British Moto GP: Stoner canes the opposition

Moto GP / Trent Burton / 21 June 2008 / Leave a Comment

Trent Burton's been watching the action at Donington where Casey Stoner has been dominating the opposition

I think I may have found the solution to drought. Find a drought-ravaged area, wait until the summer time, and then stage the British MotoGP there. You're guaranteed a downpour.

After a day of sunshine for Friday's practice, Donington ran true to form for Saturday qualifying and it bucketed down. The rain on track for the morning session had the MotoGP bikes circulating some 20+ seconds a lap slower than the previous day.

Tomorrow's forecast is for no rain but even so, in the end, it may not matter. Over the last two days, it hasn't mattered what the weather has decided to do because regardless of the conditions, Casey Stoner and his Ducati have simply slaughtered the opposition.

Friday's dry sessions saw Stoner a remarkable half a second clear on top of the sheets in both sessions. He sat in P1 for the bulk of the day as he churned in a series of laps below the lap record with the sort of consistency that had the rest of the paddock searching for answers and his price for the win drop from over [5.0] at one point to the current [2.16].

When Saturday saw heavy rainfall, Stoner was expected to come back to the field. And...it just didn't happen. During a remarkable qualifying run Stoner reeled off fastest lap after fastest lap, constantly lowering his time to put him in pole position for Sunday's 30-lap race, over six tenths of a second ahead of his closest rival Valentino Rossi and his Fiat Yamaha.

Chris Vermeulen, a master in the wet, completes the front row and if it is still wet come race time on Sunday, I'd be surprised to see his current price of [20.0] last long. If the race is dry as expected, the Suzuki pilot may slip down the field a little while some of the guys who found themselves struggling a little in the wet, such as Colin Edwards and Dani Pedrosa, should move up the field.

The sleeper in the pack has to be 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden. Finally being granted his wish to run the pneumatic valve engine Repsol Honda this weekend he has looked like the Nicky of old. Second in the dry and fourth in the wet he will be one to watch come race day and at [5.0] for a top-three finish, the number 69 bike will be one to watch.

Sadly things haven't gone so well for the local hope, James Toseland. Donington Park may be a sea of Toseland memorabilia this weekend and the flag of St George has been flying all around the circuit, but they were at half-mast by the end of qualifying. Inside the top ten on Friday, Saturday saw Toseland crash no less than three times, including twice on the same lap after remounting following a high side coming onto the main straight. As a result he will be starting the race from 16th and has a lot of work to do if he's to climb the podium for the first time. In his own words Toseland said: "Basically I made a mess of it...I tried to change some things but we never really went in a positive direction." It could be a long day for the Brit but he certainly won't be short of support.

But the story of the 2008 British MotoGP, at least thus far, has been the blistering and consistent pace of the reigning world champ. Not even The Doctor could stop him. Towards the end of qualifying Rossi threw everything but the kitchen sink at Stoner and yet even if he had ripped out the plumbing and tossed that at the Aussie as well, it still probably wouldn't have been enough. The Italian is sitting at [2.7] for the win, but if Casey can start Sunday the way he's dominated the first two days that should turn into an easy lay.

So come rain or shine, at 1:55 Sunday afternoon, Stoner is the man to beat. And perhaps most ominously for his challengers, he's one who couldn't care less what the weather does. Speaking after his pole lap, Stoner said: "We've always had a good setting with this bike for the wet conditions (but) the most pleasing aspect for us so far this weekend has been the bike's performance in the dry yesterday. You can never trust the weather forecast here so we'll just sleep on it and see what we get in the morning. Whatever it is I'm confident."

As well he should be.