Casey Stoner talks Valencia warm-up lap crash

Casey Stoner has finally talked about the warm-up lap crash that ended his hopes of claiming victory in the final MotoGP clash of the season in Valencia last weekend.

The Aussie started the 30-lap race as a red-hot favourite having dominated practice and qualifying.  

But he suffered a disaster when he crashed out on warm-up lap due to a lack of temperature in his Bridgestone rear tyre.

The 24-year-old, who ended 2009 on a high when he topped the timesheets at a post race test session in Valencia, said: “I didn’t make a mistake. As soon as I hit the ground I thought that was stupid mistake, but then I thought about it and I didn’t make a mistake. I did the same thing I always do. I knew the tyres were hard and that’s why I let everyone go so I could cruise it through that lap.

“I just touched the throttle and it just went on me. I didn’t do anything wrong and I don’t think it will ever happen again. It was unbelievable.

“I could understand if I did it on the first lap of the race that it would be a stupid mistake. But as soon as it happened I was racking my brain trying to understand it. We looked at the telemetry and I didn’t do anything wrong. 

“I didn’t even have the throttle cracked open. I was just touching it and it went so quick it was nothing like anything I’ve experienced before.”

Stoner said he was at a loss to explain how the crash occurred that ruined his hopes of finishing 2009 with three successive victories.

It also gifted Dani Pedrosa third place in the championship after the Spaniard took full advantage of Stoner’s shock exit to claim only his second win of a tough campaign.

Stoner added: “I have no explanation for it and it would be better if I did. It came around on me so quick, and even though I backed it off there was no stopping it.

“I’m probably one of the most cautious riders on the warm-up lap. A lot of others are fast from get-go but I’m always cautious to get the tyres warmed up for the start of the race. But there was nothing to stop me crashing I don’t what we can do for the future but I don’t want to get caught out like that again.”

Stoner uses two different start strategies to start a race.

The strategy used by Stoner on Sunday was to start the race on his number one bike and ride the warm-up lap at a slow speed to conserve precious fuel.

But the cool air temperatures that only reached 19 degrees and blustery conditions robbed Stoner’s rear tyre of vital heat that gives optimum grip.

Another strategy used by Stoner and adopted by several in MotoGP is to complete the sighting lap on a spare bike using a new race rear tyre.

Scrubbing off the tyre and generating heat into it, Stoner then pits and switches to his preferred race bike for a second sighting lap. Meanwhile, the scrubbed rear is taken out of the spare bike and changed on the grid into his number one bike.
Would he try a different approach in 2010?

He added: “I might get lucky next time.  If I knew I did something wrong I would change that. I would I would like to have a bit more power on the sighting lap to get more temperature in the tyre and get it scrubbed in better.

“We just haven’t been getting enough temperature in the tyre. The same thing happened in Phillip Island and the right hand corners for the first couple of laps it was terrible. But not even get a chance to win the race was a very frustrating situation.”