German MotoGP: Casey Stoner saves strength for race

Casey Stoner admitted he sacrificed the chance to claim a 17th MotoGP pole position to conserve energy ahead of tomorrow’s German GP at the Sachsenring.
The factory Ducati rider settled for third place on the grid behind Fiat Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo as he completed only 19 laps in treacherously wet conditions today.
Having clocked a best time of 1.33.759 to finish 1.239s off Rossi’s pace, the Aussie also said it wasn’t worth the risk to fight for pole position as conditions worsened and several riders crashed out.
The 23-year-old: “We tried a couple of settings on the bike and I went out on my last run and I was trying to see if I could get the tyres warm and improve the lap time. I lost the front a couple of times and the rear was sliding around a lot, floating on the amount of water that was on the track, so I decided to come in. Twice I lost the front at the bottom of the hill and the last thing I needed was to throw myself through the gravel again.
I was happy to be on either of the front two rows and I wanted to keep myself in one piece rather than hit a puddle or something and go down. It would have been very easy to have crashed out and there is no point because I need to save myself for the race.”
The 2007 world champion said he was hoping for a wet 30-lap race because the conditions made it physically less demanding on his body.
Stoner has again been struggling with fatigue in Germany and he added: “A wet race would probably be better. In the dry the bike seems to be working pretty well but the wet conditions are probably going to suit me a little better. We’ll have to wake up and see what the weather brings. I’m feeling no different from the past two races. I’ve been doing the minimum amount of laps as possible just to try and save as much energy as I can for the race. Most of the time it doesn’t make a big difference before the race, but as each weekend goes on it gets worse and worse. It seems like my recovery time is not as quick as it used to be. It gets ridiculous by race day and if its wet it suits me a lot better physically, but if it’s dry I’ve got a decent setting. The last three races the bike has been working very well and I’ve been happy with it. I just need to be able ride it like it should be ridden. It is very disappointing but if I can stay as close as I can in these next few races so that when I get rid of this I can be a bit more aggressive for the last part of the season.”