Casey Stoner's mesmerising MotoGP victory in the US Grand Prix
wasn't perfection, then it's as close as it gets.
Stoner was untouchable at Laguna Seca, claiming a rare hat-trick
on the way to his sixth win of the season — a performance he
described as his finest moment in MotoGP.
Stoner led home countryman and Suzuki rival Chris Vermeulen for
the first Australian one-two since Mick Doohan and Daryl Beattie
dominated the 1995 Argentine Grand Prix.
With a victory from pole position as the fastest qualifier and a new
race lap record, Stoner was faultless as he resisted Vermeulen's
challenge and led all 32 laps.
With six wins from 11 races, Stoner has again stalled Valentino
Rossi's title assault, extending his lead over the Italian ace to 44
points. Rossi was a distant fourth.
"It's been an awesome weekend, I'm stoked," said Stoner after
crushing his rivals. "I can't remember too many riders winning
pole, the race and the lap record — I'm very proud to be in that
club. "I knew Chris was going to be the toughest bloke to beat
here, I was checking his lap times all weekend. "Early in the race
Chris began to close me down and I wasn't sure how much faster
he could go, so I upped the pace and slowly built a gap. This is
the best performance of the season so far, even a better feeling
than my win in Istanbul, which was pretty special."
Stoner finished 9.8 seconds ahead of Vermeulen with Marco
Melandri on a Honda and riding with a pain-killing injection in
his left ankle, third. click on ozzy go to the full story