Rewind to 2007 and the guy who won ten races. Stoner is back.
He had a spring in his step and a sparkle in his eye from Friday onwards after pulverising the rest by half a second a lap in the dry, and then again in the wet of Saturday. The rest were nowhere.
There are not many of the MotoGP events that I have been to where someone has been that dominant ten minutes into Friday morning's free practice session, carrying it through to qualifying and then the race, but the Donington weekend will stand out as one where there should only have been two trophies up for grabs - second and third.
![]() Casey Stoner on the Ducati GP8 at Donington Park © Back Page Images |
So where did Stoner find the pace? That was at the testing he did after Barcelona with the 2008-spec engine, an engine that we have now learnt was replaced by the 2007 engine for Mugello and Catalunya. This proved that the work done on the electronics to that 2008 engine while it was out of the bike are night and day better for him.