STONER WINS AT BRNO
Australia’s Casey Stoner swept to a comfortable victory in the Czech GP, round 11 of 18, on Sunday to extend his lead in the MotoGP world championship.
Stoner finished 22 laps of the 5.403km Brno circuit in 43 minutes, 16.796 seconds on a Honda to claim his sixth victory of the season.
Starting third on the grid, Stoner went ahead in the second lap after Spaniard Dani Pedrosa, who started from the pole, had a crash.
Stoner, chasing his second championship after 2007, dominated the rest of the race, steadily increasing his lead to seal a second straight win following his victory at Laguna Seca, California and his 29th overall in MotoGP.
Italian Andrea Dovizioso finished second, 6.532 seconds behind and another Italian, Marco Simoncelli, was third 7.792 back to complete a Honda clean sweep.
Stoner, who also won in Brno in 2007, tops the MotoGP standings with 218 points and leads defending champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain by 32 points.
Lorenzo was fourth on his Yamaha, 8.513 behind Stoner, followed by Ben Spies of the United States on another Yamaha.
Dovizioso is third overall with 163 points and seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi, who finished sixth, is fourth on 118.
Andrea Iannone of Italy claimed the Moto2 on a Suter for his second season victory in 41:13.255, edging Spaniard Marc Marquez on another Suter by 0.161.
German Stefan Bradl on a Kalex finished third and remains top of the standings with a 43-point lead over Marquez.
Fellow German Sandro Cortese won the 125cc class on an Aprilia in 40:59.229 for his first career victory. French rider Johann Zarco finished second, 0.397 behind on a Derbi. Spain’s Nicolas Terol, who didn’t finish the race, retained the overall lead with 166 points. Zarco is second on 154.
Race results:
1. Casey Stoner, AUS, Repsol Honda 43m 16.796s
2. Andrea Dovizioso, ITA, Repsol Honda 43m 23.328s
3. Marco Simoncelli, ITA, San Carlo Honda Gresini 43m 24.588s
4. Jorge Lorenzo, ESP, Yamaha Factory Racing 43m 25.309s
5. Ben Spies, USA, Yamaha Factory Racing 43m 26.982s
6. Valentino Rossi, ITA, Ducati Marlboro 43m 29.428s
7. Nicky Hayden, USA, Ducati Marlboro 43m 39.833s
8. Colin Edwards, USA, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 40.985s
9. Hiroshi Aoyama, JPN, San Carlo Honda Gresini 43m 41.998s
10. Hector Barbera, ESP, Mapfre Aspar 43m 53.362s
11. Toni Elias, ESP, LCR Honda 43m 53.475s
12. Randy de Puniet, FRA, Pramac Racing 43m 53.905s
13. Loris Capirossi, ITA, Pramac Racing 44m 5.707s
DNF:
Alvaro Bautista, ESP, Rizla Suzuki
Karel Abraham, CZE, Cardion AB Motoracing
Cal Crutchlow, GBR, Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Dani Pedrosa, ESP, Repsol Honda
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1 Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda Team, 218
2 Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing, 186
3 Andrea Dovizioso, Repsol Honda Team, 163
4 Valentino Rossi, Ducati Marlboro Team, 118
5 Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda Team, 110
6 Ben Spies, Yamaha Factory Racing, 109
7 Nicky Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team, 103
8 Marco Simoncelli, San Carlo Honda Gresini, 76
9 Colin Edwards, Monster Yamaha Tech3, 75
10 Hiroshi Aoyama, San Carlo Honda Gresini, 70
11 Héctor Barberá, Mapfre Aspar Team, 62
12 Karel Abraham, Cardion AB Motoracing, 46
13 Toni Elías, LCR Honda MotoGP, 43
14 Álvaro Bautista, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 39
15 Cal Crutchlow, Monster Yamaha Tech3, 34
16 Loris Capirossi, Pramac Racing Team, 29
17 Randy de Puniet, Pramac Racing Team, 19
18 John Hopkins, Rizla Suzuki MotoGP, 6
19 Kousuke Akiyoshi, San Carlo Honda Gresini, 3