MotoGP news

Almost a perfect ending for Ducati

Ducati rider Casey Stoner finished a hard-fought second in today's tense, season-ending Valencia Grand Prix watched by an appreciative 132,500 fans. Loris Capirossi finished his final race for the team in fifth place after a spirited ride from eighth on the grid. 

"I expected the pace to be low 33s, but I didn't expect it to be so fast for so long," said Stoner. "Everything seemed good, then Dani came past and pulled a bit of an advantage straight away and I wasn't able to claw it back. I could pretty much hold it, then he'd eke out a tenth or two, then I'd get some of it back, then he'd take out a little more. He rode a faultless race, so he deserved the win. I'm happy for him because I now know what it's like to win your home GP - it's a very good feeling, especially in this class. We were pushing hard and I had a couple of front-end slides but the bike was feeling good. Then with five laps to go I lost some grip, so I eased off a bit because we were quite a distance in front of the rest. I'm happy with the way I rode, I got the best out of the bike, so I'm reasonably happy. It's been a fantastic year, we can't say anything bad about it, my worst result was the race where we won the championship so the title made up for that! I think next year everyone will come out a little tougher, a little stronger, so I'm going to make sure I do everything I can to come out on top again." 

Capirossi commented, "I felt emotional when I came into the pits after my last race for Ducati. Saying goodbye is always very difficult. We've had a lot of good times together and although this year has been difficult, I've won a race and scored three more podiums. I wish to thank all my team, all the Ducati people and all the Ducati fans who have supported me. I think we worked very well this weekend and today the bike was working not so bad. I had some difficulties with the tyres because my style, which uses a lot of lean angle, works the tyres very hard. I made a decent race, not bad and not good. I had a good duel with Nicky [Hayden] but that lost me contact with Marco [Melandri]. Anyway, this season is over and now it's time to think of the future."

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