Casey Stoner - Photo Credit: Bridgestone Motorsport
Casey Stoner admitted the cooler weather conditions helped him take an easy victory in today's Aragon Grand Prix. The Spanish circuit was bathed in 28ºc heat during qualifying but the temperatures plummeted to 19ºc on race day as cloud cover and heavy winds took over.
Stoner felt the colder conditions benefitted the Repsol Hondas who found it easier to bring their tyres up to temperature, demonstrated by the ease in which he overtook Ben Spies after a stunning start had left the American in the lead.
“It was a good weekend all round really. We missed an afternoon of running on Friday so we thought this would affect us today, but what we found were completely different conditions with a lot of wind for the race. We had to set the bike up totally differently, and I think the colder conditions helped us with tyre wear. We knew the tyres warmed up fairly quickly and well so after the first few corners we wanted to get moving as we knew the bike was working well here. I want to thank the team because every time I head to the track this year, we have a good package and good rhythm.”
Today's win marked a crucial turning point in the championship as Stoner increased his lead over Jorge Lorenzo to 44 points after the Spaniard finished behind Dani Pedrosa in third. With just four races to go, Stoner is now firmly in the driving seat as the race for the title nears its' conclusion.
