Casey Stoner proved uncatchable for his MotoGP rivals as he cruised to a second Donington Park victory in as many years. The 2007 World Champion was the fastest off the line from pole position, taking the kind of runaway win typical of his title winning year at the bwin.com British Grand Prix.
With his second triumph of the season, Stoner moved his way up to third in the overall classification. The two riders ahead of him in the standings, Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa, were involved in an entertaining battle some seven seconds back, trading places repeatedly at the midway point of the race. Riding in his 200th Grand Prix, Fiat Yamaha rider Rossi eventually won out, continuing a seven race run of podium finishes in 2008.
Repsol Honda´s Pedrosa also has seven rostrum appearances to his name this year, and came in third at the scene of his 2006 victory. His consistency keeps up the pressure on series leader Rossi, who he trails by just eleven points.
Colin Edwards was the highest placing satellite rider, finishing fourth onboard the Tech 3 Yamaha M1. Whilst his was a positive result, teammate and home rider James Toseland had a miserable time of things in the race, crashing on the first corner and finishing last after picking the bike back up.
Last year´s 250cc racewinner, Andrea Dovizioso had another creditable showing on his first MotoGP appearance at Donington Park. The JiR Team Scot rookie was fearless even when surrounded by experienced campaigners, concluding the race in fifth ahead of fellow debutant and long-time rival Jorge Lorenzo.
Nicky Hayden, Chris Vermeulen, Shinya Nakano and Anthony West completed the top ten, whilst Rizla Suzuki´s stand-in rider Ben Spies earned his first MotoGP points on his maiden appearance. The American will now wait to find out if his services are required for the upcoming A-Style TT Assen, or if Loris Capirossi –injured but watching on in Donington- will be fit for a return to action in the Netherlands.
The only rider unable to finish the race was John Hopkins, the Kawasaki rider retiring with a mechanical problem.
Casey Stoner – Race Winner
"It´s better for us here to win here because we know that now we can run better for the future again. The first races after Qatar were a disaster for us. We started fast right from the first session and have been competitive in both the wet and the dry. I have to thank the mechanics; they´ve been working hard to solve problems that we´ve been having, and I hope that this is something for future races, not just the two where we´ve tested."
250cc
Mika Kallio emerged victorious from a three-rider tussle for victory at Donington Park, maintaining the lead of the World Championship in the most unlikely of circumstances.
Kallio had worked his way up from fourteenth on the grid to third with just over a quarter of the race gone, and put himself in a prime viewing position to observe the leading duo of Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli. His first opportunity to make a move came with just two laps remaining, and he grabbed it with glee when the two ran wide together and left the door open for the Red Bull KTM rider.
There then followed a nervous final lap, in which Kallio slid all over but took advantage of his ice racing skills to maintain his balance and take the chequered flag. As in Jerez, a battle between the Italian and the Spaniard had ended with a Finnish victory.
Simoncelli salvaged second place from the hard pass on Bautista, extending his run of podium finishes to four in a row, whilst his Mapfre Aspar rival had to make do with third. The Metis Gilera man keeps up the pressure on Kallio in the title hunt, holding second place in the standings.
Starting from the front row, Team Toth´s Hector Barbera was unable to stick with the breakaway trio, coming home fourth, whilst Thomas Luthi and Hiroshi Aoyama also featured in the top six.
The first ten across the line was rounded off by Alex Debon, Julian Simon, Yuki Takahashi and Aleix Espargaro.
125cc
The MotoGP World Championship has a new British star, and a new youngest ever racewinner, in 15 year-old Scott Redding. The Blusens Aprilia rider took home victory at the 125cc bwin.com British Grand Prix to delight the crowd and put himself into the record books.
Starting from the front row of the grid, Redding had been in contention for the win after closing down early leader Andrea Iannone. With six laps remaining, the two were out on their own, but the local hero did not even have to negotiate a pass on his Italian rival. Iannone took a heavy lowside under pressure from Redding, ending his chances of victory and clearing the way for the Briton to end his country´s 451 race run of 125cc races without a victory.
Displaying a cool that belied his years, Redding took the chequered flag with a salute to his team, before collecting the Union Jack flag to rapturous ovation on his cool-down lap.
It was also an amazing race for series leader Mike di Meglio, who worked his way up from 20th on the grid for second place and retention of his championship position. The Ajo Motorsport rider battled throughout the 25 laps with some fierce rivals, and eventually won out from podium debutant Marc Marquez –the Repsol KTM rookie like Redding just 15 years of age.
Sergio Gadea was unable to close down the front three, coming home fourth ahead of previous World Championship leader and Donington poleman Simone Corsi, Tomoyoshi Koyama, Joan Olive, Takaaki Nakagami, Sandro Cortese and Bradley Smith completed the top ten.
Of those crashing out of the bwin.com British Grand Prix, Gabor Talmacsi´s fall was the most notable. The 2007 World Champion thus ended his run of podium finishes and saw a further roadblock in his path to retaining the title.