“I’m not happy with fifth place because we were capable of more today. I don’t know if we could have challenged Jorge for the win but we definitely found something in warm-up and made more improvements in the race, but we paid the price for a terrible start. As I let the clutch out the bike started jumping and hopping around and I had to pull the clutch in and go again, by which time everybody was past.”

“The tyres were fresh on before the warm-up lap so in the early laps I had to be really careful before being able to start overtaking and I lost a lot of seconds. The race then was fun, we were able to find a good rhythm and to make our way forward but the time lost at the beginning prevented us by fighting for the podium.”

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The Australian is reported to have been lured away by Ducati MotoGP’s former manager, Livio Suppo, following months of speculation as to whether Stoner would stop with Ducati.

It’s believed Stoner fell out of favour with Ducati bosses over last year’s ‘mystery illness’ which arguably cost the Italian team the 2009 MotoGP title.

It’s also alleged the 2007 MotoGP World Champion also became disillusioned with the team after Ducati attempted to poach Jorge Lorenzo from Fiat Yamaha, offering the Spaniard almost double Stoner’s reported salary.

Reports also say Ducati have put a two-year deal on the table for Valentino Rossi. The multiple World Champion has until June to decide on whether he wants the offer.

Nothing official, we know but the original source is a trusted one.

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After dominating every session over the weekend at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, a mistake when leading the race saw Casey Stoner lose the opportunity to wrap up a first win of the 2010 season.

“Once I got to the front I started to get into my rhythm but I lost the front end a couple of times in long corners so I made the decision to try to ride a bit smoother and not put so much pressure on the front tyre with the full tank. Unfortunately that is what led to the crash because looking at the telemetry I didn’t have enough load on the front, so I guess in hindsight I should have stuck to the way I’d been riding all weekend. It’s my mistake and I apologise to the team because we’d done a great job this weekend and we leave empty handed,”

It was a slip that has made for a testing start to the Ducati Marlboro rider’s season. Reigning World Champion, fellow title favourite and one of his main rivals Valentino Rossi went on to win the race, but Stoner is remaining philosophical about the situation.

“Having said that it’s not a complete disaster because we’ve found this weekend that the bike has improved in areas where we have struggled in the past – for example the rear grip was unbelievable – and we have a long, long way to go. I’m pleased for Nicky because he had a great race and I think we can both be confident and optimistic about the rest of the season with this bike.”

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Casey Stoner’s strength at the Losail International Circuit was never in doubt coming into the opening round of the 2010 season at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar this weekend, but the Ducati Marlboro rider underlined it once more by going quickest in the warm-up.

The Australian’s lap time of 1’55.530 was just over half a second off that which secured him pole position for this evening’s race, but still placed a gap of 0.438s between himself and World Champion Valentino Rossi who was second quickest in the warm-up. The Italian’s Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo completed the top three, to replicate how the front row of the grid will line up.

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Casey Stoner

“We are quite happy with the test. Today didn’t start really well because of the rain and the wet track, which set us back a few hours, but when it finally did dry out we were able to make some progress,” Stoner said. “We have definitely improved the set-up of the bike, trying some different things with the swingarm. The lap times are still not where we want them to be and we have to work on taking another couple of tenths off on hard tyres, but to be consistently doing 2’01.9 or 2’02.0 laps is a decent pace.”

“Considering that we are using a different engine to the one we’ve had for the last three years and some other new parts that we still need to get the best out of we certainly can’t be unhappy with where we’re at. There is work to do but we have two more test sessions before the season starts for real. In general I am really pleased with how it’s gone.”

Nicky Hayden

“I am satisfied but I could be happier. These past two days have flown by and the weather hasn’t helped us to make the most of the track time available. Anyway, this morning we got the chance to find a wet setting for the new forks and engine. When we went out in the dry I could feel an instant improvement on yesterday and I set a decent pace but then we didn’t improve further. I would have liked to post a better lap time but just when we put some new tyres in the rain came back. However, it was a very positive test and I can’t wait to get back to work at the next one in a couple of weeks’ time.”

