Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Casey Stoner admits he feared Jorge Lorenzo's pressure would tell after hanging on for Portuguese MotoGP win

Casey Stoner says he was lucky to hang on to MotoGP victory at Estoril as huge pressure from Jorge Lorenzo exacerbated his own struggles with chattering

Honda rider Stoner blazed away from the field in the opening stages, opening up a lead of 1.4 seconds after just three laps, but was then gradually reeled in by Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.

Stoner attributed that pattern to huge chattering woes suffered during the race, but said changing his riding style helped ease the issue and allowed him to keep Lorenzo behind him for the final laps.

"There was huge pressure throughout. Jorge caught me and I was just holding on," Stoner said after collecting his 35th MotoGP victory.

"It felt really good on the first lap with fresh tyres, but as soon as that wore off we had the most severe chattering, which we also found yesterday in qualifying.

"We always struggle a bit more in warmer conditions, we can't get the tyres to work properly - not in terms of wear, but in terms of chatter. We had that in the beginning and I lost the front a couple of times so I had to back off, and then Jorge caught up and I was lucky to hang on.

"From that moment I was trying to keep Jorge behind me. There was huge pressure and I was trying different lines. I found a certain way to ride, started to feel bit better and pushed a bit more, and was able to open up enough of a gap."

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Casey Stoner takes MotoGP championship lead by beating Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa to Portuguese Grand Prix win
Next article Jorge Lorenzo says beating Casey Stoner in MotoGP's Portuguese Grand Prix was impossible

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe