Catalunya MotoGP: Bridgestone ecstatic with Stoner win

Bridgestone boss Hiroshi Yamada hailed Casey Stoner after his stunning victory today in a nail-biting Catalunya GP.
Yamada described Stoner’s fourth win of the season as ‘unbelievable’ as he opened up a 14-point lead over Valentino Rossi in the MotoGP world championship.
Stoner’s win, which was the first ever podium for Bridgestone at the Catalunya track, came in thrilling fashion as he triumphed at the end of a titanic scrap with seven-times world champion Rossi.
The Australian claimed victory by 0.069s with Spaniard Dani Pedrosa a close third in the most exciting race so far in the 800cc era.
Yamada was jubilant at the end of the 25-lap race and he told MCN: “I am very happy. It was an unbelievable race by Casey.
”We know this track is very hard for the tyres and after the problems we have had in the past, this result makes today’s victory even more special.
“We have never had a podium in Catalunya, so to make the first one with a win is incredible.
”I think this is a better win than Qatar, China or Turkey because it is a track we have struggled on before and we didn’t really expect to get this result.
“Conditions and temperature were the same as yesterday and while we knew the tyre would be fine until the middle of the race, we weren’t sure about the durability for the 25-laps.
”The race was very long and when Valentino passed Casey around the halfway point, I was a little bit concerned that he would do what we have seen in the past and he would take some advantage. But Casey did an incredible job.”
Yamada was full of praise for Stoner, who has made a startling impact on the new Ducati GP7.
He said: “He was unbelievable today. He was very strong. When a rider battles with Valentino like that, you know he has incredible talent. I am very happy.”