Rossi-Stoner battle undergoes a new twist in Catalunya

Another MotoGP race at the Circuit de Catalunya, and another podium battle between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner. However, the story wasn´t quite so simple. Whilst the twosome fought tooth and nail in the final stages of the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, eventual racewinner Dani Pedrosa was already long gone, and Stoner did not even see Rossi as the toughest of his adversaries…

`The biggest battle was with myself; the bike was moving around a lot and we just couldn´t get into a decent rhythm, especially from the beginning,´ rued a bemused Stoner, his immediate post-race emotions a contrast to the more optimistic Rossi.

`I think that this was quite a good race! It's a long time since we´ve had a good fight for the top positions like that and today it was like last year with Stoner, but for second instead of first place! I was able to come out on top this year and I am honestly very happy with today's result,´ beamed the Fiat Yamaha rider and current series leader, whose ninth place on the grid put him significantly behind the man he eventually beat for second place.

`I want to watch the race on TV now because I had a lot of fun today and made some good overtakes, with my M1 and my Bridgestone tyres working very well to the end. Once I passed Stoner I tried to go away from him but it wasn´t possible, so then I knew it would be a great battle to the end.´

Both riders will be back on track in Barcelona for testing on Monday, although what Stoner gets up to on Tuesday will create the most interest. He has a possible date with the Ducati Desmosedici GP9, next year´s MotoGP prototype.

`We´re going to try a few things in testing, including possibly the new bike with the 2009 chassis in the final part of Tuesday. We´ll be doing anything that we can to avoid the kind of problems that we had today.´