Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner heads into the summer break on a high after winning his fourth race of the year by making a wise tyre choice on a sunny day at the U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
The win was Stoner’s second in a row and third overall at the tortuous circuit within sight of the Pacific Ocean east of Monterey, California, making him the winningest rider at the track.
And it also allowed him to take five points out of the championship lead of Lorenzo. Stoner, who will spend his summer break traveling around the U.S. with his family, now has 173 points to 182 for Pedrosa and 205 for Lorenzo.
Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: Race winner
“It's been a difficult weekend for us in general, especially trying to make the hard tyre work. So for the race I decided to go with the soft option and be a little more careful with the tyre, keep a little more traction and not spin so much. At the beginning of the race I tried to move to the front, but Dani and Jorge were riding very good lines and it was impossible to get past. I decided to slow the lap times a little and try to save the tyres until the end and then we could start to come back. I was confident for the entire race that I had enough pace for the win, we just needed to make sure the tyre would last until the end. When we got to the front we put in some good laps and pulled some small advantage and just continued from there. I'm very, very happy and a big thanks to all the team.”
Repsol Honda Team Press Release
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