MOTEGI, JAPAN, SEPT. 23: Ducati celebrated an historic day of
racing when Casey Stoner won the MotoGP World Championship
on the same day that Loris Capirossi won his third Japanese
Grand Prix in a row, all of it coming in a flag-to-flag race on the
drying Twin Ring Motegi circuit.
Stoner’s championship was a foregone conclusion. The Australian
arrived on the grid with a 76 point lead and needed only to finish
in front of Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi. That was made easier
when Rossi thought he had tire problems after switching
motorcycles. He was forced to pit again and his very slim title
hopes were over. On consecutive laps he went from the lead to
second to tenth to 14th. He recovered one spot to finish 13th, one
ahead of teammate Colin Edwards.
Stoner meanwhile was having a nervous race of his own. He’d
begun the race battling with Marco Melandri (Gresini Honda), then
was passed by Rossi on the 12th lap. After he pitted to switch
bikes he fell back to eighth. He would make up two spots by the
end.
He became the second youngest premier class champion, to
Freddie Spencer, and the first rider to win a premier class
championship on a European motorcycle since Phil Read won the
500cc title for MV Agusta in 1974.
“Very nice,” a beaming Stoner said. “I really don’t know what to
say. We didn’t really expect to win the championship here. We
thought we’d go out and give it a go and try to score some more
points. But to come out and win the championship with still three
rounds to go, it’s an absolute dream. Just to win the
championship’s a dream, but to win it with such a big advantage
is, you know…
“I’ve got to thank everybody that’s worked so hard this year and
through all my career to get me to where I am. There’s been a lot
of people in my life into getting me here, a lot of people that
believed in me, a lot of people that didn’t.
“It’s nice that we can, I suppose, give the people that believed in
me a gift, which is this world championship, and to prove to the
people that didn’t believe in me we can do it. "It proves that if
you never give up anything can happen.”
Most anything did happen in the race, which was unpredictable
until Capirossi took control on the 15th of 24 laps. Stoner was in
eighth at that point after an exciting early run.
“The first part of the race I was fine, I was comfortable, tires and
everything felt good,” he said. “But I knew they’d start to come
downhill with the track coming dryer. And sure enough, they
pretty much destroyed themselves. “I came in to get slick tires,
but there was some problem with the bike; I think the steering
damper. I had to loosen up the steering damper because I kept
running wide into the corners. From that point on I wasn’t so
confident, but I saw Valentino (Rossi) also had a problem and we
had an advantage. I started to relax a little bit more after that
and concentrated on finishing the race, staying in the dry lines,
and everything worked.”
Capirossi went from 19 seconds out of the lead to the lead in one
lap, with Rossi down to second. Other riders pitted to switch bikes
and Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa had a vicious high-side. He was
taken to the medical center with foot injuries, but it wasn’t
immediately known if he’d broken any bones. On the next lap,
once Rossi pitted again, Capirossi had over a 14 second lead and
he had 10.853 when he crossed the line, winning for the third
year in a row. “I am really happy,” Capirossi said. “I am happy
also because I win the race here and Casey is the World
Champion with Ducati. For sure Casey make a great season this
year, because never a mistake all time and try hard always. But
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pictures from ducati.com