Mugello MotoGP: Casey Stoner squanders big lead

Casey Stoner blamed a rear tyre pressure blunder after he squandered a big lead in yesterday’s Italian MotoGP race to eventually finish third.

Stoner looked like he was cruising to a 28th MotoGP victory when he established a comfortable lead of close to 2.3 over Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso on lap 11.

Win number five of 2011 seemed a mere formality, but Stoner’s pace suddenly slowed and he fell back into the clutches of Dovizioso and reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo.

The Spaniard took the lead on lap 18 and completing a miserable slump for Stoner, Italian Dovizioso grabbed a hard fought second on the final lap.

Stoner struggled to hide his disappointment as Lorenzo clawed back nine-points in the title race. Stoner now leads by 19-points heading to the halfway stage of the season in Germany later this month.

The 2007 world champion said: “It was disappointing because in the Warm-up the bike was good but we felt we had a bit of tyre degradation, the new tyre was already dropping off quite a lot.

“We thought the tyre pressure was a bit too high but we were recommended to stay with the same tyre pressure for the race and the conditions were so much hotter. It got to a certain point in the race I just lost all grip.

“In the middle of the turn there didn’t seem to be any contact patch, so as soon as I wanted to crack the gas open the rear would come round and I was just constantly trying to fight it and get the bike stood up and out of the corner.

“I saw Jorge start to catch us and I tried to push a bit more and go into the corners a little bit harder because it was the only place I could make any time. I closed the front a couple of times so I just thought I’ll see what happens if I can stay consistent enough whether they can catch me.

“They were able to take big chunks of time out of me, so I thought when they arrived I’ll see if we can stay with them and do something on the last laps but I just had nothing. I had no grip and Jorge was riding well and not making mistakes and then Andrea came past and it was the same thing.

“I had nothing more to give and I was pushing so hard on the way into corners because we had no grip and I really struggled in that race. I’m definitely disappointed because the bike and everything was working well enough to win this race but a small error with tyre pressures is a big mistake.

“I’m not going to lie, I’m not happy with the podium. I wanted to win that race and I’m not riding around for points. I want to win races so it is disappointing to have the race pan out the way it did.”

For seven pages of coverage from the Italian Grand Prix, see the July 6 issue of Motor Cycle News.