FEELING “dizzy” in the steaming heat, world MotoGP champion Casey Stoner clung on to snare his 10th win of the season in the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.
Stoner led from flag to flag but nevertheless said he found it difficult to focus at times and made several unforced errors – one which almost spelt the end of his race.
The 22-year-old, starting from second on the grid at Sepang, smoked away at the start to head the pack into the sweeping right-hand turn and was never headed.
Stoner was hounded early by the Honda of Dani Pedrosa but effortlessly controlled the tempo of the race to claim his second successive win after taking out last Sunday’s Australian GP.
The Ducati ace crossed the line 1.701 seconds ahead of Italian Marco Melandri’s Honda with Pedrosa third.
Five-times world champion Valentino Rossi, who started from a lowly ninth on the grid, picked his way through the field to finish fifth behind Frenchman Randy De Puniet.
Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen was seventh while fellow Queenslander Anthony West, who had qualified fifth, again undid the good work with his second jump start in three races and a ride-through penalty left him in 15th.
The victory completed a hat-trick of wins at Sepang for Stoner – he became the first rider to win all three classes at the track – 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP.
He has also equalled the record of 17 points-scoring finishes in a single season set by American Colin Edwards in 2005.
"The biggest battle I had was being out front by myself and not having anything to focus on," Stoner said.
"I’ve been finding that all year but this track seems to take that bit out of you a little more.
"Until halfway through the race it was going really well and then I had a couple of front end loses – in one I was very close to coming off," he said.
"I just tried to back off and keep a similar pace but with some different lines and different riding techniques.
"I managed to do it but I made a few mistakes in the process.
"Some laps I decided to back off and I backed off too much and gave them a bit of an advantage so I had to increase the pace again.
"As I crossed the line I started to feel a bit dizzy, so it was definitely a hard race."
Stoner now flies to Valencia for the season-ending race in two weeks.
AAP
Source: foxsports.com.au
