Features 19 May 2016

Rewind: Stoner delivers at Mugello

Aussie MotoGP legend's brilliant 2009 win that snapped Rossi's streak.

It was 2009 and Valentino Rossi hadn’t been beaten at Mugello for seven consecutive years. He owned the place. And for Australia’s Casey Stoner, the opportunity to get one-up on The Doctor in Ducati’s backyard was a massive one.

Rossi had reigned on the Tuscan hills of Mugello from 2002 through 2008, seemingly unbeatable at the iconic Italian venue. However in a wet/dry affair during the 23-lap 2009 affair, it was Stoner who upstaged him on home turf.

In what was the second flag-to-flag race in two rounds, Stoner ended Rossi’s Mugello winning-streak with a polished performance to give Ducati its first ever victory at the circuit. And it remains their only one since!

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

Much of the race came down to tactics again in front of the 80,000-strong Italian crowd as the riders once more started on a wet surface and completed the contest on slicks, with Stoner this time judging things to perfection.

“I have already won in Italy, at Misano in 2007, and it was great for Ducati, but this was the one I really wanted,” Stoner said at the time. “We’ve struggled to find a great setting here for the past two years, but today was our day. During the practice my pace in the dry wasn’t perfect, but it was quite good.

“We started out well in the wet, I felt good and the bike was doing great until the wet tyres were worn out. I kept trying to push to the limit because I didn’t want to lose ground on the others like at Le Mans and stayed out there until I was absolutely sure it was the right time to change tyres. As soon as I went out on slicks I felt comfortable and competitive.

“Unfortunately I had an issue with the clutch and it started to give me a few problems. Loris came past and was pushing hard and riding very well and he kept me on my toes. At one point I thought it was all over, but thankfully I was able to work out a way to ride around the problem and bring the victory home.

“I made a couple of mistakes over the final two laps, but luckily it didn’t matter. It was a really difficult race but a great one for the whole team, for Filippo [Preziosi], for everybody at Ducati and all the Ducatisti. I’m so happy today.”

Source: Supplied.

Source: Supplied.

The Australian retook the championship lead as he crossed the line a second in front of former leader Jorge Lorenzo, who also rode well after the scare of crashing on the sighting lap. He started the race from pole.

Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha colleague Rossi completed the podium in third place as his seven-year wining run at his beloved home track came to an end, the Italian hero crossing the line two seconds behind Stoner. He hasn’t stood up on the top step at Mugello since then.

Stoner will be at the track this weekend in his new 2016 development role as part of Ducati Team, but it will be fellow test rider Michele Pirro who joins factory regulars Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone racing for the round. How special a Ducati win would be!

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