winner] but I soon realised something
was wrong because the bike was very difficult to ride. The
engine mapping wasn't right, the team had made a mistake.
It's a real shame and even if I understand that this kind
of thing happens I'm obviously not happy. I had to defend
myself as best as I could and it wasn't easy because I risked
falling every time I braked. Now we just have to look forward
to the next race".
LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project manager
"That was another superb race from Casey, it's great
to get a podium in such tricky conditions. He was very smart
to come in to change bikes at the right moment and he didn't
take risks when he didn't need to, he showed so much maturity.
The bike worked well and the Bridgestones were very good,
that's why they had all three guys on the podium. We have
to apologise to Loris because we made a mistake - the engine
mapping on his second bike wasn't exactly right for the conditions.
We are very sorry that he wasn't able to get a better result
because of this but sometimes these things can happen."
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