Estoril MotoGP: Casey Stoner bemused at slump to seventh

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner was left puzzled by his disappointing seventh place finish in today’s opening free practice sessions in Estoril.

The Aussie, who scored his worst factory Ducati result in 20 outings in the last race in Jerez, endured a torrid afternoon session on his way to a best time of 1.39.202.

The 22-year-old started the session with a slow front end crash at the tight uphill chicane and he said: “I was starting to exit the corner, picking the bike up and then the front closed.”

James Toseland and Alex de Angelis also crashed on their first laps out of the pits and Stoner added: “I saw James have a similar thing on the first lap. I’m not sure if it was because the track was dirty, although it felt quite grippy.”

His early tumble though set the scene for a tough session, and Stoner said he was perplexed at the sudden lack of feel from the front end of his Ducati GP8.

Bridgestone’s front tyre was a key strength in Stoner’s dominant 2007 campaign, but he said: “For some reason we have lost a bit of that strength. Last year we had great feeling and sensitivity in the front-end and now we seem to have lost that and I don’t really know why.

“Whether it’s because of different settings, but I don’t think so — we had same setting today as the race last year.”