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Stoner takes pole for Aussie GP
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Oz's fav dirt-tracker turned World Champ on his blood-red Ducati at Phillip
Island. Stoner sits on pole for the Aussie GP, October 18, 2009.
(AP Photo/Rob Griffith)
Well, boys and girls, did you really have to wonder after Casey Stoner clinched second place at Estoril?
Ducati's pride 'n' joy has taken the checkered flag the last two years at his home track on that beautiful chunk of rock called Phillip Island.
Now, with pole position in place for tomorrow's race, the Aussie native told Ducati: "It’s a great feeling to be on pole position again, especially here at my home race. I’ve had great support from the fans here this weekend, and it is nice to give them something to cheer for today, although the real work starts tomorrow. To be honest we’re still struggling for traction, which seems to be the same problem for everybody, but we have worked hard this season to create a bike that turns well--trying things like going back to the aluminum swingarm--and it has paid off so far this weekend. This is a great track to ride at when you’re comfortable with your bike and even though we still don’t have a perfect set-up, I still felt confident enough to push it at the end and it was good fun. Now I’m really looking forward to tomorrow, especially because we’re going to be running a special livery and I’d really like to thank our sponsors for that.”
Stoner’s best time of 1’30.341 on the GP9 was just 0.050s faster than Rossi and his Fiat Yamaha, who sits beside the Down Under native in second. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named crashed--too bad!--but still managed third, while Jorge Lorenzo is first on the second row.
After Friday's practice, the Mallorcan-born Lorenzo, who dominated his hometrack a couple of weeks back, told MotoGP.com, “A lot of things went wrong.” We came here after winning in Portugal, but in the first practice we found some problems, especially on the rear tire which slid and spun so much. Personally I think I am not 100 percent because last night I ate some food and am not in good shape. So now I feel very bad and tired. I hope tomorrow I am better. We will try to improve the rear grip. If we can improve this, and I can improve my physical condition, we can be closer to the first position.” He continued, “The only strategy we have is to try to win every race and try to be aggressive, but at the same time be clever because I don’t want to crash.” As of Saturday, he was still feeling a bit nasty, hoping to improve overnight before the important race. Three races and just 18 points separate Jorge and Rossi for the Championship.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3's Colin Edwards pulled fifth place again--brilliant. And the man in limbo for 2010, Mr. de Angelis, took sixth. The Kentucky Kid, who has been hyped for the Oz GP, will start on the third row, followed by the Parisian sponsored-by-Playboy, The Flying Finn and Dovi.
The race will begin at 3 p.m. (PST) on the Speed Channel, Sunday, October 18, 2009--don't miss it!
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