Jerez MotoGP: Casey Stoner disappointed with fifth

Casey Stoner could not disguise his disappointment after he failed to make any major impact in yesterday’s Spanish MotoGP race at Jerez. 

The Australian had to settle for fifth place and on a tough day for the 24-year-old he was beaten by team-mate Nicky Hayden for the first time in the 27-lap encounter.

The last time Stoner was defeated by a team-mate was when he clinched the 2007 world title in Japan. Italian veteran Loris Capirossi won the race but Stoner ended up a second behind Hayden as he battled front and rear grip issues on his factory GP10. 

Stoner rarely looked like he was going to figure in the fight at the front at a Jerez circuit that has not proven to be a happy hunting ground for the former LCR Honda rider.

Stoner had only one podium finish prior to Sunday’s race at the Andalucian venue and reflecting on his latest disappointment he said: “”I’m disappointed with today’s performance.

“We started the weekend strongly but only got worse compared to our rivals as the sessions went by and we were never able to improve on the base set-up that we started out with.

“I think we fell into the trap of making changes to the bike that were too radical and it only served to confuse us because we never went in the right direction. I made an okay start to the race and felt comfortable over the opening laps, Jorge  (Lorenzo) was actually slowing my progress at that point and I was eager to get past him and chase Nicky and the others but as soon as I came up to pass Nicky I lost the front and almost crashed.

“The bike was pretty much on the ground but I managed to pick it up and then tried to push on from there but the front folded two or three more times on that lap alone.

“That shot my confidence so Jorge was able to pass me easily and from that moment I just wanted to take as many points as I could. As the tyres went off in the second half of the race the bike felt better and I had more contact with the front but it was little too late and I couldn’t catch Nicky.

“We need to work hard to find some answers in the test tomorrow and move on to Le Mans ready to battle again.”

Coming hot on the heels of his expensive crash out of the first race in Qatar when Stoner threw away 25-points with a crash out of a comfortable lead, he now trails Lorenzo by 34-points after just two races.

Was that cause for concern?

“Don’t speak to me about the gap until the end of the season,” said Stoner. “It’s two races, its nothing. Almost everybody crashes at least once in the year, there’s going to be mechanical failures and there are a lot of variables and there are 16 races to go.

“I’m not thinking about the gap. I wanted to win this weekend and next weekend it will be the same. Only at the end of the season will I start to worry.”