Assen MotoGP: Casey Stoner unstoppable in Assen

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner thrust himself firmly back into contention for the 2008 MotoGP world title today with another crushing victory in Assen.

Just six days after he romped to victory at Donington Park, the Aussie won with ease in front of 95,000 fans this afternoon after his second successive win moved him to within 25-points of Valentino Rossi in second place.

Rossi finished 11th having remounted after a first lap crash he instigated with Randy de Puniet.

Stoner’s third win of the season saw him close the gap on new points leader Dani Pedrosa to 29-points in  a title fight many thought Stoner had no chance of winning just three weeks ago.

Once he quickly disposed of Pedrosa on the opening lap, Stoner won with embarrassing ease as he continues to look untouchable using a new engine management system he first tried in Barcelona earlier this month.

The Aussie said: “We knew we had the pace to win today but sometimes coming into race day that can make you even more nervous because you know the only thing that can go wrong is yourself!

“I was also worried about the weather and after watching the 125 race I thought it would be typical to start raining whilst I was in the lead. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and I was able to get out front, put my head down and concentrate on doing the times we’ve been doing all weekend in dry conditions.

“I’m sorry Valentino crashed because this isn’t necessarily the way I wanted to recover points on him, but at the end of the day we’ve had our fair share of bad luck this year too and racing is an unpredictable game.

“Now it seems fortune is favouring us but more than that I’ve really got to take my hat off to Ducati and to my team. They’ve been doing such a good job over the past few races to get us back on the pace again and make us consistently competitive, so I want to say ‘thank you’ to all of them.”