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Claudio Domenicali

“The main changes to the bike are based on the rule changes, so the major part of the work was done precisely to make it perform better using only six engines for the entire championship. It’s a very important difference, because we were used to using more-or-less one engine per race, so to switch from 18 engines to six is a very important adjustment. All of the main parts were redesigned – pistons, rods, crankshaft, the basics. It’s an engine with which our main objective was to minimize the loss of power to increase durability.”

“The second big news isn’t related to the rules, but to our attempt to make the bike more rideable. This has to do with the firing order. We have a motor that, since the switch to 800cc, utilized a screamer set-up. This has permitted us to have maximum power, which was very important and was probably fundamental with the results that we’ve had in 2007, 2008 and 2009, but at a certain point, we began to wonder whether it could be worthwhile to re-test a way that we’d already followed in the past. The last 1000cc motors that we made in 2005 and 2006 used a big-bang firing order, and this gave us important rideability. We re-tested that way, first trying it on the dyno, then with Vittoriano Guareschi in his previous role as test rider and then with Nicky and Casey.”

“We think we have a bike for 2010 with better traction, and that therefore makes it easier for us to find a good set-up. Another part of the work was dedicated to the chassis. In the pursuit of ease of use, we’ve worked to eliminate the bike’s squatting, which is why the entire rear portion of the bike was redesigned. This bike has a rear structure that carries the rider – which we call the seat support – and that also supports the swingarm. That part was redesigned to have six mounting points instead of four; this makes the bike more rigid in a way and it guarantees better rideability and improved rigidity. With respect to the bike we introduced last year, this bike is also aesthetically different because of the redesigned fairing but we already saw that at Estoril.”

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The Australian’s well documented fitness problems which led to a three-race break in the 2009 World Championship are now well and truly behind him, as he proved with a strong finish to the campaign.

“We had a good start to the season, and midway through when the bike was working flawlessly I started having problems myself,” said Stoner at the Wrooom 2010 event in Madonna di Campiglio. “We saw as many doctors as we could but there were no answers, so everyone started pointing at my head and saying it was a mental problem. I knew better; I’m not going to have a mental breakdown in the middle of the season when everything’s going well. We figured it out over the two-month break and came back strong, and it was nice to come back and get a few good results before the end of the season.”

Stoner has so far enjoyed an uninterrupted early pre-season training programme this time around, and is feeling the benefits.

“I’m feeling better than I have in the last three years,” he said. “My training levels have increased dramatically and my fitness is a lot higher than ever, and it feels easier. We’re really looking forward to this year and are going out to win the Championship. I’m looking forward to this year. It is my first off-season in the past three years where I haven’t had any kind of injury or operation, so it’s been good to train throughout.”

“At the last test in Valencia we tried the new engine configuration, and really loved it. We had lots more traction and were able to do more with the bike. We think that’ll help us on the track and make the bike more balanced throughout the season. We still have a lot of things to test before the first race, but we’re confident we can take the fight a little further along the season.”

With a clear target of a second World Championship title, Stoner sees reigning MotoGP Champion Valentino Rossi as the main obstacle to his goal.

“Obviously Valentino’s the one to beat, he’s won the Championship the last two years in a row now,” said Stoner, who was the last rider before Rossi to take the title when he won it in 2007. “I think was a big achievement for us last year to be within striking distance of Jorge in the last race (of 2009), and unfortunately not even start it. Both riders have their strong points. Sometimes Valentino can be very fast in a weekend and struggle in the race a little bit. Other times you think he’s struggling and in the race he will do very well. Jorge is sometimes a little easier to understand. When things aren’t going well for him throughout a weekend it normally doesn’t improve for the race. He’s often very strong throughout the weekend and that continues into the race. They’re both very different and that’s how you have to approach them.”

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Both were pleased with the changes made to their machines by Filippo Preziosi, with Stoner’s best lap of 1’31.900 the fastest of all riders across the three days, as he tested a new engine configuration.

Casey Stoner

“We were able to understand the bike a little better today and the fantastic weather conditions certainly helped. It was a pleasant surprise when we got up this morning and it allowed us to work well. I’m satisfied with this three-day test and with the new characteristics of the bike, in particular the extra traction in corner exit. It is still difficult to figure out exactly the best time to open the throttle, but we’re getting there and it is a case of more practice and improving the set-up.”

