Casey Stoner proud despite heavy title loss

Aussie Casey Stoner reckons he is still proud of his achievements in the 2008 MotoGP world title race, even though he goes into the final race trailing Valentino Rossi by over 100-points.

Stoner has still been in superlative form at times during 2008, and he goes into this weekend’s season finale having won five races.

The 23-year-old said he would look back on ’08 with pride, despite his title hopes being blown by costly crashes in successive races in Brno and Misano.

“The last race tends to make you reflect on the whole season and I think we can be proud of ourselves, even though there have been highs and lows. We didn’t win the championship but we fought hard for it, making up and then losing a lot of ground, staying together through all of it and always giving our best.

“We’ll try to keep that going at Valencia, a track I have always liked because even though it is tight and twisty it does flow well, with some long corners where you can keep the speed of the bike up. Valencia is also the place where I took my first victory and where I rode the Ducati for the very first time back in 2006.”

Stoner is also hoping for an easier ride than he got in last weekend’s Sepang sauna in Malaysia. He struggled badly with the left wrist he needs an operation on imminently, and he’s hoping he will be fit to test Ducati’s new GP9 after the final race.

“We’ll ride the GP9 on the day after the race and I really can’t wait for that. I hope the wrist doesn’t give me the same problems I had at Sepang so that I can be in shape for a good race on Sunday and two solid days of testing on Monday and Tuesday, “said Stoner.