Stoner returns to podium in tough Chinese race

Although the World Champion Casey Stoner was back on the podium in China after a two race absence following his Jerez and Estoril frustrations, the Australian was expecting more from the visit to the Far East.

Casey Stoner - 3rd

`I´m disappointed to be honest because I know we could have done better today. The bike has worked really well in practice and we thought we had the ideal set-up for today but we changed a couple of things and for one reason or another the package just wasn´t as good as before. I made a good start and I was happy with that but even in the first corner I couldn´t get the bike turned, Colin Edwards came past me, and that was the story of the race. As the race wore on my lap times improved but it was too little too late and in any case it wouldn´t have been enough for me to stick with the lead guys. I´m disappointed this has happened today - not so really for third place which is a good result but for the big gap from the lead. I know we can do much better so we will put this behind us, wipe the slate clean and try to do better next time out.´

Livio Suppo - Ducati MotoGP Project leader

`This was a great team performance, with both our riders in the top five and three Ducatis in the top eight. This is very satisfying after two difficult races. Unfortunately Casey wasn´t able to go as well as he did in practice, mainly because of the change in temperature that led us to make a gamble with tyre choice, so even if a podium is a decent result, it is less than we´d hoped for, mostly because of the gap from the lead. We have to keep working to repeat the level of performance we showed here in practice and with more hard work from our mechanics and the brilliant relationship we have with Bridgestone we will achieve that.´