Stoner ‘against the grain’ for US Grand Prix win

MotoGP News
Date: 30/July/2012

Casey Stoner credited an ‘against the grain’ tyre choice for his third MotoGP victory at Laguna Seca in the USA on Sunday.

Unlike fellow front row starters Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, reigning World Champion Stoner selected the softer rear tyre - a decision that looked to immediately backfire when he dropped to fourth into turn one.

In order to make the soft tyre work, it was assumed Stoner would need to break away early and then cling on when the grip faded. But Stoner was still stuck behind race and title leader Lorenzo’s Yamaha as the halfway point came and went.

However Stoner was nursing his tyres and instead of a performance loss, Stoner got stronger - eventually blasting past Lorenzo out of the final turn with ten laps to go.

Stoner’s Repsol Honda took the chequered flag 3.5s ahead of Lorenzo.

Stoner said: “The tyre choice wasn’t a gamble but we had to be careful. We knew if we went out there and burnt it up at the beginning we would struggle later.

“My plan was to get a good start, use the extra grip at the beginning to pull a gap then relax the tyres. That didn’t work.

“I was fourth into turn one and had to pick my way back through. Jorge and Dani were running fast lines and especially Jorge. I wasn’t able to get through and I was using my tyres too much trying to overtake.

“So I backed off and started running my own lines. Then towards the end of the race we started going again, slowly eased the pace back up. We calculated everything right. It was against the grain. Nobody else really took the option and it paid off for us.

“I was confident it would work all along but we had to do everything right”

Despite his fourth win of the season, Stoner remains third in the championship, nine points from Pedrosa and 32-points from Lorenzo heading into the summer break.

“I need to do more than just chip away. Especially with these guys. It’s bloody hard work,” he said of his title chances. “We have to do something a bit extra.

“The mistake at Sachsenring really cost us, but at the same time it just gave back the points we gained from Jorge at Assen. I’m most disappointed with the points we lost [with eighth place] at Mugello. That’s what’s hurt us.”