DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM COMPLETES GLORIOUS 2007 SEASON WITH
2ND & 5TH PLACES AT VALENCIA
 Ducati
Marlboro Team rider Casey Stoner finished a hard-fought second
in today's tense, season-ending Valencia Grand Prix watched
by an appreciative 132,500 fans. Loris Capirossi finished
his final race for the team in fifth place after a spirited
ride from eighth on the grid.
The race concluded a remarkable season for World Champion
Stoner who has scored ten victories and a further four podiums
from 18 races. The awesome Aussie scored a tally of 367 points
equalling the all-time points record and putting him an amazing
125 points ahead of series runner-up Dani Pedrosa, who won
today's race. Stoner's stunning run of victories and Capirossi's
Motegi win also helped Ducati to the constructors' crown and
the Ducati Marlboro Team to the teams' title.
Stoner led the first five laps of today's race before Pedrosa
came past. The pair set a blisteringly fast pace that soon
moved them well clear of the pack, the gap between them growing
by a tenth here, shrinking by a tenth there.
Capirossi's farewell ride, after five seasons and seven victories,
including Ducati's debut MotoGP win in 2003, took the Italian
to seventh overall. The team's Desmosedici GP7 machines wore
a special 'Made In Italy' livery today and the duo were cheered
all the way by the entire Ducati Corse staff, flown into Valencia
from Bologna this morning aboard a specially chartered plane.
CASEY STONER, 2nd place, World Champion on 367 points
"I expected the pace to be low 33s, but I didn't expect
it to be so fast for so long. Everything seemed good, then
Dani came past and pulled a bit of an advantage straight away
and I wasn't able to claw it back. I could pretty much hold
it, then he'd eke out a tenth or two, then I'd get some of
it back, then he'd take out a little more. He rode a faultless
race, so he deserved the win. I'm happy for him because I
now know what it's like to win your home GP - it's a very
good feeling, especially in this class. We were pushing hard
and I had a couple of front-end slides but the bike was feeling
good. Then with five laps to go I lost some grip, so I eased
off a bit because we were quite a distance in front of the
rest. I'm happy with the way I rode, I got the best out of
the bike, so I'm reasonably happy. It's been a fantastic year,
we can't say anything bad about it, my worst result was the
race where we won the championship so the title made up for
that! I think next year everyone will come out a little tougher,
a little stronger, so I'm going to make sure I do everything
I can to come out on top again."
LORIS CAPIROSSI, 5th place, 7th in World Championship
on 166 points
"I felt emotional when I came into the pits after my
last race for Ducati. Saying goodbye is always very difficult.
We've had a lot of good times together and although this year
has been difficult, I've won a race and scored three more
podiums. I wish to thank all my team, all the Ducati people
and all the Ducati fans who have supported me. I think we
worked very well this weekend and today the bike was working
not so bad. I had some difficulties with the tyres because
my style, which uses a lot of lean angle, works the tyres
very hard. I made a decent race, not bad and not good. I had
a good duel with Nicky [Hayden] but that lost me contact with
Marco [Melandri]. Anyway, this season is over and now it's
time to think of the future."
CLAUDIO DOMENICALI, CEO Ducati Corse
"It's been an incredible season, with Casey winning
more than half the races. He's been amazing, so our thanks
to him. Today he finished on the podium again, though we thought
we had the chance of another win after his strong practice
performance. Dani was very fast and consistent so he beat
us, which shows the level of competition. We hoped Loris would
also finish on the podium, which would've been a great way
to complete his time with us. We cannot thank him enough,
because this year's results have a lot to do with the work
he's done with us over the past five seasons."
|