Hayden, whose 1’32.805 was the third quickest lap of the final day, was also content with what had been achieved.

Nicky Hayden

“We worked on confirming a few things today and I think we found what we were looking for. I like the changes we’ve introduced to the bike; the power delivery is definitely more progressive although we still need to find the ideal setting for it. I’m happy—I think we’re on the right track and have had three important days here that should help us make a lot of progress in the next test, and close the gap to the front guys down even more.”

MotoGP.com

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Casey Stoner won for the third successive year at Phillip Island, with championship leader Valentino Rossi finishing second as Jorge Lorenzo crashed out on turn one at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix.

Casey Stoner’s dominance of his home circuit continued on Sunday as the Australian won at Phillip Island for the third year in a row, leading Valentino Rossi over the finish line by a margin of 1.935s.

In his second Grand Prix back after a three-race absence, the 24 year-old celebrated his birthday weekend with an impressive win from pole position, his third race victory of the season, which took him to third in the championship standings.

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During two months away from racing under the supervision of an expert medical team in his homeland (Dr. Neil Halpin, Sport Physician, Dr Jeremy Coleman, Consultant Physician, Dr Harry Grunstein, Endocrinologist and Professor Jonathan Silberberg, Cardiologist), who have remained in touch with Prof. Fabio Catani (Specialist in Pathology and Locomotive System at the Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute of Bologna and Ducati’s doctor for several years) and Dr Claudio Macchiagodena of the Clinica Mobile, Casey has undergone a series of exams and special tests.

The results of the tests have excluded pathological anomalies of cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological origins. The exams and inspections also failed to show up any kind of virus or infection.

However, the medical report made by Prof. Silderberg and Dr Coleman did reveal low blood pressure levels and a lack of sodium, the two factors that the doctors believe were the main cause of the physical problems that interrupted the season for the Ducati rider.

The doctors all agree that overtraining was the most common factor that showed up during the tests and that the after-effects of injuries and surgeries over the last few years were the cause of the physical weakness and exhaustion that the Australian began to suffer a few months ago.

The doctors also unanimously confirmed that their suggestion to stop Casey from racing at the end of July was absolutely necessary in order to avoid aggravating his physical debilitation.

Following the final medical examination that he underwent last week before leaving Australia, the doctors confirmed that whilst he was still not completely recovered, he is in better physical shape than he was in July and his weight is back up to 60kg, which is close to his ideal weight.

Casey will be back on track this weekend despite not being in peak condition and he will remain under medical supervision throughout, with a new sodium-rich diet aimed at raising his blood pressure and muscular functionality.

Casey Stoner

“I’m definitely looking forward to the race weekend. Having three races off is the biggest period away from racing in my life. It was very difficult to accept the advice of the doctors to stop racing. In the past I have raced even when injured, like in the last few races of the 2008 season when my wrist was broken, but this time it was really not possible and of course I felt very sorry for the team. Now I’m looking forward to getting back together with the team and everyone and I hope I’ll be able to be more competitive than I was in the past, but we will have to wait and see. The doctors have put me on some salt tablets to increase my sodium levels but we will have to see if it helps. We will understand more during the weekend. Of course it’s going to be difficult: at first we won’t know if it will work because I’ve been off the bike so long that in any case my muscles will take some time to get race fit again. But, as I said, I’m looking forward to getting back and to starting work on the bike, looking towards the future.”

Livio Suppo

“We are really pleased that Casey is back with us. We never had any doubt that he would be with us once again at Estoril. We know that he is still not in 100% peak fitness and we just hope that over the last four races of the season he can gradually build his strength and work with Nicky to help Filippo develop the bike. With that goal in mind we have a few new things to try this weekend, in particular a new fairing which is designed to make the bike handle better in strong winds and fast direction changes. I really hope Nicky’s luck turns around after Misano because his season has got gradually better and I’m sure he’ll keep that trend going this weekend.”

Press release from Ducati Marlboro

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